Electrical Engineer Becomes Romance Novel Cover Model

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

Oh my gosh, you guys, welcome back to Side Hustle School, this is Chris Guillebeau. Got a fun one for you today, just when you thought you heard it all. You know, when I said we were going to go into the 2018 season and do it all over again, 365 episodes, some people said, "How are you going to find the same quality and caliber of stories that we had the first year?" Well, you've heard about the guy who dropships live crickets to reptile owners. You've met the woman who earns $2,000 a month selling chicken saddles. You've heard about the accountant who makes multiple six figures, buying items at Walmart and Home Depot and then reselling them elsewhere, and so on, all kinds of crazy stories.

Well, listen, today you'll hear how an engineer becomes a romance novel cover model. That's right, it's a true story like everything you hear on the show. An electrical engineer becomes a romance novel cover model. And naturally he gets paid for it and he actually gets paid pretty well. I'll tell you all about it, along with some tips for everybody out there who wants to become a romance novel cover model themselves.

That's pretty much our entire audience, I know. So let's say thanks to today's sponsor and then get ready to turn up the heat. Get it? It's a romance novel. Devin Ryan was a dedicated electrical engineering student at the University of Texas.

That program took up much of his time, but he also had a secret, creative desire to pursue acting. He'd always long to be seen on the big screen, but unfortunately, he'd never taken an acting or drama class, and with a full course load of challenging math and science prerequisites, that desire ended up taking the backseat to his more practical degree. Devin graduated with that degree and jumped right into the workforce, taking a job for the federal government. It was a good, stable job, and in some ways he felt like he was being challenged, but, as is typical of bureaucracy, the pace of the work was slower than he preferred, and he found himself with more spare time than expected. That increase in time and resources provided him with a unique opportunity to pursue new projects on his own.

That's when he thought maybe it was time to revisit his interest in acting, but little did he know where he'd end up. He found a drama class that fit with his schedule, and he signed up with the understanding that at the minimum it would help him to become a better public speaker. And in his wildest dreams, he thought perhaps it could open up a whole new world. Again, little did he know. Devin said that the first class was the acting equivalent of falling flat on his face in front of a large group of people.

He was a good engineer with strong analytical thinking skills. In the world of acting, those skills took him nowhere. He had a lot to learn, but not being one to throw in the towel so easily, Devin kept going to class, and over time he saw real improvement. So much improvement, in fact, that his acting teacher told him he should really think about getting some headshots. So he did.

He took that advice, scheduled an appointment with a photographer, and paid about $400 to get a round of traditional headshots. This would be the last time he'd ever spend money to get his picture taken again. Now here's an important detail of our story. Devin had been working out, and he was proud of his six-pack abs. So he threw in an extra $50 and asked the photographer to do some shots of him posing with his shirt off, as one does.

Since this was his first time doing something like this, he thought it might be a good idea to get some feedback from others in the industry. So he set up a profile on a site called Model Mayhem and uploaded those headshots and six-pack abs photos. Side note, the website Model Mayhem is mostly safe for work. Kind of depends on which page you click on, just FYI. Now here's the crazy thing, or at least the first crazy thing.

Not long after uploading his model shots, Devin had a number of photographers reach out to him to book him for modeling gigs. He learned that photographers often trade time for print, meaning they'll take photos of you at no charge in exchange for the right to print and use them in their own work. So Devin did that, which not only helped him expand his portfolio, it also helped him nail down his particular style. Not just any guy can stand there with his shirt off. This is a skill, and you really have to develop this.

And here's the second crazy thing. Devin's big break didn't come from Hollywood. It came from a local Texas romance author named Ann Conley. She sent him a message to say that Devin was essentially the physical manifestation of the main character in her book series, "Pierce Securities," featuring one-word attention-grabbing titles such as Bond, Wire, Grab, Hitch, and Murmur. Apparently, when Ann saw Devin's profile and read about his background as an engineer, she knew he'd be the perfect face, or perhaps the perfect set of washboard abs, for her character.

They scheduled a shoot, and after a few hours of flexing and posing, Ann the romance novelist had her cover model, and Devin walked away with his first major gig. There were seven books total in that series, and he made around $3,000 for just a few hours worth of work. And could you really call standing around with your shirt off work? Devin thought the experience would be a great story, and it was, but he had no idea it would help to take his modeling and acting side hustle to the next level. Still, he added those photos to his online portfolio, figured it couldn't hurt, and when he showed his work to agents, it was all they could talk about.

It gave him a bit of notoriety, and helped him stand out from all the other aspirational models. And guess what? One thing led to another. Devin continued to work as an engineer, but he suddenly had an active second career. In a short period of time, this second career allowed him to fly off to Australia for swimsuit shoots, pose in his underwear for fashion brands, and shoot national commercials for NBC Sports.

This is a money-making side hustle, of course. He's not just doing it to maintain those abs. For the past three years, this unique project has brought in an additional $20,000 to $50,000 a year, depending on the number of gigs he books. And it all came from being featured on the cover of a romance series. So what's his advice to you?

You know, everyone out there who wants to become a romance novel cover model. As I said, basically our entire audience. First, he says you should take as many pictures as possible and focus on building a diverse portfolio because you never know what a particular advertiser is going to be looking for. He also asks, do you have nice hands? If so, take a picture of them and add those to your portfolio.

Are you partial to your ears? There's a modeling opportunity for that as well. Because I guess everybody's got a thing. Perhaps more importantly, Devin says you should always be humble and not be opposed to taking on smaller gigs. Because as he saw, you never know where they can lead.

Some national modeling gigs can pay up to $15,000 for five hours of poses. At that rate, he'd take his shirt off any day of the week. Just not at his day job, because that would be weird. Well, I don't know what I could possibly add to this story, except to say, you know, where else can you go to learn to become a romance novel cover model? Or at least to learn how one guy did it.

There's all kinds of crazy ways to make money out there. I want you to find the one that's best for you. For most of us, it's probably going to involve keeping our shirt on. But hey, you never know. Anything is possible.

Thank you for listening today. Inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. Today's show notes, including a list of some of my favorite romance novels, are at sidehustleschool.com slash three nine six. I'll be back with you once more tomorrow and every day after that. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.