As I look back on my working life, whether it was working as the Officer in Charge at Grenada Public Service Credit Union now called Ariza Credit Union or later in financial services in Canada. I have always had a side hustle. During those times, I was just making some extra money, either writing business plans or social media marketing. I did my undergraduate degree in Economics; I never thought I’d now be working in digital media, much less doing a Master of Digital Media. However, my love for digital media grew as I got deeper into my side hustle. Now my side hustle has taken over my life.
I read a lot of articles and watch lots of videos where people talk about their side hustle; the consensus seems to be that everyone should have a side hustle. While I do agree with that sentiment, I can’t fully justify from my experience why everyone should. But to me, it just seems like a brilliant idea for the following reasons
1- Additional Income– I always loved seeing extra income in my Paypal account every month. Not because you feel you need a side hustle, you’d just start anything. You need to be able to deliver, I was good at social media marketing and delivered for my clients, it’s why I was able to transition into this full time.
2- New Career Opportunities– After stepping away from the financial services sector, I got a job as a Digital Marketing Coordinator at a financial services company. That was based purely on my side hustle. I had no formal education, no formal “Job” in that field, but I had been doing it for quite some time.
3- It’s easier today that it was before– This one is a bit debatable I guess. However, I believe with the prevalence of social media and digital technology it is much easier to get “your hustle on.” 90% of my clients from my side hustle came from digital activities, whether it was through freelance sites, or people were seeing the stuff I was talking about online and reaching out or through Facebook advertising at $5 a day. It just worked.
4- New Opportunities– Once you start getting deeper and deeper into your side hustle, it starts becoming your main hustle. Then new opportunities will come your way. I am speaking now, by that I mean, people pay me to attend events and speak on topics in digital media. Four weeks ago, I flew to Trinidad to do a workshop on Social Media Marketing, came back to Toronto, spoke at the Canada 20/20 Safety School Conference on digital citizenship. I have two engagements lined up back to back in May. I don’t know if anything will happen between then, but people want to hear what I have to say. I am not big time yet, not do I claim to be an expert; I am still a student of the digital industry. However, I have no problem sharing how I see the world of digital media and entrepreneurship from my perspective based on my experience so far.
Again, I am not saying everyone should get a side hustle, but the way the world is going, it’s not a bad idea. What’s your side hustle?