This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
All right, friends, welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Today we're gonna tackle a fun first $1,000 story, a sorority personal brand advisor for Rush Week. Listen, we live in a time in which anything is possible, okay? You know, it's kind of a combination, a trifecta or a convergence of so many different things, influence or culture, the ubiquity of streaming platforms, perhaps a bit of, I don't know, competitiveness or comparison in some cases.
I don't mean to suggest it's all unhealthy. I think, you know, building a personal brand is the kind of thing, especially for young people and in this age, you know, where everything's online. It certainly can be unhealthy, but it can also be healthy, right? It's like a lot of things in life. Like, I don't know, what are some examples?
Dating, relationships, alcohol, I know other substances, like it's possible for these things to be both healthy and or unhealthy depending on how you interact with them. There's a lot we could say about that, but of course, we're trying to stay on topic here, focused on Side Hustle School. What is the specific idea? How does somebody make money? How do they, in fact, for this particular segment, how do they make their first $1,000?
Not their first $100,000, which is also cool. Like we've had lots of people make $100,000 or more, but it's a long story, right? So we wanna see how they got started, how they made that first $1,000 because once you get there, it's so much easier to get further on, right? So with that in mind, today's feature comes from Emily, a junior at the University of Alabama. She's also a leader in her sorority and as mentioned, has started a Side Hustle consulting on personal brands.
So how does this work? Let's hear it from her. I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. [Music]
Hey y'all, my name is Emily and I'm a junior at the University of Alabama. I've always been proud of my sorority sisterhood and while the parties and community service are fun, I really believe the lessons in personal growth and networking have been invaluable.
That's why I've turned my passion into a side hustle, helping new pledges navigate the whirlwind that is Rush Week and improve their personal brands while they're at it. It's a big business these days, or at least it's a small business for me. My first $1,000 started with identifying my unique value proposition, just like I've heard on Side Hustle School. I designed a six session package that covers everything from wardrobe choices to mastering small talk and handling the high stress moments. But my real edge, teaching these young women how to curate a personal brand that would not just get them through Rush Week, but also set them up for future opportunities.
It's not just about making it into a sorority, it's about making the most out of it. To market my services, I use the most effective tool that I had, my own sororities alumni network. These were women who understood the importance of what I was offering. I reached out directly through our alumni newsletter and Facebook group, offering a free initial consultation. Now I don't even have a website, I just have a Venmo account.
So I had five clients in my first month, a $200 a package. That gave me my first thousand dollars. I made sure to follow up with each one of them, collecting testimonials and refining my package based on their feedback. I learned the value of over-delivering. So for example, I created a personalized Rush Week survival kit that included not just a guidebook, but also some small essentials like a portable phone charger, some mance and a compact mirror.
It cost me a little bit upfront, but the impression it made was absolutely invaluable. Another key lesson I learned was scalability. So being a full-time student, I only have so many hours to offer one-on-one consultations, you know? In the future, I plan to record my sessions and turn them into a digital course. I'm also thinking of offering group workshops next summer, right before Rush season kicks in.
So if you wanna start a business like this, what should you know? Well, first you have to offer something that's not just needed, but that you can do exceptionally well. Second, your network is invaluable. These are people that already know, like, and trust you. So don't underestimate the power of that.
Third, always over-deliver. The extra effort shows, and it's what turns a one-time client into an advocate. Now that my first Rush Week as a brand advisor is over, I'm planning ahead for a much bigger year. [Music]
Thanks so much to Emily for telling us about her first $1,000 listeners. I hope you found it interesting.
And just to kind of circle back to what I was saying in the beginning, I don't necessarily think it's unhealthy to build a personal brand. I think it's good. I just think it also raises questions of, you know, mental health and self-confidence, comparison envy and so on. And I think it's just important to keep those things in mind, you know, as you're building your personal brand, especially, you know, for young people and such. But I totally understand the market here.
I don't mean to put it down in any way. We just like to feature a range of stories. So I hope this is helpful to some listeners out there. If you have a question and update about your hustle, another idea, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Today's notes, sidehustleschool.com/2466.
Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm excited to bring you a lot of stuff this month and beyond. I have wrapped up book tour, at least the main part of my book tour. I'll do some small events here and there, but I'm back to focusing a lot on the podcast and we're building out some cool stuff. So continue to listen.
It's all completely free. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
