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Hi! I'm Daliana Liu

Join 21,000+ subscribers to read the career lessons from my 7-year experience at Amazon and my solo-founder journey as a content creator and coach.

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I did a bad job

Hi friends, I know it's a weird title but let me share a story first. When I was in Amazon, there was a time when I worked on a project for 2 weeks. Optimized the font and color of every chart. Finally showed my manager the results. Then he told me I'd misunderstood the requirement and the priority had changed. It was the most frustrating experience, and I learned one of the most important lesson: show my work early - even if it's embarrassing. Even if I think it's bad. After I started doing...

Hi friends, A lot of people ask me: "I want to be more visible online. What should I even post about? I don't have anything unique to say." I get it. When I started posting, I felt the same way. I remember sitting at my desk at Amazon thinking, what do I even know that other people don't? I'm just another data scientist. There are thousands of us. What could I possibly say that would matter? But I started posting anyway. Just writing about what I was learning in my day-to-day. Real problems I...

Hi friends, Recently, I feel I need to slow down after the holidays. Family and vacations were great, but it's not really "relaxation". I need some "me time" to do absolutely nothing. And I feel guilty about reducing my work because we were told to challenge ourselves. Push our limits. Never take the easy path. And look, I get it. I spent years at Amazon doing exactly that — taking on the hardest projects, proving I could handle things I'm not good at, and showing I belonged at that level....

Hi friends, This year, I lived in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, and eventually moved back to San Francisco. People ask: "What's it like being a digital nomad?" Here's what I don't usually say: it felt lonely. It's ironic that as someone with 300k followers, I could reach thousands online but felt completely isolated in person. No office, no structure. Just me, my laptop, and rotating coffee shops. In New York, the city felt too big, too anonymous. I wanted depth, not just a wide net...

Hi friends, People say this to me all the time: "You have 300k+ followers, posting must be so much easier for you." I wish that were true. Here's the reality: Creating content doesn't get easier when you have a large audience. When I was posting to 500 people, I could say anything. Try any idea. Fail publicly without much consequence. Now? Every post feels like thousands of people are watching. Judging. Waiting to see if I'll say something stupid. The imposter syndrome doesn't go away. It...

Hi friends, Happy New Year! Looking back at 2025, what a year. I lived in 5 different cities before finally returning to San Francisco. A year ago, 90% of my revenue came from sponsorships. Today, 90% comes from coaching - the work I genuinely love. I created something that doesn't really exist in the tech world: real guidance on building optionality, fulfillment, and agency over your career. The thank-you emails from you who finally found clarity, started building their dream careers, and...

Hi friends, It's December 31st. What a year this has been. I lived in 5 different cities before finally returning to San Francisco. A year ago, 90% of my revenue came from sponsorships. Today, 90% comes from coaching - the work I genuinely love. I created something that doesn't really exist in the tech world: real guidance on building optionality, fulfillment, and agency over your career. The thank-you emails from you who finally found clarity, started building their dream careers, and felt...

Hi friends, Here's what I underestimated when I quit my job at Amazon: I thought having an audience meant having customers. I was wrong. Building an audience and building a business require completely different skills. Let me explain the two business models I experimented with — and what I learned. The Influencer Model: Sponsorships & Partnerships As an influencer, you create content that gets engagement — likes, shares, comments, clicks. The typical business model is getting sponsors on your...

Hi friends, A few weeks ago, one major tech company offered $25K for a few LinkedIn posts. The contract was ready to sign. I said no. Here's back story: Over the past year, I'd been experimenting my business model: podcast and LinkedIn with sponsors, building courses, 1-1 coaching. Each one taught me something about what energized me versus what just paid well. By the time that $25K offer came, I had clarity: I wanted to focus on 1-1 coaching this year. I'm grateful for the opportunity and...

Hi friends, I have been quiet over the last week, because I was busy doing coaching calls with subscribers. Many told me about their "passive income" dreams:"Maybe a course I can sell, or maybe investments." I have some strong opinions on this, and let me tell you what I really think. "Don't sell your time for money." You probably heard about this. "Build passive income. Escape the 9-to-5. Create a product that makes money while you sleep." Here's the inconvenient truth they don't tell you:...