Scientist Challenges Perceptions with Simple Conversation Starters

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

What does a scientist look like? It might seem like a silly question, well because it is a silly question, yet it's not surprising that some people tend to stereotype. One British scientist who happens to be a younger woman has made it her mission to broaden those people's minds while promoting a culture of shared identity. The expression of that culture, and that would be what customers pay for, since this is a side hustle we're talking about, an income generating project, is an entire product line of pins, notebooks, stickers, tote bags, and more, all under the brand Science on a Post Card. She sold several thousand items on Etsy so far, in addition to appearances at art fairs and exhibits.

Welcome to Side Hustle School, my name is Chris Guillebeau. We are calling this story "Scientist Challenges Perceptions with Simple Conversation Starters." Stay tuned, because that story is coming right up in just about 30 seconds. Heidi Gardner was traveling back from a conference in London when she had an awkward conversation at the airport. A stranger asked what she had been doing there, so she explained that she was a scientist in town for a few meetings about her PhD. The stranger, an older man, chuckled and replied, "Oh, you don't look like a scientist." Heidi was confused, and frankly a bit offended, but didn't know what to say in the moment.

She had the entire flight from London to Aberdeen, Scotland to think about it, and by the time her plane had landed, she also had the beginnings of an idea. If she could create interesting products that scientists would proudly wear, declaring their status and vocation, it just might start to shift the perception others had for what a scientist should look like. Fortunately for Heidi, she had grown up with a father who worked in design and marketing, so when she was 15 years old and looking for an after-school job, she went to work for him. The work was very basic, but it helped familiarize her with concepts of graphic design and introduced her to software like Adobe Creative Suite, which made creating the designs for these products that much easier. Rather than defer to the standard science designs that were already available, Heidi worked nights and weekends on fun, colorful sketches that showcased the creativity she knew so many scientists had.

Her first products were postcards and tiny prints that customers could purchase and display in their homes and offices. These original products are what led to the naming of her e-commerce store, Science on a Postcard. It was cheaper at first to produce these paper prints than it was to create the products she really wanted to share with her fellow scientists, pins and apparel they could wear to challenge the stereotype that a scientist looked or acted a certain way. But in that first year of her side hustle, while also hustling work as a university student completing her PhD, keeping costs low was essential. Though she was familiar with the required technology, she still needed to purchase it all.

That meant a new digital drawing pad and pencil, a new laptop that was compatible with that tool and the upfront cost of acquiring her store merchandise. Because of this, she decided to begin setting up a standalone website for selling and instead opted to sign up for Etsy. The fees on Etsy are higher than many e-commerce payment processors, but the entire platform was set up and ready to go. All she had to do was enter some preliminary details and upload her first postcards. As happens with many side hustles, her first customer was her mom, which was a nice show of support, and also she didn't have to wait long for real-world validation because her first outside-the-inner-circle sale came just a day later.

She celebrated in standard small business style, dancing around her living room wearing pajamas, shouting her glee to absolutely no one. Hey, I've been there, I get it. Within a few months she had enough profit to start investigating, then producing, those pins and apparel she'd imagined on that flight from London. As she had hoped, these items were even more popular than the postcard prints, and the demand was high. Every time she releases a new pin design, there are immediately people who want additional ones, which is great, but can also be a little stressful.

Toward the end of her first year with science on a postcard, Heidi had stockpiled enough money for a big scary expense, a $2,000 booth rental at the New Scientist's Live event in London, dubbed "The World's Greatest Science Festival." Having attended before, she knew how powerful the space could be for getting eyes on her products. And that was another thing she excelled in from the start, the art of getting attention. Since she was already part of the audience she was targeting, Heidi knew exactly how to speak and write in a way that resonated with customers. Without ever spending a dime on ads or other outlays, she grew her Instagram account to almost 10,000 followers. And those followers are fiercely devoted, not only liking and commenting on her posts, but also sharing images of her products from their own daily lives.

This is something that Heidi had imagined, but wasn't fully prepared to experience. Seeing her pins out in the wild has been one of the best sources of proof that she is doing something good, especially at science events where attendees don't even know that she is the creator of the exact item they are wearing. After her first year, recognition for the work she was doing really took off, both in terms of product sales and the bigger message she was sharing with the world. Science on a postcard had sold 3,000 items on Etsy and produced an additional 2,000 items for private clients who wanted custom bulk orders for their teams and events. A few months later, Heidi was accepted into Robert Gordon University's first ever Creative Business Accelerator, a coveted spot she didn't think she would have a chance of getting so early on.

The accelerator has opened her eyes to much more of the logistic and detail-oriented aspects of owning a business. Things like product plans, bulk ordering stock, and cash flow systems that have opened up her potential for more profit. But Heidi isn't going all in on her side hustle, especially after all the work she put into completing her Ph.D. in clinical trial participation from the University of Aberdeen. Plus, she passionately believes in that work she is doing.

While observing the way recruitment agencies work to staff clinical trials, she wondered if there might be some things to learn from their process that could apply to clinical trial participants. After all, finding participants for a trial is just another form of recruitment. These trials are essential to the testing and potential release of various advances in science that, in some cases, could literally save people's lives. Combining science on a postcard with the work she is doing in her full-time job has led to a number of science event invitations and speaking gigs, which continues to help her grow her platform and, pleasantly, leads to more sales. Best of all, it has sparked conversations about what makes someone a scientist.

What a fun project. I love everything about it. It is just awesome that the whole focus on community, putting forward this message, and an obvious target market of people who would be interested in these fun whimsical items, which really do have a fun whimsical design. Be sure to come and check them out on the show notes page. I went to her Etsy store, just looking to see if I had some kind of constructive comment or feedback, but I really don't.

At first, I thought, "Well, she's got an Etsy store. I understand she doesn't want to make a full website yet because she's got a bunch of stuff going on." But it would probably be a good idea to have science on a postcard dot com, even if nothing was there. It would probably be good to just have, say, "Hey, by the way, here's science on a postcard. Go to our Etsy shop to buy stuff." And then I went and looked. In fact, that's exactly what she's done.

So good for her, presumably a website is in the works at some point as well. But in the meantime, for any of our science-minded listeners, or those who have science-minded folks in their lives, might want to check out the Etsy shop, which of course we will link up. So congratulations to Heidi, really fun business, and I'm excited to see what develops next. Listeners, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes, all right, sidehustleschool.com/966.

Come and check that out, and be sure to come back tomorrow for the weekly recap and a whole new set of stories all next week. Thank you so much. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and this is Side Hustle School.