I’m always amazed by strangers and friends who have turned a budding side hustle into a full time job.
What started as a passion project for so many, has become a new way to leverage refined talents into lucrative skills. Incredible people who left corporate America to become photographers, pastry chefs, and bloggers.
People who share stories of being good at their jobs but not necessarily fulfilled by them.
And while many have put their degrees to use and are reaping the benefits of career salaries, with things like student loan debt and financial goals a side hustle never hurt anyone.
I could always relate to a desire for more money but my work fills me up and I’m really not that cool or creative in real life.
No, really.
I cook well enough to eat, can take an instagram worthy picture on an iPhone, and while Black Girl Musings has amassed a following I am proud of–if you’ve been here long enough, you know this is less of a lifestyle blog and more of a doing life blog.
None of those admirable skills translate well into “side hustle”.
Until I looked at my Monday-Friday gig. Through my everyday work, I’ve been blessed to find opportunities that allow me to apply my current skillset in literacy instruction to opportunities that allow for me make substantial money outside of my paycheck.
And you can too.
Within your work, what do you like to do and do well?
I figured out a while ago that I was really good at taking a part curriculum and putting it back together. I was able to quickly figure out what the most important parts of a lesson were and then I could spend most of my time capitalizing on those parts. I’ve also always been pretty fearless about changing things and have never felt committed to scripted plans.
If I can teach something better than the way it’s dictated in a lesson plan…I will.
While I was a teacher–my kids saw strong academic gains from my ability to switch up a plan so while it wasn’t explicitly a part of my job description…it was something that garnered a lot of positive attention. My kids were outperforming everyone else’s and so people wanted to know why.
Eventually, it got to a place where I found more enjoyment from re-writing curriculum than executing it.
Whatever opportunities for side hustles you find in your 9-5–it has to be something you enjoy. It’s work you’ll do before and after your work day so you’ll want it to be something you love.
How does this live within your job description?
You want to figure out where your job description ends and your side hustle begins. For me, revamping curriculum wasn’t actually a part of my job description, but it was a skill that other teachers didn’t have. And because they didn’t have it, there became an opportunity for me to make money.
What you can do that’s relevant to your work + what others can’t = side hustle.
Had I worked somewhere where everyone could rework unnecessarily complex plans, there wouldn’t have been space for me. It’s not enough for you to be good at something, there has to be a need within your larger organization that has yet to be met.
If you can find a way to meet that need, that lives outside of what you are paid to do daily you can likely create a space for yourself.
How can you start to showcase these profitable skills?
Now, some part of you came to this post because you wanted to know about making more money through your 9-5…so you might not enjoy what I’m about to say…but, I’ve never lied to you so I won’t start now.
No one will pay you if you don’t have a track record of success.
You can’t roll up into your bosses office and demand that you need to get paid to fill a need within your organization if you can’t do your 9-5 well.
Opportunities to make money outside of my role came because of the work I put into what I was hired to do.
Who would have trusted me to re-write curriculum for kids across the city of Atlanta, if kids across my classes weren’t learning?
Last year, I was asked if a film crew from our organization’s national office could come in and film me teaching for some instructional videos that leaders would use across our network.
From that work I got a “thank you” and an Amazon gift card.
And that footage refined the skills of hundred of teachers and leaders across my network.
This year, those same people are paying me substantially for four days worth of work. When they asked me to come on board, they mentioned how they immediately thought of me because of the video work I did last year.
Had I said “no” to that opportunity because there weren’t dollar signs attached to it, I would have never been offered this opportunity.
Prove yourself and watch the opportunities you’re offered become lucrative.
There’s magic in our musings (and our business savvy),
Nicole