This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Oh, hey there, what's up? This is Chris Guillebeau here with you on Side Hustle School, bringing you the weekly recap. Over here, we have just finished week number 30 of season two. This has actually been one of my favorite weeks of the show in quite a long time. Had some really strong stories, some really funny stories, and also just some good lessons as well.
So I will talk about that in just a moment. We also have a listener update, someone who has been featured previously on the show. She's called in with a one-minute update about what she's working on now, along with some advice or some feedback she wanted to pass along. I'm also gonna be asking for some Labor Day ideas. So for those who are listening in real time, we're very closely approaching August, and September just happens to follow August.
It also just so happens that Labor Day takes place early in September. With the Onward Project, we have an idea to remix Labor Day and create what we're calling Happier Labor Day, how to have a happier Labor Day, all about being happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. More on both of those things shortly. But first, let's talk about having the right attitude. Okay, what do I mean by having the right attitude?
All right, when I say like having a positive attitude or having the right attitude, there's a reason why I want to frame this conversation this way, because I don't necessarily think you have to be positive about everything. I am generally an optimist, but sometimes I say I'm a realistic optimist. So I can be cynical, I can be skeptical about stuff too. But I got to thinking about this because I've seen a few different emails, had a couple conversations with people recently, that just kind of make me think, "You know what? "I'm not sure they're going to be successful "with this attitude." Here's what I mean by that.
I talked to an Uber driver the other day, and this person was just full of complaints all about how Uber takes too high of a percentage, feels like he should have more of a percentage, he thinks he's being ripped off, and so on. Now, whether drivers should get more of a percentage of Uber, a Lyft, et cetera, other services like that or not, is not really the issue to me, because first of all, they're getting at least 70%. So it's not like they're getting a small cut. But the more important point is, to participate in that system, you have to agree to the terms. They're offering these terms, nobody is forcing you to accept them.
And so I don't think that being a ride share driver is the greatest side hustle in the world. I often talk about creating something for yourself, where you're not dependent on somebody else's platform. But if you're going to participate in that system, that's kind of how it works. Somebody else was recently talking about self-publishing a book on Amazon, and they were like, "Amazon takes so much money, "they take all of the commission. "I'm left with very little in the end.
"It's just not fair that this billionaire "or this multinational corporation gets all the money." Again, nobody is forcing that person or you or me or anybody else to participate in their platform. If you don't like it, don't participate. If you think you can do better, go somewhere else. I would argue that platforms like Amazon are exposing people's work to lots and lots of people that they wouldn't otherwise be able to connect with. In fact, that's one of the main benefits of selling something on Amazon, whether it's a book or something else, is access to their tremendously large global marketplace.
And then last, I had an email from someone, and I don't wanna suggest that this person was complaining. They were just kind of trying to figure things out. They were asking about PayPal fees. And they were like, "You know what? "I want my business to be able to take PayPal, "but I see that there's a 3% fee, so that's too much.
"I can't afford that. "What's a better service that is free?" So again, I'm not picking on anyone, but just to kind of look at this argument, my response is if a 3% fee is a deal breaker for you, then you have bigger problems. Like if that 3% fee is gonna crush your business, you don't have much of a business. That 3% fee or whatever it is, is bringing access to people from all over the world who can easily pay you. Like yes, there are some ways they can pay you with no fees, but it might be a lot more hassle for them.
They might choose to not make that purchase. They might not feel safe and protected the way they are with PayPal or other online electronic forms of payments. So again, the broader point about all these different platforms, it's not so much about the nuance, it's about the broader point. This is how these platforms work. That's the value that they provide.
They take a fee for their service. You don't have to use them. But there can often be a direct connection between the convenience that these services or platforms provide and your success. So yes, it would be nice if everything in the world were free, but every month I have to pay a lot of money for a lot of different services. And that's just kind of how it works.
If I feel like I'm not getting value from them, then I'll cancel or I'll opt out. But it's just part of how it works. And I really think you're gonna be more successful if you focus on creating the right product or the right service and reaching people and then serving them and then serving them better and figuring out, okay, what do I do next? So not everyone is a complainer, but I do think that the same people who complain about these kinds of things tend to complain about everything else. So a little perspective can be good, perhaps a little positive attitude as well.
Just not focus on whatever you think is wrong with something but how it's actually gonna help you reach more people and actually grow the side hustle that you're trying to work on. 'Cause that's the whole point. Life is short. Ask yourself what you can do. What's one action you can take today to get you closer toward the goals that you believe in?
And by the way, I'm speaking to myself as well. Like I try to answer that question myself every single day. What is one action I can take to get me closer to the goals that I have set and believe in? [Music]
All right, we are trying something new here in our archives. We are on episode 575 now, which is just amazing.
One episode a day, every single day, well into our second year of doing this. When I started, I hoped that I would get all the way to episode 365, but I had no idea I'd keep going for more than 200 additional episodes after that. Anyway, in the archives, we just have a wealth of people and a wealth of knowledge and experience. All these different people that we have featured on the show, we're starting now to go back to some of them and say, hey, you know, how are things going now? Like, can you give us a little update on your project?
What have you been up to? What have you learned? And maybe what are you working on next? So we're still in the process of rolling this out. We may do more of them in the weekly recap, like I'm gonna do here today, or we may have a separate format for some of these.
So just as a little preview, I want you to hear a quick little one-minute update from Madhavi. Madhavi was featured long ago on the show. She had a quest to create a simple bra. I don't have personal experience with this myself, but my understanding is that a lot of bras are uncomfortable. So despite not having a background and working with factories or creating a fashion product that would have a lot of different sizes and complexity to it, she decided to take on this mission.
So here's a quick little update from Madhavi herself. - Hey, this is Madhavi from San Francisco. My Side Hustle simple bra was featured on episode 45 of Side Hustle School. Since then, I've moved back to San Francisco from a year abroad in Sydney and started a full-time job designing digital therapeutics to cure addiction and other diseases. I was also recently on a panel about Side Hustles at General Assembly, alongside some incredible entrepreneurs, and I've been learning more about how to balance a full-time job with my Side Hustle.
I got some really great advice from the other entrepreneurs on the panel that I'd like to share. One piece of advice was to just get started instead of waiting to get funded using Chris Guillipo's book, "The $100 Startup as Inspiration." Another piece of advice was that community is really important for success. So surround yourself with people who will encourage and support you. I'm planning to continue to grow my business this year and explore some partnership opportunities for simple bra while keeping busy with my day job and my three-year-old son. Thank you.
So as I mentioned at the top of the show, this has been one of my favorite weeks of the show in a very long time, from standing desks that cost $37, that was Monday's episode, I believe, to a guy who gets paid to play video games all day, one of my childhood and young adulthood dreams. I'm a little bit jealous of this guy because I don't play video games very much these days, but man, if I could go back in time 20 years and get paid to do it, that would be truly "Living the Dream," which is what I titled that episode. Living the Dream, man gets paid to play video games all day. Again, mind blown. All the way to someone who's making money selling meringue tree powder to two college students.
This one's really fun. Two college students on a quest to reinvent mouthwash. And they're doing really well. They're selling thousands of little bottles. These bottles contain concentrated mouthwash that you can take with you on the go wherever you are.
It's called Fly Mouthwash, which has a good little tie-in to the TSA and just traveling through the airport, but you don't have to be traveling through the airport. You can use it wherever you are. Just gotta say that I personally feel really inspired by all these stories that I hear, all the ones that I'm working on. Like this is a big part of why I do this show. Like I get lots of notes from our listeners who talk about something that has inspired them, a project that they're working on, a success story, maybe a challenge that they're experiencing.
And I like that so much. That is the reason why I make the show. But I also am learning through the process. And I also am looking at some of these folks and saying, man, like when I was in college, like I was side hustling. That's where I got my start, you know, 20 years ago.
But I was just buying and selling things on eBay. And that's fine. Like that's still a good little business that so many people can do. I had no idea how to actually create a product like mouthwash and to get the certification that's needed and to produce that at scale and then to sell thousands and thousands of bottles or to manufacture a standing desk, even a desk that's made out of cardboard. There's still a lot of complexity to that.
So just so many people doing awesome things out there. So thank you, keep it up. And by the way, if you know a story we should feature, please let me know. These days, a lot of our stories come by referral from listeners and a lot of our stories feature people who've been listening to the show and starting their project. You can always submit your story just by going to the website side of schools.com/about.
And then on that about page, if you scroll down to the bottom, there's a link that says submit your story. Also, if you have a question or a comment, please let me know. We have this little thing called the Hustle hotline. I'm gonna give you a specific purpose for it in just a moment. But just so you know, if you have a general question or a comment or something you wanna share, that number is 8449 Hustle 844-948-7853.
You can also use your phone to make a little voice memo and email it to podcast@sidehustleschool.com or you can just email directly podcast@sidehustleschool.com. I always love to know what you're up to, what you're working on, as well as what you'd like to know more about. Everything we do on this show is directly influenced by listener feedback. And as for something specific, I also mentioned earlier about our idea to create happier Labor Day. Now this is Gretchen Rubin's idea.
Gretchen is a good friend and colleague of mine. She is the founder of The Onward Project. That is essentially a collection of podcasts all about making your life happier, healthier, more productive and more creative. Side Hustle School has been with Gretchen's Onward Project since we started. And speaking of inspiration, she is someone who continues to inspire me.
And her idea this year is to create this thing called Happier Labor Day. So Labor Day kind of gets a bad rap among holidays. For a lot of people Labor Day is like, we're gonna celebrate the fact that we don't have to work. We're just gonna take this day off. It's all about escaping.
We're not really gonna think about what it means or how to actually improve our lives. But if you want to improve your life, regular Side Hustle School listeners probably know, you have to take deliberate action. You can't just say like, hey, life get better. You have to say, what can I do? How can I influence my life by environment, my relationships, those around me?
How can I have a life that is happier, healthier, more productive and more creative? So as Labor Day approaches, we're gonna have a couple of special episodes about this. And I just mentioned it now because if you have an idea, if you have an idea about how to remix Labor Day, whether it's something you've done yourself or something you're thinking about doing or just an idea that we can share with our listeners, please let me know. So again, you can write to podcast@sidehustleschool.com. You can write in from the website or you can use that Hustle hotline.
Let me see what that number is one more time. Oh yes, it is 8449 Hustle or 8449487853. Give me a call or send me a note. Well, my friends, August is on the way. It might be the dog days of summer, but we're gonna go strong every day.
I don't know if I have any episodes featuring dogs in August, but we should check on that. Whether they are dogs or not, there will be an episode every day. And before I sign off for the week, I just wanna say thank you for being part of this community. I wanna say thank you to those who make it possible. That group includes first and foremost, you the listener.
I make this show for real people out there facing real challenges, but with the real desire to make their lives better, to create more than one source of income so that they're not dependent on their job, even if they love their job, even if they have no plans to quit. And if you identify with that message, well, that's what this is all about. I commit to supporting you fully in your quest to do that. And I hope that you'll commit to listening every day. The other people who make this possible, that is our production team.
Our production team is led by AC Valdez. He's in Washington, DC. We've also got Sarah Barrett working in Mexico, I believe. Show notes and our schedule and host wrangling, all kinds of stuff that's handled by Whitney Karinek in Portland, Oregon. Community management is done by Jed Chang, somewhat in Portland, but also traveling quite a bit.
And then my cat Libby Gillibough, can't forget Libby, she works the night shift. If you wanna do something awesome for us, you could tell your friends about side hustle school, just pass it on, maybe show them how to subscribe if they're not familiar with podcasts. There's still a lot of people, in fact, the majority of people don't listen to podcasts or don't really know how they work. And I often hear from people who say that side hustle school is the only podcast they listen to, which is pretty amazing, because there are a lot of other great shows out there. But it also kind of goes to prove that often people will only hear about this if you say something, if you kind of help them out.
You could also take a quick moment, if you don't mind, and leave us a quick rating and review in Apple podcasts that will help other people discover the show. In conclusion, I often say that inspiration is good, but action's even better. It's because I want you to take action. I don't want you to just be entertained. I want you to do something about it.
And I would love to one day, maybe one day soon, maybe one day at some point in the future, feature your story here. I hope you'll join me tomorrow and each day next week with more stories and actionable ideas. Consider this a short daily 10-minute investment in yourself. Our episodes go online at 6.01 a.m. Eastern time.
Once again, my name is Chris Guillebeau, and this is Side Hustle School.
