We were lucky to catch up with Ellen Yin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ellen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

For almost 5 years now, I have publicly disclosed through both written reports and quarterly episodes on my podcast (Cubicle to CEO) exactly how much income my business makes, spends and profits every 90 days. I believe that transparency is key to leading the way for others to succeed and elevating women to continue smashing the glass ceiling. When women candidly discuss their finances with one another, we all become more empowered to negotiate confidently, ask for higher rates, and make better informed decisions to invest in ourselves and our businesses.

To help normalize these conversations and break the money taboo, Iʼve candidly shared my own journey to bootstrapping my business to over $2.5 million dollars in lifetime revenue as a female founder and woman of color. I read a report in Forbes that only 2% of female founders ever break the 1 million revenue mark, so I believe it is my responsibility to pay it forward by sharing what I’ve learned so that other women know it’s possible for them and how they can do it too. The encouraging feedback I’ve received from women all over the world who have been inspired to reach for more or discuss their finances within their own communities makes the vulnerability and effort to produce our income reports, worthwhile.

Ellen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My own journey from “Cubicle to CEO” (which inspired the name of our media platform and podcast) began when I quit my corporate marketing job in 2018, without a backup plan. After landing my first freelance social media marketing client a month into my job search, I swore off sending out resumes for good. Even though that initial client project only paid $300, it opened my eyes to the possibility that I had a skillset I could monetize outside of a traditional job.

Since that accidental jump into entrepreneurship, my business has evolved drastically over the past 6 years. The first two years in business, I scaled my freelance social media marketing work into a six figure boutique marketing agency with dozens of clients, mostly in the direct to consumer brand space. Then in late 2019/early 2020, I let go of most of our done-for-you marketing clients to make a pivot from services to online education. For the next 3 years, we primarily created courses, coaching programs, and online events teaching women how to market their small businesses with small audiences and a bootstrapped budget like ours. The education arm of our business has enrolled and mentored more than 11,000 students at this point.

Then in early 2023, we made our second big pivot from online education company to media company. As a business media platform, Cubicle to CEO amplifies underrepresented voices in business media – particularly women and women of color founders – through our top 100 entrepreneurship podcast, weekly newsletter, website articles, and social media. We create our content through the lens of financial transparency by asking featured founders “the business questions you CAN’T Google.” We don’t gate-keep this valuable content behind paywalls, opting instead to partner with aligned brand sponsors to keep our flagship content (the podcast, weekly newsletter, and online articles) free to our audience. We do also offer paid digital products and a private membership for CEOs of small businesses who want access to exclusive cash savings, a collaborative community, and expanded content or learning opportunities.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Borrowed traffic is my favorite strategy for getting in front of new audiences and growing your clientele. This strategy works by leveraging other people’s platforms – like speaking on stages at in-person or virtual events, guest speaking inside people’s programs or communities, guesting on podcasts that reach your target market, cross-promoting or collaborating with other leaders in your niche, building a strong affiliate program etc. – to reach existing audiences of your ideal clients and customers without having to solely rely on growing your own followers or email list.

You want to think creatively about who (whether it’s an organization or individual) you can partner with that serves a similar audience as you from a complementary angle. Be especially aware of any brands that are product-strong but content-weak, which gives you a golden opportunity to lead with value and fill a gap immediately in how they’re serving their audience.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I have never purchased an existing business, BUT I did recently make my first angel investment in a startup that I own a percentage equity in now. This deal was a great example of a full circle moment and why relationships are your greatest asset in business. The founder of the company was actually one of my first social media clients back in my company’s agency days in 2018. I had led the social media strategy for her previous business that had a successful exit, and now years later, she offered me the opportunity to be an early investor in her next big venture. It was really thrilling to learn a whole smorgasbord of new investment terms as a first-time angel investor, and I worked with a wonderful attorney (shoutout Mary at New Wave Law) who specializes in early-stage investments to help me with contract negotiations.

The brand (Soursop Nutrition) just pre-launched in November, so I don’t have a ton to report on yet, but I look forward to sharing what I’m learning through my “behind the business” content on my podcast (Cubicle to CEO) and inside our private membership (The C-Suite).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cubicletoceo.co & https://ellenyin.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/missellenyin & https://instagram.com/cubicletoceo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-yin/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/cubicletoceo
• Other: https://link.chtbl.com/cubicletoceo

Image Credits
There are different photographers to credit for the different photos, as follows: Headshot, Canvas 5, Canvas 6: WorkPlay Branding Canvas 1: Great Room Studios Canvas 2: Sehee Kim Canvas 3: Kajabi Canvas 4: Create & Cultivate