What happened when Khe Hy escaped Wall Street and transformed a 36-person email list into an entrepreneur company that earned

Find out how the creator Khe Hy left a job at Wall Street to find fulfillment and turned the email address of the 36 people in his group into a creator-business worth $500k in the process.

"Come to work-life harmony, keep on for your daily routine."

It's the tagline not officially licensed for designer Khe Hy's RadReads website. The site is a way that helps people lead healthier, more productive and examined lives through courses, content and also a network.

"So the majority of research is focused on the "how". How can I use a text expander? What kind of platform to use? These are crucial concerns, however we employ those as a Trojan horse in order to get into your 'why'," Khe explains.

Yet, Khe hasn't always identified as a creator or an businessman.

Presently, Khe works with a group of specialists to expand and spread his message. A cohort-based program, Supercharge Your Productivity can be found every 3 months (over 560 individuals have enrolled).He provides business advice via The Rad Studio and is developing a group of previous students and alumni. The creator has been active since the year 2007.

How did he come to get here?

"It was the greatest of times. It was also one of the darkest times. My job was as an analyst who had a quantitative background on Wall Street."

When he was a kid, Khe had a clear plan for the future of his life. His parents were Cambodian as well as French immigrants, helped him put his concentration on his studies for stability and joy.

"We're providing you with lessons in violin. We'll get you SAT tutors. It's going to be gymnast during your spare time. And then if you're lucky and you're accepted by Yale," Khe remembers.

"And once you've completed your studies at Yale and you'll be a major in engineering and you'll get an occupation and it'll remain stable and comfortable and you'll live a happy life. And we'll all live happily forever after. This was precisely the path my parents took me and had wished for me."

Image Source Khe's Twitter account (@khemaridh)

Thus, Khe went to Yale. He was a computer scientist and economics, and was then provided with a lucrative job at Wall Street. He was successful and also advanced his profession, which culminated in a promotion to the position of Managing Director, when he was 31 -- among the youngest executives in the company's profession.

"So I've got all these things however there was that nagging feeling of emptiness. Now I can stay at the five-star hotels instead of one with four stars. This means I no longer need to research the price of this drink at a nice bar." Yet a more profound feeling of happiness and peace wasn't present.

"I was unsure of what I was looking for However, I was extremely frustrated by this idea. I was feeling depressed. I didn't feel satisfied."

There's never been a moment where Khe felt that "something needs to be changed" However, there was a common pattern that he noticed in the course of time: "Most people [on Wall Streetconsider life to be the game played by zero sum. But I don't fundamentally believe that , which is why I was at odds with my philosophical beliefs with others."

Khe began to think "Is this the end of it? Do I have to keep doing it for throughout my entire life?" He was scared of spending the rest of his days going through the motions.

"And I acknowledge the honor of claiming that," he adds.

"I am in the top 1 or two percent in an industry. It's a question of the kind of thing I'm seeking?

However, I was looking at other individuals who were 15 years younger than I was. The houses they lived in were in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the kids of all of them went to Andover where they played squash, among other things.

I believe that's a wonderful life. But it's not my style. I don't want that -However, I was unsure exactly what I was looking for."

Khe realized he was required to change his plans.

"If 5 percent of my life gives me all the happiness I need How can I devote all of my time bring to make my life better?"

"I have always been fascinated by computers and creating items ... That was when I started a blog anonymously , where I posted on fashion and music and wireframe all sorts of websites" The author explains.

"They did not have the intention to create companies because I didn't identify as an artist and did not identify as an businessman. The more likely explanation was that I'm an Wall Street person. What I'm good at is Wall Street. This is what I'm good in. The industry actually recommends that you stay within your own circle."

However Khe discovered that playing with electronics brought him more joy than his job in finance. There was a plenty more. "These jobs that took less than 5 to 10% of my time were giving me that joy you feel when you reach hundred," he says.

The more unsatisfied he became with his job as a result, the more he started thinking about his side-projects. The wheels started to turn: "If 5% of my time brings my happiness, What else could my effort bring to me?"

In May of 2015, following 14 years of working on Wall Street, Khe quit.

A number of colleagues about to be fired from their jobs have told Khe that leaving an executive position at the top of Wall Street without another finance gig planned was an unusual decision -- but also a big chance.

"I was a mother of one year, and I took 18 months of savings, I explained to my wife "that's comparable to an angel investment. '

If it drops to zero however there's a tiny possibility that it could have incredible returns. This incredible return might result in me figuring out what I'd like to do throughout my career."

The very first edition of the newsletter came out in the month of January 2015, as Khe was on vacation from the Wall Street job. He read some interesting content online, and decided to share them with his acquaintances, so the author created an email via Gmail and sent out BCCs to 36 individuals.

The subject is: "Some Rad Reads from my recent vacation."

Khe ended the email concluding the email by saying "Not sure when I'll find an opportunity to send the next!"

They loved it, and asked him to send another one. So he did. And when he announced his decision to leave the firm and his blog was the opportunity for the rest of the Wall Street peers to follow the journey.

"As I announced my resignation my employer, I got many questions like 'oh, what do you plan take on?' I responded, 'I don't know ... but if you need to know the projects I'm working on I've put together this monthly publication.'"

The publication became a medium to express Khe's creative side during the first couple of months he was off work.

"Within the initial five issues, I named the magazine RadReads. The focus was in mixing  90s Street Surf hip hop into all of the things we did. This is a cool way to incorporate a style that was that is inspired by surf culture as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was me just having fun with it."

By the time Khe together with his family and wife returned back from their trip, the newsletter had grown from the initial 36 who were subscribed to the newsletter using Gmail to more than 500 people who had subscribed to Tinyletter.

He designed a logo, color scheme, as well as a template for RadReads. "All of them were minor projects that kept me productive and immensely enjoyable" Khe remembers.

"I consider that to be the most important thing. I was enjoying so much pleasure. I had a blast. 18 months was to just do things that made me feel like I had great fun."

Khe added a short essay at the top of every email. "I didn't know if it was something I was actually writing and I was a bit afraid to show my work in front of the world," he admits.

His followers loved his honest view. He had built a loyal group of followers with faith in himThey started asking for more.

"Coach us about what you did to gain the confidence to live an unorthodox life."

Many people started to ask Khe to be their coach. He was surprised. What could he instruct the students? Finance? "I'm simply a guy writing an email newsletter and has no clue about the best way to earn money by doing the same thing," he recalls.

"But we were told, in hindsight, 'coach us in how you gained the courage to live an extraordinary lifestyle.'

Then I began to realize it was my own subconscious that I was actually an effective way to promote whatever it was I was able to deliver. It was the most popular and sought-after was coaching."

"My personal story was more important than any credential that I could offer these people," the author explains. "They believed they were close to me because they were used to getting my messages into their mailbox every week."

Selling coaching helped Khe extend his initially 18-month period until the time limit was reached. "I wasn't making a lot of money, but I did earn enough. With the money I saved, I was running on water which allowed me to walk on the water for quite a long period of time."

Another major event for Khe this year?

CNN has named the man "Oprah for Millennials ":

A year and a half since Hy left Wall Street, no one thinks he's crazy anymore.

He gave an TEDx speech on TEDx in London in October. A number of top firms like hedge funds asked him to speak to their workers about what has he learned from his personal experiences over the past two years. Snapchat users are active on the platform. Snapchat user is active on Snapchat updating daily with information ...

The news site for businesses Quartz has employed Hy as its first "professional resident" for September, to create a piece "about efficiency and how we do our work" and to organize the evening. Hy is already organizing regular Happy Hours as well as volunteers opportunities to Rad Readers to get connected to their fellow readers on a daily basis.

Then, Bloomberg published an analysis of Khe also. Following the publication of these two pieces, Khe's email went to thousands of subscribers.

"I was able to talk with amazing individuals, and learnt this all-new art of video production recording and editing audio, as well as being an interviewer, and telling stories and presenting... It was everything was slowly beginning to take shape. All of them were helping to improve coaches in their field."

Following that, Khe started telling his attendees the benefits of Notion which is a collaboration tool for workspaces. application. "The tech nerd within me said, "oh the goodness, this is absolutely one of the greatest things to ever take place.'"

People started asking him questions regarding Notion on Twitter He would then post a video that lasted a minute as a reply. The Notion community loved the instructional videos and Khe was thrilled to share his experience.

"They were telling us 'learn us the features'," Khe describes. "But the question they were looking for was 'can you convey the passion you feel for this into our hands? and translate your enthusiasm into something we can benefit from?"

Based on this, Khe decided to create an online course for training.

From courses to coaching "Just make your own unique mix of who you are to be, and it will turn out to make you your most effective."

He began to think about a new course Khe was looking to his mentor and colleague who worked in productivityTiago Forte. Tiago had successfully launched his own course. That's why Khe wanted his advice on what he should teach? What would his subject matter be?

Tiago's advice to Khe: "Just do your bizarre mix of who are, and that will make you the most individual."

It was a process that took Khe time to focus on the peculiar mixture. Initial versions of his flagship Supercharge Your Productivity course were solely focussed on Notion.

Khe was one of the best Notion experts in the world the class he was in promised to assist users in understanding what they can get out of each option.

"I was naive in marketing ... Additionally I've had a personal issue with it. It felt extremely icky. Marketing felt manipulative. I was not looking for someone to make them feel smug about themselvesand to say, "Hey, purchase my product.'"

While he was developing the program and continuing to engage with his audience, Khe realized that he could eliminate some of the disadvantages of marketing and provide courses for sale.

"I discovered that I'd created an advertising system that didn't look icky. It's believed to give people vitamins, and sell these painkillers.'

I wanted to sell vitamins. I didn't want to enter the business of painkillers. I also shared my private life with such detail and in the way I did, I actually was selling was an actual vitamin. This was an genuine vitamin."

His followers loved his candor. They wanted to know more. In addition, Khe found that his pupils wanted to know more about the ways the man's life was lived.

Supercharge Your Productivity began to be not so much all about Notion and much more about the way you live.

Instead of providing advice and instructions on the applications, Khe started asking his students to consider philosophical questions "Why is it that you are interested in these products? What is the reason that you're in your personal way? What is the reason you don't complete projects? Why do you struggle with prioritizing?"

He took Tiago's advice -- "do your own unique mix of who you are" -- and altered his program to what he described as "this weird method of living my values which are partially and out of sync."

"You have mastered all productivity applications, yet, you're still the same person who surfs each day, and hasn't even set an alarm for three years. And you manage a very profitable firm." What did he do to manage this?

Khe showed his class the way the way he views prioritization setting goals, managing time and achieving them through the "$10,000 work" framework . The students were encouraged to implement these concepts to their lives and they succeeded and achieved great results.

"I'm making better decisions quickly and with greater confidence than ever before," wrote one alumni . "The course paid itself off within the first week however, the value continues to grow every month."

"This is more than just a productivity class. It's about finding out what is important to you, why it's crucial, and what is the most efficient way to plan your time to do the things that matter," said another.

Today, Khe runs Supercharge Your Productivity in a group-based program which runs from four to six weeks 3 times per year. It costs between $1500 to $2500. It is the core of RadReads company, which makes up most of its revenue.

and Khe hosts the whole thing on .

"It seems like you're in it for the long game."

What made Khe decide to switch?

Another reason is that He was extremely proud of his appearance.

"One aspect that immediately attracted me was the style of the style. It's so symbolic of how I would like to look. It really can be a method of enhancing design and customer experience."

Self-described productivity junkie, Khe also likes how easy makes it to accomplish things. "Other platforms are just many aspects in play. It's difficult to determine what you're searching for," he notes.

The most significant thing is that Khe appreciates how strikes an equilibrium between being creator-centric and product-centric.

"I do not really understand the philosophy of other businesses," he says, but he could tell right in the beginning that the company is "maker-focused". "It is like the business plays the long game. It is a team that has been bought to be successful."

"I prefer products with features that are really well thought out. Now that I've become more in tune with an organization focused on product I've come to realize the importance of being product-centric however, at the same time being very customer-centric."

Do you have an interest in developing and selling online courses like Khe? Get started for no cost by using the 14-day trial for signing up to our weekly demonstration here.

Some tips for the young creators: "Find the medium that brings you to life."

The main suggestion Khe gives to the newcomers: Pick one you're sure that you will like, and commit with the idea for the full 25 weeks.

"Creators are obsessed with the things that they create," he shares. RadReads is in its 327th year , and Khe continues to be awed at the quality of his every week's writing. "I still look for the essay on a Saturday every week in an email."

If you don't see something stick for the course of twenty-five weeks could mean that you aren't enjoying it.

It could also indicate that some hobbies you are passionate about will be hard to sustain over a long period of time.

"If I were requested to create an article about artificial intelligence, also known as NFTs, I wouldn't be able to handle it. I just don't care about these things," Khe describes. "There's nothing that can force me to write about NFTs for 25 straight weeks."

Khe advises you to determine which part of the spectrum of specialists and generalists. Contrary to what is commonly believed, he thinks that being more of generalist can have advantages. It helps keep things interesting.

"A large majority of the major people in our field have told me, 'if you're looking to scale quickly focus on your strengths'. It is possible to be the person with X. Do not play The Notion guy. For me, it's easy to pigeonhole myself that way, (A) because I know the dangers to my business when doing this , but if I were the only person to do only one aspect, I'd become bored. It's not something I'm willing to do. I'm not going do this for myself."

Khe Hy has been running RadReads for the past seven years.

He's tried coaching, classes email, Snapchat stories, writing as well as consulting, podcasting, and even been called "Oprah for Millennials." His first project was sending emails to 36 people , and has since built an entire team that teaches hundreds of people how to live a great life.

The message he teaches from his experience is easy: "Find the medium that will make your be alive."

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