\n\t\t Entrepreneur \t<\/p>\n
As an Asian-American kid growing up to an immigrant mom in North Carolina, I was taught to follow the rules (no exceptions). I was a Boy Scout, graduated top of my class and was hired by Goldman Sachs immediately after graduating undergrad. I had followed what I thought was the \u201cright\u201d path. I was living in the greatest city in the world (New York City, of course) and working at one of the best companies in the world \u2026 but none of it felt right.<\/p>\n
Like many others in corporate America, I walked away from the high-powered banking job. Not because I couldn\u2019t do it, but because it wasn\u2019t my<\/b><\/i> dream. Spending 100 hours a week working for someone else felt like living in the wrong skin.<\/p>\n
After leaving Goldman, I went to Stanford Business School and started thinking about what\u2019s next. Like everyone else in 2020, I was making stupid dance videos on TikTok when I realized I could also use social media to promote myself, my skills and whatever job I would land next.<\/p>\n
Instead, what I found was much more meaningful: an online creator community authentically sharing their talents with the world.<\/p>\n
The passion of these creator-entrepreneurs, the businesses they build and the way they bring people together through their shared digital community is, I believe, the essence of today\u2019s American Dream. Regardless of generational differences, the American workers I talk to are (for the most part) no longer motivated by ladder climbing; they \u2014 we \u2014 are motivated by sharing our knowledge and expertise with others, and also making a decent living while doing it.<\/p>\n
What I also found among fellow creators was a web of disparate, broken systems, a misunderstanding of how to build true online growth, or even how to create an email campaign. Everything felt harder than it needed to be, none of the tools connected, and much of it was overwhelming (and overpriced) for new entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
I had a bit of programming experience, so I created and launched the first version of my company, Stan, in 2021. The beta launch was very basic but brought together many of the pain points my fellow creators and I were experiencing. We made it a one-stop shop, with everything a creator needs conveniently packaged and designed in one place.<\/p>\n
Next, I convinced a few fellow content creators to let me set up their online brand presence, and the first creator saw an instant sale of their online course (for $999 no less) overnight \u2014 with no marketing and no other outreach except the creator\u2019s own work up until that point.<\/p>\n
The idea was simple: Make it easier for people to get paid for the work they were already doing. Stan wasn\u2019t built to teach creators how to monetize. It was built to remove the friction altogether.<\/p>\n
The business model proved to fill a unique gap in the marketplace, and building Stan became my full-time job. Today, five years in, we have more than 80,000 active creators on the platform, who have collectively made more than $400 million, and we even have backing from Gary Vaynerchuk and Steven Bartlett.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019ve seen over the past five years is the creator economy becoming the default path for anyone looking to build something of their own. What defines a \u201ccreator\u201d in 2026 can be anyone from a fitness coach, a special education teacher or a mechanic. These \u201cnon-traditional\u201d influencers are moving into creatorship to truly<\/b><\/i> own their brand, build their community and monetize what they know on their own terms.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s these everyday entrepreneurs, the ones working toward their dream and taking their ideas to the next level, that continue to motivate me and my team. Among these new creators, the ones who succeed typically have two key things:<\/p>\n
They understand the needs their personal and professional brand fulfills:<\/b> The most successful creators have clearly identified a gap in the market for their product or services and identified how they can help fill that need.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n They share their experience authentically:<\/b> You have to believe in your dream to build it, so why not share your story and experience authentically? Being true to yourself helps audiences connect with you and understand the \u201cwhy\u201d behind what you do.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n When it comes to my \u201cwhy,\u201d like many other immigrant children in the U.S., I grew up with very little. While working at Goldman, I realized that I needed<\/b><\/i> my work to be fulfilling (no, working at an investment bank didn\u2019t check that box). I wanted my work to be meaningful and to give back to the greater good in some way.<\/p>\n Through my current work with Stan and the creator community, I\u2019m able to directly help others build their dreams and monetize their businesses, turning their creative passions into a livable wage.<\/p>\n While many are still burning the candle at both ends, creating their businesses while also being parents, caregivers, partners and working one, two (or even three) other jobs, they\u2019re working towards their dream of a successful future business built on their experience and creativity. If that doesn\u2019t sound like \u201cliving the dream,\u201d I don\u2019t know what does.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nDo good, and do well<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n