How Ellen Yin Went From Working In A Cubicle To Being The Founder Of Her Company

Born in Chengdu, China, Ellen Yin is a 27-year-old Asian American who made a big leap in her career in her early 20s. Less than 10 months after starting her role as a marketing coordinator for a local healthcare company, Ellen quit her cubicle job and took the risk of founding her own marketing company, best known for its brand elevating female entrepreneurs, Cubicle to CEO™. 

Cubicle to CEO™ is an online membership helping coaches, creatives and service providers make their first $10,000 revenue month. Through her online marketing programs and services, she has mentored over 9,000 entrepreneurs and worked with several Fortune 500 clients. 

The name was inspired by Ellen’s own journey of profitably bootstrapping her business from a $300 client project to seven figures in revenue in just three years.

From Accidental To Bonafide Entrepreneur 

After graduating with her Bachelor’s degree, Ellen’s first full-time job was a self-created marketing and PR role at a fitness company that she connected with through Instagram. 

“They weren’t hiring when we first met, but I pitched myself for an unpaid internship my junior year of college and that turned into a full-time paid offer upon graduation,” she shared. 

Ellen was quickly launched into the world of marketing, and not long after ended up on the marketing team of a large healthcare company at the age of 23. That was her first and last corporate job. She only lasted 10 months in a cubicle before she quit her job in 2017 without a backup plan. 

“I am a self-professed ‘accidental entrepreneur’ who always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but never had the intention of starting my own business until I landed my first freelance client about a month after I had quit my job,” she said. 

Right then and there, Ellen decided to stop applying for new jobs and acquire new clients instead. Within her first 12 months in business, she had scaled her marketing agency to six figures and continues to double her company’s revenue every year since. 

Creating Social Impact Through Storytelling

Aside from running her company, Ellen is also the host of the award-winning Cubicle to CEO Podcast, a weekly business show that has been downloaded in over 100 countries worldwide.

Through her media platform, Ellen highlights female voices and stories to empower listeners with the knowledge of how they can create their own  career opportunities and accelerate the growth of their businesses, sharing actionable strategies from interviews with well-known thought leaders, founders, and CEOs. Over the years, the podcast has left a positive impact on the lives of many listeners.

Ellen has received messages from loyal listeners that write in to share how listening to the podcast helped give them the courage to leave a toxic work environment to start a business, or how a member is celebrating their first $10K month milestone, among other inspiring stories. 

“Those real-life conversations with people whose lives are changed by the work we do are what makes all of this worth it,” Ellen said. 

For more information, visit www.ellenyin.com. Listen to the Cubicle to CEO podcast on www.ellenyin.com/podcast.