HANNAH ZHANG IS building THE KIND OF CAREER THAT can’t fit inside a single box.

The product marketer turned content creator launched her personal brand, careerhannah, while navigating a nonlinear career path of pivots across finance, startups, marketing, and even life abroad in Hong Kong and Latin America.

Zhang managed to turn her marketing skills into a thriving platform for multi-hyphenates figuring it out in real time. She built her brand during nights, weekends, and workout-class-fueled mornings, all while holding down a demanding startup job. Now, whether she’s talking about creator economy trends, reinvention, or “grinding in silence,” she’s become a relatable voice for a generation redefining success on its own terms. Read about Career Hannah’s journey in her C&C 100 interview below.

When did you decide you wanted to build a personal brand outside your career in product marketing?

It started when I switched into marketing without any prior experience in the function. I wanted a practical, hands-on way to build real marketing skills, and building my own brand was the best classroom I could find. At the same time, tech was going through massive layoffs at the end of 2024, so I wanted something outside my 9-to-5 that was mine. I also saw people with personal brands getting access to incredible opportunities, events in New York, collaborations, rooms I wanted to be in. I wanted all of that.

We see you as rising stars and entrepreneurs who have accomplished so much in a short time—what hard work and sacrifices have you made over the last year that really paid off?

A lot. I do this entirely outside my 9-to-5. I'm not a full-time creator; I also work a pretty demanding startup marketing job. So it's a lot of nights, a lot of weekends, and a lot of money that goes into it, whether that's software, coaching, or learning. My personal and social life takes a hit. But the tradeoff has been worth it, because I've built something that's genuinely mine, and the compounding is starting to show.

Are you raising capital for your business—and if so, what surprised you most about the process?

I'm not raising capital right now. Everything I've built so far has been bootstrapped alongside my full-time job.

Going after what you deserve in life takes confidence and guts. What has helped you build trust in your own instincts as more opportunities come your way?

Age, honestly. My personal brand has been about building a nonlinear career. It's not that I set out to have a nonlinear path; it's more that this is how I discovered the things I wanted to do and the things I'm good at. It becomes easier to trust your instincts after you've tried different things, because you know what works and what doesn't. You keep pivoting throughout life, and the pivots get smaller. You hone in on what you actually want and you go after it.

Seeing other people do the same thing helps too. People who are being unique, not copycatting, not being swayed by what everyone else is doing. That drives me to do the same. And to understand that it's an iterative process; you're never done figuring it out.

“It's not that I set out to have a nonlinear path; it's more that this is how I discovered the things I wanted to do and the things I'm good at.”

What’s been your “I can’t believe this is my life” moment lately?

Last week, I was invited as a creator by LinkedIn for a collaboration with John Summit and Spotify to launch their "Open to Work" campaign. I was a partner to LinkedIn for this launch.

I was invited to this rave, and it felt like such a full-circle moment. I talk about reinvention, especially about people leaving traditional corporate paths. John Summit left accounting to become a DJ. I've literally posted about him in my content. It felt really special to be in that room, surrounded by creators that two years ago I looked up to and never thought I could be among. Now they're peers and friends.

When you’re feeling insecure, afraid, or just not up to the task at hand, what gives you strength to push through anyway?

Remembering the moments when I've already done it. I moved to Hong Kong after college, knowing no one, with no experience in finance. I moved to Latin America without any experience in the startup world and without knowing the local language. Every pivot makes you more secure that you can learn it, that you can do it.

I've also increasingly realized that you can ask for help, and that people want to help. I've really found that in the creator community especially. As you build your personal brand and start to meet other people, that support system becomes real.

What’s currently on your vision board (literally or mentally)?

Advising early-stage founders and brands on marketing and the creator economy. A trip with my family this summer. And doing one pull-up by the end of the year.

Where do you hope to see your brand five years from now?

A thriving community of ambitious multi-hyphenates and polymaths who are building careers and lives on their own terms.