Notes from Chris

Episode 1795

What do you do when you can’t see family over the holidays because of the pandemic? You collaborate on a cookbook based on your favorite show… Schitt’s Creek.

Have you seen the show? If not, you won’t get all of the references here, but that’s okay because the story is complete without any preexisting knowledge. And maybe there’s a TV show you like that could do something similar.

As long as they can remember, sisters Hannah and Rachel Floyd always had money-making projects. Whether it was selling candy in grade school, baking cakes in high school, or cleaning houses in college, if there was money to be made, they were there.

So it was natural that another side hustle would bring these sisters closer together during the pandemic.

Like many of us during the long, lonely days of 2020 lockdown, Hannah and Rachel were frustrated. Hannah is a Speech Language Pathologist at a hospital in California and Rachel works for the Washington State Government. Getting together over Christmas was out of the question since travel between Washington and California was shut down due to COVID-19.

But they weren’t going to let distance stand in the way of being together. They just had to get creative.

The sisters brainstormed ways they could spend time together virtually and Rachel joked about making a cookbook based on Schitt’s Creek, their favorite show. They decided to run with the idea and Tastes Like Schitt was born.

They got to work creating funny recipe titles based on the show such as Fold in the Cheese Aaahnchildas and A Little Bit Alexis Latte and sent notes back and forth via a Google doc. They wrote the recipes and commissioned artwork for the cover from an artist on Etsy. They designed the book’s layout in Canva, the graphic design software. Total costs were just $200.

Hannah and Rachel decided to self-publish their cookbook on Amazon and hoped it would be available in time for Christmas. Unfortunately, it went live at the end of December, which meant they missed a big sales opportunity… but the sisters weren’t worried. They had no idea what the response would be and thought they might make a few hundred dollars—enough to cover flights to see each other when the pandemic was over.

Well, they were happily surprised to see their initial sales were much higher than their original goal. And nearly a year later, the book continues to sell well. How well? Their profit ranges from $1,500 to $3,000 per month and they expect to have strong holiday sales this year.

They already have plans for more cookbooks along with a secret project they’re not quite ready to talk about yet.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Go binge Schitt’s Creek and cook recipes from Hannah and Rachel's, Tastes Like Schitt Cookbook.

SEE ALSO:

• Sisters Create Bundle Of Joy With Customized Board Game: Two sisters living in New York City relive their childhood memories and create a personalized board game, earning $16,500 in the first four months.
• Polish-American Sisters Cook Up Pierogi Profits: When two sisters move from their small hometown to Boston, they discover a “pierogi void”—then fill it with cheese and potatoes.
• Ketogenic Cookbook Author Makes $1,000 the First Day: After striking out on a new ketogenic lifestyle, one woman creates a $2,000/month side hustle sharing tips and recipes on her blog.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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