Logistics Broker Earns Extra Income From Graffiti

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

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I first studied sociology for my undergraduate degree and then I spent several years volunteering for an organization that worked in West Africa. Now I had no idea at the time that either of those experiences would end up helping me years later in a totally different career. I ended up studying sociology because it was interesting to me. Took a couple of classes in race and ethnicity and then in deviant behavior and something about family systems. If I recall correctly, I just thought that was really interesting.

So that's why I ended up studying. And as I said, then after that, spent several years in West Africa and all that stuff just seemed kind of random at the time. I was also working for myself. I did various entrepreneurial projects. I was playing music.

So it seemed like this total hodgepodge of activities. But now I can look back and I actually have gratitude for all those different experiences because they all ended up helping me do what I'm doing now. Sometimes in a very direct way and sometimes in an indirect way. And I mentioned this because when you do something new, you never know what will ultimately come about because you made that decision. Like you chose to do something different.

You chose to say yes to this idea you had. Well, maybe it'll be a huge success. Maybe you won't be interested in it at all. But there could also be, in addition to those outcomes, there could also be something you haven't considered at all. And I just love stories of serendipity.

I love thinking about that process and all these kind of hub and spoke connections or ways that the dots are created or whatever metaphor you choose to use when you kind of step out and try new things. So with that in mind in today's story, when a logistics broker offers to do graffiti for a friend, he unexpectedly paints himself into an extra income. This ends up providing much needed security during the pandemic and even fosters a career change to something totally different. So a couple of twists in this, a logistics broker earns extra income from graffiti and more, I should say, extra income and more. But all that's coming up in this story after this message from our sponsor.

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In 2019, Marty Nagel had been working in his career as a third-party logistics broker for about a decade. Although he's now based in Louisville, Kentucky, he was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, a city known for its rich graffiti culture. Ever since high school, when he went to a few graffiti events in town, he's had a fascination with the art. Toward the end of that year, 2019, Marty was chatting with a friend when she began to tell him about a special present she intended to buy for her son.

She told him that for his birthday, she was gonna pay someone to create a small piece of graffiti art on his wall. Marty inquired further and found out that she was intending to pay $800 for just a bedroom-sized wall. Taken aback by the price, Marty offered to do it himself and charge a more palatable rate, $350. He also offered to throw in something extra, painting her son's name in his room in a fun, wild-style font. Marty's friend agreed.

Although he wasn't planning it at the time, she became the first of many clients. When he finished that birthday wall, Marty shared the photo on Facebook, where it got a lot of attention. After receiving 250 likes and over 100 shares, people began to contact him about getting their own graffiti art done. Marty was colored pink by the reaction, and he said yes to every request. At first, he wasn't sure how to determine his pricing.

He would throw out prices randomly, charging $100 for one wall and $200 for the next. He continued that until he eventually learned how to determine price based off of square footage, the necessary supplies, and the travel. Now he's got it down to a fine art, charging an average of $400 to $500 a piece, and typically earning $250 an hour. With his pricing and his ever increasing clientele, he was instantly able to pay his rent every month, and was stunned that he could make that much money from art. Besides buying the cans of spray paint for each project, Marty didn't have to pay anything else to get his new business up and running.

He decided to call it low-key originals. His first course of action was to build a portfolio of work to show off his variety of skills and abilities. To market it, he made an Instagram account and designed a few T-shirts. The first few months of operations, all was going well. Marty maintained his job as a logistics broker and did his graffiti on weekends.

Then COVID-19 made its way to the United States, and his career underwent a major change. When his company laid off over 700 people, Marty decided to quit before it could happen to him. Part of the reason he could do that was because of the money he was making from low-key originals. He took some time off and continued to build up his portfolio. Eventually, he filled an entire library on his iPad with drawings of names, cartoons, and letters.

With the extra income, he was able to pay for his commercial driver's license and become a truck driver. And despite the virus sweeping the nation, Marty continued to get plenty of clients for his artistry. Every weekend, he continued to do two or three different murals. He's been able to keep this steady stream of clients by utilizing social media and not paying for it. In fact, rather than pay for advertising, all Marty has done is run an Instagram and Facebook account.

He posts a photo every week and asks his friends to share it, completely organic. He currently has enough clients to be booked two months out. Marty's been able to pay his rent, make a career switch in the middle of a pandemic without stressing out, and delve into his longtime passion for art. He hopes this is only the beginning of his graffiti journey. In the future, he plans to travel to bring his mural art to more cities and have his own studio.

Not only that, but he's looking forward to working with different mediums. He's currently in the middle of a project for a friend, where he's painting their entire car, including details, design, and airbrush effects. He's also doing motorcycle panels for another friend. For now, Marty plans to keep low-key originals just that, low-key and on the side, complimenting his new day job as a driver. [Music]

Check out Marty's work on Instagram, @lowkeyoriginals.

Once again, that's @lowkeyoriginals, the name of his business. And here's a fun fact for you. The first forms of graffiti date back to Roman architecture. Although there was no spray paint at the time, to the best of our knowledge, artists would carve messages onto walls. In fact, the word graffiti comes from the Greek word krautpane, which means to write.

I guess I probably said that wrong, but it means to write. As I said, you never know what's gonna happen when you say yes to something, when you decide to pursue something new. That's my encouragement for you today. I love seeing it demonstrated in lots of different stories. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better.

Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1424. One, four, two, four. If you got a comment or question for the show, that would be at sidehustleschool.com/questions. Thanks so much for listening today. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School.

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From the Onward Project.