WMW #16: A dad this time! On having work that is designed around your life
On quitting his job to be a full-time creator
Hi there,
As you read this, I will be in Alibagh celebrating Diwali with my big and beautiful family. Happy Diwali to all those who celebrate!
We haven’t been to India in nearly 4 years and I am so excited for my kids and husband to experience their first proper Diwali in India. Updates on how it went in my next email :)
Now onto today’s interview.
On having work that is designed around your life
One of the reasons I am interested in the creator economy is because it offers a path to doing work that you love while managing your own time and making money too. The dream, right?
As working professionals we all want to make a good amount of money and in the creator economy, there is no limit to the amount of money you can make if you succeed in it.
Sure, it is not an easy path nor a quick one. But, if you can succeed at it, especially as a parent, it can radically change your life in a way that allows you to choose what you spend your time on, and when - without compromising on the amount of money you make.
My interview today is with dad creator, Ayush Chaturvedi, who quit his corporate job at Samsung last year to be a full-time creatorpreneur for this exact reason.
Of course, everyone’s journey is different and you won’t know if it works for you till you try it yourself. Ayush is inspiring because he is a new creator who is super transparent about his journey. He has been getting a lot of traction lately in his creator journey and has just had his first 4-figure month.
Meet Ayush Chaturvedi, creator, writer, solopreneur, and dad of 8-year old.
Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself (work, family and personal interests/hobbies)
A: Hey I'm Ayush, I'm a writer, creator, solopreneur. I love to read books, play board games with my family and chat with like minded people from around the world.
Q. What inspired you to become a creatorpreneur?
A: I realized my corporate career wasn't giving me the life I wanted. Sure I was making decent money, but after a point more money wasn't going to be more useful, more time would be. That's when I decided to quit my corporate career of 11 years and start working on my own. I loved to write so that became my primary skill to make a living online. I'm building a one person business built around my preferred lifestyle, instead of building a lifestyle around my "career".
Q. When did you start your creator journey? At what point did you decide to be a full time creatorpreneur?
A: I started writing seriously online more than 3 years ago, back in 2019. I decided to quit my full time job and work for myself in August 2021. And have been doing it since then.
Q. What are the challenges you face as a full-time creator?
A: Biggest challenge is managing my time and energy. Figuring out the highest ROI activity and focusing on that, instead of trying to do it all and wasting my time doing low quality "busy work"
Q. As a dad and creator, how do you manage your time?
A: I spend the mornings focused on my health, so once I see off my 8-year old son to his school bus I take a nice 40 minute walk, and then work out for at least an hour after this. Then I start my work day and get the most critical task of the day done in the first half. After this my son returns from school, the whole family has lunch together (me, my wife, our son and my parents). After this I get back to work; sometimes I help out my son with his homework, other times he manages it on his own.
By the evening me and my wife end our work days and the whole family plays a board game or a card game together.
So my most "productive" work hours are in the mornings. And the most fulfilling hours are in the evenings. And I cherish both those blocks.
Q. How has having your own creator business changed your life, both as a professional and a dad?
A: It has given me so much time and freedom. I have creative freedom to work on the things I want to work on. I have limited meetings with clients and collaborators (meetings which I want to have) Apart from that, all the time is for strategizing and execution for my one person business. Which is fantastic.
As a dad it’s given me so much more time to spend with my son and be involved in his life. His education - academic as well as extra curricular activities. My son is a very curious kid - he asks us a hundred questions a day and we're glad that we're always there to answer them, and he never feels that there's no one around to talk to him.
Q. What are your thoughts on the emerging growth of creatorpreneurs and future potential of this space, especially for parents?
A: I think this is the way to go for people who care about spending more time with their families. If you're very ambitious then maybe you should run the corporate rat race or build that unicorn startup. But if you care about building a lifestyle first business, then you should focus on becoming a creatorpreneur.
Q. What is your ultimate goal as a creator dad?
A: To have a sustainable lifestyle first business which takes care of my family and also allows me to spend quality time with them. Which allows me to be there for my son whenever he needs me and I take an active part in his upbringing.
Q. Where do you get your inspiration?
A: I get my inspiration by learning from other successful creatorpreneurs on Twitter, speaking to them every day in private messages and on Zoom calls. Meeting with people with similar values in life is very refreshing and inspirational.
Q. What is your best productivity hack?
A: Only have 1 high leverage, high ROI task every day and put all my creative work towards that.
Q. What do you do in your 'me-time' and how does it help you?
A: I take walks and I write a lot- both of these activities help me think clearly and take an objective view of life.
I also read books, watch movies and TV shows to destress and let my brain wander.
Q. What is your advice to parents looking to get into the creator economy for an alternate source of revenue?
A: Start with 1 skill, get very good at it, and then find people on the internet who will be willing to pay you money for that skill.
If you can do that, you will already be ahead of 99% of the people on the internet, and then a million opportunities will open up for you after this. For me that skill is writing, and it's at the base of my business.
Q. Favourite tool that makes your life / business easier?
A: Notion, it's so good, I run my life as well business on it.
Q. Favourite quote
A: "True wealth is the ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want" - From the book Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
Q. Best thing you have read or watched lately
A: I'm watching House of The Dragon these days, which is excellent.
Get a free copy of Ayush’s book: The Creator Profit Playbook
If you are interested in exploring the creator economy as a path for yourself, you might want to get hold of Ayush’s book: The Creator Profit Playbook which he has very kindly offered readers of this newsletter for free :)
The book covers creator essentials that include:
How to build the right skills
How to find profitable niches
How to garner attention
How to play the content game right
How to pick the right business model for you.
You can get this book at no cost, at the link here.
I have a lot of Ayush’s digital products and they are full of value!
I personally find it very interesting to follow people like Ayush who are not afraid to go after the life they seek.
It’s also great to see his creator journey at the beginning stages of succeeding. It’s a reminder that anyone can be a creator if they want to be one. The beginning is the hardest I feel, but once you have started to see rewards like Ayush has, there are really no limits to what you can achieve.
If you have any questions for Ayush, feel free to leave them here or hit reply and I will make sure he gets them.
You can also find him and connect with him directly on Twitter.
Have a great week,
Abha x