This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey there, thanks for tuning in today. Today is episode 2,274 of Side Hustle School. It's also the weekly installment known as Failure Friday. Failure Friday built around the principle that we can learn as much from failure as we can from success, if not in fact more. So ever since, I think the beginning of last year in fact, we've started presenting this collection of short stories on mistakes, missteps, disasters, all of the things that go wrong.
You know, you're always hearing success stories, you're always hearing like, here's the things that went well, but what about the other things, right? Because most people in their side hustle journey and their entrepreneurial journey and their journey of life in general, you know, it's kind of like universal, not everything works perfectly. Often our assumptions don't hold up to reality. And so the main question is, what are we gonna do? You know, how are we going to adapt?
How are we gonna move forward so that we don't just remain stuck in that failure? How can we take that point of failure? And in fact, use it as inspiration to, well, I guess move forward towards success. So, you know, we did this in the storytelling format. Today's short story features Reese from Scottsdale, Arizona.
Reese had a goal of becoming a personal shopper, but was stymied, was stuck, was, I don't know, challenged, let's say, by a difficult client. Those difficult clients. A couple of weeks ago, we had a difficult parent for someone who was trying to become an online tutor. Today, we've got a difficult client for Reese, the personal shopper. Let's hear the story from her.
[Music]
I thought I had finally found my calling. I'd always loved shopping and putting together outfits. And I figured being a personal shopper would be the perfect job for me. I was so excited to start helping people look and feel their best, but then disaster struck. My first client was a total nightmare.
She was so picky and demanding. It was like she wanted me to read her mind or something. I remember her standing in front of a rack of clothes, hands on her hips saying, "I don't know, "nothing here seems quite right." And I'm thinking to myself, "Really, because it looks like "a perfectly good rack of clothes to me?" She was also extremely indecisive. Every time I thought we'd finally found something she liked, she'd change her mind and wanna keep looking. I was starting to feel like I was never going to get out of the store.
And when we finally did make it to the dressing room, she tried on everything and rejected it all. I was beyond frustrated. But the worst part was when we finally did find something she liked. She decided she wanted to wear it to a big event that night and asked if I could come with her to make sure she looked just right. I agreed, thinking it would be a good opportunity to show off my skills.
But when we got to the event, she started second guessing herself again. She kept asking me if she looked all right and then she'd change something or adjust her outfit. It was a never ending cycle of her being dissatisfied with her appearance. I was starting to feel like I was failing as a personal shopper and I was beginning to question whether this was really the right job for me. By the end of the night, I was exhausted and ready to call it quits.
Then even though my first client was a disaster, I learned a valuable lesson. I realized that not everyone is going to be easy to work with and that's okay. It's all about finding the right fit and being able to adapt to different personalities and needs. And while I may not be cut out for personal shopping, I know that I'll be able to apply what I learned to future endeavors. So I've decided to take a step back and reassess my approach.
I'm going to focus on continuing my education and finding the right clients to appreciate my skills and style. And who knows, maybe one day I'll give personal shopping another try. But for now, I'm just happy to have had the experience and learned something valuable along the way. [Music]
Reese, thank you so much for sharing that story. I really appreciate your vulnerability, your candor, just your being willing to kind of share that experience.
And both to Reese and our listeners, I encourage you never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. There is something just waiting out there for you. I hope you take action, take steps to try to find it. And if one thing doesn't work, then there's going to be something else. Just keep that in mind.
If you've got a question, if you've got comments, an update for us about your hustle, www.sidehustleschool.com/questions. As mentioned, this was episode 2,274. So our notes page, www.sidehustleschool.com/2274. That's all for now. I'll be back again tomorrow.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
