Hyu Kawabe has quit a six figure roofing job to pursue a career as a vlogger on YouTube
A 22-year-old Oakleigh tradie has ditched the tools and a $120k a year pay packet to make it big on YouTube. Read his story.
South East
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A 22-year-old tradie from Melbourne’s southeast has given up a six-figure salary to take the ultimate punt online.
Hyu Kawabe from Oakleigh has put a roofing business, which saw him pocket about $120,000 a year, to the side to pursue a career as a vlogger on YouTube.
According to a study completed by UK newspaper The Sun, 75 per cent of children aged between six and 17 put becoming YouTubers down as their most desired profession.
Mr Kawabe made the leap of faith about a month ago, documenting his contemplation and the weeks leading into his final day as a roofer in vlog style videos on his channel which has about 1100 subscribers.
He said while people may think he was crazy for giving up a “comfortable” arrangement as a tradie, it was his passion for videos which overrode any concerns for him.
“If I focused solely on roofing, I could’ve made $200,000 a year,” he said.
“When I started making that kind of money I thought ‘how good is this?’ but I just didn’t like the job.
“It sounds crazy and ungrateful, but I just couldn’t care less about the money I was making.
“I just wanted to do YouTube”.
Nor is Mr Kawabe deterred by the competition on the platform.
About 500 hours worth of content is uploaded on YouTube every minute from 51m channels around the world.
His plan is to release daily vlog videos on the platform, as well as using TikTok to draw viewers into subscribing.
In terms of making money Mr Kawabe said he would need to get about 100,000 views per video to making a good living off ad revenue.
Sponsors, affiliate deals and merchandise are among the other financial streams where YouTubers can earn money
But right now, his biggest priority remains “making good content” and “being courageous”, while inspiring others to do the same.
“A lot of people aren’t super ambitious and maybe opting to take the safe option and I want to push people to think bigger and outside the box,” he said.
“I’m super excited … every day I wake up and get super hyped about it because you’re working towards something that’s really special”.
