What It's About
Journalist creates an app empowering women to combat the gender pay gap.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Meggie has some great encouragement for anyone seeking a side hustle idea, "Think about what can you do that no one else in your family can do. What makes you unusual and awesome? Then lean into that and work out who can pay for it."
Fun Fact
Meggie's first client from her first side hustle as a media training consultant is still a client today, with her media training agency.
Notes from Chris
Episode 987
As a foreign correspondent and journalist, Meggie Palmer knew about the hardships people face around the world. Working for outlets like BBC News, the Discovery Channel and more, she could be in Syria one week and in Zimbabwe the next. While the breakneck speed and globe-trotting adventures were exactly what she wanted for a lifestyle, Meggie soon realized that journalism as a career would not lead to the freedom and financial stability she also craved. Her first look at something different came when she appeared on a panel for how executives and marketers can work with journalists. A rep from one of the companies attending came up for her after the discussion and asked if she ever offered media training directly. Though she had never done such a thing, she had put in a fair amount of thinking and research before appearing on the panel. Maybe she could use it to her advantage elsewhere? She decided on the spot to say yes. Her first private training went so well that word spread, as media training from an award-winning journalist was an experience many companies craved. So Meggie continued to build up clients and training programs, fitting them in around her travel and research schedule. Since the only real costs were her time and intellectual property, the business had minimal overhead to start. A few hundred dollars into materials and a website, and she was able to start stockpiling the profits. Meggie realized that her mission to get more women on media programs and into e-suites would never work if she was constantly the one who had to provide the training, support, and encouragement. It just didn’t scale. One night, while talking with a friend about how people can feel disempowered when they don’t know how to advocate for themselves, she commented on how great it would be if she could offer everyone a “career coach in their pocket.” Within two months, she had a minimum viable product, an app that would allow users to input their own milestones and successes for reference when negotiating new salaries or promotions — or to add to their resumes and bios when attempting to garner more media and attention for their accomplishments. She called it Pep TalkHer. Within the first 6 months of the app going live, it had already been downloaded by a few thousand users. A partnership with Vogue Australia allowed her to build a new email list of more than 15,000 interested people. The side hustle that got her out of her full-time gig is now the full-time gig that led to her new side hustle. This project will not only make money for her, but also fulfill her greater mission to help women stand up for themselves.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Pep TalkHer: Learn more about Meggie's app and mission to fight the gender pay gap.
- Sliding Door Media: Meggie's original Media Training company.
- MeggiePalmer.com: Learn more about Meggie herself at her personal website.
- Rehearsal App for Actors Earns $500,000: Not satisfied with the iPhone’s built-in Voice Recorder, a radio host and acting coach creates his own app to help actors rehearse. It goes on to earn more than $500,000.
- Environmentalist Couple Sells Online Courses in Beekeeping: An organic farmer and business owner in rural Maine create a series of online courses in beekeeping, permaculture, and soil building.
- Married Couple Goes From Crashed Drone To Soaring Side Hustle: A sky-high success story of a six-figure drone coaching business that begins after a man crashes a drone into a parked car in New York City. Look out!
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