TikTok Success Stories: How Vivian Tu Became “Your Rich BFF” from an Ex-Wall Street Trader?

Social media has revolutionized everything. Internet-savvy people with true talent are only one viral video away to acquire overnight online fame. However, here is the real question: how many people actually do good things for their huge following beyond providing entertainment?

Vivian Tu, a former Wall Street Trader, is a prime example. She used to have a regular finance job and then leveraged all the knowledge she learned at work to build her own personal brand. By the time she posted the first video, within a week it had gained hundreds of million views. 

In her TikTok videos, she discusses your common financial mistakes, and financial basics everyone should know, emphasizing the importance of investing if you want to be retired in your 40s, and eventually become your rich BFF and favorite Wall Street girly.

In this blog post, we break down Vivian’s success story and organize a few tips to help you understand how she made it. And hope you could take away and learn a few points from it as well.

From passion project to lifetime career

In the beginning, Vivian saw content creation merely as a side hustle and passion project, never thinking that it would be lucrative enough and help her quit her full-time job. 

During the daytime, she had a full-time job at JPMorgan as a trader. Then in 2018, she left Wall Street for Buzzfeed and started getting asked about financial advice by her colleagues. But she felt finance is too personal to give recommendations.

However, she kept receiving a lot of questions from everywhere. In 2021, she decided to launch her own TikTok channel to teach people everything about finance so she didn’t have to explain more to her coworkers.

“I don’t have any get-rich-quick schemes here, but I will help you with practical tips and knowledge on how to level up your financial literacy,” she goes on, referencing her time on Wall Street.  She was eager to share her best practices on budgeting, retirement, investing, and saving, “because being rich really should be for all of us.” She told Fortune.

Your Rich BFF’s content strategy
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Explain everything within 60 seconds

Of course, Vivian knows well it’s impossible to make everyone learn or be interested in private equity, not to mention fully understanding it. But she knows how to make people well digest the hard information. By combining pop culture and learning with her witty and authentic personality, she consistently generated viral moments on TikTok.

By capturing viewers’ attention within 60 seconds, she ensures that they receive valuable and practical information necessary for making sound financial choices.

Turn finance into funance

Let’s be honest, learning about finance can be daunting for most people. But Vivian’s humor and authenticity let our guard down. 

She once explained that the idea for her TikTok handle “Your Rich BFF” came from the fact that she doesn’t look like someone’s father’s financial advisor, but more like someone’s bestie from college. 

“I want to entertain my audience and turn finance into funance and just make talking about money more accessible for the next generation of rich BFFs.” She told Fortune.

Help her followers keep up to date

As a content creator, Vivian not only shares her existing knowledge but also eagerly imparts newly acquired information to her audience.

In addition to providing financial life hacks, she remains continuously informed about industry developments and ensures her followers stay up-to-date with the latest news and trends.

Read more:
5 Tips on Becoming a Professional Content Creator – The Beginner’s Guide