Courtesy of Ellen Yin
- Ellen Yin quit her job and started a social media marketing agency in 2018.
- Her husband, laid off in 2021, now manages their household, allowing Yin to focus on her business.
- Despite the financial stress on Yin, she says the arrangement works well for both of them.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ellen Yin, a 30-year-old business owner based in Oregon. Business Insider has verified the financial claims. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
During my junior year of college, I cold-pitched an apparel company on Instagram to be a content intern on their PR team. The role was unpaid at first but became a paid part-time position and then my first full-time job.
I stayed until they restructured and let go of their staff — that was my first experience getting laid off.
In March 2017, I landed a marketing and PR coordinator position at a healthcare company. At this job, I met the man who would become my husband. Now, he also manages our household while I run my own business.
I worked at the second job for less than a year before quitting on my own accord
I quit my job without a backup plan because I felt my creativity was stifled in that role. My husband encouraged me to quit when I wasn't happy.
I planned on applying for new marketing positions, but during my job search, I landed a freelance marketing client.
He was a former colleague, and he and his wife also owned two local coffee stands. They heard that I understood social media marketing.
They were my first clients and paid me $300 for my first project. I landed two more clients through referrals and scaled into a boutique social media marketing agency.
I formed an LLC in January 2019
After finishing 2018 with $88,000 in revenue, I went all in on entrepreneurship. That summer, I started my podcast, "Cubicle to CEO."
Courtesy of Ellen Yin
I let go of all but one of my agency clients by the end of the year and decided to no longer offer services. I created digital products and training courses for freelancers and a product called Hashtag Hacks, which brought almost 9,000 new students into our ecosystem.
We now operate as a media business model with our podcast as the flagship product. We have two full-time employees and occasionally use contractors.
Our revenue was more than $550,000 in 2023, and I hope to grow that this year. My take-home pay after business expenses is also in the six-figure range.
My husband was laid off in late 2021 and hasn't worked since
When I left my corporate job, my husband still worked at my former company. After he was laid off, he started consulting with my dad's biotech company when needed, but for the most part, he's just been responsible for all our household tasks.
We decided mutually that he should have that time off. My husband has worked his whole life, so it was nice to give him time to pursue some of his other creative pursuits. He has since finished writing a film script, which he'd never done before.
I travel a few times a month for speaking gigs, so having him at home to support and manage the household while I'm gone has been helpful. We're unsure if we want to have children but are open to the idea and leaning toward yes. If we do, we'll re-evaluate our working arrangement.
Courtesy of Ellen Yin
We talk about our arrangement often
My husband does everything — laundry, house cleaning, and driving me to places and the airport. He enjoys cooking, but we probably eat out more than we should. In our discussions, he's said he doesn't have any resentment.
He's good at taking care of a lot of the household labor in a way that I'm not naturally good at. It allows me to stay in my lane and focus my time and energy on what I'm best at to provide for us financially.
He also works one to two hours a week in my business on recurring content tasks, like our podcast transcripts, populating different links in our blog posts, and helping our content manager with anything administrative.
I started my business when I was 23, and I just turned 30, so it can feel like a lot of pressure
Being the sole income earner in our family can be stressful at times; it would be unrealistic to say that it's not. Over the last few years, we've purchased a home, bought two cars, and had a wedding. I've also made investments as an angel investor. However, this arrangement is what I feel is best for us despite the stress.
Being the breadwinner has not impacted our relationship romantically. We're both extremely honest; if we feel something, we'll communicate directly about it to each other, and we don't hold stuff in.
It's been helpful to be married to someone who sees our marriage as a partnership and is not intimidated or feels any ego about the financial piece of it.
I'm proud that we're a debt-free household outside our mortgage
We always discuss big life decisions and decide together. Our money is our money; we share it equally, and it's a pooled account.
My ultimate goal is to sell my business one day, and we're working toward that.
I'm the eldest daughter of 1st generation Americans and immigrants. Growing a business and being a female breadwinner has been my greatest personal development experience.
Want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com.