In 2015, fresh out of a master's program, I entered the workforce as a media social media manager earning just over 30,000 a month, living paycheck to paycheck, surviving month-end by eating company au gratin pasta and using my employee card to charge purchases. By 2025, I'm running three companies with revenue exceeding tens of millions. A decade is no small feat—I want to document this journey, dividing it into self-growth and entrepreneurship chapters.

That was an era when the role of "social media manager" wasn't clearly defined yet. It was even trendy to show only your back or silhouette, without the viral challenges or dancing in short videos. We carried the mission of conveying brand personality, juggling diverse and rich responsibilities.

Over these ten years, social media functions and formats have continuously evolved, driving the development and maturation of new media and creator industries. Facebook Live was once popular, then shifted to IG Live; Facebook Live now features more e-commerce shopping streams with comment spam, while IG has become more of a creators' emotional sharing space. Brand managers moved from Facebook to IG to Threads. The work evolved from curating existing content to creating original content, to shooting short videos—we had to keep up with trends, sing, dance, handle all kinds of viral challenges. Staying alert to changes became my survival DNA.

(Photo: It was trendy back then to only shoot side profiles or back views XD)

The social media manager role opened countless possibilities for my life.

In 2016, my work had accumulated tens of thousands of followers. As an introvert by nature, after leaving the job I had a fan page but didn't know how to manage it or where to go next. I turned my frustrations about work and cynicism about life into rookie workplace observations, but lacking confidence, I chose to post anonymously on Dcard instead of my own fan page. As the posts received thousands of likes and comments, I gradually built confidence, thinking, "If anonymous posts can attract attention, maybe I can do it with my real name too." So I slowly started sharing posts on my fan page.

(Photo: Me as a TV reporter, covering the education beat and ending up at or around NTU during the university president selection case. I witnessed the China Airlines strike in my last week of work)

In 2017-2018, after spending considerable time, I finally became a TV reporter, working 12-hour shifts with 24/7 on-call duties for a measly 33K salary. To test a "chatbot," I converted my written articles into FB auto-reply posts. Fortunately, a career transition post went viral around the holidays, generating 26,000 comments and draining my phone battery. This made me think about creating a personal website. I built one with WordPress, and my high school friend "Shi Mu-Jie" strongly recommended I buy a personal domain for better brand identity. Though it felt odd at the time, in hindsight it was a crucial moment—I was early in building a personal brand. This friend was my mentor, not only helping me build the site but also graciously solving website technical issues for years.

This became my first turning point. Writing and sharing content had always been my way of processing emotions. The more I shared, the more emotional turbulence I was experiencing. Given the strong response at the time, I could post up to four articles daily and started several series.

"Sharing" became a crucial part of my life—not only did it help organize my confused, foggy thoughts, but fortunately it brought some influence. As I wrote more, people noticed my interests, and I created value for others. I was invited to speak, publish books, and teach courses, gradually stepping onto the "personal brand" path.

In 2019, a publisher invited me to publish a book and suggested I organize offline events to engage my audience. So I started hosting cross-disciplinary book clubs using the PechuKucha format: each person gives a presentation of 20 slides, 20 seconds each, for a total of 6 minutes 40 seconds, sharing a book and its connection to their life story. It grew from one event per three months to eight per month, transforming from an event into a community, then from a community into a brand—eventually attracting over 200 paid monthly subscribers. Meanwhile, I also started taking on PR cases for media, but that wasn't my main focus.

(Photo: April 2019, the first cross-disciplinary book club)

The cross-disciplinary book club was my second turning point over the decade. My day job was entry-level media writing—just write articles and conduct interviews, then you're done. But my side hustle involved leading 200+ people in a community, constantly thinking about how to adjust mechanisms and build organizational culture. I was organizing events during vacations. The identity conflict between work and side projects made me frequently make mistakes. For the first time, I realized I couldn't keep juggling multiple roles.

In 2020, besides publishing my first book "Life Isn't a Multiple Choice" that year, the online course platform ShengXian ShiShu invited me to teach. I was terrified at first, so I declined. But the founder Aka, my senior, perhaps sensing I'm a Projector (in Human Design), directly created a group chat and pushed the filming timeline. I not only became one of ShengXian ShiShu's first five instructors but the course attracted over 500 students. My royalties were comparable to my annual journalist salary of around 500K. Suddenly I realized life isn't about quietly completing your job responsibilities to be seen—you must create value.

(Photo: 2020, first book launch sharing event at Dcard)

In 2021, after switching between six full-time positions over four years, I officially quit my media job, taking a 100K COVID-relief loan as my startup fund and diving into entrepreneurship. I thought, "If I fail, I can always return." One month after resigning, my cross-disciplinary book club transformation plan won a Taipei City subsidy grant of 700K, which convinced me that entrepreneurship was my answer.

(Photo: One month after quitting, I won a Taipei City government subsidy grant)

In 2022, I published my second book and two online courses. With annual revenue around 3 million, just as I was preparing for a major push, personal health issues led to psychological struggles. I was hospitalized for several days, emotionally wounded, facing choices between reality and dreams.

Running the cross-disciplinary events involved website updates, fundraising, organizational management, platform transitions—all things beyond my capability at the time. Life was filled with anxiety. Though friends came to my rescue, I knew deep down that wasn't something I could handle. Meanwhile, PR and media work continued smoothly—this required no additional skill-learning and allowed me to earn while leveraging my expertise. To let my fragmented self heal, I paused the book club and moved toward PR company work. I wrote to members promising I'd find a way back someday. Recently, a good opportunity has appeared that fills my heart with gratitude.

During this period, I designed a new annual PR and media service plan and pitched it to three CEOs. One was the owner of Lao Lai Tea Stand (a chain bubble tea brand with over 100 locations). Three months after my pitch, they initiated contact. After our meeting, the boss said, "Let's go with Plan A. Can we start tomorrow?" Looking back, this moment was my third turning point.

2023 Introspection and Gathering My Broken Pieces

While focusing on PR work, both internal and external struggles from the previous year left me emotionally wounded. I avoided the public and social media—skipped events, didn't take photos or check in even when attending. A product I developed lost 500K. Reality's punch brought me back to a low, unconfident state. I left personal growth activities, replacing them with metaphysics, inner exploration, self-dialogue, and spiritual healing. I explored everything: Purple Star Astrology, Tarot, Bazi, natal charts, Human Design, Mayan calendars, Dennison Brain Gym, soul dialogue, and theta healing. The final stop was a psychological counseling workshop. Walking out of that classroom, I suddenly felt everything was fine. And I continued forward. (Annual revenue around 4 million at this time)

Simultaneously, my online course team accompanied me in launching an AI application era course. I clearly understood that GPT's prompt foundation is "Chinese writing," and combined with my strength in contextualizing knowledge, I completed the course that year when GPT first launched.

2024 Self-Repair and Focus

In business, I've always wanted to scale up, but I'd never managed people before. Running a solo operation for so long, I had no idea how to lead a team. Entrepreneurship is lonely—I just knew how to bury myself in work. But I actively searched for solutions, wanting to read and study more, so I started preparing for the EiMBA entrance exam.

That same year in March, pressured by relationship imbalances and worries, I realized my body had gained nearly 20kg since entering the workforce—I'd bumped into tables while walking, unable to gauge body distance. So I started Pilates, and after 20 sessions I loved it and felt happy. I suddenly thought this could be franchised. After checking financial costs, I found six like-minded partners and opened KX Pilates in Tianmu. This was my second company, and I lost the weight too.

I could make this decision instinctively because I'd taken on Lao Lai Tea Stand in 2022 and thoroughly understood franchise operations. That's why I say that moment was a turning point.

(Photo: KX Pilates Tianmu location opening!)

Since PR projects were always under my personal brand name, which felt inappropriate, in May I decided to separate them and established my third company, Auby Widen PR Consulting.

In June, through work connections, I encountered Korean cheerleading. Combining my past experience studying in Korea, 10 years in competitive cheerleading, and PR expertise, I took on talent PR collaboration.

From this moment onward,

Every choice made out of necessity became rocket fuel.

Life's scattered points wove into a surface.

Only then did I see clearly: "Your choices are your answers."

2025

Work has been overwhelmingly busy. As a freelancer, I restored regular work hours and reorganized my team. After experiencing several unsuitable people, ineffective contracts, and poor attitudes, I reflected on myself and confirmed the issue was mine. I overhauled recruitment, internal training, and project management. Now I'm not only welcoming energetic and positive shareholder partners but also working with joyful business partners. I optimistically believe we'll keep improving—a feeling I've never had before.

Through persistent effort, I was finally admitted to NTU EiMBA, surrounded by genuine, incredibly loving classmates (114 cohort). Every day is filled with happiness and emotion. Simultaneously, I'm finally learning business knowledge in a structured way. This is the most fulfilling time for mind, body, and spirit in this decade.

(Photo: NTU 114 cohort—bringing so much joy and positive energy to my life)

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

Every moment I was willing to move through and escape self-doubt, unwillingness, depression, and resentment.

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

25-35: A Decade of Growth

Age 25: Who am I? Where should I go?

Age 30: Who do I want to become? How do I achieve it?

Age 35: I am me, and I am here.

Create a better life through choices.

November 2025, traveling with a national team athlete :)