This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hello and welcome to Side Hustle School. We are beginning an all new week. I could not be more excited. Episodes 163 through 169 coming up. And we're gonna start with a really interesting one today.
Now listen, today's story is about football, specifically American football. And I will say right off the bat that I am not a huge football fan myself, meaning that I'm not a fan at all. But obviously I do pay attention to popular culture. I am somewhat aware that there is this time of year that comes around, I think it's like January or February. And during this one particular weekend, it really affects my life because chips and salsa can be hard to come by at the grocery store during this weekend.
Which is of course a tremendous hardship. Anyway, enough about me, whether you like football or not, this is interesting because this is the story of a Dallas flight attendant. Side note, we actually have a lot of flight attendants and pilots who are listening to the show. A couple of you have said hi to me on flights, which is pretty cool. And I also just think it's great that you guys are working so hard, traveling all the time, but also thinking about your side hustle.
Now back to the story. This is about a Dallas flight attendant who capitalizes on the football craze, specifically Super Bowl weekend, by providing house rentals for tourists and other visitors to the city wherever the Super Bowl is held. And she does this without being a real estate mogul herself. So she doesn't actually own these properties. That's another interesting point, but let me not give away the whole story right away.
There is some background. And first I'm asking listeners, how do you move forward when you get stuck? Or when you're having trouble making progress, do you have a tip? Like, how do we get a little bit closer to that thing that we're working on? I talk about that in different ways, but I wanted to hear what you think.
So every day, a different listener comment, what's your experience? - Hey, Chris, this is Jill calling from California. I love your podcast. Heard about it from Gretchen Rubin's podcast. Two things.
First, I'm what Gretchen Rubin would call an obliger. So I'm great at meeting external deadlines like those imposed by my clients, but I am terrible at meeting my own personal internal deadlines like starting a side hustle. Second one is I do research for a living. So I'm great at doing the groundwork for a side hustle and spending hours on the internet, but not taking any real action. So I wondered if you might consider helping your listeners like me maybe start a group like Gretchen's Habits Groups, and we can hold each other accountable and be supportive of one another in our search for our side hustle.
So I look forward to your thoughts on this. And thank you again for such a great podcast. - Hey, Jill, thank you so much for calling in. I was just talking about Gretchen's four tendencies the other day. According to that model, I am a rebel, which means I resist both outer and inner expectations.
But yes, as you mentioned, obligers are good with external obligations, but then you sometimes struggle with keeping commitments to yourself, or maybe you put others ahead of yourself. So maybe as you suggest, we need to create some external expectations for you so that you can move forward with your hustle. And this is actually in the works. I've been planning to start a program called Side Hustle Society. I had hoped it would be ready by now, but apparently I've been resisting those expectations.
But as we get closer to the fall, when the side hustle book will be out, along with Gretchen's four tendencies book, we will definitely be moving forward with that kind of group. So thank you for the call and also the nudge. I will get to work. [Music]
49-year-old flight attendant Stephanie Rivers designed and launched her side hustle while facing some unexpected turbulence in her life. A few years ago, she was let go from the previous airline she worked for and wasn't sure what to do next.
For as long as she can remember, in fact, as early on as her Girl Scout days selling cookies, Stephanie has been a hustler. In addition to the cookies, she's been an Uber driver on her days off. And she's even partnered with overseas physicians to market low cost cosmetic surgery. So when faced with unemployment, she decided to get to work. She made it through the rest of that year after signing up as a contractor for a company that was renting out homes for the Super Bowl.
And that year I was hosted in Dallas where Stephanie is based. She worked on commission for the company and she saw great potential for the business model, but she was disappointed to see that this company treated both the homeowners and the salespeople poorly. She decided to take the same idea, but do it better. And even though she had found another flight attendant job before the next Super Bowl rolled around, she still wanted to proceed with this side hustle idea. Stephanie is a big Dallas Cowboys fan, so the business was an easy fit for her.
She understands and shares the excitement around the Super Bowl. And she knows the championship game is the perfect opportunity to make money since tens of thousands of people pour into the host city. And most of them know that this visit is not gonna be cheap. She also noticed that each year the host city, the stadium, and the team owners all make money, but not necessarily the taxpayers. She said the Super Bowl often blocks off about 75% of the host city's hotel rooms for companies and affiliates, leaving few options for fans or anyone who just wanted to see the game.
The goal of her new company, Touchdown Rentals, was to solve both sides of this equation. She helps homeowners get paid and helps sports fans have a great home to stay in for the big weekend. The approach is simple. Ahead of the Super Bowl, Stephanie reaches out to high-end homeowners. She then posts properties online of those willing to rent.
She connects her clients looking for rentals and takes a commission for negotiating the deal. Though she now has to compete with the likes of Airbnb, Stephanie says she stayed ahead of the game by creating all-inclusive packages for the renters, who get the house, transport to and from the airport, a concierge to help with entertainment, and even private party planning, if needed. Each year, on average, she rents 60 properties from condos to five-bedroom estates, priced at $1,000 to $3,000 per day. Remember, this is the Super Bowl. Nothing is cheap.
Stephanie earns a percentage of the rental fee, and this adds up to a healthy profit of about $50,000 a year, which is really like $50,000 a season, since it seems the Super Bowl only takes place once a year. Stephanie has been creative with her marketing. She enlisted a celebrity spokesperson, an NFL player named Tobin Opurum, after she happened to pick him up while driving for Uber. By the way, I'm not sure if I got that name right since I don't know anything about football. Sorry, Tobin.
She also started throwing house parties, where homeowners invite their friends over for free fruit and drinks, while she explains the benefits of renting out their homes. And then most creatively of all, she uses her full-time job as a flight attendant to her advantage. While flying around the country, she always carries promotional material for her side hustle to pass on to airports, hotels, and other venues. And since she's passing through major cities, she can often stop over to research the different neighborhoods in upcoming Super Bowl destinations. All of this takes about 15 hours a week between September and February each year.
And as you might suspect, this effort has been worthwhile. With the earnings from this hustle, Stephanie has been able to purchase and renovate her condo. And because she's always looking for ways to make more money, she's actually now renting out that condo for additional passive income. Touchdown Reynolds continues to thrive, making it all the way to the end zone, and even performing a special happy dance in hopes of being featured on YouTube or SportsCenter. [Music]
Well, as I said, this was a pretty creative project, I thought, Stephanie is a connector and a facilitator.
She doesn't own all these homes. She doesn't own any homes, except for the condo she was able to purchase with the money from this business. She just found a pretty smart way to take advantage of something that wasn't being done well at all, at least before Airbnb. And even with the rise of Airbnb, she's been able to provide this competitive differentiation. And apparently she does all this while flying around the country each week.
Maybe I've seen her onboard, maybe you have. I hope this gives you something to think about. You can check out Touchdown Reynolds by coming to sidehustleschool.com/163. Inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. I will be back tomorrow with a non-football story.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are. I'm Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]
