In the early 2000s and 2010s, joining news sites like CNN or The Wall Street Journal was a big deal. People trusted these platforms for updates and analysis.
Today, with the rise of creator-driven content, things are different. Instead of anchors on TV and journalists with newspapers, it’s independent writers, vloggers, and social media creators who share news and opinions directly with their audience.
Becky Isjwara, who is the Head of YouTube for Ali Abdaal, dubbed the world’s No. 1 productivity expert, knows this shift well. She moved from traditional journalism to the creator-driven content world.
In recent years, she has watched many journalists leave established news institutions to pursue independent reporting. Some succeed, some do not, but they often gain more control over how their work reaches people when they approach it like content creators.
“I believe this is the future,” she says. “Younger audiences are turning to podcasts and YouTube, while TV viewers are older. Consequently, more advertising money is following the audience (in this case, to podcasts and YouTube), and media consumption is moving toward these digital spaces.”
Becky wanted to study journalism, but her parents insisted she pursue a degree in business and finance instead. Source: Becky Isjwara
When a love for writing outran a degree built on finance
Becky grew up in a household where entrepreneurship was part of everyday life. Her parents encouraged her to pursue a degree in business or economics.
But Becky was drawn to words and stories. Writing came naturally to her, and she always knew she wanted to study journalism. However, she ultimately chose a degree in business and finance to please her parents.
Even with a business degree, her path led to journalism.
“I remember writing an essay for a humanities class, and the professor commented, saying I was an excellent writer and asked if I’d ever considered pursuing a career in writing,” Becky says. “That comment stuck with me, so I applied to every journalism opportunity I could find. The ones that accepted me were mostly reporting on banking and finance, since that was my background. That’s how I got started.”
After graduating from HKUST Business School, Becky spent seven years reporting on banking and economics. She excelled at fast-paced reporting, trained to write articles within minutes of press events or economic announcements.
But the banking world moved slowly. Compliance rules, IT restrictions, and delayed approvals began to frustrate her. Tools like Notion, essential for her creative work, were off-limits, and her productivity felt constrained.
Though the pay, benefits, and brand recognition were strong, she realised she needed environments that allowed faster growth. “One of my previous managers told me that the first 10 years of your career are when you should aim for astronomical growth,” she says. “If something feels limiting, you should keep moving. As a result, this is my fourth job in seven years. I kept hitting ceilings and moving on.”
Becky found the work structure at banks to be slow and restricted by strict compliance rules, which led her to seek a new direction. Source: Becky Isjwara
Transitioning to creator-driven work
After securing the job as Head of YouTube for Ali Abdaal — a doctor turned entrepreneur and the world’s most-followed productivity expert with 6.5 million subscribers on YouTube —, Becky faced a steep learning curve, transitioning from journalism to creator-driven content. She was accustomed to approvals, tight controls, and standardised processes from her time at the corporate level. Everything had a clear path and a clear owner.
Then she stepped into content creation, and it felt chaotic by comparison. There were fewer rules, faster decisions, and a lot more experimentation.
As she spoke to people in the creator industry, her assumptions began to shift. Many told her that her team was actually more structured than most. Other creators, she learned, often worked without plans or systems at all. That contrast surprised her and forced her to recalibrate what structure really meant in this space. Even basic communication felt different from what she had known.
What stood out most was how openly work could be shared. “For example, with YouTube, there’s a backend called YouTube Studio where you see analytics,” she says. “I can screenshot that and post it on LinkedIn. In a bank, I would never be able to do that. I wouldn’t even be able to post a photo. They’re extremely strict.”
That openness changed her mindset. She could demonstrate progress, ask questions, and build relationships in real-time. The pace was faster, and the feedback loop was immediate. While she understood why legacy organisations needed restrictions, she wanted to move quickly and test her limits in this new environment.
Becky wishes she had started writing earlier, rather than worrying about being perceived as biased. She thinks she should have started on LinkedIn, Substack, or a newsletter. Source: Becky Isjwara
Want a career in media? Don’t rely on traditional outlets
Becky believes that aspiring journalists should consider starting their own channels instead of focusing only on legacy media organisations.
“I’ve been encouraging my friends in journalism to post short videos on LinkedIn or start a Substack newsletter,” she says. “There’s such a huge opportunity being wasted when people focus solely on building a reputation for a media organisation that may not last. It’s sad, but funding for quality journalism is shrinking, and fewer people are actually consuming it.”
She often refers to NYU professor, tech critic Scott Galloway’s idea that ‘the smaller the screen, the bigger the opportunity’. Reaching a mobile-first audience can be more effective than relying solely on traditional platforms. Legacy roles are valuable, but they should not prevent someone from building an online following.
“Creating your own content forces you to learn a lot of skills: sales, marketing, writing attention-grabbing hooks, engagingly presenting to a camera, editing short-form content effectively,” she says. “You get much closer to the delivery of the content, and that hands-on experience makes a huge difference.”
