What happens when you trade a stable corporate job in Singapore for a gap year for a tropical island?

That’s what Shi Han Pang did at 25.

Since then, she’s best known for being the co-founder of Human Edition, a storytelling platform that has captured the hearts of over 138k followers by documenting the hidden, un-Googleable stories of Malaysia and beyond.

Shi Han takes us through her journey - from growing up in the quiet "tuition culture" of Alor Setar to working as an architectural designer in Shanghai, KL & Singapore.

Disillusioned by the industry, she decided to f*ck it and quit her job at 25 to pursue her masters as a way of buying more time to ‘figure life out.’

That eventually led to a permanent move to Langkawi island to document extraordinary local stories that can’t be found in any tour guide book or Google search with her partner, Jie Xin.

To learn more about how Shi Han followed her passion and made it work:

• 04:12: Growing up in Alor Setar
• 09:45: The Architecture Trap
• 14:20: Feeling "successful" but unhappy
• 19:10: The "F*ck It" leap & m to an island.
• 25:35: The Bon Ton Residency: How six weeks in Langkawi changed everything
• 31:05: "Un-Googleable" Malaysia: Why Human Edition focuses on the stories you can't find online
• 36:50" The ‘magic’ of the island
• 42:15: RM1500/month.
• 48:40: The Transformation: From corporate attire to finding a "glow" through boho freedom.

🎙️Show notes/transcript for this episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/157

🎥 Subscribe to YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSZlcS5ooyCjj_MkrmH_WhQ?sub_confirmation=1

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💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/profile

Rachel How is one of Malaysia’s top UX/UI designer - entirely self-taught - with a huge 330k following she’s built over the last 4+ years!

But finding her path wasn’t easy.

She quit law school after 2 months because it wasn’t for her.

Worked 10 different odd jobs - including as a body lotion rep & real estate agent - to figure out her interests.

Her realisation: She enjoyed designing property posters over selling the houses themselves.

That led to her joining a hackathon organised by Hong Leong Bank as a designer.

They ranked 10 top.

That led to a role as a Senior Product Designer Fave.

While working full-time, she launched her UX/UI YouTube channel and started building different income streams.

By 2022, she was generating $106,241/year from her freelance work itself, which gave her the confidence to take the leap.

Quit.

And become a solopreneur.

But career journeys are never linear.

To learn more about how Rachel built her 8 income streams, her advice for building a YouTube channel & what keeps her going, tune in!

Highlights:

• 1:24 The $106,241 year
• 3:15 Growing up wanting to be "somebody"
• 8:02 The RM50,000 Law School
• 10:45 Quitting Law after 2 months:
• 13:10 Working 10 odd jobs
• 15:45 The turning point
• 19:12 Entering the Hong Leong Bank hackathon
• 22:30 Self-teaching UX/UI: YouTube vs. Reality
• 26:40 Landing the role at Fave
• 29:15 Launching her YouTube channel: 10k subs in 3 months
• 32:50 Burnout & health struggles
• 35:20 Being the sole provider for her family
• 38:44 Why her revenue dropped to $70k in 2023
• 47:12 Don't follow passion, follow curiosity
• 50:05 Advice for aspiring solopreneurs

🎙️Show notes/transcript for this episode: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/156

🎥 Subscribe to YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSZlcS5ooyCjj_MkrmH_WhQ?sub_confirmation=1

🙊 Support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day! - https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/profile

Meet Lim Pinn Yang, co-founder of Foodie Media Berhad - IPOing today at a RM70 million valuation!

He once sold woks at the morning market with his dad, scored 1A in SPM exam and earned $0.20/day from his 1st blog

But he’d always dreamt of being a “business entrepreneur”.

And today, his dream comes true.

That little blog he started in 2016 has turned into a 46M+ follower digital media empire. And just in 2024 alone, it hit:

• 20+ lifestyle brands, including Penang Foodie, KL Foodie, Halal Foodie, Malaysia Homie, Car Buddie and Techie
• 2.8B views
• 70 people
• RM24 million in revenue

But… who IS Pinn Yang?

What drove him to do what he does?

How did he end up with an investor like Bryan Loo of Loob Holdings?

And… what does success mean for him?

Listen to find out.

Thanks Foodie for sponsoring this episode!

🙊 Want to support STIMY for as little as $0.10/day? https://www.sothisismywhy.com/support-stimy/

🍿 YouTube: https://youtu.be/lhIUOf7jSKs

📍Show notes: https://www.sothisismywhy.com/155

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter on the art of storytelling + building your personal brand (+snippets of STIMY behind-the-scenes): https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/profile