Contact

Stories

June 9, 2024

SHARE:

In today’s digital age, the online world is filled with countless content creators and influencers, all trying to make their mark. Yet, only a few manage to create real impact, and Zoe is one of them.

With over 3 million YouTube subscribers under the name “zoeunlimited,” Zoe has built a dedicated community through her insightful content on fitness, fashion, dating, and navigating the complexities of girlhood. Her work has even caught the attention of celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo, who stated that she watches Zoe’s videos all the time. In just 14 days, Zoe doubled her subscribers from 1 million to 2 million, when she was creating videos as a hobby outside her 9-to-5 job.

Read through as we learn more about Zoe’s secrets to success as she shares it in detail with Asian Hustle Network.

ABOUT ZOE

I am a multiformat creator navigating girlhood with my Gen Z and Millennial community. My goal is to encourage women to tap into their unlimited potential by thinking critically via my pop culture video essays about beauty, fashion, and confidence.

I grew up in China and Canada and came to LA initially to study Business Economics at UCLA. The different cultural environments I grew up in gave me broader perspectives on the various pop culture topics I’m interested in and inspired me to share that vision with the unlimited community to learn and grow together.

ZOE’S JOURNEY AS A CONTENT CREATOR

Growing up, I’ve always been artistically driven and drawn to creative mediums like fashion, film, and fine arts. Scared of becoming a “starving artist,” I didn’t pursue fashion and studied Business Economics instead, but I always felt like something was missing.

I was very fortunate to discover YouTube as a creative outlet after college and began documenting my life in video format. I always make videos on what I’m interested in at the moment, which was a lot of fitness, college, and even CPA content at the very beginning. Throughout time, I discovered that the central theme of all my content revolves around growth – in becoming fitter, healthier, more confident, more reflective, and so on. My community of mostly women feels like a precious friend group to me and I realized through interacting with them, that many of us are going through similar challenges in our girlhood and there’s much more to share and discuss than just my personal journey.

With that, I began creating my video essay series that served as a discussion ground to think critically about topics many could relate to, including beauty standards, dating, and fashion. Girlhood is such an intriguing and confusing experience in the modern setting, and I just hope to create a community where women feel seen, heard, and not alone when encountering the ever-changing concept of how to be a modern woman. I don’t have the answers but I hope to create a safe space for all of us to explore and reflect!

RAPID GROWTH AND STRATEGIC SUCCESS

Although part of the growth (growing subscriber count from 1M to 2M in 14 days) was extremely rapid, the story before the lift-off was a consistent grind of weekly uploads for 3 years as a pure hobby. The tipping point always feels exciting and amazing, but what truly felt rewarding was 3 years of building something I love.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES AND CELEBRATING MILESTONES

I’d say one of the biggest challenges was the lack of initial support and understanding from my family. It was painful for me to see something I love doing creating a chasm in my relationship with the people I love, but I’m grateful that we have cleared past misunderstandings and grown close again. I’m so grateful for the community that stuck with me as well as my closest friends who believed in me even when I had a lot of self-doubt, especially during the years I felt judged and not understood.

BALANCING AUTHENTICITY AND PRIVACY

I love and respect the people closest to me and want to protect their privacy as much as possible online. When it comes to my own journey, I believe my community comes with a good heart, and I see them as good friends I can confide in. So even when it comes to moments that aren’t the most glamorous and the failures I’m not extremely proud of, I do want to share that experience if I know someone can benefit from it by feeling less alone or could simply learn from the mistakes I’ve made.

That’s the goal with my Healing Diaries series, where I share some of my biggest struggles including my health, mental health, and dating. I hope to normalize talking about uncomfortable topics and reduce any shame or guilt for anyone going through a similar experience.

BUILDING “UNLIMITED THOUGHTS” AND A COMMUNITY

The most rewarding moments are the ones when I get to meet my followers in person and learn about their journeys and goals. I’m beyond grateful for a community of kind and driven women who have allowed me to tag along with them on their growth journeys. Some are in college, some just landed their third job, some are going through heartbreaks, and some are creating amazing art and inspiring many people including me.

It was really sweet when a subscriber told me how one of my videos in the “Unlimited Thoughts” series inspired her to write a final paper that got her an A. That brought me way more joy than hitting my personal milestones. The love and passion for turning ideas into something that others can enjoy watching and perhaps benefit from, make all the blocks and times of doubt worth it.

WINNING A SIX-FIGURE INVESTMENT FROM CREATORDAO

I had a major imposter syndrome moment because I entered the contest without expecting to win.

It was a huge encouragement to be more confident in myself as a creator and a wake-up call to think bigger. An advice I’d share with other creators is to trust that you are way more capable than you think. Do not limit yourself.

LOOKING AHEAD

I wish to continue improving my storytelling and critical thinking as a creator to bring hope and joy that people can feel and pass on.  

Whether it comes to future content projects or a brand that I launch, I wish to uplift my community and support them in building their self-confidence and identity. I’m excited to explore many more unfamiliar areas in content I haven’t tapped into yet, including podcasting, to challenge and expand my own limits.

A MESSAGE OF REPRESENTATION AND EMPOWERMENT

When I first began making videos about pop culture, I felt a little out of place given the limited AAPI representation in beauty, fashion, and entertainment. It is exactly for this reason that I must show up more in this space to bring my unique narrative shaped by my multicultural experience of growing up in China and Canada. 

Authentic self-expression cannot occur without bringing forward the full self, and that includes our beautiful heritage, no matter what that is for each individual. As Lucy Liu said at the Gold Gala “You never know how far just a little bit of support can carry you.”

It resonated with me so much because I cannot imagine how far I’d come without that initial bit of support. I hope to be that supporter for my community and help them break out of their previous limiting beliefs.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It warms my heart to see more and more women and members of the AAPI community daring to dream big, not just in content creation, but in all facets of entrepreneurship. I hope to use my platforms to further support these creators and entrepreneurs, who are sharing the spirit of breaking limits and redefining what’s possible.

CONNECT WITH ZOE

YouTube: zoeunlimited

Instagram: @zoeunlimited

TikTok: @zoeunlimited

LinkedIn: @zoeunlimited

Related Articles

Image Source: Liezel Nudalo Formentera

Uncategorized

Filipina Mom Started Her Career Selling Vegetables Got Her Degree At 32 To Become A Teacher

Liezel Nudalo Formentera is now ready to work toward achieving her lifelong ambition in the field of education.

Formentera works as a street vendor in Cebu, Philippines, and hopes to improve her family’s situation someday. The only way she can see doing so is to further her education and get a better job. She could not finish elementary and high school, but she was determined and decided to join the DepEd’s ALS (Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System) program. 

ALS is a parallel learning system in the Philippines that gives students an alternative to the formal education they already got. She didn’t have to miss out on her primary education because of ALS.

In 2018, Formentera finished high school, and she began to sign up for college. She went to Cebu Technological University to earn a Bachelor of Industrial Technology with a major in Computer Technology (CTU). 

Because she also has to look after her children while she is in school, there were times when she felt physically exhausted from her work. They also experienced financial difficulties, but her farmer husband assists and supports her. There were times when she wanted to give up on her studies when times were tough, but she considered her children and the life she has worked so hard to provide for them. Thus, she worked harder for it.

She understood that there is no age limit on learning. Today, she remains overjoyed and grateful that she never expected to graduate from college. “Life is like this when you are confronted with hard times; simply pray to the Lord, and your blessing will arrive when you least expect it. This is for my children and my hope for the prosperity of my family. My children will not face poverty as I did.” – she happily shared with their local newspaper, The Philippine Star.

  • 2 min read
Image Source: Business Wire

Uncategorized

Takashi Cheng Honored With A Special Award For Exemplary Initiatives On Elevating The AAPI Creator Community

The Gala hosted by the Asian Business Association was in full swing during the evening spent celebrating AAAPI contemporaries. The evening’s events revolved around the concept of authentic old Hollywood, and its guest list included several famous personalities. 

Takashi Cheng was honored with the Media Visionary of the Year Award, one of the night’s main highlights. He is one of the business leaders from the Los Angeles community who highlights the accomplishments of prosperous business owners and corporations and has contributed to advancing the ABA’s goals and mission. 

Cheng serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Society One. He is known to be a creative investor and a public intellectual. Cheng has seen many ups and downs, but he credits his success to the American Bar Association (ABA), which he calls a shelter for young professionals seeking mentorship and employment. He attributed a significant portion of his success to the support of his wife and their young children.

Cheng’s Bling Empire castmate and friend Kane Lim called him a visionary. Lim is proud and happy that Cheng is in the spotlight for investing in people and projects that aim to elevate the Asian community. He is amazed at how Cheng invests in people and projects that seek to promote the Asian community.

Besides all the recognition that night, Cheng modestly used his platform to show the world that a large investment in the AAPI creator community is needed to provide a perspective and a complete spectrum of content that better understands the underrepresented. 

Cheng pledged $100 million to create new films, programs, resources, and infrastructure for Asian American business leaders. This showed Society 1’s support for AAPI creators. He concluded that he had “come full circle” from being a spectator in the crowd to receiving recognition from highly regarded community members.

  • 2 min read
Image Source: Amberlyns Cake / Danica Lynne Casta

Uncategorized

How An Engineering Graduate Trades Hard Hats For Pastry Becomes 6-Figure Baker

For Danica Lynne Casta, an engineer by profession turned baker, success was hers after she risked taking a big step outside her comfort zone. She now manages her online cake business under “Amberlyns Cake.”

The Filipina baker had just graduated from university when the pandemic struck. Danica began to reconsider her professional goals in baking when her family had financial difficulties, so she looked for a short-term position in the online world.  

Danica had limited experience in baking. But through hard work, she persisted in her quest to become a better baker until she became well-known for her delicious “bento cakes”.

The bento cakes were not only delicious but also the perfect size and price for those watching their spending. She also recently launched a “Selfie Mirror Cake” featuring a real mirror on top of the cake. So, you can take one-of-a-kind mirror selfies while taking a snap of your scrumptious cake.

In only one month, she turned a profit into double digits. At that moment, she knew that baking was her true calling in life. “I told my family that I was quitting my job and would be a full-time baker from now on,” she told The Philippine Star, a digital newspaper in the Philippines.

As of writing, Amberlyns Cake (@amberlynscake) got over 178k followers on Instagram and Facebook.

  • 2 min read
Image Source: CNBC Make It

Uncategorized

25-year-old Who Earns Half A Million Per Year Proves That No One Is Too Young To Be A Real Estate Investor

This millennial will inspire you with his quest for financial independence. Sahil Mehta earns $515,000 a year flipping houses in addition to his full-time job at Golden Gate Sotheby’s.

Mehta grew up in a low-income household. He moved to California at 16, where he started college and graduated early to launch a successful career in real estate. Today, he has already put five rental apartments into the real estate market in Berkeley and has been able to make a profit from them.

He acknowledges that prospective investors require substantial capital even to enter the game. One essential thing he considers in investing his money is making deposits into a personal retirement account. Now, Mehta puts a lot of money into himself and puts away about $10,000 monthly for real estate investments. 

The 25-year-old also invests $1,500 per month, while most financial advisers recommend saving 10% to 15% of income for retirement. Brilliant move to put some of it in an IRA, where it can multiply at 6% to 8% every year.

O’Leary, chairman of O’Shares ETFs and a judge on the new CNBC show “Money Court,” was impressed by Sahil Mehta’s connotations to stock market strategies. “That’s what you’re putting aside for your nest egg when you turn 65.”

  • 2 min read