Why Erika Left her Prestigious Job to Launch her Own Startup

Posted on by joneytalks

and How to Start your Successful Youtube Channel!

Quick announcement: Today is this (crazy) year’s last podcast episode, the show will be back on in January. Enjoy this episode (Erika brought fantastic insights!) and feel free to stay in touch through social media or email jon@joneytalks.com 😀.

In today’s episode, we will speak to my friend Erika Kullberg who runs her own Youtube channel, Erika Kullberg.

Erika has worked for a number of years as a corporate attorney working for a large law firm. She was living a pretty glamourous life: She was handling high-value contracts, she was going on fancy dinners, she was making good money,… but she was also working 100-hours weeks and after some time she realized this path was not fulfilling anymore. This is when she decided to leave her corporate job to start her own legal start-up and as well launch her (successful!) personal finance Youtube channel.

Law Plug and Law

We will discuss why she did not pursue this “dream career” you only see in movies and we will go quite into details on how you can start a Youtube channel and grow it as she did!

Listen here:

…or listen on Apple Podcasts

This episode is for you if you are currently in a safe job but are looking at getting more fulfillment out of your career and/or if you have been wondering about starting a Youtube channel to talk about and monetize your passion!

Key Takeaways:

  • It is easy to follow the traditional path when it comes to your career but do not lose sight of your WHY? Explore it again and change gears, this will lead you to a more fulfilling path. The glamorous aspect is cool for a while but to use Erika’s words there is more to life than helicopter rides
  • Want to start your own business?
    • It will come with less stability so make sure you have a solid emergency fund in place (in case things go south with your business). Worst case, it is not the end of the world, you can always go back to apply for a corporate job.
    • There will always be people who will not believe in you (“This is the biggest mistake of your life!”, it still could be but at least you tried) be prepared.
  • Tips on starting a Youtube channel:
    • You have to love your subject, you have to be willing to talk about it for 10 years even without money coming in.
    • If you are looking at monetizing your channel, treat it like a business, and be prepared to be paid 2 dollars an hour at first.
    • Don’t expect massive results or thousands of viewers in the first months:
    • Your niche might be saturated but standing out is overrated: Be yourself, it is not too late. Everyone is original (and that includes you!)
    • You can start cheap (your phone and a 20 dollar mic) 
    • Use Long keywords, catch on to trendy topics.
    • Make things more efficient in your process to maintain consistency. If you are a busy professional, refine your process as you go along. 
  • Look at the people in your company who are 10 years older than you: Are they happy? Do they inspire you? (What’s the point to work hard if you do not aspire to be like them)

Who is Erika?

Erika Kullberg is an attorney and personal finance expert. Prior to founding a legal technology startup, Plug and Law, she was a corporate attorney for Fortune 500 companies.  Her personal finance YouTube channel, where she talks about topics ranging from passive income to student loans to investing, has grown to over 70,000 subscribers and 4 million views in under a year, and her work has been featured in outlets such as Business Insider, CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Post and more.  Erika holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown Law.

Erika Kullberg Plug Law
Erika Kullberg

RESOURCES 

If you liked this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts and do follow us on social media as well for more great content, check our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and join our e-mail list. I would love to connect with you!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means I may make a small commission (at no cost to you) if you make a purchase. This will help to support Joney Talks!

Leave a Reply