Doctor’s Diagnosis Becomes Food Diary Side Hustle

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

What have you written down today? Do you have a to-do list? Do you have a journal? Do you have a diary? Do you have a list of things you're grateful for? A list of ideas? Or maybe

even a to-stop-doing list? A list of things that you don't want to do anymore? I really believe in the concept of write it down and make it happen. The more we can get our ideas out of our heads and onto paper, or doesn't have to be paper, it could be digital. The closer we get to making progress on those ideas, or resolving some of those things that we don't want to do anymore. Or addressing some problems, perhaps.

Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and today we're going to talk about a problem, a problem that a lot of people have all over the world. That problem is a food intolerance, or an illness that requires a special diet. In this episode, you'll hear about how a doctor's diagnosis becomes a food diary side hustle for a full-time communications manager in the UK. You'll learn how she gets this idea, how she makes it happen, and what the outcome is. Just a little bit over a year after starting. Stay tuned!

According to science, writing things down is a highly effective way to remember both day-to-day and big life events. While it might seem old school, it's a method that is tried and true. This method applies as well to health issues like food sensitivities. That's why Laura Mulcurn's doctor recommended that she start keeping a food diary when she was diagnosed with IBS and celiac disease. This communications manager, based in the UK, had been feeling off for years, but could never pinpoint what exactly was the cause. When her doctor gave

her the two diagnoses, she wasn't surprised. But it didn't solve all her problems, and the doctor told her to keep a daily food journal that would help her track her meals and the corresponding symptoms that followed. She needed to record the meals themselves, what time she ate, and portion sizes to figure out exactly what was triggering her symptoms. If it sounds almost like detective work, that's because Laura says it is. She searched high and low for a journal that would help her keep track of everything she needed, but it seemed like every food journal was intended for weight loss, not chronic illnesses. Apps

were no help either, for much the same reason. Not only were they also geared toward weight loss, Laura found them clunky and difficult to use. She wanted something better than an ill-suited journal or an annoying app, so she created her own system in a notebook as a tool to help her get better, alongside her appointments with doctors and nutritionists. As the days turned into months, Laura got tired of drawing out the pages every day and decided to create her own, proper diary. One night, as she stayed up late playing around with templates, an idea occurred to her. If her notebook format worked for her, it might

work for other people too. Especially since up to one in five people in the UK suffer from IBS, and there are even more in the United States, 45 million people, approximately. Not only that, Laura also knew that there were more chronic illnesses that needed food monitoring. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she needed to create this for people other than just herself. But first, she had to fine-tune this journal.

Her system worked for her, but if the food diary was going to help other people, it needed to take everything into account. She added tracking for symptoms, sleep patterns, stress levels, drinks, medicine, exercise, overall mood, and a note section. She also threw in an end-of-the-month roundup page and added enough space to track three months of symptoms. Laura knew that it was important to be able to recognize patterns, so she made sure that the layout was simple and clear. Once she had a template, she needed something to print it in. This task ended up being more intensive than anticipated, so she called in a reinforcement,

her dad. They both began looking online for plain journals that had a similar look to what she envisioned, and once she found the one, she dug through the internet to find the address of the factory that made them. The factory was based in Italy, and luck was in her favor because her parents were going to Italy on holiday. That means vacation, by the way. Same concept.

Laura's dad agreed to mix business with pleasure and went to scout out the factory on her behalf. He gave it two thumbs up, just not in Italy because that's offensive, and Laura moved on to the next step. Over the next few months, the factory would send her samples and she would get back to them with mailed page designs and suggested edits. After two months of back and forth, and about 5,000 pounds in startup costs, which is about $6,500, Laura gave the green light on the Food Diary Co.'s first printing of food journals. She used Squarespace to create her online store and took photos of the journals for website and social media content during the weekends. She slowly began to spread the word to friends, family, and

Instagram followers, and the orders started to come in. Laura says that one of her highlights was the first product order that came from a stranger, which she says made her side hustle seem more real. This all started a year and a half ago. The Food Diary Co. now brings in about 1,000 pounds, or $1,300 a month, and that figure is continuing to grow. Laura credits most sales to Instagram,

organic search traffic, and online coverage from sources like BuzzFeed. Half of her startup costs were funded by a loan from her parents, which she was able to pay back within a year. She says that while the total profit hasn't been huge yet, the feedback from people who use her diary is keeping her going. She's been able to meet more people that understand chronic illness, and she knows there's a need for this diary, especially since she's had almost as many customers in the US as she has in the UK. That fact, combined with the sheer number of people who have food intolerances, means that her side hustle has a lot of potential.

She admits that balancing her full-time job with the side hustle and, of course, the chronic illness hasn't always been a walk in the park. Still, she's ready to turn the next page on Food Diary Co. and is working on growing it even more by building a new website and investing more time in marketing. She doesn't plan to turn this hustle into a full-time job, but she does look forward to having additional income to pay for holidays abroad. It sounds like this communications manager is on the right track.

Yay, congratulations to Laura, and here is the key point. The key point is in this one sentence. Laura searched high and low, but every food journal she found was intended for weight loss, not chronic illnesses. So it's not like she invented the first-ever food journal. There were plenty of those out there, but there wasn't one, or at least she couldn't find one, that was specifically for chronic illnesses like hers.

Then, of course, you combine that with the fact that there are a lot of people suffering from these illnesses, both in the UK and the US, and presumably elsewhere as well. So once you have that problem and you have a really clear and specific market, then the next steps are all about implementation. You know what you want to make, you have a general idea of what you want the finished product to look like. So all of your steps are logistics and execution. How am I going to design that formatting? Okay, how am I going to find the printer? They're going to

do a sample, they're going to send me a proof, and it's going to need some changes. There'll be a bit of a waiting period, I also need to make a website, etc. I'm not suggesting that all those steps are easy, I'm just saying that they are much easier and much simpler when you know exactly what you want to make and for whom. And in Laura's case, she not only had those things in mind, but she also had her own personal and compelling story. So I'll look forward to seeing what happens with this one, I would not be surprised at all if it continues to grow. We'll put this on our list of stories to follow up on at

some point. And as I said in the beginning, there is power in writing things down. I believe that, I agree with Laura, and not just for food and health and diet and all that stuff, but just for life in general. For ideas, for creativity, for your own sanity, since we're all trying to carry so many things around in our heads all the time. Just the mere act of writing them down can begin to help.

That is my encouragement for you today, thank you for listening. Don't forget inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. If you would like to check out today's show notes and learn more about the Food Diary Co., just come on over to sidehustleschool.com slash five five two. That is for episode 552. I will be back tomorrow and I hope you'll join me. My name is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.