Notes from Chris

Episode 852

Marie Frier is a full-time landscape architect at a design firm located in Charleston, South Carolina. She loves what she does for a living, but she’s also learned the importance of diversifying her income sources. Upon graduating from college a decade ago, the economy took a nosedive. Thankfully, she survived the round of layoffs at her firm—but she was hit with a substantial salary cut.

In order to make ends meet, she worked 40 hours a week at her firm and picked up an additional 25 hours a week as a sales associate at the popular home decor shop Pier 1.

It definitely wasn’t the most ideal time to break into the job market, but those early years in her career taught her a valuable lesson: If you live within your means and work hard, you can survive anything.

Fast forward to 2017—Marie was perusing a West Elm catalog (another home decor shop … I’m sensing a theme here) and saw a wall-hanging for sale for $400. That was outside her price range, but with the rise in Pinterest and DIY techniques, she figured she just might be able to make it herself.

That night, she got on YouTube and started teaching herself some Macrame basics. At first, her fascination for the craft served as a way to harness her creative energy and make items on a budget. But, once she realized how simple and creative macrame could be, she began noticing that fiber art was becoming a huge trend. The term “boho chic” was even being tossed around.

Marie figured if West Elm could sell a basic wall hanging for $400, there had to be a market for a local fiber artist in Charleston— a city that boasted a supportive, thriving artistic community.

She dove headfirst into learning anything she could about how to turn her hobby into a side business. She began by making plant hangers and wall hangings in the early hours of the morning, and she developed her brand and website on the weekends. She even bartered with friends who had creative hobbies for help with things like photography in order to keep her startup costs low—just $350.

The business was named Macramade by Marie.

Marie described her first year of running Macramade as putting all of her earnings into upgrading her display and making her business and art better. In her second year though, Marie’s business model took a turn...

Out of all of the questions she received from customers, “Do you teach classes?”, was the one she heard the most. It wasn’t a plan she originally had in mind, but with continued requests, she noticed there was definitely a market for it.

So, Marie decided to give teaching macrame a knot(shot)!

Marie profits between $270 - $550 per workshop depending on which item they’re building, and she holds several of these workshops on a monthly basis. If someone wanted to create a side hustle similar to Marie’s, she says:

“My best advice for someone starting a similar side hustle would be to share your craft and your knowledge because a rising tide lifts all ships. I meet a lot of people that feel that if they shared their skill that they would jeopardize their own success. I haven't found that to be true.

People will copy what you are doing if you are doing it well, and that’s okay. Share your knowledge, share your experiences, and any other information that others may find helpful. No one’s journey is the same, even with the same skill. And just like it did for me, their side hustle will take a completely different path than yours, but at least you helped them along the way.”

So, what’s next for Marie? She plans to continue teaching workshops with local businesses as well as taking on custom orders. She said she may even use Macramade Marie profits to plan some fun trips with her husband. But one thing is for certain—Marie’s market days sitting behind a booth are behind her.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Macramade by Marie: If you're interested in learning more about the art of macrame, head on over to Marie's website!
• Squarespace: The website building platform that Marie used to create her website

SEE ALSO:

• Substitute Teacher Earns $1,500/Month Making Wooden Signs: In a sign of the times of how popular side hustles are becoming, this substitute teacher hosts Tupperware-style parties where attendees use her stencils to make handcrafted signs. Rise and sign!
• Host a Birthday Party, Drink Wine, Make $2,000: A birthday “paint and sip” celebration becomes an accidental side hustle, providing a sustainable income for an artist in between day jobs
• Bring Your Own Cannabis to this “420-Friendly” Painting Class: Two Orange County artists set high expectations when they create the first bring-your-own-cannabis art studio, complete with Bob Ross classes and a welcoming vibe

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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