This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aliena Cai, 26, an entrepreneur based in Seattle. It’s been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified Cai’s business and revenue.
In my two years as a senior product designer at eBay, I worked on high-impact projects with incredibly smart people. During that time, I used my creativity to post on my YouTube channel about UX design as a side hustle.
When I felt I was making a solid revenue from YouTube ads and sponsorships, I quit my six-figure tech job at eBay and went all in on my long-term goal. I wanted to create my education program called Fast Track UX — an online course.
In the two years since then, I’ve built a strong clientele and grown my income back to six figures, but I made several mistakes along the way. If I could go back, I’d tell myself to do four things differently to save time, money, and energy — including a warning that the grass isn’t going to be greener on the other side of corporate.
I should’ve put more time and resources into promoting my product sooner
I credit my initial program sales to YouTube subscribers who already trusted my UX advice and enjoyed my teaching style. Organic marketing on my YouTube channel helped me build a strong clientele of over 1,000 students, but I think there was likely a much larger audience out there that didn’t know my course could be helpful.
I had only done ⅓ of what’s required to sell a product. I had identified an issue, but I still needed to get people to know this problem existed and make them willing to pay to have it solved.
So, I started making more YouTube videos addressing this gap. My approach was to use broad, curiosity-driven titles like “If I started UX in 2025, I’d do this,” in which I included specifics about real skills and workplace expectations that aren’t taught in typical UX certificates or bootcamps.
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I found that this helped reach a larger audience. I’ve also started making more Instagram reels because Instagram naturally pushes content to a wider audience.
I shouldn’t have undervalued my services
This was my first time ever having to be a salesperson for myself, and it felt very phony. I felt a huge friction when it came to marketing my product and asking for money because it felt like such a big responsibility. Unfortunately, I let that fear hold me back from promoting my product as fully as possible. I even underpromised its value in fear of disappointing customers.
For example, I explicitly said that I wouldn’t provide any feedback to customers, but I ended up giving personal feedback to hundreds of people. It’s only in the last few months that I actually listed feedback as one of the offerings. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m learning to express the value I see in my product.
I should’ve outsourced help sooner and not been cheap about it
For the longest time, I felt like my worth was tied to my achievement, so I didn’t outsource help because I didn’t want to allow someone in who could jeopardize that feeling of worth. But that mindset only drained me of time and energy until I had nothing to give.
I finally hired a video editor last year, but I made the mistake of prioritizing cheap labor over quality.
The first editor I hired was inexpensive, but I had to give so many rounds of feedback that it took more time than if I had just edited it myself. My current editor is more expensive, but his work is clean, and I can relax knowing that the work will get done. I should’ve outsourced much earlier.
I should’ve been more realistic about becoming an entrepreneur
Having complete freedom over my own schedule requires a lot more skill and discipline than I once thought. There were days in the beginning when I would feel stuck scrolling on Instagram reels for hours, only to feel more miserable than if I had gone to a corporate meeting.
Managing my time is still a challenge, but I’ve made improvements by designing my own tool. It visualizes tasks by urgency and importance, and includes a “roll the die” feature to make choosing your next task both strategic and a little fun.
Here’s what I did right as an entrepreneur
When a lot of people want to start a side project, they get stuck on the first step, sometimes forever, because they’re waiting to feel like they have the perfect product for the perfect market.
I let the market find me. I released so many different types of YouTube videos, and when a UX design video went viral, I stuck with it.
I shared different product ideas with my audience to gauge their interest, and sent out questionnaires to learn their perspectives. I let the idea take shape with an open mind.
I’m trying to maintain that mentality as I focus on enjoying my entrepreneurial journey. Every day, I remind myself how lucky I am to be enjoying this journey of designing, even if it’s just for another Instagram reel or YouTube video, because it means so much more than the outcome.
Do you have an entrepreneurship story to share? Contact this editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@businessinsider.com.
