Matteo Friend
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an organized desk feels SO good. What should I add?
Respectfully, it’s better to take your time furnishing your apartment than regretting every purchase after a week.
07/06/2026
a little reintro since a lot of you are new
i’m matteo, late twenties in vancouver, trying to build a genuinely better life in my twenties without doing it the miserable cheap way or the fake rich way. the smart way, somewhere in the middle.
I was born and raised in Vancouver and dropped out of engineering school to pursue my dreams of becoming an actor, but since that didn’t pan out, I had to rethink what I was gonna do with my life.
the money story starts embarrassing. i knew i didn’t want to be stuck in a 9 to 5 forever, so i started a business. it failed, i lost twenty grand and went into debt, and for a while i just let that feel like the end.
what nobody saw is that i’m shy. pretty private. someone once called me a spy because i barely talked. so putting myself on camera felt impossible and i told myself i wasn’t built for it. that was the real thing holding me back. not the money. the fear of being seen.
i started UGC in 2023. kept going, tried a bunch of side hustles, and slowly making content became one of the main things paying my bills.
where i’m at now:
✓ climbed out of $20k of debt
✓ invested over $100k
✓ built a side hustle that earns as much as my full time job
✓ bought an apartment at 27
new goal: make $200k in one year
this was never about the number in the account. it’s about options, breathing when a bill lands, and not feeling behind everyone my age. and i want that for you too.
so that’s this page. me building it in real time, showing my work, no guru nonsense. i’m not two steps ahead of you, more like one and a half.
new here? welcome 🙏
If you’re a content creator in Vancouver or Canada, here are some platforms you should check out if you want to start working with brands and making money from your content!
1. .creators - this one is awesome and where I’ve worked with Amazon. Lots of opportunities, but you have to look a lot to see if they are for Canadians
2. - I haven’t personally used this one yet, but it’s very similar to TT Shop. You earn based on ad spend your video gets. So it can be lucrative if you are good
3. - This is for the local creators who like working with restaurants. Not as high paying but awesome opportunities to work with local brands if you’re into food content and Vancouver content
4. - Want a platform that’s strictly for Canadians? This is it! No need to worry about if there are deals for Canadians. Right now I see a collab with CIBC
5. - Not a brand deal site, but a stock imagery site where you upload clips of you and you get paid when a brand downloads it. This is true passive income! I love this platform!
Found this helpful? Follow me and I will post more tips like this.
Pt 7 of turning my house into a home
Working from home and having a remote job with a remote side hustle means I am sitting at my desk for long periods of time. I can’t believe I let it get this bad. Monitor riser, cable organizer, and light bar for the computer transformed my space so well. I can edit my UGC videos with some light now haha.
Next up, floating shelves. Follow for the next video!
June income breakdown coming in HOTTTTT
Can’t believe I can say this is my biggest month EVER. I’m literally at a loss for words.
But that just shows if you stick to it, build your side hustles, make connections, and don’t stop. Anything is possible.
UGC creator. Income stacking. Side hustles. Work from home jobs. Social media management. Make money online. Career pivot. JJyapchallenge.
5 tools everyone needs to start content creation.
You don’t need anything fancy, you can get create high quality content with the basics
Excited to jump in on Jessi Jean yap challenge!
I’m not someone who buys courses, but Jessi’s content is so magnetic and I want to learn her secrets haha!
Creating content online can be nerve wracking and vulnerable. Learning how to hone that in by fully connecting with your audience and mission is what im excited to learn from Jessi’s insane success.
Who else is in cohort 2?!
UGC example of a top performing UGC video I filmed for a home brand.
You do not need to overthink your videos, replicate and use what is already working in the niche organically. If it’s doing well there, it’ll likely do well on paid.
Disclaimer: The video was run as a boosted post, but the engagement for each of the videos was so strong the brand has just kept running it.
Male UGC Creator
If you want to see success in UGC or content creation this is only thing I wish I did sooner
Posting on social media makes you more visible to brands, but posting the right content makes you more trustworthy to brands and that’s when you get hired more
Comment “Formats” and I’ll send you a list of content ideas so you never overthink about posting again
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