This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Personal trainer pumps up protein pancakes. Hey friends, and what's up? Welcome back to Side Hustle School. Chris Guillebeau, your host here. Today we're gonna hear from, in fact, a personal trainer who sells pumped up pancakes full of protein.
I like pancakes, I like protein. Everybody's talking about protein these days. You've got protein potato chips and protein everything pretty much. But pancakes, that seems like a more logical fit than some of these extensions. And they've been making protein pancakes for a while.
She has made her own version of these pancakes. We first featured her, I think quite a while ago, maybe it was episode 500 something, and now we've got an update. What has changed for her? What has evolved? She puts the pro in protein.
They're also profitable pancakes. She's proud of them. She's passionate about them. She's also a very personable individual. That's probably enough introduction of her.
So let's hear it directly from Ashley. She'll bring us this update. I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
My name is Ashley Drummond. I am in Tampa, Florida.
My side hustle episode is 541. And this is for abs pancakes. So while I was working as a personal trainer and training a lot of my clients, I have a huge passion for food and baking. So I went to the kitchen. I tried dozens of different concoctions trying to make something that tasted good.
That was low sugar, all natural, high protein, no artificial sweeteners or anything. Some of it was terrible. But finally I came up with, it started out as a protein pancake mix. And I used it for myself. So I would wake up in the morning, I'd make a stack of pancakes, and then I'd go train my clients all day.
And with my clients, I started asking them like, hey, this is what I eat for breakfast. Because it was always the same thing. They'd ask like, I'm so tired of drinking protein shakes. Like what else can I eat Ashley? Like, please don't put that in my meal plan.
So I started giving it to them in little like Ziploc bags. I would just make the dry mix up and give it to them. And all of my clients loved it. And they were talking about how it kept them full for like three or four hours. They didn't have that like spike, where you have a ton of energy and then like your blood sugar drops.
They were talking about how they didn't feel like they were on a diet. So the big like aha moment that turned it into an actual product and business, is one of my clients had made breakfast one morning for themselves and for a friend. And their friend found me on Facebook and sent me a message and said, hey, I tried the protein pancake mix that you gave my friend and I wanna know where do I buy it? And like, that was the moment that I was like, oh my God, people actually wanna buy this. Like it's not just me.
I'm not the only one that struggles with this. So that's how it started. And I mean, I started it just doing it one order at a time. I'd get a Facebook message. I send them a PayPal link.
I'd mix up the powder, stick it in like a plastic tub container. And I would write their name with a Sharpie on it. And that's how it started out. So that's how it started as a side hustle was training full-time and then just slowly building up the customers. It's evolved into like a one-stop wellness shop.
Now we offer fitness and weight loss programs. We offer a nutrition and meal plan and we offer the mix and it gets shipped and delivered directly to people's doors. We've also released two recipe books. There's a recipe book that's all breakfast recipes you can use with the mix. And then there's another recipe book that's all protein desserts that are low sugar, low carb you can use with the mix.
So it's been a lot over the last year and a half. The other thing I would say too is don't get so caught up. And this is a mistake I think we all make. Don't get so caught up in paralysis analysis and being a consumer. If you're creating a product in a business, you are considered a contributor, you're a creator.
And what I mean by that is don't consume every piece of business advice and book that is out there because it's gonna keep you overwhelmed and from actually taking action and contributing what you're trying to do. And I mean, everybody does it in the beginning because you don't know what you're doing. So you're like, I need this podcast and that coach and this book and this court. No, you don't. Find like one thing that feels solid to you and then stay on that path and put your blinders on with everything else.
And you have to really just be your own boss, which everybody's like, I wanna be my own boss, but create your own routines and daily habits. Get up, take your shower, have your coffee, do the top three most important things for the day. And then the rest of the day, work on the small things that aren't making the biggest impact. So that would be my few pieces of advice start now. [Music]
Awesome, thank you so much, Ashley.
Really appreciate the update. Ashley was actually featured on Shark Tank. She got $120,000 investment from my friend, Damon John. Damon John's been very kind to us here on the podcast. He's endorsed the show.
He wrote a nice blurb for my book, "Side Hustle." So hopefully he earned a good return on his investment with Ashley. Abs pancakes have actually evolved from an initial all pancakes all the time product line to a full on wellness brand. Looks like they are selling on Amazon and some other outlets. Check them out if you are interested in some protein pancakes or just some delicious pancakes that are in fact good for you. What's not to like about that?
Listeners, thank you so much for being out there. The complete archives of the show available for download or streaming at sidehustleschool.com. New episodes come out every day, every single day, seven days a week, wherever you get your podcasts. That's it for now. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
