Personal finance YouTuber Nischa Shah has an interesting career trajectory. An investment banker with a decade of experience, Nischa Shah quit a near six-figure salary role to become a full time content creator and now earns over $1 million per year (over ₹8 crore).
Reassessing life
The London-based banker was working as an associate director at Credit Agricole with a six-figure salary of $256,000 (about ₹2 crore). Nischa Shah realised that she had hit a rock bottom phase as her role was not challenging enough.
“It was about nine years into the corporate journey where I had this revelation that this isn’t fulfilling me, it’s not really challenging me, and it’s not intellectually stimulating. I wanted to find a way to help other people whilst getting paid for it and what I was doing in banking was helping corporations, sovereign governments,” Nischa Shah told CNBC in an interview.
She used the Law of Attraction planner, which involves manifesting goals and dreams, to turn her passion in personal finance into a full time profession.
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YouTube debut
{{/usCountry}}Also read | Student with zero income loses ₹46 lakh through F&O trading: ‘addicted, can’t quit’
YouTube debut
{{/usCountry}}By December 2021, Shah started making videos on personal finance and self-development. She used her investment banking income to fund her initial investment for content creation. Initial success convinced her to quit her job in January, despite the fact she was due to receive a six-figure bonus two months later.
With over a million subscribers on her YouTube channel, Shah now earns over 4 times her salary. In June 2022, she decided to post videos twice a week and began posting her daily life as an investment banker which resonated with the audience.
“So it took me 11 months to get to 1,000 subscribers, and then two months to get to 100,000 which was crazy,” Shah told CNBC. She now earns over 8 crore rupees per year by monetizing her YouTube videos, selling courses and products, doing corporate talks, and partnering with brands.
Known for no-nonsense approach and straight-forward advice, her audience now includes many young adults, women and people who may not have had access to financial education.
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On side hustles
Shah stresses on the importance of having a backup income as the consequences of losing all of ones savings could be dire. She also stressed on having a job where one can learn other things without consequences. A day job that provides a stable income can help accelerate the success of your side hustle, Shah told CNBC.
“That makes you operate from a place of stress, which I think has a huge impact on whether you’re able to succeed in the entrepreneurial world,” said Shah while adding that setting up a business is a learning curve.
She advices exploring side hustles or businesses alongside a day job as it gives some financial security. "It gives you freedom or creativity. It helps you build an emergency fund and it gives you extra cash that you can then plug into your side businesses to help it succeed,” she said.