This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Bringing STEM to life with custom science kits. That's our topic today. Welcome friends. Welcome to Side Hustle School. Welcome as well to Throwback Thursday.
In this episode, in this segment, we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. We've been making this podcast every day since January 1, 2017. No exceptions, no missed days. We have a wealth of archives to drop on. Last week, we explored the rise of ghost influencers.
This is wild. I don't think we'd ever featured anything like this before. I'm not sure I'd ever heard of something like this, but we live in strange times, of course. The story was about anonymous personas creating real engagement for brands. You got to hear how one edgy social media manager turned this idea into a business.
It's hard to know what you can believe online these days. Today in our latest feature, we hear how a San Jose educator scaled their DIY science kits. So let's bring it back to earth a little bit. Earth and space. Learn how school partnerships and workshops help them deliver hands-on STEM experiences to hundreds of kids every month.
Love that. Her name is Amanda. Let's hear directly from Amanda. Little update, some business details, hopefully a point of inspiration or practical support for somebody out there. I'll come back at the end with a few words of wrap up.
[Music]
Hey, I'm Amanda, a science educator from the San Jose area, and I've always believed in the power of hands-on learning. During the pandemic, I started creating DIY science kits for kids, selling them online to parents who wanted engaging activities while schools were closed. Each kit was designed to spark curiosity. Think mini volcanoes, slime chemistry, and basic circuitry projects. What began as a side hustle out of my garage has grown into something much bigger.
Today, I partner with schools and after-school programs, delivering large-scale STEM experiences to hundreds of kids every month. In the beginning, I made and sold about 30 science kits a month through Etsy, earning around $500. The kits were a hit with parents, but I realized there was an even bigger market, schools. Teachers often told me they struggled to find affordable, hands-on STEM activities that were both engaging and aligned with educational standards. That's when I saw the potential to scale by partnering with schools directly.
My first big breakthrough came when a local elementary school reached out, asking if I could provide 50 kits for a science week event. I offered the kits at a discounted bulk rate of $10 each compared to $15 online, and even created a step-by-step video guide so the teachers could confidently lead the experiments. That $500 order was a turning point. It proved that schools were willing to pay for well-designed turnkey STEM solutions. To expand into the school market, I pitched my kits to local principals and after-school program directors, focusing on the ease of implementation and the value of hands-on STEM learning.
I also offered free demo kits to showcase the quality and engagement factor. Within a few months, I'd landed partnerships with three schools and two after-school programs, delivering customized kits for events, enrichment classes, and summer camps. Each partnership averaged one to $2,000 in revenue, depending on the size of the program. By sourcing materials in bulk and streamlining production, I kept costs low, netting a profit of about 60% per order. To manage growing demand, I hired a part-time assistant.
One of the key ways I stood out was by including digital components with the kits. Each kit came with access to an online portal featuring video tutorials, quizzes, and bonus experiments. This digital add-on not only enriched the learning experience, but also made my kits appealing to schools looking for hybrid learning options. I also started hosting in-person STEM workshops, leading kids through experiments while explaining the science behind them. These workshops brought in additional revenue, about $500 per session, and often led to repeat orders for kits.
Two years later, my side hustle has grown into a thriving business. I now partner with over 15 schools and programs in the San Jose area, delivering 500-plus kits a month and hosting regular workshops. I've also expanded my product line to include advanced kits for middle-schoolers and seasonal-themed kits, like a winter science pack with snow-making experiments. The business generates around $8,000 in monthly revenue with consistent profits that allow me to reinvest in new ideas and expand to neighboring regions. What started as a way to make science fun for a few kids has turned into a mission to spark curiosity and creativity in classrooms across my community, and I'm just getting started.
I hope to bring you another update in a year or two. [Music]
Thank you, Amanda, I appreciate those updates. So glad you found a way to pursue a passion that is also very helpful and useful and just fun for kids as well. That's something I love about the side hustle world. There's all kinds of different businesses out there, but so many businesses and so many side hustles can be something that you enjoy that you're excited about, and it's just like if you could spend your time on it for free, you would, but you've also found a way to get paid.
The side hustler that we're featuring has found a way to monetize, and I just think that's a wonderful thing, right, like why not get paid for what you love, and not everything that you love should be monetized to be clear, but it's awesome when you can find that intersection or that Venn diagram overlap. So that's what I'm all about in life as well. Again, thanks, Amanda. Listeners, thank you as well. Thanks for being out there.
So excited about bringing you this new year. We've got some fun stuff coming up. This was episode 2,945, sidehustleschool.com, resources, links there, notes page for every episode, and of course much more is to come every single day. My name's Chris Guillebeau, you're listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
