Dancer Waltzes Into Staffing Agency for Performers

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

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What's up, side hustle school listeners, friends, community, wherever you are in the world. I hope you had a good Fourth of July for those listening in real time. Today is the 5th of July, episode 1282, and the 4th of July is, of course, Independence Day in the United States. Now, if you're not in the United States, I still wish you a happy Independence Day. You can make any day your Independence Day, right?

Independence is essentially about freedom. It's about self-reliance. It's about, you know, creating your own security. All the stuff that I talk about here every day, ultimately, we're all about helping people to find more options for themselves. Maybe people who never imagined that they could own a business or make money apart from their employer.

I mean, that's what the whole purpose of side hustle school is, to show you example after example of real people out there who are finding a way to do just that, to break free of the burdens of debt, for example, or to break free of being dependent on an employer. Even if you like your job, even if you love your job, you need more than one source of income. That's my message. And I've been delivering it every day for 1282 days. No plans to stop.

Thank you so much for being out there. All right, now in today's story, when an aspiring dancer moved to New York City to make it big, she avoids becoming another broke performer by working odd side jobs. Then, crucially, helps her colleagues do the same. For calling this story, dancer waltzes into staffing agency for performers. She's actually done very well, built this agency up quite a bit, as you will hear in the story.

So, that story's coming up after this message from our sponsor. Thanks to our sponsor, and thanks again to you. [Music]

13 years ago, Crystal Malukas moved to New York City after graduating as a dance major from the University of Colorado. She had big aspirations in the Big Apple, one of which was to make it as a professional dancer. She was convinced that in no time at all, her schedule would be full of auditions.

But soon, she encountered the reality of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. The cost of living was piling up. So, after six months of slow dancing, Crystal decided to pick up some part-time work to make ends meet. To do that, she looked on Craigslist for odd jobs that paid in cash. She came across a gig handing out flyers for a local cafe.

It looked easy, it was close by, and perhaps most importantly, it wouldn't interfere with the rest of her schedule. Crystal took the job and danced all the way to the bank. Along the way, she was surprised at how much she enjoyed the work. Beyond the money, it gave her the opportunity to perform in a different way. To get people to take flyers, she had to be likable and energetic, and her personality worked well with those requirements.

The cafe owners thought the same and asked her back for another shift. In addition, they wanted to try distributing flyers at one of their other locations. So, they asked Crystal if she knew anyone who might be interested. Forever the socialite, Crystal knew plenty of aspiring performers from her short time in the city. She checked in with a few and soon had that second position filled.

Although she didn't realize it at the time, recruiting staff this way was a legitimate business model. Unknowingly, she just hit the side hustle dance floor and was close to choreographing a set of steps she could follow over and over. As the weeks went on, Crystal kept a lookout for more odd jobs, eventually being recommended to Cafe Metro, a popular New York City chain. They needed someone bright and friendly to be their sampler, that is, someone to grab the attention of passers-by and offer them a taste of the delicious coffees that awaited inside. Crystal fit the bill, complete with a fake Italian accent.

Once again, she turned out to be a natural, began to realize that creative performers like herself were well-suited to this type of work. The problem was, Crystal was only one person. She couldn't possibly take on all the hours she was offered and stay on top of her dancing. But as a socialite, she was well-connected. The business owners who knew Crystal also knew that she'd be able to find someone reliable if she wasn't available to do the work herself.

That's when she started connecting the steps. She wasn't making progress as a professional dancer, but instead of disappointment, she found hope. She looked at what she'd been able to achieve for herself and her friends. Almost everyone she'd placed was a fellow dancer, actor or singer, performers struggling to earn a living from what they loved. She helped them secure work, keep the bills paid and the lights on while they continued pursuing their passion.

This enthusiasm she'd built for helping people find work began to overshadow her desire to become a dancer. Crystal started looking at expanding the staff recruitment thing into a real business. She already had the supply chain from businesses who wanted to hire and the staff from her friends and colleagues. All she needed was a name. For that, she chose Mustard Lane by combining two of her favorite Beatles songs, Mean Mr. Mustard and of course, Penny Lane.

Mustard Lane would make money by sourcing staff for a business's needs. Crystal would look to her pool of performers to see who fit the bill. On finding someone suitable, she'd sign them up for the gig and build the business for time the performer spent working for them. The money she made would come from a percentage of the hourly fee. Now there was no shortage of staffing agencies in New York, but her point of difference was that she targets side gigs for aspiring performers.

Work that lent itself to their talents and it could be done at unusual hours. She continued to use her network to drum up business and for the next several years operated using only her cell phone. To this day, Crystal has performed zero marketing outside word of mouth. But that doesn't mean she hasn't had problems. She sometimes had staff no show which she has to rectify quickly.

She's also had a business or two skip out on big invoices leaving her on a hook to pay her staff. She kept going though and now she employs two full-time staff members and her business makes mid six figures per year. Crystal has a dedicated office in Manhattan and works with performers in over 30 other cities from afar. [Music]

So there are a lot of staffing agencies out there, but hopefully this episode illustrates that the focus, the specialization, the decision to really capture that network of performers is what has allowed Mustard Lane to be so successful. And as you heard at the end of the story, it's actually very successful.

Mid six figures, now they've branched out to lots of other cities, et cetera. And this business was run for years on a cell phone. So now she has an office, but for years she was doing it all just kind of on the go. I also took a look at their website, mustardlane.com which I got to say is unique. It's very text heavy.

It's a design that I have not seen before. I see a lot of different design styles and it really is its own kind of thing. It's something that's polarizing. Like when you go to it, if you take a look, you're like, you're either gonna love it or hate it. Which just means that Mustard Lane knows its market.

So well done to Crystal for being bold and provocative and understanding who she wants to serve and not worrying about anyone else because she wants to put forward that community. And of course it's one that she understands well having been a dancer herself. So she has that authority, but also that experience, that relatability and yeah, just a wonderful business all around. So thanks again to Crystal and the team at Mustard Lane. Thank you again, listeners.

Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Our show notes, including links to everything I mentioned are at sidehustleschool.com/12821282. Later in the week, we've got stories coming up about imposter syndrome. We've got a question about a gift box for new moms. I got a throwback episode to a guy on Fiverr who actually made $100,000 selling on this low cost platform.

So all kinds of stuff coming up. Be sure you're subscribed. You can listen to wherever you get your podcasts. Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

from the Onward Project.