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Deep Dive with Ali AbdaalBuilding a 2.3 Million Follower Brand While Studying - Natacha Océane
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WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Natacha Océane on Quitting Her PhD, Ironman, and Self-Awareness
- Natacha Océane took on an Ironman while studying biochemistry because she likes setting challenges and refuses to set limits for herself, and she says quitting never feels like an option to her.
- After a Banff Film Festival screening prompted her to ask whether she enjoyed her PhD, she realized she was doing it for the reputation, felt depressed, and left to pursue science-backed fitness content on YouTube.
- Her early videos were cringe and growth was gradual, with a cheat day challenge video bringing her first 10K and around 150K subscribers in July 2017 letting her leave tutoring; she kept going because she wanted to help people avoid the misinformation traps she fell into.
- She plays the long game as a creator by refusing to sexualize her content, avoiding social media consumption, and making content that leaves people feeling good.
- She calls self-awareness, meaning impartially observing your feelings in the moment, the key to balance and happiness, and she says success requires sacrifice and working smart.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasNot setting limits drives her to take on big challenges.
Natacha says she signs up for things others see as real challenges, because in the past she would have said she couldn't do them. This is why she chose the Ironman.
Breaking big efforts into stages makes them manageable.
She treated the Ironman as one swim, one bike and one run, and the marathon as 10K laps. She also says training makes long distances feel shorter in your mind.
Control your effort, not the outcome.
She says she doesn't draw fulfillment from goals outside her control, such as KPIs that could just be luck, and she finished the Ironman hoping only to complete it and was shocked to come second.
A strong sense of mission can outweigh discomfort and fear.
Camera-shy and unsure, she kept making videos because getting scientific content out so others avoided her mistakes mattered more than feeling uncomfortable. She also reminds herself that she's not going to die of cringe.
Gradual growth can be an advantage.
Her channel grew in steps rather than overnight, which she appreciates because she could grow with her audience and reply to comments. She thinks viral overnight stories like Charli D'Amelio's are outliers that don't help creators.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesThere's something about not setting limits that drives me to want to just keep going and going and going.
— Natacha Océane
I think, like, being self-aware, you have to be completely honest with yourself in a non-biased way in the moment, how are you feeling?
— Natacha Océane
I don't think success comes without sacrifice.
— Natacha Océane
I think the thing about me is I will always play the long game.
— Natacha Océane
Don't worry about the first 10, 100 videos being shit, 'cause they're all shit. They're shit for everyone.
— Natacha Océane
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SPEAKERS
Natacha Océane
guestFitness and science content creator known for evidence-based training and nutrition.
Ali Abdaal
hostCreator and entrepreneur who hosts the Deep Dive podcast, interviewing creators and business builders.
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
