This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey there, welcome to Side Hustle School. So glad you're out there. My name is Chris Guillebeau, your host. Welcome as well to Throwback Thursday, our weekly segment where we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. Today, we're gonna go all the way back to, I think it was episode 622 of the podcast.
Today, we're on episode 1930, so it's been a long time. But I should say first, last week, we heard from a prolific pet sitter who leaves a career in medicine to care for pets full time. And in fact, during several years of living in New York City, she was able to save more than $200,000 thanks to never paying rent. So that was a pretty cool story. That was episode 1923.
Lots of others in the archives for your consideration, all freely available. And today in this feature, we're gonna hear from Nicole Smith in Austin, Texas. Nicole is the owner of Yellow Bess, a custom stamp business. A custom stamp business that actually does a lot of revenue, doing very, very well. And she's also found some ways to differentiate herself because a custom stamp could be a commodity.
But early on, she made some clear branding choices that have helped her stand out. And during the pandemic, she actually doubled her sales. So let's hear more from Nicole. I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. [Music]
- My name is Nicole Smith.
I live in Austin, Texas. My side hustle is Yellow Bess. I make custom rubber stamps. I was featured on episode 622. Yellow Bess started out as personalized and custom image rubber stamps.
Since first being featured on Side Hustle School, I have started offering more personalized office products, home goods, crafts, and some customized drinkware. I realized that I really enjoy taking one thing and turning it into another. That's sort of what sparked the transition to stamps. Thinking about all that's happened since episode 622 aired, there's been quite a bit. The business was growing at a very comfortable rate for a while.
I started offering new products on top of stamps, some personalized pencils, drinkware, both of which have been very well accepted. Then entered this period of uncertainty. The pandemic hit and as a small business owner, it was a bit scary. You have no idea what's gonna happen. Will this thing, this business that I've poured myself into for several years just disappear?
The one thing I did start to see, and I know other small businesses sell it too, is my community and current customers totally stepped up and ordered more than they ever had before. People were taking care of small businesses. Every month I was hitting new sales holes. In the past two years since the start of the pandemic, I have more than doubled my sales. I have a new workspace and I can continue to grow.
At this point, my biggest challenge would have to be growing pains and learning how to deal with them. I feel like it's always a balance. Things get rough and then I figure out what needs to happen to overcome it. More orders mean I'm just getting more and more busy. I see really that more hands are required to continue in this upward motion of growth.
I'm creative, but I'm very much a type A kind of follow the rules sort of person. I don't really want to give up the control. I want to do all the things. I want to write all the thank you notes. I want to paint all the handles, cut all the wood, make all the designs.
I want to pack all the boxes. I want to be the one that answers all the emails. I just want things done a certain way. And giving up control is really hard and just scary. Yet I've hit the point in sales where I simply can't.
I just can't do all the things. I have to give up that control. It's not possible to control everything and do everything and grow at the same time. So my challenge is learning how to let go, how to train others to do some of these things. One of the most exciting developments in my business is that I finally have a workspace that is purposely built for my business.
I started Yellow Bus 10 years ago at the kitchen table. Then I moved to the garage where I worked for over six years. And in Texas, that meant it's often very hot working at 100 degree temperatures in the summer or freezing conditions in the winter. It was very rough on me physically and also for the equipment that I use. Keeping it cool in the summer was very important.
In 2021, we worked with an architect to design a space in our backyard that could be used to house my equipment and give me tons of space to fulfill all of the orders. I moved in right before the busiest holiday season that I've ever had. And it was amazing to have climate controlled space where I was not freezing. I could go out and crank out orders. This new space is also much more creatively inspiring than a garage surrounded by power tools and kid's bikes.
Plus there's a fridge always stocked with rosé for some afternoon happy hours. [Music]
Thank you so much, Nicole. Really appreciate that update. And I was just thinking about what I said in the beginning about how a rubber stamp, which is what Nicole sells, can be a commodity, but Nicole has really made it into an art. She has brought all the different elements of stamp making in-house.
Often people who are selling rubber stamps, they're just adding like one or two of the, I think there's more than a dozen steps involved in making it, but Nicole does it all herself now. And she also made some key branding choices. Among other things, all of her work prominently features the color Robin's egg blue. So it's really beautiful and also recognizable, which is good for your side hustle. It's good for your branding.
So I encourage you to check it out her website, yellowbest.com, if you wanna see more about this and understand how she has put this together. I was looking at her site and I was like, wow, I need a custom rubber stamp. I have no idea what I would use it for, but I want one. So I just need to figure out a use for it and then I'll order one. Anyway, let me know what you think and who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than a thousand stories.
If you have a question or an update for us about your hustle, love to know that as well. sidehustleschool.com/questions. This was episode 1930. I hope you will subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts and come back again tomorrow. New episode every day.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
