This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Thank you for tuning in today. I want to mention here at the outset of the show that today's listener question deals with a sensitive topic. The caller has struggled with an eating disorder and is now going through recovery. So I want to mention that but I also want to say I really admire and respect her bravery in calling in. The question which you'll hear in a moment is how to serve others who've had the same struggle or going through something similar and she'll get a little bit more specific in her question. But as a natural storyteller,
our caller has noticed some things she'd like to highlight and is trying to figure out the best way to do it. So how might a person go about deciding the best format or medium for such a project? And is there an obvious money making angle from it? Because here inside us all school, we are primarily interested in for-profit projects. It doesn't mean there can't also be a social good component to it. It doesn't mean that you can't do something
else in your life that has nothing to do with making money. That's just the filter that I approached the programming of our show with. So I thought about that for a while before deciding on the answer that I'll share with you. So hopefully we'll come up with something helpful for her, but you might have an idea yourself as well. That's what it's all about kind of sharing these different ideas and workshopping through potential solutions, potential product services, how to take a message, share it with the world through the form of something that might be for sale or at least is helping you build your brand as an authority or whatever the case may be. Alright, so the question is what's the best
way to share personal stories of recovery? That detailed question and my answer is coming up in just 30 seconds. Hi Chris, this is Kit and I'm from Chicago. I've been reading your books and listening to your podcasts for probably four or five years now. I'm a natural storyteller. I have
a lot of funny stories from travel experiences or from random research deep dives I've done about historical or scientific topics, usually obscure and macabre but entertaining. Most recently though I entered treatment for an eating disorder at an age that's much older than most of my peers and even the staff. I found that recovery has been a new source of so many unusual experiences that are shared among eating disorder survivors but rarely written about or express. So I've learned that eating disorder survivors really are a neglected community. So I would like to share my stories, my experiences and the things that I've learned along the way in an educational, dark, funny, ultimately helpful way. But I
can't decide on the best format for stories. YouTube, podcast, blogs all seem like really crowded arenas. So what format would you advise for a storytelling based side hustle? Thanks so much. Kit, thank you so much for the call. Thank you for listening. Thanks for being out there.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I really appreciate and admire and respect your bravery. So let us focus here on a couple of things. This question you had here, I made a note, eating disorder survivors really are a neglected community. So how can you find them? You know, I guess I would often talk about being really tightly focused here and like finding your niche and all that kind of thing. I would actually cast more of a wide net for something
like this because people are in different stages of life and struggle. Kit mentions in her question that she felt like she was a bit older than some typical people who've had this experience. I wonder if there are other people with this struggle who also feel like they're different or excluded or some way or either had this same shared story or their story was a bit different. And they are seeking that sense of belonging and a shared narrative. So I would cast more of a wide net. And if you were doing it on YouTube or a newer
medium like TikTok, for example, that might be ideal because those platforms are very good at targeting users, like as we all know. In some cases, they're able to target users who other people, their friends, their family don't even know that they have a particular issue. But somehow, these algorithms kind of figure it out, which is a whole other kind of topic. But the point is, even though you feel like it's a crowded space, it might not be so crowded. For what you're trying to teach. So my sense is if you're comfortable with video,
if you're willing to try, if you're willing to experiment with these forms of media, something like that might be best. And Kit seems very enthusiastic and outgoing and like she is a natural storyteller, as mentioned. So as for the business side of things like, okay, that money making idea, I'm not actually immediately sure what that is here. I think it's important to refer people with serious conditions to qualify medical and mental health professionals. Let's just say that. But I also think that focusing on the brand and the community building aspect, again,
the storytelling format, trying to bring people together and hopefully provide support. And that way, it might be more important anyway, might be more important than whatever the immediate money making aspect of it is. Maybe at some point, there can be a book or a podcast or online membership community or something else. So to wrap up, I do hope you share those stories, hope you find a good medium for that. Let us know what you choose so we can report back to our community. Thank you again for the question listeners. If you have a question, come to
sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from listeners as they launch their projects. I'm so excited about this, all the fun and meaningful things that people are making. Let me know what you're doing so I can share it with as many people as I know. All right, I'm going to sign off for today, but I will be back tomorrow. I hope you will be as well. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School.
From the Onward Project.
