Subscribe Now For A Free Five Step Tutorial
Get a free five-part email course that shows you how to find, validate, and launch your side hustle idea — no experience required.
“Don't start any company because you saw someone else do it and thought it was neat. Do it because you're passionate about your city, the food, or the stories you're telling.”
After seven years of law school and a prestigious firm, Akila McConnell quit her job and traveled the world with her husband for nearly four years. She started a travel and food blog called The Road Forks, which got picked up by the LA Times and launched a freelance writing career.
When they came back to Atlanta for their first child, she found herself missing the storytelling she loved — and thinking about all the food and history her hometown had to offer. In 2015 she launched Atlanta Food Walks, introducing it first to family and friends. Her first sale from a stranger — a visitor from Holland who found her website and booked a tour — felt surreal. "I may have Googled her because I couldn't believe a real person was booking this little tour I'd created."
Atlanta Food Walks grew into Unexpected Atlanta, now the city's largest and best-rated walking tour company. In its first year it sold 700 tickets and made $60,000. It's now on track for $300,000, selling 6,000+ tickets annually.
Her most important financial lesson: pay yourself from the start — even just a few hundred dollars a month. "You are your business's most important employee." She didn't pay herself in Year One and calls it a mistake she wouldn't repeat.
"Don't start any company because you saw someone else do it and thought it was neat. Do it because you're passionate about your city, the food, or the stories you're telling."
