YouTube is a social media platform that has forever changed what we consider to be “entertainment.”

The site launched over a decade ago, back when Mariah Carey topped the charts and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the hottest movie of the year. Since then, YouTube has become a place where over a billion users find information on how to do pretty much anything and everyday people can gain a significant following by creating easily digestible content. If content creators play their cards right, they can even make being a Youtuber into a full-time career. Vincent Tse was able to make that jump with his tech product review channel EXCESSORIZE ME.

Unlike many of the youngins today that aspire to become YouTubers when they grow up, Vincent had no such plans. In fact, Vincent earned his degree in industrial engineering and had a full-fledged career in digital advertising before his YouTube channel took off. He could’ve taken a more traditional career path and pleased his parents with the stability that a 9-5 lifestyle brings, but there were bigger things on the horizon for this entrepreneur.

Vincent has always had an innate ability to side hustle, no matter how busy he’s been with other endeavours. During his time as an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, he would flip GoPro’s and sell them for a much higher price. This little business led to an unexpected opportunity to work in digital advertising after a fateful encounter with a woman who was selling a GoPro.

Vincent explained, “I met this one lady selling a GoPro on Kijiji and just so happened to be an executive at this digital advertising company. I chatted her up, and she gave me her business card. I looked up her company, emailed her back that night, then went in for an interview. I got hired the next day, did a three-month internship, then stayed on another five months full-time.”

Vincent’s stint in digital advertising didn’t last too long, and he quickly came to the realization that he just wasn’t cut out for that world. It did, however, teach him a lot about things like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube that would come in handy in the very near future. Vincent left his digital advertising job without applying to do anything else and only had a written blog at the time. The blog wasn’t really cutting it for him either, and he divulged, “A common stereotype for engineers is that they hate writing and that was definitely true for me, so I decided to try video. I put out a random YouTube video reviewing something I had lying around at home. I enjoyed doing it.” Just like that, EXCESSORIZE ME. was born!

Shortly after Vincent’s first video was posted, he did a DIY video about a glow in the dark iPhone case that blew up and opened his eyes to the possibilities of doing YouTube full-time.

He stated that “After that one video blew up, I thought I’m going to take a year, try to build this up, and if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, I can always go back to the workforce. I did have the privilege of living at home and not having any bills to pay, so that helped. After that year, it continued to grow.”

Today, Vincent’s EXCESSORIZE ME. channel has over 200,000 followers, and it’s his full-time gig. His channel features stellar product reviews and shots that are up to professional videographer standards (he’s completely self-taught). Vincent has found his passion in video as a communication medium and takes pride in the fact that his videos are ones that you can watch with or without any audio.

As for his favourite part about working at Project Spaces, he explained, “I usually shoot in my room. I moved to Project Spaces because I wanted to move my studio out of my room and separate work from life. For me and for anyone who has their own company, you don’t go 9-5, it’s 24/7. Having a dedicated place to work is great because I can say when I’m here I’m working and when I’m out of here, I forget about it.”

If you want to work in a space with fellow creatives like Vincent, book a tour at Project Spaces today! To see Vincent’s latest finds and/or product reviews, check out his Instagram page and YouTube channel. Oh ya, and Vincent also disclosed the best gear for fellow entrepreneurs to use – here they are:

1. PopSocket‍

2. Heroclip

3. Mous iPhone Cover

4. Moleskine

5. Evernote

6. Leatherman FREE T4

7. KeySmart Pro

8. Apple Watch or G-SHOCK

9. Distil Union Wally Micro or Bellroy Card Sleeve