Origami-Loving Musician Doesn’t Mind Paperwork

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

I told a story a few times of my friend, Brooke Thomas, who was working in the field of physical therapy in New Haven, Connecticut, and found herself out of work for several months at the start of COVID times. Fortunately, she had been working on the side developing an online community called Liberated Being and ended up transforming it into an online meditation hub, making several thousand dollars a month from it. It's a great story. We featured it in detail long ago in the archives. I still think of it from time to time. I believe that

community is still going strong, even as she's transitioning back into her original work. Well, today I have another story that highlights a creative pandemic pivot. It's also a very side hustle school story, and that it's something I had never heard of before. In this story, after canceling her concerts because of the pandemic, a working musician from New Zealand pays the bills with virtual origami lessons. Virtual origami, something we've never talked about before on the podcast, always trying to bring you something new and fresh. So glad

you're here. My name is Chris Guillebeau. We're going to jump into this story. Origami loving musician doesn't mind paperwork in just 30 seconds. Cat McDowell's love for origami bloomed as a young girl growing up in Japan. Her grandmother's

room was full of different paper creations, from geometric shapes to cranes hanging from her ceiling. Despite moving to New Zealand when she was five, Cat's love of origami remained throughout her life. It was a way to be creative and connect with her grandmother. As she grew up, she became a musician, but never forgot about origami. That's why in early 2020, she released a new song called "1000 Paper Cranes" as a tribute to her grandmother, who had recently passed away. At this time, Cat had been working as a full-time

musician for nearly 16 years, but she was struggling. She had begun to pick up a few teaching gigs to pay bills, but still spent most of her time writing songs, releasing music and touring. Occasionally, she would get a lucky break, like a song of hers being put into a TV show or commercial, and it kept her going. Unfortunately, though, right around the time of her new song's release, lockdown began in New Zealand, and of course around the world. Already struggling financially, Cat now had to cancel the shows she had booked at colleges around the country. Suddenly, her paychecks and exposure were nowhere to

be found. No longer being able to have in-person events, Cat still wanted to find a way to promote 1000 Paper Cranes, so she decided to have a virtual paper crane folding party with her fans and anyone else who wanted to join in. She taught them how to do some simple origami, just like her grandmother had taught her, and then premiered her music video. The origami party was a hit, and doing it virtually posed fewer barriers than she'd expected. This gave Cat an idea. What if she could bring this sense of fun and connection to others

during the pandemic? On a whim, she began reaching out to the same colleges she had partnered with before, asking if they'd be interested in the workshops. Within two weeks, she had booked nine workshops at $500 each. This was a low-cost side hustle to start. She already owned a phone, computer, and recording setup. All she had to buy was the origami paper. Cat was also able to tap

into skills she had already developed. As a musician, she was used to keeping the energy up for large groups of people, keeping them entertained and active, and she used that knowledge to make her workshops as engaging as possible. Part of that was personalizing the origami to the season or to the college she was presenting to. For example, in October, she would have the students make fall leaves or pumpkins. When she presented to Juilliard, she had the students create an eagle, which just happens to be the school mascot.

The workshops were a hit, and Cat even got to play some of her songs in the background. You couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it sooner. But I don't blame her, because who would think of virtual origami? Before the pandemic, she would travel three days to perform a 90-minute set at a college for $2,000. Now, she could pull out her laptop when it was time for the workshops and make $500 in an hour, all while still exposing students to her music and sometimes playing a few songs for them. A few months into the

new project, Cat decided to invest $1,500 into creating origami promo kits that she used to pitch herself to colleges more formally. It was her first big investment into the business, and it quickly paid for itself, with three colleges booking her after getting one in the mail. She also began making videos on her YouTube channel and livestreaming origami sessions on Twitch. These techniques have helped Cat to gain even more of a following. In 2020, Cat made $8,000 from these impromptu workshops. She loves that she's been able

to help people relax and take their mind off the pandemic, even if just for a time. She's had to bump her price up to $750 due to increased demand. Customers have told her that whenever they search for origami workshops, her business comes up. However, since not many people search for that phrase, she's planning on spending some money this year on Google AdWords. Cat never imagined that her passion for origami could unfold into a side hustle. As a musician,

she hasn't ever had a stable income, and the pandemic made that even worse, with all of her shows being canceled. Yet, by leveraging her skills, connections, and passion, she was able to create an all-new source of income. She's also thinking ahead. Cat knows that the demand for origami workshops probably won't last forever, so she's also planning new workshops around the art of kintsuki, a Japanese art form where broken objects are repaired with gold and made more valuable. She now believes that her art and music are destined to be intertwined.

Virtual origami lessons, there you have it. Something we've never talked about before in 1,548 episodes of Side Hustle School. We continue to encounter examples like this of people just being really creative, being creative, tapping into their skills, their connections, their resources, creating new skills sometimes, new connections, new resources. We asked Cat if she had any words of advice. She said, "Well, for me, I thought that my story was important, so you should always ask, 'What is it that makes you unique?' And for me, one of the reasons I do so well in origami is because it's part of my story, from being a musician, writing that song for my grandmother, and my Japanese background, which allows me to share a lot of stories during the workshop and gives me some authority in that area.

But everybody has a unique story and something that you can do. I love that advice, so I offer it to you freely. Consider what it might mean for you. What is your unique story? What kind of interesting project might you be able to craft from it? Craft from it either literally

or not literally. I once tried to start an origami business myself. It just didn't work out so well. There was way too much paperwork involved." All right, listeners, thank you for joining me. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Today's show notes, including links to Cat's music, which of course

you can also find on Spotify, just search for Cat McDowell, but our links are at sidehustleschool.com/1548. If you've got a comment or question for the show, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. All right, much more is coming up. Be sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcasts. That could be Spotify or somewhere else. But wherever it is, I hope you'll join me tomorrow.

My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.