Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Qian.
Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It’s been a roller coaster journey but my story started when I was laid off from my previous career at Goldman Sachs. I experienced a pretty big loss of identity and purpose that I think is common with people that follow the “safe route” and work in corporate America most of their lives.
This led me to diving into my growing hobby of photography at the time, which coincided with the growing popularity of social media and posting on Instagram. Fast forward to today, it has become the sole reason why I was able to establish my personal brand and put my work out for the world to see!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. Having to change not only my career but my entire identity and worldview was really taxing and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone nor would I probably do it again given the choice. It was a journey that taught me a lot about mental health and how fragile it can be, but also about how rewarding that journey was at the end of that tunnel. I am a much stronger person, entrepreneur, and artist because of it.
Financially it wasn’t easy either, but having my back against a wall helped motivate me to achieve my goals.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a photographer, content creator, filmmaker, community builder, and now creative financial coach.
My first love and main focus is photography and have had the fortune of working with some of the biggest brands in the world on commercial content and social campaigns in this space. What set me up to enjoy these milestones today is my heavy involvement in heavily investing in my community through building local brands such as Chi.Shooters where we hosted galleries, meetups, and photoshoots – a culture which eventually expanded to multiple cities worldwide!
Because of the reach of these platforms, I now specialize heavily in helping brands cultivate their own communities through the use of social media and organic content creation.
I am probably known most for being a very authentic creator, that isn’t afraid to share my failures to balance the perfection people always see on their social media. I’m really proud to be that role model in my pursuits because life just isn’t perfectly curated like that.
All this has now come full circle as well, where I have bridged the gap in my previous finance career and this new creative world I’m a part of to help artists become the best versions of themselves through smart investing and financial literacy!
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I think the biggest thing I realized is mentors aren’t meant to last forever. And to always seek genuine relationships where they have no transactional intention in mind.
Being objective in taking advice, while applying what makes the most sense and making my own decisions has never failed me. It has led to mistakes, but you learn the most from those!
Pricing:
- (Brand) Monthly content creation packages – starting at $4,000/mo
- (Personal) In feed reel/story promo – starting at $2,500
- (Personal) TikTok promo – starting at $1,250
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wayfaringprofessional.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/_alexqian
- Twitter: Twitter.com/_alexqian
- Youtube: Youtube.com/@_alexqian
- Other: Tiktok.com/@_alexqian
Image Credits
Alex Qian, Paradigm Shift Media LLC
