Zara Dar, a former PhD candidate in computer science, has earned more than $1 million by building a subscription-based creator business, highlighting how digital platforms are reshaping income opportunities beyond traditional academic and corporate careers.
Leaving Academia
Dar shared details of her career transition in a video posted on her YouTube channel, where she spoke candidly about her decision to step away from academia and pursue an alternative professional path.
Doubts, Trade-offs, and Career Anxiety
Leaving her PhD programme was not an easy decision, Dar said. “I cried so much over this decision to quit. It was stressful,” she explained, reflecting on the emotional toll of walking away from years of academic training. She also acknowledged uncertainty around her new career path, adding, “I sometimes wonder if the decision to become an OnlyFans member was a gamble or not.”
Dar said she continues to experience moments of self-doubt, particularly when comparing her journey with peers who remained in traditional career tracks. “Somedays I wonder if I am making the right choice, when I open LinkedIn, I see people of my age, climbing the ladder with senior-level titles… I start feeling a twinge of jealousy and imagine what it would be like to be in their place,” she said.
She noted that part of her still imagines an alternative life rooted in academia or corporate leadership, whether as a professor teaching students and publishing research, or as a professional navigating senior roles within large organisations.
Dar acknowledged that structured career paths offer stability, but said they also come with trade-offs. “These talented people are a part of someone else’s vision. They will spend their lives working for a company, doing things that they don’t necessarily enjoy,” she said, describing what she views as limitations of conventional employment.
She further pointed to pressures associated with corporate life. “Their work might win someone else fame and wealth,” Dar said, adding that many professionals face ongoing concerns around job security, financial planning, and long-term commitments. “They will constantly worry about getting laid off, planning their lives around their salaries, budgeting to pay bills, and being tied down to a 30-year mortgage. Vacations are rationed and squeezed into limited pay and time off days.”
Building Independence Through Digital Platforms
In contrast, Dar said her current work offers a level of independence she did not experience previously. “I am no longer bound by the expectations of academic circles or the constraints of corporate offices. I can now learn whatever I want, not just topics deemed important by a funding agency or a company’s bottom line,” she said. “And the best part is, anything I make will be completely my own. I am not contributing to someone else’s legacy. I am building my own brand and future. The rewards are my own to enjoy.”
Financial Outcomes and Personal Milestones
Dar said her subscription-based business began as a side project before growing rapidly. The income generated has enabled her to support long-term financial goals, including helping her family pay off a mortgage and purchase a vehicle. “Now I have an investment portfolio and am planning on buying a house soon,” she said.
A Critical View of Big Tech Careers
She also offered a critical view of the technology sector, warning that the industry does not always reward individual contributions. “Big tech for all its allure of innovation and opportunity, is a world where individual contributions are mostly invisible and rarely attributed to; instead, it pads the pockets of executives at the top. Employees are expendable. There’s a silent anxiety of layoffs. It’s a precarious, thankless existence,” Dar said.
Concluding her video, Dar described her current path as a work in progress. “This life I am building is a masterpiece in progress. Every choice I make, every challenge I face, and every success I achieve will be a reflection of me. There are no guarantees but that’s what makes it exciting,” she said.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Dar holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas.
Viral Attention on Social Media
The video later gained wider attention after being shared on X by user Sensei Kraken Zero, where it accumulated nearly 500,000 views. In a post accompanying the clip, the user wrote, “She used to make videos about neural networks, machine learning, and other tech stuff; now she will be making content of a different genre.”
