Speaking With Charlie Chang: Inspiring Others Through Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship

About Charlie Chang

Charlie Chang is a YouTuber with channels that focus on personal finance and entrepreneurship. He uses his platform to chronicle his journey towards building wealth and helping others grow and develop their understanding of personal finance and business. He is also the owner of Paired Recruiting, an overseas talent staffing agency, and the founder of the Chang Family Foundation that supports aspiring entrepreneurs. You can follow Charlie on YouTube or Instagram.

1) You come from a science background. What inspired your journey towards creating content around financial literacy and business?

I grew up in a super frugal household and I think that's what got me motivated to make money, invest, find the right credit card, stuff like that. After graduation with a degree in psychobiology and not getting into med school, I started documenting my entrepreneurship and money journey. I had always been into films and doing photography, so it really was a perfect fit.

2) Outside of creating personal finance content, you're an entrepreneur. Tell us about how you got started in business?

After graduating from college and getting rejected by all the med schools I applied to, I decided I would just work for myself. Since I was in LA away from my family, I knew I had to make money to pay rent and continue living there. I was tutoring, doing photography and video, modelling, attending auditions, building my Amazon FBA business and a ton of other stuff. Anything to get by!

I loved the lifestyle and I realized there wasn't much content on YouTube teaching others how to stray away from the traditional 9-5 like I had done. So yeah, one of my biggest passions nowadays is teaching others entrepreneurship and encouraging them to stray away from the conventional job system.

"One of my biggest passions nowadays is teaching entrepreneurship and encouraging people to stray away from the conventional job system"

3) YouTube is a vast platform with everybody competing for attention. What advice would you give potential creators in terms of how they can stand out and build a following?

Have a unique character that stands out — it's really all about standing out. Also, get really good at making videos that explain things in an easy-to-understand format.

4) You also help people navigate the entrepreneurial journey through coaching, courses and community. What are some of the most common conversations you're having with people during these interactions?

Some of the most common conversations revolve around getting over limiting beliefs, as well as being held accountable. I think a lot of people can easily get information nowadays (it's everywhere!), but the thing they struggle with is more internal. I think one of the most important things I do is tell people they can do it, and then actually give them some pressure to take action.

Sorta like "Hey, I'm watching you! You gotta take action and stay consistent!"

5) You seem to be big on giving back as you've set up a foundation under your name. What is the overarching goal of the Chang Family Foundation?

The big goal of the Chang Family Foundation is to help entrepreneurs get started with their service-based business. I'm a big proponent of getting into entrepreneurship with a service-based business that doesn't cost too much to start. So we basically give out $1000 grants to people so that they can get a head start with their service-based business.

The hope is that money can encourage people to take the leap of faith and start working for themselves!

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