This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Did you know that the military has an entrance test that new enlistees are required to pass? Now here I'm speaking specifically of the US military, but I'm pretty sure this is true in other countries as well. There are different systems and different tests, but when it comes to large governmental institutions such as the army or other branches of the military, all throughout the world, they all have some sort of standardized means of evaluating people. And here's the thing, not only is passing essential, but getting the best score possible is important because many jobs in the military require a higher score than just the minimum. Now, why are we talking about this today?
Well, first of all, welcome to Side Hustle School. I'm so glad you're here. My name is Chris Guillebeau. We're talking about this because whenever there is this sort of hurdle or obstacle or means of measurement, which is a standardized test of course, there are also opportunities because so much is at stake. Okay, we're always looking for different ways to make extra money.
Usually by using a skill you already have without spending a ton of money yourself. So low budget opportunities that can provide a good return and hopefully by helping somebody else as well, which is exactly what we have in today's story. When a Peace Corps alumnus uses his teaching skills to help a friend, he realizes that many military recruits need help preparing for their entry test. So that's our story. How does he go about doing it?
What are the results? What can we take away from it? All of that is coming up in today's episode. Stay tuned. [Music]
Mickey Gammonal got a degree in secondary education, specifically so that he could join the Peace Corps right after graduating from college.
He loved his two years of serving in Morocco so much that when it was done, he joined Teach for America. Teach for America, TFA is a nonprofit organization focused on ensuring every child in the United States receives a quality education. Unfortunately, the second service commitment didn't last long. The teacher burnout hit hard and Mickey needed a change. The problem wasn't teaching itself.
He just craved more autonomy. Mickey had tutored middle school kids all through college and figured that he could start doing it again on the side while he worked full-time as a security guard. But first, a friend asked for help studying for a test called the ASVAP. Now this is an important test. It evaluates soldiers' skills and determines what jobs they're eligible for.
This is, as mentioned, that military entry test. Helping his friend helped Mickey realize that he wanted to change course again. Instead of tutoring middle schoolers, he liked the idea of impacting soldiers' lives by helping them get the best jobs they could. He began to talk to army recruiters in Las Vegas, his hometown. They were impressed with his work ethic and those conversations led to him tutoring some newly enlisted soldiers in English and math.
Mickey loved it. It was the perfect cure to burnout. He had the independence he craved and the students he was teaching had a desire to learn. Rather than teaching kids who were forced to be in school, his new clients truly wanted to succeed. Now all this time around soldiers got him thinking, what if he joined the military himself?
Of course, Mickey knew that he had a tendency to struggle with authority and he wondered if that would be a problem. He resolved the dilemma by signing up with the National Guard, a part-time commitment instead of a full-time long-term career. The time commitment for the Guard was low. Guard members are known as civilian soldiers and only have to be on duty once a month along with two weeks training per year. He could still work his security guard job much of the time.
Boot camp turned out to be a great experience all around and the thing that stuck out to him the most was how badly his fellow soldiers needed a tutor. Many of the 18-year-olds he was in the barracks with barely passed the ASVAP, leaving them with few options to get the job they wanted. Mickey knew he could help. The test focused on seventh grade English and math knowledge and as a veteran middle school teacher, this was right up his alley. Soon after he saw an ad on Facebook offering training to become a tutor by a business coach.
Mickey decided to meet with the coach but the coach charged $500 for his course. Mickey wasn't ready to dish out that much money yet, especially because he was still struggling to get clients. Instead he soldiered on joining Facebook groups and offering his tutoring services for free. His hope was that some of the students would want to pay for more sessions. Eventually he had four consistent students and a program that cost $100 a month.
Mickey focused on improving a different subject each week. The first week was word knowledge. The second was math knowledge. Then reading comprehension and finally arithmetic reasoning. After finding those initial clients, the side gig started to get in marching order.
The four students gave him reviews and referrals and Mickey gently encouraged them to tell their ROTC recruiters about their experience. He also began to purchase some Facebook ads and those were incredibly helpful. Thanks to those ads, he began to gain at least two new clients per month. He raised his monthly rate to $300, which equated to about $25 per session. Now all this started as COVID-19 hit in 2020 but by November of that year, he quit his full-time job as a security officer.
Making a new November was a good month to quit since he got three paychecks that month instead of two. He couldn't stop thinking about his business, now called Gammonal Tutors and he wanted to go all in. It helped that he had recently started breaking even, meaning in his case that he was making the same $1,800 a month from tutoring that he made from security. More importantly, the ability to grow his income over time is completely different. As a security guard, there wasn't much room for salary growth but by running his own business, the possibilities are much more expensive.
Startup costs were less than $400, most of which was spent on forming an LLC and buying those Facebook ads. However, he did end up investing more money as he went along on supplies like whiteboards, tripods and iPads. His logic is that he would rather spend money on gear for his new business than on a pair of handcuffs for his security job. Mickey hopes to make captain before his National Guard six-year contract is up. Meanwhile, he's delving into online learning, eventually hoping to hire more tutors to grow the business.
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All right, so what can we learn from this story? I actually think the best is yet to come here. So first of all, congratulations to Mickey for getting this far and also finding that way to enter the military without doing the full-time long-term career. I admire people who do that, but I also have that issue with authority. So way to find the middle ground there.
But I think Mickey can go further and focus on online tutoring for this specific test and really focusing on being the authority in that subject because there are so many people taking it on an ongoing basis. So it's a recurring market with a pretty important need and he's got the experience. He's already got a lot of contacts. So there are a whole bunch of online forums and Facebook groups for people joining the military. And just as he reached out to local recruiters, he could build this wider through more extensive relationships.
And of course, this requires a bit of an online model, but he's already leaning that way with the video tutorials he's introducing. And he also started his business during the pandemic. So I think, you know, wonderful success. I'm curious to know what's gonna happen within a year. Of course, Mickey, let us know how it goes.
And listeners, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. I hope these stories get you thinking. I hope they also nudge you toward taking action. If you'd like to find a show notes for today's episode, including links to Mickey's website, anything else I mentioned, just go to sidehustleschool.com/1634. Thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope you will subscribe, follow, come back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
