Yana G.Y.
Yana G.Y. is the founder of the Unplugged newsletter on Substack, where she helps writers build monetizable skills and grow online businesses. After more than 15 years of trial and error pursuing income outside a 9-to-5, her hardest-won insight is that the path to building wealth online starts not with expertise, but with lived experience — and the willingness to ask for what you want.
From a decade and a half of chasing the wrong models online to the moment a leadership mistake in a corporate team changed how she thinks about growth, Yana G.Y.'s story moves between hard-earned self-awareness and a practical philosophy built entirely from experience, not credentials. In this interview with Powerful Blueprints, Yana G.Y. talks candidly about the beliefs that kept her stuck, the money lessons school never taught, and what she now tells anyone who wants to build something real. Good morning, Yana G.Y.!
What belief held Yana G.Y. back the longest — and turned out to be completely wrong?
Yana G.Y. held for years that she needed to be a recognized expert before she could start helping others, a belief she now identifies as the single thing that kept her stuck the longest.
I used to believe I had to be some kind of expert before I could start helping other people. Completely wrong, and it kept me stuck way longer than it should have.
The only thing you need to start an actual business online is to help people with something you've already figured out yourself. That's it. Actually, it's better to not be an expert. People don't just trust experts anymore, they trust someone who has lived experience and has succeeded at the exact thing they're currently struggling with.
What did money teach Yana G.Y. about herself that nothing else could?
Yana G.Y. describes her relationship with money as fundamentally shaped by the principle of motion — investing and keeping money moving, rather than the saving mindset taught in school.
Money loves motion. It loves speed. You have to act, you have to move constantly.
They teach us in school to save, and that's not how you build a good relationship with money. You invest. You keep your money in constant motion so it can grow, because you make money with money.
And if you're starting from zero? You're not really at zero. You have your knowledge, your experience, your skills. Start helping people with those, and that's how you start growing wealth.
What is the one thing Yana G.Y. believes deeply that most people aren't saying out loud?
Yana G.Y. believes the most underused tool for getting what you want — in careers, business, and writing — is simply asking for it directly.
Reach out to people and ask for what you want. Just ask.
I see this pattern everywhere: in my old 9-5, in my friends and family, in writers online. People dream about things, but they never actually ask anyone for them. A baby doesn't get fed if it doesn't start crying. So start crying.
In the corporate world, people want a higher salary or a promotion, but they never ask for it. Nobody comes to your desk and says "do you need more money?" It doesn't happen. Same with writers online: they struggle to make money from their writing, but they never build offers, never promote anything to their audiences. They're waiting for someone to think "maybe this person needs money, let me buy them a coffee." It doesn't happen. Everything you want comes through other people. Build the relationships, then ask.
What would Yana G.Y. tell a college student that no professor ever did?
Yana G.Y. advises aspiring builders to focus on developing one highly monetizable skill first, and to stop optimizing for being liked.
Build one highly valuable skill that helps other people, valuable enough that they'll pay you to use it. Invest in yourself first.
And stop trying to get people to like you. That's the wrong goal. Focus on yourself: develop yourself, grow yourself, build skills that are monetizable. The rest follows from there.
What lesson took Yana G.Y. the longest to finally learn?
Yana G.Y. spent more than 15 years chasing quick-money schemes online before accepting the one lesson that kept returning: build one monetizable skill, then show up consistently so people can find you.
I tried to make money online on the side of my 9-5 for more than 10 years. Fifteen, if I'm being exact with myself. And for most of those years I approached it the wrong way, chasing the next shiny object, the next "make money online fast" scheme. I lost a lot of money along the way.
The lesson kept coming back, the same one every time: sit down and figure this out properly. Build one skill that's monetizable, then start writing, start expressing yourself, start being present online so more people can learn about that skill. That's the whole thing. It took me 15 years to accept it.
What was Yana G.Y.'s worst professional decision — and what did it teach her about leadership?
Yana G.Y. identifies a decision early in her first team leadership role — blocking a skilled team member's promotion out of self-interest — as the mistake that fundamentally reshaped how she leads and what she now builds.
This one still stings. Back in my 9-5, I'd just been promoted to team leader, my first time ever leading people. I was so focused on building a team of highly skilled people that when one of my most skilled team members got the opportunity to move up to a higher level, I was against it. My reasoning at the time: I'm going to lose one of my best people.
Huge mistake. She got promoted anyway, of course, because high-skilled people find their way up with or without you. And I learned the hard way that it has to be quite the opposite: you grow while you're lifting others, not by holding them back. That lesson changed how I lead, and it's the foundation of what I do today, helping other writers grow.
Who shaped the way Yana G.Y. thinks more than anyone else?
Yana G.Y. credits a priest she encountered when she was young with teaching her how to think — a skill she considers one of the most important in life and one that schools do not teach.
He is a priest and he helped me learn how to think when I was young. One of the most important skills in life, actually. They don't teach that in school.
What is Yana G.Y.'s physical routine for clearing her head and generating new ideas?
Yana G.Y. relies on daily post-meal walks as her primary routine for generating new ideas and maintaining mental clarity.
I love walking and thinking. It's the best routine to get new ideas I believe. I try to do that every day after a meal.
What is Yana G.Y. listening to lately?
Yana G.Y. has been returning regularly to one podcast that speaks directly to both her corporate background and her online business experience.
The Diary of a CEO — one of my favorite shows lately. I live these experiences in my 9-5 and also in my online business, so valuable.
What is Yana G.Y.'s one goal for the next twelve months?
Yana G.Y.'s stated goal for the next twelve months is to grow her online business beyond the six figures it is currently at and build something meaningful out of it.
Grow my online business beyond the six figures it's currently at, and build something meaningful out of it.
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Yana G.Y.!
Frequently Asked Questions about Yana G.Y.
What is Yana G.Y.'s core belief about who is best qualified to help people online?
After years of believing I needed to become a recognized expert before I could help anyone, I discovered that belief was what kept me stuck the longest. The only qualification that actually matters is having figured out something that someone else is currently struggling with — lived experience outweighs credentials. People have shifted away from blindly trusting credentialed experts and toward trusting someone who has walked the exact path they are trying to walk. That realization is the foundation of everything I now build and teach.
What is Yana G.Y.'s philosophy on money and building wealth from zero?
Having spent years approaching money the way school taught me — save, be cautious, hold still — I've come to understand that money responds to motion, not stillness. The relationship I have with money today is built on investing and keeping it moving so it can grow, because you make money with money. And for anyone starting from zero, I want to be clear: you are not really at zero. Your knowledge, your experience, and your skills are already assets. Start using those to help people, and that is how wealth begins.
What is Yana G.Y.'s biggest piece of advice for writers who are struggling to earn from their work?
As someone who spent years watching this same pattern in myself and in others online, the core problem is almost never the writing — it is the unwillingness to ask. Writers wait for their audience to spontaneously decide to support them financially, and that moment never comes. Nobody is sitting there thinking, "maybe this person needs money, let me do something about it." Everything you want comes through other people, but it only moves when you build relationships and then ask directly. Build the offer, promote it, and say what you need.
What is Yana G.Y.'s hardest-won lesson from 15 years of trying to build income outside a 9-to-5?
For most of those 15 years, I was chasing whatever the next promising scheme was — the fast track, the shortcut, the "make money online fast" promise — and I lost real money doing it. The same lesson kept returning every single time: slow down, sit down, and figure this out properly. Build one skill that is genuinely monetizable, then show up online consistently so people can discover that skill. That is the entire framework, and it took me 15 years to stop resisting it and actually accept it.
What is Yana G.Y.'s leadership lesson from her time as a team leader in her corporate career?
When I was first promoted to team leader, I made the mistake of trying to hold back one of my most skilled team members from moving up, because I didn't want to lose her from my team. She was promoted anyway — because high-skilled people find their path with or without you — and the experience was a direct lesson I could not have learned any other way. You do not grow by holding others back; you grow by lifting them. That insight didn't just change how I lead in a corporate setting — it is the philosophical foundation of my work today, helping other writers develop and grow.
What is Yana G.Y.'s daily routine for maintaining clarity and creative momentum?
After years of building both a corporate career and an online business simultaneously, my most consistent and productive daily habit has been walking after a meal and letting my mind move freely. It is where new ideas tend to surface for me, and I treat it as a non-negotiable part of the day rather than something I do when I have spare time. Alongside that, I have been regularly returning to Diary of a CEO as a podcast — the conversations connect directly to experiences I recognize from both my 9-to-5 and my online work, which makes them genuinely useful rather than just motivational.