This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Hey, what's up? Thank you so much for tuning in today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. Every single day, a different story, tip, question and answer, or feature of someone who has started a side hustle that would be an income generating project without quitting their day job. Now, this particular feature, this segment is called
Throwback Thursday, also known as Where Are They Now, where we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. Now, last week, we heard from an adjunct professor who helps data scientists prepare for interviews at tech companies. Before that, we featured a romance novel editor who goes all in on her freelance work. Today, we'll hear from Denise O'Connell. She's the co-founder of Tuck Tats Temporary Tattoos. Say
that three times fast, or just don't. Tuck Tats Temporary Tattoos, a brand that helps people cover up surgical scars. This is a very cool business. I remember the original episode we did with her way back on day number 965, which was a long time ago, but I just remember it being a really cool business. They have these artistic, beautiful designs that are temporary, so you're not making a lifelong commitment to a tattoo, but it helps people feel better about themselves when they're wearing a bathing suit or otherwise in a situation where that scar would be more visible. Cool
business. But what has happened since? It's been a while. Let's hear directly from Denise. I'll come back at the end to wrap us up. Hi, my name is Denise O'Connell. I'm the co-owner
and founder of Tuck Tats Temporary Tattoos. I live in Toronto, Canada, and I was featured on episode 965 of Side Hustle School. So my side hustle is Tuck Tats, and Tuck Tats are, I guess I would describe them as realistic and trendy temporary tattoos that cover abdominal scars. If you think about abdominal scars, you think about things like abdominoplasty, which that's also called tummy tucks, C-sections, appendectomies. Those surgeries often leave big scars, and we created these temporary tattoos that would help people to hide them when they needed to, like on the beach or at the pool, or maybe even just a romantic night. I actually have a tummy scar
myself, and I was always trying to find a way to hide it. And it turns out my best friend also has scars of her own from multiple surgeries, and she was kind of feeling the same thing. And the next day when we were just a bit more sober, we agreed. We thought back to the night before, and we said, let's just go for it. What can we really have to lose? So that was how we started. So we funded it
from our own bank accounts, and it was a learning process just in terms of how to find artists, how to find a manufacturer, how to deal with packaging. And even because the size of our tattoos are actually quite long, even though they're very light, they know how to ship them because they're long, and they're actually not like just slightly too big for like letter post. So like, how are we going to ship them? How are we going to ship them economically? And so those were all big learnings that we had to undertake. My main hustle is actually, I'm a video producer
for a major bank. And that's my day job. And it's a side hustle. And I'm actually okay with that. I actually really love my job. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy telling stories. And I came from the world
of journalism. This to me is actually a great job. And I'm okay with that. I feel very fulfilled. It's nice to have a side hustle, because it does make your main hustle, I think a little bit more tolerable. Oftentimes when I'm having a rough day at work, I don't have somebody holding a
paycheck over my head. I make my own money elsewhere. So if somebody wants to give me a hard time, it's a lot easier for me to just brush my shoulders off and just say, you know what, I can do other things. I am good at what I do. And it doesn't feel like my whole identity. And
I think that that's a really important thing. So I'm actually okay with this being a side hustle, if it only ends up being that way. I'm also okay with it growing into a million dollar company, but one thing at a time. We still have a lot of challenges. I would say reliable shipping has been a real issue for us, especially during COVID-19. The amount of times that we have had to
reship packages that have gotten lost in the mail during COVID-19 is insane. So we're really struggling, I think right now with reliable shipping, ways of getting our product to the customer in a reasonable period of time, especially given the fact that it's a low cost and low price product. I think my advice to somebody who wants to follow in my footsteps or start a small business, would be to do it with somebody. Oftentimes doing it with somebody, you keep each other on track, you keep your goals in mind. And also, it's actually quite fun. I'm so happy I did this
with my best friend. We have our moments, but I'm happy that we're doing this together. And it also slips up the time commitment. It is a side hustle. We both have full time jobs. If I had to do this
all on my own, I honestly think it would be too overwhelming for me to undertake all this by myself. Having somebody to split up the day-to-day tasks with really helps and makes it a lot less onerous. And it makes it more enjoyable. Denise, thank you so much for those updates. Thank you for contributing to Side Hustle School.
And congrats on your awesome business. It is super fun. Listeners, check out her website at tuktats.com. That is tuktats, just like you'd think it would be spelled, T-U-C-K-T-A-T-S.com. They actually have a special offer where you can buy four or more and get free shipping anywhere in the world. You can also follow them on social at, guess what, tuktats, same spelling.
This feature, Throwback Thursday, was one of our most popular features of 2020. And as you've heard, we're keeping it going this year as well. So let me know what you think and who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than 1,000 stories. If you have a question or an update for me, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. I'm so glad you're out there. I am cheering you on.
Whatever you're up to, wherever you are in the world, do come back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
