Animal Lover Breeds Rabbits; Graduates College Debt Free

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Hey there, hello and greetings. Welcome to Side Hustle School. I am Chris Guillebeau. With the privilege and honor of bringing you a new story every day. A people who make money in all sorts of crazy ways.

Well, today's story is in fact pretty crazy and pretty cool. It's about a college student who pays her way through college, actually graduates debt free by breeding rabbits. That is correct. Instead, breeding rabbits, having a rabbit tree. New word for the day.

And I can't wait to tell you all about it. You never know what you're gonna get on Side Hustle School. Our first ever rabbit breeding story is coming up right after this. [Music]

When Leah Lynch was 16 years old, she was working a retail job around her high school studies to make a little extra cash on the side. Unlike so many teenage retail jobs, the work was boring, unfulfilling and paid minimum wage.

But what else can a teenager do? Well, one day while researching alternatives, Leah stumbled across a peculiar breed of rabbits called French Lops. And Leah learned they weren't just bred for pets, they were bred for shows too. That's right, these are some talented rabbits and she thought she'd try breeding them herself. And here's how it went down.

Leah found a breeder in her local area and armed with money she'd saved from a retail job, hopped in a car and bought the best quality rabbits she could find. She actually bought a trio, one male, two females. You can probably figure out how that works. Total startup costs for this trio and some supplies were $300. And luckily, at least where she lived, there was no need for licenses or to register as a breeder.

So basically you could just start breeding right away. However, the rabbits do like some romantic music being played in the background. I recommend John Legend or the "Evenings by the Fireplace" playlist on Spotify. And Leah then got to work on building up her rabbitry, sometimes working around two other jobs and in her studies when she went to college, all the while learning what it took to breed these rabbits safely, correctly, and to a show quality standard, then selling them for a profit. She attended local rabbit shows and began to speak to breeders, making sure they were aware of her new rabbitry.

And she used the Craigslist pages of the three largest local towns and cities near her to share the rabbit she had for sale. Sure enough, these rabbits soon began to multiply like, well, like rabbits. And they also began to fly off the shelves. Although just to be clear, she didn't keep them on the shelves. It's just an expression.

After a while, there was a joke in Leah's family that these rabbits would pay for her college tuition. Well, little did they know this joke would become reality. And she graduated completely debt-free from the profits she made while also earning an additional $5,000 per school year in spending money just from the rabbitry. Leaping forward to the present day, Leah continues this side hustle alongside her new job as a test proctor at a local community college. And just like her rabbits, she has multiplied into new income streams as well.

She now has a website called Busy Gal's Homestead, which teaches people how they can start their homesteads and raise rabbits to generate a side income. The site was originally titled Leah's Lovely Lops, but then took on new life last year when she added a blog and began to charge for courses and coaching. The main course she offers is called Cutting Back, where she teaches people how to deal with the overwhelm of having too many animals. Apparently, there is a market for that. Now, here's some more math if you're curious.

For a show quality rabbit, you can expect to sell or buy one for anywhere between $35 at the lower end and $200 at the higher end. Those real high-class rabbits go for about 200 bucks, and the better your litter, the more money you stand to make. In the future, Leah plans to continue developing that website and maybe even diversify beyond rabbits, potentially adding new livestock to her inventory. All I can say is Leah is a rare breed of person clearly taking advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. [Music]

Well, side hustle school listeners, I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Want you to know, as always, I'm cheering you on. I know that you're gonna encounter challenges somewhere along the way. At different points, it might even feel like a lopsided struggle, like you're just going down a rabbit hole. But don't give up, don't pull your hair out. You may be just a hop, skip, and a jump from achieving your goals.

I've been there myself, I know it's hard. You feel like no bunny knows the pain you feel, but at the end of the day, something will come through. You will be able to pull a rabbit out of your hat as well. As always, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. Today's show notes include some rad rabbit resources.

You can also learn about Leah and her homesteading hustle. Just hop on over to sidehustleschool.com/227. I'm Chris Guillebeau, burrowing on with the rest of my day. I hope yours is awesome, and I hope to see you again tomorrow. [Music]