Notes from Chris

Episode 875

Some side hustles start from the desire to one day escape a day job. But Andrew Tran’s side hustle story is more about finding a creative angle to enjoy his chosen profession in a sustainable way.

See, Andrew trained to become a physical therapist. And working with patients is both rewarding and draining. Physical therapists (also known as PTs) help people heal and get stronger. In some circumstances, physical therapy can prevent the need for pain medication and even surgery.

That’s why Andrew’s goal is not to leave physical therapy, necessarily. As he puts it: “Ideally, I would like to be in clinic just 2 days a week. I still love patient care, but don't want to get exhausted, burn out, or lose interest in my job.”

Whenever he found himself getting bored with the didactic work of Physical Therapy school, Andrew would draw memes on whatever topic they were learning about. He says, “It might be because of my ADD tendencies, but when I see or hear something, my brain has always connected it with something else in life. Whether that is pictures, movies, TV shows, GIFs, or music.”

By the time Andrew was graduating, online memes were growing in popularity, and he tried finding memes online related to Physical Therapy. Since he couldn't find a page that was consistently posting them, he took it upon himself to create an Instagram account, which he called @Physio_Memes.

The account took off … perhaps because he was the only one doing such a thing. A year later, he decided to try making t-shirts. The first shirt Andrew created for himself said "Turkeys Get Up.” It depicts a figure doing the Crossfit exercise known as “Turkish Get Up,” lifting a turkey in place of a kettle-bell.

Initially, there was still some doubt as to whether people would actually buy the products he was creating. But that first sale came in, and Andrew ran around the house in celebration. By the end of the first year, he had brought in $22,000, with ad costs of $3,200.

Andrew plans to strengthen his side hustle so that he’s not reliant on patient work to pay the bills, but can just do it for fun. That way, he can “keep life humerus,” as he likes to say. He’s also capitalizing on the lessons learned from his success by creating courses on how to start an e-commerce store and how to grow a brand on Instagram.

It’s no stretch to say that Andrew’s on track to achieve his goals.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Physio Memes: You don't have to be a physical therapist to appreciate this clothing brand, but it certainly doesn't hurt. See Andrew's full lineup over on his website, and check out his Instagram page!

  SEE ALSO:

• Pathetic Triathlete Creates $30,000 Facebook Group: Frustrated with snobby and overly-serious triathletes, a man creates a Facebook group for more casual and fun discussion. It then transforms into a $30,000 side hustle with tens of thousands of members
• Canadian Sports Enthusiast Earns $1,000/Month Selling Quirky Apparel: After learning to design and screen print sweatshirts in college, a Canadian skateboarder starts an Etsy shop that produces consistent, passive income
• All-American Hits Home Run With Baseball Apparel Hustle: After first learning Adobe Photoshop to forge his report card, a Hawaiian baseball enthusiast creates an apparel line that goes on to earn millions of dollars

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

Yours in the revolution,

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