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 * 04-21-22
 * creative control


HOW A NETFLIX SOFTWARE ENGINEER TURNED CREATOR IS PUSHING BACK AGAINST HUSTLE
CULTURE


MAYUKO INOUE LEFT HER CAREER IN SILICON VALLEY TO FOCUS ON BEING A YOUTUBER
FULL-TIME. HERE’S HOW SHE’S HANDLING JUMPING FROM ONE BURNOUT TO THE NEXT.

[Photo: courtesy of [Photo: courtesy of Mayuko Inoue]
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

More Like This
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By KC Ifeanyi3 minute Read

Listen to the latest episode of Fast Company’s Creative Control podcast on Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like anyone, Mayuko Inoue craved a stable career, which she found working as a
software engineer in Silicon Valley. She also found burnout. So, after nearly
six years working for Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix, Inoue decided to become a
full-time YouTuber in 2020.

It’s certainly not lost on her that she essentially hopped out of the fire of
hustle culture in tech into the fire of hustle culture in the creator
economy—all during a pandemic.

advertisement



“I had a terrible experience with panic and anxiety when I was doing that,”
Inoue says in the latest episode of Fast Company‘s podcast Creative Control. “I
was completely changing my value set. Ever since I was a teenager, I was like, I
want to build stability in my life. I’m gonna make risk-averse decisions that
help me live a good, stable life. And becoming a YouTuber is anything but stable
in a lot of ways.”


PICK AND CHOOSE YOUR BURNOUT

In 2017, Inoue started her channel after noticing there were a lot of coding
tutorials on YouTube, but not many videos about what it’s like being a software
engineer.

“Technology in general often has this [perception that] it’s this really
intense, hyper-competitive world, which is true,” Inoue says. “But I was like,
I’m thriving. I feel like I’ve made it to some extent. And I also don’t want
people to get scared off by that really intense culture, because there are so
many parts of tech that aren’t.”



Thriving as she was, Inoue was also getting the sense that she was hitting a
ceiling as a software engineer. Building her YouTube channel offered new skill
sets in engaging with an audience, editing videos, and so forth. So, even though
at the time she was working at Netflix as an iOS engineer, and it was “an
awesome job” with “nothing wrong with it, per se,” Inoue quit to devote her time
to being a content creator.

“The one thing that I know about burnout is that it can happen when your
interests and your value set don’t align with what you’re doing day to day,”
Inoue says. “And to me, I was just like, if I keep working as a software
engineer [at Netflix], it’s going to lead to burnout sooner rather than later. I
could see it happening, because it’s happened before. I could probably still
burn out on YouTube. But I felt like I had a little bit more control over a lot
of that because I was gonna work for myself.”


DO THE HUSTLE . . . CORRECTLY

Of course, working for yourself grants a certain amount of flexibility. But
becoming responsible for not only the main product of your business but all the
minutiae behind it can drag you deeper into burnout by feeding into the
mentality of hustle culture where work supersedes everything else in life.



Inoue bought into hustle culture while working in tech, which she says led to a
series of panic attacks that, along with therapy, forced her to reevaluate her
relationship to work.

“For me, it’s been about finding a better balance of what that is, and also
hustling on the things that I want to, and not because I was told to,” Inoue
says. “The thing about hustle culture is sometimes it feels like you have to
hustle just for the sake of hustling.”

“The important thing is to do that inner work, inner reflection,” Inoue
continues. “What do I wanna hustle for? What are the things that I want to
learn, and how can I get opportunities or create instances for myself to learn
those skills and to stretch myself out of that comfort zone?”



A 2021 study found 90% of creators had experienced burnout, and 71% said it made
them consider quitting altogether. It’s evident burnout in the creator economy
is a pressing issue. Inoue’s hope is that, as conversations around mental health
get louder, there’ll be a shift among creators to make more intentional content,
as opposed to resigning themselves to what they think would work best for an
algorithm.

“The bias is just to do more, just constantly be outputting things,” Inoue says.
“Maybe we can take a step back and commit to less, but work in a way that we
want. I kind of feel like the world would look really differently if we all did
that.”





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KC covers entertainment and pop culture for Fast Company. Previously, KC was
part of the Emmy Award-winning team at "Good Morning America," where he was the
social media producer.

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 * FASTCO WORKS
   
   An award-winning team of journalists, designers, and videographers who tell
   brand stories through Fast Company's distinctive lens

FC Executive Board
collections


 * FAST GOVERNMENT
   
   The future of innovation and technology in government for the greater good


 * MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES
   
   Fast Company's annual ranking of businesses that are making an outsize impact


 * MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE
   
   Leaders who are shaping the future of business in creative ways


 * WORLD CHANGING IDEAS
   
   New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic
   system


 * INNOVATION BY DESIGN
   
   Celebrating the best ideas in business

Newsletter
Events


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Courses and LearningAdvertiseCurrent Issue
Current Issue
SUBSCRIBE
Follow us:

advertisement

advertisement

 * 04-21-22
 * creative control


HOW A NETFLIX SOFTWARE ENGINEER TURNED CREATOR IS PUSHING BACK AGAINST HUSTLE
CULTURE


MAYUKO INOUE LEFT HER CAREER IN SILICON VALLEY TO FOCUS ON BEING A YOUTUBER
FULL-TIME. HERE’S HOW SHE’S HANDLING JUMPING FROM ONE BURNOUT TO THE NEXT.

[Photo: courtesy of [Photo: courtesy of Mayuko Inoue]
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

By KC Ifeanyi3 minute Read

Listen to the latest episode of Fast Company’s Creative Control podcast on Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.

advertisement

advertisement





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like anyone, Mayuko Inoue craved a stable career, which she found working as a
software engineer in Silicon Valley. She also found burnout. So, after nearly
six years working for Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix, Inoue decided to become a
full-time YouTuber in 2020.

It’s certainly not lost on her that she essentially hopped out of the fire of
hustle culture in tech into the fire of hustle culture in the creator
economy—all during a pandemic.

advertisement

advertisement


“I had a terrible experience with panic and anxiety when I was doing that,”
Inoue says in the latest episode of Fast Company‘s podcast Creative Control. “I
was completely changing my value set. Ever since I was a teenager, I was like, I
want to build stability in my life. I’m gonna make risk-averse decisions that
help me live a good, stable life. And becoming a YouTuber is anything but stable
in a lot of ways.”


PICK AND CHOOSE YOUR BURNOUT

In 2017, Inoue started her channel after noticing there were a lot of coding
tutorials on YouTube, but not many videos about what it’s like being a software
engineer.

“Technology in general often has this [perception that] it’s this really
intense, hyper-competitive world, which is true,” Inoue says. “But I was like,
I’m thriving. I feel like I’ve made it to some extent. And I also don’t want
people to get scared off by that really intense culture, because there are so
many parts of tech that aren’t.”

advertisement


Thriving as she was, Inoue was also getting the sense that she was hitting a
ceiling as a software engineer. Building her YouTube channel offered new skill
sets in engaging with an audience, editing videos, and so forth. So, even though
at the time she was working at Netflix as an iOS engineer, and it was “an
awesome job” with “nothing wrong with it, per se,” Inoue quit to devote her time
to being a content creator.

“The one thing that I know about burnout is that it can happen when your
interests and your value set don’t align with what you’re doing day to day,”
Inoue says. “And to me, I was just like, if I keep working as a software
engineer [at Netflix], it’s going to lead to burnout sooner rather than later. I
could see it happening, because it’s happened before. I could probably still
burn out on YouTube. But I felt like I had a little bit more control over a lot
of that because I was gonna work for myself.”


DO THE HUSTLE . . . CORRECTLY

Of course, working for yourself grants a certain amount of flexibility. But
becoming responsible for not only the main product of your business but all the
minutiae behind it can drag you deeper into burnout by feeding into the
mentality of hustle culture where work supersedes everything else in life.

advertisement


Inoue bought into hustle culture while working in tech, which she says led to a
series of panic attacks that, along with therapy, forced her to reevaluate her
relationship to work.

“For me, it’s been about finding a better balance of what that is, and also
hustling on the things that I want to, and not because I was told to,” Inoue
says. “The thing about hustle culture is sometimes it feels like you have to
hustle just for the sake of hustling.”

“The important thing is to do that inner work, inner reflection,” Inoue
continues. “What do I wanna hustle for? What are the things that I want to
learn, and how can I get opportunities or create instances for myself to learn
those skills and to stretch myself out of that comfort zone?”

advertisement


A 2021 study found 90% of creators had experienced burnout, and 71% said it made
them consider quitting altogether. It’s evident burnout in the creator economy
is a pressing issue. Inoue’s hope is that, as conversations around mental health
get louder, there’ll be a shift among creators to make more intentional content,
as opposed to resigning themselves to what they think would work best for an
algorithm.

“The bias is just to do more, just constantly be outputting things,” Inoue says.
“Maybe we can take a step back and commit to less, but work in a way that we
want. I kind of feel like the world would look really differently if we all did
that.”


advertisement

advertisement

advertisement

advertisement



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KC covers entertainment and pop culture for Fast Company. Previously, KC was
part of the Emmy Award-winning team at "Good Morning America," where he was the
social media producer.

More




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IMPACT

Impact


JETBLUE IS STAGING A HOSTILE TAKEOVER OF SPIRIT. WHAT WOULD A MERGER MEAN FOR
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS?

Impact


WHY AUSTRALIA HAS HAD ONLY ONE MASS SHOOTING SINCE 1996

Impact


THIS FUND WANTS TO GIVE YOU $100,000 TO LAUNCH YOUR CLIMATE TECH STARTUP QUICKLY


NEWS

News


90% OF ASIAN AMERICANS WORRY ABOUT BEING ATTACKED AS ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE AND
HATE CRIMES SPIKE

News


JOBY AVIATION STOCK JUMPS AFTER AIR TAXI COMPANY NABS CRITICAL FAA CERTIFICATE
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

News


THE POLLING IS CLEAR: AMERICANS WANT BACKGROUND CHECKS


CO.DESIGN

Co.Design


THIS INGENIOUS TOOL HELPS CITIES AVOID RABID NIMBY ARGUMENTS OVER HOUSING

Co.Design


EX-NIKE DESIGNER BUILDS A BOOT THAT COULD PREVENT 80,000 AMPUTATIONS A YEAR

Co.Design


AS TEMPERATURES SKYROCKET, BARCELONA HAS DEVISED A SIMPLE (AND REPLICABLE) WAY
TO KEEP PEOPLE COOL


WORK LIFE

Work Life


YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK HELPS NO ONE IF YOU TRIGGER THIS EMOTIONAL REACTION

Work Life


YOUR BIPOC EMPLOYEES ARE SICK AND TIRED OF GETTING ASKED THIS QUESTION

Work Life


HOW TO FUTURE-PROOF YOUR JOB BY THINKING LIKE A FUTURIST

 * Advertise
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms
 * Notice of Collection
 * Do Not Sell My Data
 * Permissions
 * Help Center
 * About Us
 * Site Map
 * Fast Company & Inc © 2022 Mansueto Ventures, LLC
 * 





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