This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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One of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs is believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart. Now, obviously here at Sadistle School, we talk a lot about practical steps. Like we're all about the practical, how to make things happen. But Steve Jobs was big on practical steps too. So I think if you want to find your purpose in life, you have to do both.
Like you have to be willing to look at the logistics, look at the practical stuff and kind of map out a path from A to Z, or at least from A to B, 'cause you may not know what the end is going to be. But you also want to make sure you're doing something that you believe in, okay? So when you follow your heart and you work hard improving along the way, like that's when you find yourself looking around one day and saying, you know what? I have made a pretty good life here, which doesn't mean that you won't continue to improve. It doesn't mean that there aren't struggles or challenges.
It doesn't mean that you don't have more room to grow. But still like that, I think is the goal, right? The practical steps, the following your heart. And today's story, 'cause there is a point here, a segue, today's story illustrates this principle well. Believing that the dots will connect down the road, giving you the confidence to follow your heart.
When a skilled and hardworking chef grows tired of working in food stores, he takes on some whisk and starts his own cheesecake business. And this business, of course, is anything but half baked. Artisanal cheesecakes. That's what we'll talk about in this episode right after this message from our sponsor. Stay tuned.
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David Brooks has been a working chef for 35 years. Throughout that time, he's worked in restaurants, bars, supermarkets, and catering companies, bringing culinary delight to eaters in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. His side hustle story began in 2003 when he was holding down two jobs and often working 80-hour weeks. Outside of work, he still found time to make the occasional wedding or celebration cake for friends, family, and colleagues. It was the first time he'd made a side income from his baking skills.
While a little extra money was nice, it was David's passion for baking that made it possible. That's the only reason he kept up such a crazy schedule for the next six years, all the way into 2009. When he was presented with a new opportunity and the role of bakery manager for a large grocery store chain with 250 stores nationwide, he thought it was the right move. Since the new job would involve new demands and even more responsibilities, he reluctantly put his cake-making side hustle on hold, at least for the time being. Unfortunately, what first appeared to be a dream job soon devolved into something as stale as old cake.
David was a square peg trying to fit in a round hole at the company. His disagreement with the way things were run, along with his fierce independent streak, resulted in a deep dissatisfaction. He stayed for four years, but it was four years too long. On the first day of 2013, David found himself without a job. With some room to breathe, his mood began to rise like biscuits in the oven.
But after a few weeks, that mood started sinking like an undercooked souffle. As a hard worker all his life, he knew that idle time wasn't healthy for him. He wanted to work again, but wasn't sure what to do next. Luckily, an answer to that conundrum soon presented itself. Upon visiting a local chocolatier, David noticed the store selling slices of cheesecake.
Being somewhat of a cheesecake connoisseur, he asked the owner about his personal opinion. "It's good, but a little pricey," was the response. This sparked the pilot light in David's mind. He asked the owner another simple question. "If I could make you a cheesecake just as good, that was fresher and less expensive, would you try it?" With the response of yes, David decided to restart his original hustle, and Dave's artisanal cheesecakes was born, or I guess reborn.
He celebrated with what he called the money dance. And this was David's first foray into wholesale baking, if you could even call it that. He was still only baking a single cheesecake at a time in his home kitchen. Yet it gave him more satisfaction than he'd ever had in his previous job, and he craved more of that feeling. He cooked up cheesecake samples and started visiting local restaurants.
To his delight, he found a few more customers. But he wasn't bringing in much money in one cheesecake at a time, and there were bills to pay. To supplement his income, he took a job at a local casino, which turned out to be a valuable learning experience. There, for the first time, he worked with high-end equipment, the types of tools that allowed for the baking of 30 cheesecakes at once. David saw the potential, and in a strange twist of fate, a foot injury came as a blessing in disguise.
The injury meant he could no longer work at the casino, so he had no choice but to pour his soul into his new business. It was time to rise to the occasion. He began to network with previous colleagues and employers. One that really worked out was a meeting he arranged between a local food supplier and a restaurant equipment vendor. Putting the two businesses together opened up options for David as well.
Both businesses referred him customers as a result, which led to an explosion in volume, from a handful of orders per day to over 200 in a week. But, of course, this meant that David needed help. With a proven concept and certainty in his cashflow, he took on some additional whisk in the form of a $20,000 bank loan. That allowed him to rent a space in a shared commercial kitchen and buy industrial equipment to keep up with his orders, which continued to rise to perfection. Fast forward a few years, and Dave's artisanal cheesecakes is on track to do well over six figures in sales this year.
While that isn't all profit, he makes more than enough to earn a good living. And he's doing it in his own way. [Music]
Congratulations to Dave. We'd love to check out those artisanal cheesecakes at some point. And by the way, he took out a $20,000 loan there.
Just wanted to address that for our long-time listeners who are like, "Whoa, nobody borrows money inside of school." Well, in this case, he borrowed money for this proven concept, okay? So what I'm opposed to is people going out and taking out loans or maxing out their credit cards for no good reason or for something that you don't know is going to work. And of course, there's always some risk. Like I don't wanna say it's 100% risk-free, but Dave had this recipe. He was building these relationships.
He was starting to get more orders. So it seemed like, okay, all he needs now is a relatively small loan. I mean, $20,000 is also not that large of a business loan. $20,000 to get that equipment, rent out the commercial kitchen, perhaps provide some runway for a few months. So he's taking that money to support his proven concept, key point.
Now, by the way, also another key point or more like a fun fact. Did you know that some of the earliest evidence of cheesecakes dates all the way back to 2000 BC? It was even served to athletes in the first Olympic games in 776 BC. So there is a long legacy of cheesecake that Dave is now adding to. All right, well done.
And listeners, I hope you enjoyed this story as well. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1338. Come and check it out. And if you have a comment or question for the show, just hop on over to sidehustleschool.com/questions.
Thank you so much. Be sure you're subscribed because much more is coming up. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
