Yahoo Finance 
Why I became a YouTuber and not a science teacher after graduation
SINGAPORE — Unlike many, Shawn Fang, 27, knew exactly what he wanted to become when he was just a polytechnic student. Until he changed his mind after graduation, and then again in university. Now, he runs his own YouTube channel, Little Red Jungle, an educational channel focusing on nature and wildlife in Singapore.
He shares his journey with Yahoo Finance Singapore.
“I’ve always been inspired by National Geographic and had dreams to work there. I studied mass media in polytechnic for that reason, and my appreciation for nature probably stems from there too. However, after graduation, I took up an internship at a media company and realised that the media industry in Singapore wasn’t what I had envisioned it to be. So, I decided to do a career switch.
I became a freelance science teacher and realised I liked educating people. Hence, I decided to study Biological Sciences in university and become a science teacher after graduation.
Nearing the end of my university life, however, my interest in ecology was rekindled. Everything just clicked. The modules I took in university taught me a lot about local nature and wildlife and how to adapt information for different audiences. My inspiration for Little Red Jungle was thus born.
Little Red Jungle just seemed like a very natural pathway to marry the two things I loved – media and teaching. I realised that a lot of Singaporeans didn’t know much about the wildlife and nature that surrounds them everyday, so I wanted to focus on ecology in Singapore. Creating and filming my own videos also meant that I would have full creative control over the content I produced, which was important to me.
Hence, when I graduated university in 2020, I set up Little Red Jungle, a one-man team hoping to educate both Singaporeans and foreigners in a light-hearted way about Singaporean nature and wildlife.
My initial goal was to be profitable after a year, but one year on, although Little Red Jungle is still in the red, I realised that my pace right now is an acceptable one. I’m going to give myself another year to earn some revenue. In the meantime, I’ve invested about S$3000 to S$4000, with most of the costs coming from advertisements, equipment, and subscriptions such as Premiere Pro.
Meanwhile, I do freelance videography and tuition on the side, with the bulk of my income coming from tutoring. I do worry about my finances, especially because I’ve had to turn down tutoring jobs that required me to spend more time than I could afford on it.
My worries grew during COVID-19, when I lost almost all my students overnight. From tutoring five students and earning S$1,500 per month, I was down to one student and had to survive on my savings. Recently, I set up a Patreon, a monthly membership platform that creators use to get funding directly from subscribers for their work, so I do earn a bit from there too.
Over the course of Little Red Jungle, I’ve definitely worried about whether I’ve made the right choice, especially when I look at my friends with stable jobs and see how financially comfortable they are. At the end of the day, I am putting a lot of time and effort into Little Red Jungle and have yet to reap much financial rewards. But what keeps me going is the encouraging comments from viewers. When I see them commenting on my videos, it allays my worries and makes me think that maybe Little Red Jungle was not bad of a choice after all.
Right now, I hope to be able to monetise my YouTube videos in a year’s time, which means I either need to hit 1,000 subscribers or 4,000 watch hours in a year. But beyond that, my long-term goal is for Little Red Jungle to become a registered company and to hire a team of people. I also hope to expand it into a brand where I can educate Singaporeans on various issues, such as disabilities like deafness.
My biggest challenge is still expanding my reach on YouTube, but I think I’m happy with where Little Red Jungle is now. The small wins do make me happy and I’m glad people are learning something from my videos.
Overall, although it’s hard operating a YouTube channel by myself, I do see the potential and value of Little Red Jungle. I don’t really regret anything either. I feel that every decision I make has something I can grow and learn from, even if it ended up being a bad decision. For example, if Little Red Jungle doesn’t end up working out, I can still use my YouTube channel as a personal portfolio.
For anyone thinking of striking out on their own, I say go for it, but make sure you have a plan before jumping in headfirst. For example, I made sure to plan my branding, content, and direction of my channel before launching it.
Also, make sure to divide your time wisely between earning money through side hustles if needed and working on growing your business. But keep in mind that money is only one factor in the pursuit of your passion. Take the leap of faith – what’s the harm in trying to pursue your dream?”
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