In 2015, fresh out of my master's program, I started as a media social media manager earning 30,000 NT at the beginning, living paycheck to paycheck, relying on discounted company baked pasta at month's end. In 2025, I'm running 3 companies with revenue exceeding 10 million NT. Ten years is no small feat, and I want to document this journey, ideally in two parts: self-growth and entrepreneurship.

That era was when the "social media manager" role wasn't yet clearly defined. It was popular to only show your back or side profile, without livestreaming or dancing in short videos. We carried the mission of conveying brand personality and character, handling diverse and rich tasks.

Over these ten years, social media functions and formats continuously evolved, driving the development and maturation of the new media and creator industries. Facebook Live used to be popular, then shifted to IG Live, while Facebook Live now mostly features comment +1 e-commerce livestreams. IG attracts more creators sharing their feelings. Brand social media managers migrated from Facebook to IG to Threads. Work evolved from discovering existing content to creating original content, to shooting short videos—not just keeping up with trends but also singing and dancing, doing all sorts of viral challenges. Constantly monitoring changes became my survival DNA.

(Image / Back then, managers would often film only from the side or back XD)

This social media work also opened countless possibilities in my life.

By 2016, I had accumulated over 10,000 followers from my work. Being naturally introverted, after leaving that job, though I had a fan page, I didn't know how to manage it or where to go next. I converted my gloomy career and cynical life into rookie workplace observations, but lacking confidence, despite having a fan page, I chose to post anonymously on Dcard instead. As articles received thousands of likes and comments, I quietly built confidence. I thought, "If anonymous posts can get this much attention, maybe real name posts can too." Gradually, I started sharing articles on my fan page.

(Image: As a TV reporter, I was assigned to education beat and ended up at National Taiwan University covering the president selection controversy—basically living at or near NTU. The week before I left, the China Airlines strike happened)

In 2017-2018, I spent considerable time finally becoming a TV reporter, living a 33K salary with 12-hour shifts and 24/7 on-call expectations. To test "chatbots," I converted my written articles into Facebook auto-reply posts. Lucky timing—I posted career transition content during the Lunar New Year period, triggering 26,000 comments. My phone died from all the notifications, prompting me to consider creating a "personal website." I built one using WordPress. A high school friend, "Shi Mujie," strongly recommended I buy a personal domain for brand identity. Though it seemed strange at the time, in retrospect it was crucial—I was extremely early in building a personal brand. This friend became my mentor, not only helping me set up the site but also patiently solving website system issues for years.

This became my first turning point. Writing and content sharing had always been my way to process emotions. The more I shared, the more turbulent my emotions were. Combined with strong engagement at the time, I could sometimes post four articles daily and started many series.

"Sharing" became a crucial part of my life. Not only did it untangle my confused and lost mind, but luckily it brought some influence. Writing more, my interests became visible, creating value for others. I was invited to speak, publish books, and teach courses, gradually moving toward the "personal brand" path.

In 2019, a publisher invited me to write a book and suggested I do offline events to build community. I organized cross-disciplinary book clubs using the PechuKucha format—each person gives a presentation of 20 slides, 20 seconds each, for 6 minutes 40 seconds total, sharing connections between a book and personal stories. Starting at one event every three months, it grew to eight per month, from event to community to brand, becoming a monthly paid subscription knowledge event with 200+ subscribers. Simultaneously, I began taking PR media projects, though my focus wasn't there.

(Image / April 2019, the first cross-disciplinary book club)

The book club was my second turning point. My day job was basic media writing—finish articles and interviews, done. But my side hustle involved leading 200+ people in a community, constantly thinking about mechanism adjustments and organizational culture. My weekends were spent running events. The identity conflict between commute and after-hours completely threw me off balance. This was when I first realized I couldn't juggle both anymore.

In 2020, besides publishing my first book Life Isn't a Multiple Choice Question, the online course platform Fresh Time Books invited me to teach. I was terrified and refused at first, but founder Aka, my senior and someone who may have recognized I'm a projector in Human Design, simply created a group chat and set filming dates. Not only did I become one of Fresh Time's first five instructors, but over 500 students purchased the course, earning me roughly the same as my 500K annual journalist salary. Suddenly I realized that success isn't about dutifully completing my job—it's about creating value.

(Image / First book publication event in 2020, at Dcard)

In 2021, after changing six full-time jobs in four years, I formally quit my media position and ventured into entrepreneurship with a 100K pandemic relief loan. I thought, "If I fail, I can always return." One month after leaving, my book club transformation plan won Taiwan Taipei's Incentive Subsidy Program, earning 700K, solidifying my belief that entrepreneurship was my answer.

(Image: One month after leaving my job, I won Taipei's Government Incentive Subsidy Program)

In 2022, I published my second book and two online courses, earning about 3 million NT annually. Just as I was about to accelerate, personal health issues and psychological factors led to hospitalization. Traumatized physically and mentally, I faced the choice between reality and dreams.

Running the book club involved website updates, fundraising, team management, platform transitions—all beyond my abilities at the time. Life was full of anxiety. Though good friends helped, I knew deep down it wasn't my strength. Meanwhile, PR and media projects continued, work I could do without extra learning, leveraging my existing expertise. To let my fractured self heal, I paused the book club and shifted toward PR. But I emailed members promising I'd find a way to return eventually—recently there's been a promising opportunity that fills my heart with emotion.

At this time, I designed a comprehensive PR media annual service package and pitched it to three bosses. One was the owner of Lao Lai Teashop (a chain of 100+ bubble tea stores across Taiwan). Three months after pitching, the owner messaged me for a meeting. Right after, he said: "Let's go with Plan A. Can we start tomorrow?" Looking back, this was my third turning point.

2023 Introspection and Gathering My Broken Self

While focusing on PR work, having been emotionally wounded inside and out the previous year, I avoided public appearances and social events. Even when I attended, I didn't take photos or check in. A product I developed lost 500K. Reality's harsh blow returned me to a low, unconfident state. I left learning and growth activities for metaphysics, inner exploration, self-dialogue, and spiritual healing. I explored Ziwei, tarot, Ba Zi, astrology, Human Design, Mayan calendar, Dennison Brain Gym, soul dialogue, Theta healing—everything. Finally, a psychology counseling workshop became my last stop. Leaving that classroom, I suddenly felt everything was fine, and I kept moving forward. (Annual income around 4 million NT)

Meanwhile, the online course platform accompanied me in launching an AI Application Era course. I clearly understood that AI Prompt's foundation is "Chinese writing," combined with my strength in contextualizing knowledge, I quickly produced the course that year when GPT first launched.

2024 Self-Repair and Focus

In business, I always wanted to scale and expand, but I'd never managed a team. As a solo entrepreneur, I had no idea how to run a "team." Entrepreneurship is lonely—all I knew was burying myself in hard work. But I actively sought methods to improve, so I decided to study for EiMBA.

That same year, in March, under relationship stress and the pressure of imbalance, I realized my body had gained nearly 20kg since graduating—so much I couldn't judge distances and walked into tables. So I started Pilates, completed 20 sessions, all of which I loved and found joyful. Suddenly I thought this could be franchised. After checking financial costs, I found six like-minded partners and opened KX Pilates in Tianmu—my second company. And I got my body back.

I could do this instinctively because I had managed Lao Lai Teashop starting in 2022, fully understanding franchise chains, giving me the confidence and knowledge. That's why I say it was a turning point.

(Image: KX Pilates Tianmu studio opening!)

Meanwhile, since PR projects were attached to my personal brand name, which felt inappropriate, in May I decided to separate them and founded my third company, ORBI WEIDEN PR Consulting.

In June, through work, I encountered Korean cheerleading, combining my background studying in Korea, 10 years of competitive cheerleading, and PR experience. I took on celebrity PR collaboration.

From this moment on,

Every choice made out of necessity became rocket fuel.

The scattered points of my life wove into a plane.

Then I finally saw clearly: "Your choice is your answer."

2025

Work became overwhelming. As a freelancer, I restored fixed working hours and reorganized my team. After several unsuitable people, AB contracts, and poor attitudes, I reflected and confirmed the problem was me. I overhauled recruitment, internal training, and project management. Now I'm welcoming enthusiastic, positive equity partners and joyful business partners. I optimistically believe we'll keep improving—a feeling I've never had before.

Through accumulated effort, I finally got into National Taiwan University's EiMBA with 114 classmates who genuinely care and are incredibly supportive. Every day is filled with happiness and inspiration. I'm finally learning business knowledge within a structured framework—this is the most spiritually, mentally, and emotionally abundant moment of these ten years.

(Image / NTU 114 classmates who bring so much joy and positive energy into my life)

If I had to pick the most important moment, I'd say every moment.

Every moment I chose to walk through and leave behind self-doubt, unwillingness, depression, and resentment.

Every moment I chose to embrace being surrounded by love, surrounded by positive energy, accepting "I am me."

25-35 Ten Years, Not Easy

At 25: Who am I? Where do I go?

At 30: Who do I want to become? How do I do it?

At 35: I am me. I am here.

Create a better life through choices.

November 2025, traveling with National Team athletes as staff :)