The Leap: Turning down a six-figure job

Charlie Andersson

Oct 24, 2018 • 2 min read

Presented with the choice of following your dreams with financial insecurity or a six-figure job, which would you take? That’s a question that YouTubers Kara and Nate faced at one point during their YouTube career.

In a world where passion is encouraged, dreams can become reality and doing what you love is on everyone’s mind - in the real world, it’s not always so easy to just DO those things. But it’s a choice that Kara and Nate made, and they haven’t looked back.

The Leap is a series we are producing that documents the lives of people that took that final leap into becoming full-time creators. It’s a leap many want to take, but few recognize the dedication, work ethic, sacrifices and struggles that may come with that decision. Kara and Nate are a prime example of creators that took the leap! The married couple are travel YouTubers that currently have over 400,000 subscribers. 4/5ths of which subscribed during 2018. We caught up with them to learn their story.

Their story stems from a random opportunity to film a strangers wedding. With no previous camera, they opted to film everything they possibly could. On returning home, they also didn’t have any experience with editing. But, with a summer to work on the project, they did end up delivering a final product - their first video. That first video became the stepping stone into their future career.

Originally, they planned to travel for ONE year and told friends family and friends about their decision. They saved money, sold off possessions and kept their focus on the goal of travel. YouTube hadn’t even been in the original plan, but last minute they decided to do it. After posting their first travel vlog, the two fell in love with it. As YouTube became an important mix in their travels, they decided to extend their plan. Instead of traveling for a year, they opted to make a plan to travel to 100 countries by 2020.

Financial limitations are often at the forefront of anyone wanting to travel, and Kara and Nate are no exception. In fact, after their first year, the couple had little money left to spend on travel - $75/day. They went home for a short period of time to plan the path ahead. That’s when Nate was approached with a job offer that would see him paid six-figures, but it would mean the travel plans would have to be put on pause.

Ultimately, their passion for travel and sensing opportunity on YouTube helped with the decision. They opted to continue to make their passion into a career. Then, all doubt was put aside when they won a Shorty Award, one of the most well-known awards for YouTube creators.

Songs featured in this episode, and available on Epidemic Sound:

The Leap is filmed by Florian Land.