Viewing to Vlogging – TJ

Viewing to Vlogging – TJ
Do you dream of being a full-time travel vlogger with a large online following….but don’t know how to get there from where you are now?
Maybe you’re brand new to the world of travel vlogging and have yet to post your first video on YouTube.
You’ve dabbled in video editing and LOVE watching videos about the best street food in Vietnam…or the 5 must-visit beaches in Bali, dreaming about the day when that will be your reality…
….but when it comes to booking that plane ticket and pressing “publish” on your own videos? You’re terrified.
“What if I’m not good on camera? Or don’t have the right equipment” you find yourself thinking. You see how the industry is already so competitive and a part of you wonders if it’s even possible to turn your travel-vlogging dream into your full-time reality (So you procrastinate even getting started).
Or perhaps you’ve been travel vlogging for a little while now, but aren’t moving forward as fast as you’d like and are starting to get frustrated.
Your audience growth has plateaued and you’re struggling to figure out how to really MONETIZE your vlog so that you can do it full time. It’s your dream to be a full-time travel vlogger and you’ve been working your butt off, but you can’t figure out what you’re doing wrong/why it’s not working yet.
First of all, I want you to know that you’re not alone…and you’ve come to the right place!

My name is TJ Lee – creator of CupofTJ, the quirkiest travel & food channel on YouTube.
Over the past 2 years, I’ve grown my YouTube channel from zero to 350,000 subscribers, and 32 MILLION views. I’ve been selected by Youtube as their NextUp 2017 Creator, awarded Shorty Awards Finalist under Travel, featured on ELLE, SFGate, Refinery29, and on TV across Peru thanks to a video I made playing with cats in the park.
I’ve travelled to 32 countries and worked with numerous companies and tourism boards around the world.
Now travel is my job. I create and share my travels for a living. And it’s the best job in the world.
But it wasn’t always like this. I didn’t start glamorous.
Two years ago I had an office job. I wasn’t working 9-5. I started my day at 5am to attend meetings Asia time, left the office at 6pm, and checked into a coworking space right after to work on a consulting business. I was working 5am to 10pm hahah is that even a thing?
But back then I thought everything was great…at least according to conventional standards! It was a great company, great pay, with a fulfilling position. It was a “real job.”
But there was always an inkling in me that the work I was doing didn’t feel quite right. It felt good but not right. Can you relate?
One day I was having quite a stressful week and a coworker made a comment that threw me into an emotional wreck. Everything that was bothering me, that was weighing me down just came POURING out. I ran into the bathroom and started bawling. In the middle of the day. I wasn’t even crying about the comment, I was crying because I didn’t actually love where I was. I was killing myself for something I didn’t believe in.
I took a couple of deep breaths, wiped off my tears, and walked into my next meeting trying to keep everything together.
That day I decided this isn’t the life I wanted.
And that it was time for a change.
Now you’re probably thinking, OK TJ this is where you quit your job to travel the world right?
No, this wasn’t it.
I needed to save a lot of money hahah…but something else happened.
I decided to get more serious about my creative hobbies: photography, video-making, and writing.
I stopped prioritizing endless hours of research, meetings, and things that didn’t get me excited to get out of bed in the morning…and started prioritizing things that did.
On the weekends – any free time I got, I would run out the door to go take photos. I began putting together travel guides on my website. It was SO exciting to share these little travel tips.
In the beginning there weren’t many people reading my stuff but I didn’t care. I was creating something fun, creative, but also helpful to people and this felt right to me. It felt like I was finally adding my own colors into the world.
I became a bit obsessed with creating.
Creating became my stress relief, my outlet. Little by little, my skills grew.
It was by taking these small steps that I eventually gained the courage to say…you know what…I can put videos on Youtube and make this a thing.
I have learned a lot since those early days, but most of all: if you have a dream of being a travel vlogger it can absolutely be your reality.