In a recent reflection on his career, Alex Costa, a former employee at YouTube, described quitting his job as the toughest, scariest, and ultimately, the best decision he has ever made. His journey is a testament to the power of pursuing ones passions and the risks that often accompany significant life changes.

During an exclusive conversation with Business Insider, Costa recounted his initial excitement when he was hired by YouTube to work in their gaming division after navigating through a rigorous selection process that included six rounds of interviews. For him, this moment marked a significant milestone in his life. However, beneath the surface of his job satisfaction lay another ambition: to become a full-time content creator.

Before joining YouTube, Costa had already begun his journey into content creation, having started a channel that garnered about 130,000 subscribers. While this was an impressive milestone, he felt it was still not enough to venture out on his own. Fortunately, his time at YouTube proved beneficial, as the company allowed him to continue developing his channel while employed there, enabling him to grow his fanbase further.

In the summer of 2017, Costa experienced a significant shift in his content focus. Growing weary of gaming, he began pivoting towards men's grooming and fashion videos, spurred by viewer inquiries about his personal style and hair care. Despite having no formal training or deep-rooted passion for fashion, he found the concept of self-improvement compelling and resonated with his audience. This change proved to be a turning point; those grooming and fashion videos outperformed his previous gaming content, leading to increased visibility and brand collaborations.

With a clear goal in mind, Costa set out to save $100,000, which he viewed as a threshold necessary to take the leap into full-time content creation. By the end of 2017, he achieved that financial target. Early in 2018, he walked into his director's office to announce his decision to leave YouTube. His director had anticipated this moment but was surprised by the timing, not realizing it would happen so soon.

The transition to becoming a full-time content creator was not without its challenges. Costa admitted to feeling immense fear at the prospect of leaving behind the stability of a corporate job, but he had no alternative plan; his focus was solely on making his new venture succeed.

Within a year of leaving YouTube, Costa began to reap the rewards of his decision. He secured one of his first six-figure brand deals with Old Spice, alongside other lucrative partnerships with companies such as Whoop and Amazon. Remarkably, in the year following his departure, he earned five to six times his previous salary from YouTube, marking a significant turning point in his financial life.

His passion for hair care led him to launch his own brand, Forte Series, which he bootstrapped entirely without external funding. The brand quickly gained traction, selling $50,000 worth of product within the first month and a half of its launch in October 2019. To date, Forte Series has expanded to include eight full-time employees alongside Costa and his co-founder, Brian Yang. Significantly, the brand reported an impressive $3.8 million in sales on Amazon in a single year, excluding other sales platforms and channels such as Shopify and approximately 100 barbershops worldwide.

Looking ahead, Costa projects that Forte Series is on track to achieve $10 million in revenue by 2025. However, the journey has not been devoid of setbacks. He disclosed that an ambitious attempt to launch separate brands for skincare and clothingnamed Apricus and Aetosultimately backfired, leading to costly mistakes. The skincare line has since been integrated into Forte, while the clothing line has ceased production. The overlap in resources among multiple brands stretched his team's capabilities thin and distracted from the success of Forte, which was his primary focus.

Initially, Costa felt embarrassed to admit his failures to his audience, fearing disappointment among those who had supported him. Thankfully, he found understanding among his supporters, which alleviated some of the pressure he felt. As he reflects on his entrepreneurial path, Costa acknowledges that one of his greatest fears as a content creator is becoming irrelevant. He thrives on variety and adaptability, considering himself a 'chameleon' in the industry. Recently, he started a new YouTube channel dedicated to sharing his entrepreneurial journey, demonstrating his desire to offer more than just style tips.

Ultimately, Costa's mission transcends mere entertainment; he aims to instill confidence in men through his content and product offerings. He views his work not just as a career but as a means to provide value and support to young men looking to improve themselves.