Opera Singer Moonlights as Home Improvement Contractor

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

In today's story, a New York City opera singer is discouraged after being rejected by TGI Friday's. She was trying to get a part-time job as a server, just hoping to make ends meet, and thought, "You know, if I can't get hired here, what can I do?" So in search of additional income, she then starts moonlighting as a home improvement contractor, calling herself a practical diva. Last year, she earned an extra $14,000 on the side, making it easier to pursue her artistic career. I'll let this be a reminder, you too can reinvent yourself. You are smarter and stronger than you think. If TGI Friday's or anybody else out there turns you down, it's their loss.

And the next time you experience rejection, get out your toolbox. Or at least unless you're like me, because I don't even have a toolbox. I would be a terrible server and a terrible home improvement contractor, but that's why I found my calling in other places. You do you. You've got to do whatever's best for you. You can reinvent yourself,

no matter your situation. And the Opera Singer remix is coming right up. Stay tuned. Tara Pence came to New York City to live the stage artist and performer life. Starstruck by the bright lights of the Big Apple, she had high hopes of being an opera singer and performing all over the city. But like many artists before her, she set out to get a

waitressing job to pay the bills while she pursued singing gigs and voice teaching work. Should be simple, right? But her confidence began to waver after receiving a steady stream of rejections. The final blow came when she applied for a job at the three Michelin-starred TGI Fridays in Times Square. She was turned down and left feeling like nobody would hire her.

As the old saying goes, if you build it, they will come, maybe. So Tara shifted her attention to what she could build with the skills she already had in her toolbox. Literally. Because you see, Tara wasn't just an opera singing diva. Growing up in her home state of Virginia, Tara learned her way around said toolbox, and she spent much of her free time helping her dad with remodeling projects. Even though she had these very useful skills and a lot of knowledge,

there was still some resistance. You see, Tara really wanted to sing and be known for her skills as a soprano on the stage, and she wasn't keen on starting a business that wouldn't directly further these goals. But then she received some advice from one of her friends. He told her that sometimes you just have to do whatever you can in order to eventually do what you ultimately want. He also said that fame is transferable. If you can make a name for yourself doing something

a bit different or unconventional, people will take notice of you and be more inclined to support you in what you're really passionate about. She took this as her cue, and the practical diva officially took to the stage. That is the practical diva as a brand name. With $150, Tara purchased some more tools and printed up some simple cards to hand out at hardware stores. Since she wasn't sure if this was anything that would really take off, she started out by listing her service on Thumbtack and TaskRabbit. Both of these were starter platforms that would allow

her an opportunity to test the market without having to make any large investments, like advertising or building a website. And since she was relying on their large marketplaces to get clients, finding new jobs to take on was as simple as screwing in a light bulb. Tara found that she enjoyed the flexibility it offered because she could earn money on the side while focusing on her main priority of teaching lessons and performing. In the beginning, she'd get hired to do odd jobs like hanging TVs and curtains, but she soon found herself rolling up her sleeves for more large-scale projects like remodeling bathrooms, replacing tile and countertops, and hanging light fixtures. As with many starter platforms, Tara found she was limited by the amount she could earn.

Most of the clients who used those platforms were looking to hire the contractor with the lowest bid. Quality and craftsmanship were often more of an afterthought, and that's when she discovered HomeAdvisor. Unlike Thumbtack and TaskRabbit, you could only work on HomeAdvisor if you had a contractor's license. Clients on this platform were looking for more experience and were happy to pay for it. Since this was obviously something she enjoyed and was good at, Tara decided to get that license so she could get more quality jobs and offer her services at a higher price.

Today, Tara gets the majority of clients from HomeAdvisor and through an abundance of word-of-mouth referrals. But what really sets her apart is the fact that she is a handy woman in a male-dominated field. She has found that women who hire her are oftentimes more comfortable having her in their home than a man. Interestingly as well, what her friend said early on is proving to be true. Tara is finding that being a contractor sets her apart in the opera world as well.

As she puts it, Sopranos are a dime a dozen, but Sopranos, who are also contractors, are few and far between. The lessons she's learned starting her own business have been instrumental in growing her career as a singer. It's taught her how to be more marketable, how to sell herself, how to determine appropriate rates for what she offers, and how to secure a contract. Speaking of rates and money, Tara earned about $14,000 in her first year, working part-time, $36,000 her second year, still part-time, and is now averaging about $4,000 a month in profit. With the move to HomeAdvisor, she was able to secure more high-quality jobs and income with fewer commitments. She started out with about 10 jobs a week and now averages just 2 to 4,

depending on the workload. If you'd like to do something like this, Tara recommends getting one or two clients quickly so that you can get reviews and add them to your listings. And while Thumbtack and TaskRabbit are great starter platforms, she definitely recommends HomeAdvisor for more quality jobs. Since Thumbtack and TaskRabbit are lead-based, they charge a percentage for each job you take. HomeAdvisor, on the other hand, charges a flat fee. And once you've built up a record of several

jobs, you'll begin to get word-of-mouth referrals and can grow your business organically. Tara has now launched her own website for the Practical Diva and is expanding her business to hire two more artists/performers to split her workload so she can focus more on singing. She's intentionally choosing to hire within her industry because her goal is to change the conversation from starving artist to succeeding artist. And as for her opera career, she still hopes to sing in concerts around the city and all over the world. This Practical Diva is hitting those high notes. Well, isn't this fun? I mean, I love everything about this, especially the branding

for Practical Diva. It makes perfect sense that a lot of people would prefer to hire a handy woman. And once you have that branding, it is extremely memorable. Good for her as well to think about how she can expand, hire some people so that she's not doing all the work all the time, so that she doesn't end up becoming a full-time handy woman and not pursuing the dream that she has of being an opera singer. And it's also totally true, by the way, about fame being transferable. I was thinking about that, about what her friend said to her, "If you consider

the Kardashians, for example, or a lot of these larger-than-life figures, the joke about them sometimes is, what do they actually do?" And everybody's like, "Haha, what do they actually do? What skills do they have?" But meanwhile, they're making tens of millions of dollars. So in some ways, even if their job is being famous, essentially, they have really capitalized on that and essentially transferred that fame from one industry or from one project to another. So I think this is actually the first time in the history of Side Hustle School that I have mentioned, the Kardashians, unless I'm mistaken. But I guess there's a first time for everything.

So just call me the practical podcaster. That would be a diva, but sadly, that branding is already taken. All right, listeners. I hope you enjoyed it. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. If you want to see the show notes for today's episode,

including links to Tara's work, just in case you need to hire your own practical diva, go to sidehustleschool.com/847. Thanks so much. I'll be back again tomorrow. Much more is on the way. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.

From The Onward Project.