Tag: Fitness

Pump It Up! Project Manager Elevates Female Fitness

What It’s About

A side hustle that helps transform the lives of other women!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

When asked about standing out in a saturated market Lucy said, “Just because someone else is doing something doesn’t mean that you don’t have something unique and valuable to add to the market. Be so authentic and true to yourself that you end up being different from everything else that’s out there. Just because there are others in the market doesn’t mean that their message is going to resonate with your potential customers.”

Fun Fact

Lucy’s ambassador program Fire Tribe got its name from an inspiring quote that got her through her own transformation: “Some women fear the fire, others become it.” It was a quote she’d post on Instagram. When her followers began quoting it back to her and hashtagging it, she thought it was a perfect fit.

Notes from Chris

Episode 580

27-year-old Lucy Dunne is—by her own account—a free spirit. In her heyday, she spent years partying hard and traveling the world not knowing what the next day held. As an Aussie now living in Alberta, Canada, Lucy found herself working full-time as a lead project manager tasked with providing signage solutions for corporations across North America. Like most jobs, it had its ups and downs.

The job kept her busy, and she was making ends meet. But there was one area of her life that she wanted to improve—her health and fitness. Lucy had acquired a new habit of binge eating, and it didn’t help that she was smoking up to a pack of cigarettes a day. But it wasn’t until she was having trouble fitting into regular sized clothes at retail shops that she knew something had to change.

There’s a lot of noise in the health and fitness space. So instead of looking to all the experts, she decided to do it her own way. She said “so long” to hours spent on the dreaded treadmill and stairclimber machines and introduced weightlifting and other activities that didn’t feel like such a chore to her routines.

Instead of denying herself the things she loved and meticulously counting her calories, she started to adopt an “everything in moderation” mentality and focused on macro ratios more than calories. Over the next three years, trips to the gym and meal times stopped being something she dreaded, and more importantly, she was seeing good results.

By 2015, she was 65 lbs down from her original weight and felt that she could finally stop hiding behind large purses in pictures. Lucy was so proud of what she had accomplished that she decided to document the remainder of her journey on Instagram—and that’s when everything changed.

Each day, Lucy shared a bit more about her journey. Because of the transparency and authenticity of her posts, she began drawing the attention of other women who were looking to improve their health and fitness routines.

At this point, she knew what worked best for herself, but she wanted to get a better idea of what would work for others as well. So, Lucy Dunne decided to get certified as a personal trainer and nutrition coach.

And before she knew it, a new transformation was underway… of the side hustle variety! She called it Dunnebells.

With an avid Instagram following looking for her help, she started with them. Within the first month, she had roughly 20 clients enrolled in each program, and with each month that passed, her programs were selling out faster than she could open them up!

In the beginning, Lucy’s side hustle was earning her $1,000 a month. Gradually, her monthly earnings bumped up to $2,000. By October 2017, she was making $5k a month. Now at $10k+ a month, her side hustle has become her full-time hustle!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Dunnebells: Learn more about Lucy and her programs over on her website!
  • Upwork: The global freelancing platform that helps businesses connect with independent freelancers remotely
  • Squarespace: The website building platform that Lucy used to create her website for Dunnebells

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"It’s not realistic to act strong and like you have it all under control all the time. It’s okay to admit that you run into problems just like anyone else. Be honest and people will appreciate you for it!"
—Lucy Dunne #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Resistance Is Futile! Brooklyn Fitness Fanatics Sell “No Days Off” Exercise Bands

What It’s About

Resistance bands for the person who likes to take their fitness on the go!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Steve has some advice for anyone who wants to start a similar side hustle. First, do your research and don’t rush to go with a supplier just because it’s easy. It’s crucial to get a reliable supplier that ships high-quality product every time. Second, never reinvent the wheel. There is always a proven method, strategy, or practice for everything, start by following it before trying to create your own way. This saves you time, money, and of course, tons of headaches and sleepless nights.

Fun Fact

James, Steve’s business partner, used to train Justin Combs, the son of Sean Combs. One day, Justin said it would be cool to send some NDObands over. So that night, Steve was up until 4 in the morning designing unique COMBS Enterprises and REVOLT NDObands for Diddy and Justin. How often do you get to send your product to Diddy’s house!?

Notes from Chris

Episode 567

Steve Clair has been a real estate broker in Brooklyn for close to a decade. Running around to all of those properties means that he’s putting in quite a workout on a daily basis, so naturally, fitness ranks high on his list of priorities. But when you’re as busy as Steve is, you get in a workout whenever you can and you find ways to maximize your efforts without much fuss. And that’s where our story begins…

In 2017, Steve and his workout buddy, Max, were training for the Brooklyn Marathon. That meant that a large chunk of their weeks were spent pounding the pavement, but as any good runner knows, building up your distance running alone is a rookie mistake. New marathon runners also switch up their food and water intake, sleep habits, and consider the role of strength training in their plan. Strength training not only targets the muscles needed to keep you going the distance, it’s also great at correcting any muscle imbalances and improves your running form.

When you’re the kind of guy who is always on the go like Steve, resistance bands are your best friend. They’re far more portable than a home gym, and you can bust them out in the office, on your daily commute, or pretty much anywhere you can find a 2-3 ft radius. They’re also good to use following a run, and Steve and Max got into the habit of wrapping these resistance bands around their wrists, bringing their post-run workouts with them on the go.

They just had one complaint: they wanted more color options to choose from! Since they clearly weren’t busy enough with working full-time jobs and engaging in rigorous pre-marathon training, they decided to source them themselves and try to sell them. Their goal? Produce and sell high-grade latex rubber resistance bands that could double as a wristband and come in a multitude of snazzy colors.

They called their side hustle NDOband (or No Days Off band) because when the gym is right there on your wrist, there’s really no excuse.

The first big jump in sales and brand awareness came when Steve received an email from an editor at POPSUGAR, at the end of 2017. She’d stumbled on his Instagram posts and wanted to be the first to write about the product. Naturally, Steve and Max were thrilled! Once the POPSUGAR article went live on January this year, Steve’s website traffic went up to around 500 visitors a day for almost a solid week, and the site had about 80 sales over the course of a single weekend. Talk about a sprint! That was when they felt that people were finally starting to notice the brand.

The NDOband team is now looking to expand into corporate wellness in the fall by providing lunchtime stretch sessions for companies and supplying NDObands for employees. Their goal is to help making the sedentary office worker a thing of the past. At the same time, the team is also developing smaller bands that focus on lower body workouts. They might call it the NDO booty band!

To date, sales from NDOband have been bringing in roughly $1,200 a month, and now that they’ve launched bootcamps, that brings in an additional $1,500 every month. What excites them the most is that both of these revenue streams are growing from month to month.

The most rewarding aspect of the side hustle for Steve is the experience of building his own brand from the bottom up. It means a lot because he was able to combine fitness and fashion into a business. Furthermore, seeing so many people, including many well-known influencers, adopt his movement fuels Steve to hustle harder every single day.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Check your ego at the door and understand that building a side hustle takes time, and it’s usually longer than you think."
—Steve Clair #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Graphic Designer Chalks Up Gripping Side Hustle

What It’s About

A graphic designer helps althetes get a grip!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

90% of Mario’s leads come from Instagram, and he works really hard to make sure that his customers know that they are talking to a human and not some bot or indifferent customer service rep. Mario says that putting in that additional little effort is the difference between a one-off sale and a life-long customer.

Fun Fact

Most of the chalk/limestone that’s around today was created almost 100 million years ago. This soft, white, porous, sedimentary rock occurs naturally deep under the sea where dead organic skeletons and shells accumulate to make limestone. Humans have been using it for various tasks for centuries, and it’s an extremely abundant mineral that is widely mined all over the world.

Notes from Chris

Episode 542

In 2013, an unfit and overweight Mario Parades walked into a Crossfit gym, and he never looked back. Inside the box gym, surrounded by the whoosh of the skipping ropes, the crash of the barbells, and the chants of “one more rep,” Mario found a community he forever wanted to be part of.

Over the next few years, Mario looked for ways he could use his graphic design skills to contribute more to the community. He started by creating t-shirts for gym owners, which were paid for by giving him free entry to the gyms. This venture also expanded into fundraising for charity, where Mario created a line of Crossfit-themed t-shirts to raise money for underprivileged children. One of which, the “Chalk Monster,” went on to sell out and raise hundreds of dollars.

Despite having a busy schedule and looking after his children, Mario was still determined to stay a part of the Crossfit community and bring value to as much of the community as possible. And, maybe earn a little money on the side.

Mario explored options to continue making t-shirts for gyms but quickly found out that Crossfit apparel was a highly competitive market, and new brands were popping up every day. He wanted something that was unique only he could offer. Then, one day, Mario had a conversation with a gym owner about the day-to-day running of a box gym, and how they’d run out of chalk and didn’t have any for the upcoming sessions. Later on that evening, while sipping a glass of Paleo wine, Mario was finally hit with the idea for his side hustle.

Chalk is one of the most overlooked parts of gym life, and probably the least exciting. It’s white powder, in a bucket, that’s used to keep your hands dry and improve your grip. Basically, a commodity. Mario wondered if he could be the person to make that product exciting and decided to take on the challenge. And, it didn’t take him long to come up with a name. He thought back to the “Chalk Monster” t-shirt that sold out and decided it would be a great name for his new brand.

Mario’s product is a subscription service for gym owners to help them keep a constant supply of this chalk. They order their chalk online and it’s delivered to their gym, at their chosen frequency. Mario says his business model is pretty simple because he found a problem, created a solution, and priced it attractively for your bootstrapped gym.

Mario’s total start-up costs for Chalk Monster came in at around $4,200. He’s already made that money back and has 50 monthly subscribers to gyms all around the USA. He’s also sold over 1,700 individual products to countries as far as Germany and to a U.S. military base in Iraq.

He’s made most of these sales thanks to Instagram marketing. The whole philosophy for Mario is “organic” and he tries to generate as much interest as possible without spending money on marketing. This means he spends up to 24 hours week using the platform to find gyms, comment on their posts and start building relationships. He can spend weeks chatting to the same person before he sends a message to them about being interested in his product. He wants to show he cares first, and then sell them second.

Looking to the future, Mario’s goal is to become a staple of the Crossfit community. He wants to reach out to more gyms across the country and begin to break into the European market as well. He’d also love to create a fulfillment center in Panama so he can give back to his homeland community, create jobs, and send his product to even more countries!

Chalk it up to another side hustle success!

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Chalk Monster: Take hold of your gym aspirations with Chalk Monster—learn more about Mario and his chalk over on his website!
  • Shopify: Mario used Shopify to set up his store for Chalk Monster, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
  • Alibaba: The platform that Mario used to locate a manufacturer for his chalk

SEE ALSO:

 

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"The best advice I can give to someone looking to do something similar is to research your product, hustle hard, be humble, and have solid customer service."
—Mario Parades #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Move Forward With Uber!

Side Hustle School is brought to you by Uber—the company determined to improve the ridesharing experience for both riders and drivers.

I've seen a lot of these improvements firsthand, but don't just take my word on it! Read more about all of the ways Uber is moving forward—head on over to Uber.com.🚘 Learn More

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Aussie Man Eats Only Potatoes for 365 Days

What It’s About

A man goes viral after eating nothing but potatoes for a year to lose weight and gains a side hustle along the way!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re thinking of creating a video business yourself, Andrew’s videos are a testament to the fact that people will watch simple and basic videos if the content is good and interesting enough. Don’t wait to start documenting!

Fun Fact

Actor and director Kevin Smith, the creator of Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob, used Spud Fit to lose 17 lbs in nine days after his recent heart attack!

Notes from Chris

Episode 481

For Melbourne native Andrew Taylor, food addiction was a real problem. At 36 years old, the former junior Australian Champion marathon kayaker and physical education/health high-school teacher found himself at his heaviest and unhealthiest and wanted to make a drastic change to his life.

So, he decided to make a New Year’s resolution that would transform his health. But he didn’t adopt the fad diets and hectic gym sessions most of us make on January 1st. He opted for something a little more…drastic.

Andrew wanted to treat his transformation not as a weight-loss problem, but as an addiction problem. So, he decided to remove food as a stimulus altogether and, instead, focused on one food only—potatoes.

Armed with a degree in Applied Science (Human Movement) and a fascination with all things nutrition-related, Andrew spent six weeks researching ‘the perfect food’ before he settled on the humble spud. Despite the shunning potatoes have received over the years as a result of their high carbohydrate count, they pack quite a punch nutritionally. Andrew could get all of the fat, protein, vitamin C, and iron that he needed, and the high fiber content kept him full and sated.

Between January 2nd, 2016 and January 2nd, 2017 Andrew started what he called the “Potato-Only Diet,” which would later go on to become Spud Fit. 99.9% of his caloric intake would come from potatoes and the other 0.1% from seasoning. If you saw the film The Martian with Matt Damon, you know just how vital those seasonings are to maintain this kind of diet.

To hold himself accountable and document his progress, Andrew kept a video diary on YouTube. He uploaded daily videos he’d recorded through his mobile phone and uploaded straight to his channel. There was no editing involved, and it was as raw and basic as possible. This reduced any barriers to him posting his videos and made the process simplistic.

It’s important to note that Andrew never planned on turning Spud Fit into a business. He just wanted a way to share his message with anyone who cared. Which, surprisingly, turned out to be a lot of people.

His YouTube channel started to attract attention, and after just a few months, Andrew had developed an audience of devoted “Spuddies” who tuned into his channel to watch his progress. They were amazed by his results—losing 121 lbs over the course of the year—and the thick skin he’d developed through his discipline. Andrew was also never afraid to dig deep into the emotional aspects of his life and the challenge, like dealing with depression, anxiety, and addiction. This provided a lot of value and solace to his fans.

These products have taken Andrew and Spud Fit to around $1,500 a month. Which is a great amount of money for a business that was never meant to be a business!

Although the press coverage has died down, Andrew keeps growing his business through social media. He regularly uploads content to his blog + podcast, Facebook and YouTube. And he’s always overwhelmed by the response his products get, and the hundreds of people he’s able to help through his story and Spud Fit challenges. It’s a true story, a life transformation and a side hustle success—definitely not small potatoes.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Spud Fit: This side hustle is anything but small potatoes—learn more about Andrew’s journey over on his website!
  • YouTube | Spud Fit: Watch Andrew’s journey from beginning to end over on his YouTube channel

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

RELIABLE WEBHOST FOR $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for my past 5 websites. It's cheap, flexible, and you can get support 24 hours a day.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Try your best to keep improving yourself as a person and when people ask you why/what/how you did it then provide them with answers, be open to the possibilities for helping others achieve what you have."
—Andrew Taylor #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE, with free shipping. Get ready to say mmmmmm.
Get Yours Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

23-Year-Old College Student Uses “Sweatcoin” App to Earn $2,000/Month

What It’s About

After finding success on his own, a student in the U.K. launches a side hustle as a fitness coach showing his tried and true methods to others.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re looking to start a side hustle as a fitness coach, you will want to start by making sure that you know what you’re doing. Sometimes it’s helpful when you’re first getting started out by offering your services for free before you start charging. If you learn first, you most definitely will earn later.

Fun Fact

Oliver’s strategy has been based on giving. He was the first to give away a free training program on the popular health and fitness app, Sweatcoin. He also regularly gives free information and content on his Instagram page. He has never asked for anything, but he has received more than his fair share in return.

Notes from Chris

Episode 479

After making several mistakes working out in the gym, 23-year-old Oliver Anwar realized that the training plans provided by professional fitness competitors were unsuited for the average person. He would train in the gym with high reps and low weights but found that he wasn’t building enough muscle.

The mediocre results were discouraging, but they forced Oliver to conduct his own research and learn more about the science behind nutrition and training. Oliver saw better results in the next year than he ever did in the past three chasing fads. This led him to realized that even though the fitness and nutrition world was crowded, he had something unique to offer—after all, he had proven that his plans worked.

With the encouragement of some friends, Oliver decided to start an online fitness coaching business and called it Ro Anwar Fitness.

Considering that Oliver’s startup costs were just web hosting and a website theme which set him back by only $100, it’s an understatement to say that Oliver has made his investment back several times over. Today, Oliver makes up to $2,000/month, which is a comfortable amount for a university student. He’s also been featured by his university for his entrepreneurship and has managed to land public speaking gigs. The side hustle has also helped him land a part-time job at a startup.

There’s no doubt that the skills he’s building are valuable, and so are the 17 pounds of muscle and the $2,000 a month.

It paid off almost right away. Within two hours of launching his website using Shopify, Oliver received a Paypal email notifying him that someone had bought one of his coaching packages. He hadn’t done any marketing or promotion at that point in time, but only shared his website on social media, so this was a true shocker. Oliver recalls that he was so overcome with joy that he rushed downstairs immediately to tell his Mom about his first sale. This moment of validation told Oliver that his business could actually work.

Oliver never stopped working on his business after that. Besides offering coaching, he also published a range of meal plans. Due to his bad experience following generic plans previously, Oliver decided that he would offer only personalized plans. This was something that most trainers were unwilling to do since it didn’t necessarily scale well. But to Oliver, this was a chance to stand out in that crowded health and fitness niche.

Today, Oliver makes up to $2,000/month, which is a comfortable amount for a university student. He’s also been featured by his university for his entrepreneurship and has managed to land public speaking gigs. The side hustle has also helped him land a part-time job at a startup.

There’s no doubt that the skills he’s building are valuable, and so are the 17 pounds of muscle and the $2,000 a month.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Ro Anwar Fitness: If you’re interested in learning more about Oliver’s success, check out his website
  • Sweatcoin: The fitness app that helped to put Oliver on the map
  • Shopify: Oliver used Shopify to set up his store for Ro Anwar Fitness, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!

SEE ALSO:

 

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"I’ve found that the key to success is to persist and persevere. Once people start to recognize you and see the potential in your side hustle, opportunities begin to open up and it becomes clear why you started the business in the first place."
—Oliver Anwar #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Cook with Blue Apron!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Blue Apron. 👩‍🍳

Check out this week’s menu and get your first three meals FREE, with free shipping. Get ready to say mmmmmm.
Get Yours Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Exercise App Encourages Fitness While Helping Sick Kids

What It’s About

Forget the expensive trainer—here’s an app that will help you hold yourself accountable!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re looking to start a side hustle involving an app, Justin and his brother recommend that you try and build an initial version yourself so that you can prove the concept before investing more for a more polished version. As he says, there is a lot you can learn from the initial version that will enable you to make precise improvements on the polished version.

Fun Fact

Asked if he’d thought about using a reverse incentive for Lazy Jar, where users have to pay some organization they disagree with if they don’t make their workouts, Justin said, “Yes, and we refused to do that. We felt that there was nothing to gain by donating money to organizations we generally don’t believe in, even if it was as a form of negative reinforcement. We prefer knowing that even when the user fails, some good comes from it.”

Notes from Chris

Episode 465

Our resolutions to get fit sometimes fizzle. Those twice-weekly trips to the gym can slow to twice-monthly slogs. For some people, they turn into an occasional walk to the corner store for beer. In North Carolina, Justin Anyanwu saw that the shine of his successive new routines—yoga, kickboxing, CrossFit—started out well, but fell away when he couldn’t maintain his commitment to the workouts.

The initial weight loss he achieved didn’t inspire him enough to establish an unbreakable fitness habit. He knew that the problem wasn’t the workouts themselves, but his lack of consistency in committing to them regularly. Multiple canceled gym memberships frustrated him to act: he designed an app to hold himself—and later others—accountable.

Justin is a full-time software engineer, so he knows that technology can solve problems. His Lazy Jar app comes out swinging: Miss your weekly fitness goals and you’ll lose weight—in your wallet. Lazy Jar works by tracking a user’s steps, calories, miles, and minutes of physical activity via a Fitbit device. Users set a weekly goal for those metrics and a financial penalty they must pay if they fail to meet the goals.

He and his business-partner brother sped up the initial work on the look and feel of the app by using a pre-made app theme from UI8, a design platform. Then he found a developer on Fiverr to code the program, which cost him a bit more than five dollars: $7,000, to be precise.

Since the app was launched publicly in October of last year, the company has been making $500 a month from users who head back to the couch rather than the exercise bike. Their user base has been growing with further publicity, like the boost given from being mentioned on places like TechCrunch, LifeHacker and Product Hunt.

Learning about how the human psyche processes interest and desire has been one of the product’s side benefits for Justin. He’s seen how it takes a fair amount of social proof from other user’s experiences to bring new people into the Lazy Jar fold. New, unusual ideas get resistance, but influencers can sway a skeptical audience.

So, the big question: is Justin missing his workouts? Has the app worked for him, or has he programmed in a cheat code? We’re not certain how much Justin is paying back to Lazy Jar these days from missing his regular workouts, but according to him, he’s feeling stronger and healthier than ever.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Lazy Jar: Fire your trainer and hold yourself accountable—learn more about this app over on Justin’s website!
  • Fiverr: The freelancing platform that Justin used to find the developer to make Lazy Jar a reality
  • UI8: The design platform that Justin found a pre-made app theme from
  • Ionic & React Native: Two of the app design platforms that Justin would likely use the next time he builds an app
  • TechCrunch, LifeHacker, & Product Hunt: Three of the tech-related media outlets that did write ups on Lazy Jar and brought it more exposure

SEE ALSO:

 

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"See if you can build an initial version that you can use to prove the concept before investing more for a more polished version. There is a lot you can learn from the initial version that will enable you to make precise improvements on the polished version."
—Justin Anyanwu #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Create a Stunning Website With Wordpress

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Wordpress.com! Whether you’re looking to create a personal blog, business site, or both—you’ll make a big impact, when you build your website on WordPress.com. 💻

Get 15% off when you build your website with Wordpress.com—use promo code PODCAST when you check out.
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It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Dog Sled Trainer Becomes Women’s Fitness Coach

What It’s About

A woman in her 50s finds her calling helping other women her age youthfully.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Mary decided to put her focus on women in the 45-55 age group instead of on all women in general which felt scary at first. But it also made a great deal of sense since she could speak specifically to the needs and desires of these women being one of them.

Fun Fact

Mary is planning on competing in a Strong Woman competition for the very first time in February of this year at age 51. Go, Mary!

Notes from Chris

Episode 392

Mary Black and her husband, Mark, trained sled dogs for 22 years in Minnesota. They spent ten of those years living off the grid in the backcountry, 6 miles from the end of the nearest road.

They fed the dogs high special diets for peak performance, massaged them to ease their aches and pains, and loved them on good days and bad. But on one of those days, Mary and Mark looked at themselves and said, “We’re taking better care of the dogs than we are ourselves.” While racing the dogs gave Mary and Mark plenty of exercise, they didn’t eat well, and they constantly felt exhausted.

They wanted to make a big change, so Mary kicked her smoking habit and hit the gym instead. Since they were a team, Mark followed suit and they both got hooked on a new habit—getting healthy and their lives back on track.

They weren’t the only ones to notice the drastic physical and lifestyle transformations that they were making—friends, family, and even strangers at the gym started going up to them to ask them what they had been doing. Not only were they getting fitter, it seemed like they had found the fountain of youth and were reaping the rewards. They felt better than they had in decades, and that’s when they decided that aging gracefully is fine but aging youthfully is even better.

They decided to document their journey and share what they’ve learned with others, so they created a free WordPress blog called “Aging Youthful.”

What she wanted to do more than anything else was to help women like her stop wishing for the youthful days behind them and instead start living a more youthful, vibrant life full of purpose and passion.

She decided to offer a 12-week coaching program that mirrored her own journey with three different elements: the mind, the body, and the soul. She began allocating an hour each weekday on her side hustle and anywhere from four to fifteen hours on the weekends.

That first program just ended, and following its success, she’s already planning on launching signups for her next one this month! When everything is said and done, this new coaching program brings in an additional $500 – $600 a month for Mary after the $200 startup costs for her website, domain registration, mailing list host, and PayPal fees.

The extra money has been great to help Mary out with her aspirations of joining her husband as a Strongman competitor, but more than anything, it’s helped her prove to herself and others that life doesn’t end at 50.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Aging Youthful: Learn more about Mary, her journey, and the coaching program that she’s created on her website!
  • WordPress: Mary used WordPress to form her website for Aging Youthful, and here you can learn how to install your own WordPress site in 5 minutes
  • MailChimp: The email marketing platform that Mary used to connect with those who signed up for her coaching sessions
  • Zoom: The video communications service that Mary used to communicate with her coaching clients

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"‘Small hinges move big doors.’ I’m learning to take small steps and believe they will turn into big results."
—Mary Black #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Side Hustler Gets Paid to Run 7 Ultramarathons on 7 Continents

What It’s About

An ultramarathoner helps others get back on track after sports related injuries.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Joel’s advice to anyone else wanting to build a side hustle with an app (and limited developer experience) is this:

1. Opt for a subscription service, and 2. make it as low-tech as possible.

Apps are fun and really useful, but they can get expensive and unpredictable quickly which can make them a more problematic. Something as simple as Apple or Google updating their operating system can cause a whole slew of things that you don’t want to necessarily deal with. Keep it simple!

Fun Fact

Until December of 2011, Joel was a marketer with a half-million dollar monthly marketing budget for a well-known outdoor company. It was his job to increase the company’s search engine position and make their pay-per-click campaigns profitable.

Joel’s head was in the game but his heart was out doing his own thing. He followed his heart and quit his job.

Notes from Chris

Episode 381

Joel Runyon lives a life of his own design. While he focuses his mission on doing things that seem impossible, he creates side hustles to support that mission. The formula is simple. He tosses an idea out there. If it catches enough interest, he turns it into a side hustle. If it makes enough money, he turns it into a business. If it doesn’t, he moves on, and tries it again, thanks to what he calls his short-term memory and positive view of failure.

That’s how Joel has started at least half a dozen successful projects over the past six years. His current side hustle is an app called MoveWell.

He created a blog called IMPOSSIBLE, designed to test a series of experiments on himself. He was tired of backing down from challenges that seemed impossible and he wanted to see if he could attract a following of others who felt the same. The plan worked and IMPOSSIBLEHQ.com has become an active community that takes on fitness and mindset challenges on a regular basis.

As you would expect of someone with a blog called IMPOSSIBLE, Joel likes taking on things that seem impossible. One item on that list was to run seven ultra-marathons on seven continents, raising money to build 7 schools. He called it the 777 Project. He got the campaign ready and launched it in Patagonia. What happened next was the motivation behind his current side hustle, MoveWellApp.

At mile 26.2 of his first of seven ultra-marathons, the 25 miles per hour Patagonian winds shifted and literally swept Joel off his feet and down the hill. He rolled his leg past his ankle, injuring himself pretty badly. He stubbornly finished the race, which made things worse, and the doctors told him to take six months off to heal and rehab the ankle.

Joel discovered something about himself and physical therapy: he performed well when his rehab coach is right there with him, but in between sessions he forgets about it. Joel wondered if other people had that same problem, and that’s when it hit him. What if he created an app that could serve as a mobility coach? Would other people want it, too? He decided to find out.

The app has been out for two years and currently brings in about $1,000 per month, a nice amount of extra cash, but not really a sustainable business yet.

Interestingly enough, though, even though MoveWell brings in the smallest amount of revenue of any of Joel’s ventures, the project has some of his most enthusiastic followers. Joel says it’s in that awkward in-between place of growth and he and his partner are figuring out what to do next. They have a lot of interest in building it but not much income to do it with. Joel says if they get the app to earn $4,000 – $5,000 a month they can scale it and turn it into a business with its own team.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"You only get one life. Do something impossible."
—Joel Runyon #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!
Get Started Here!

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Crossfitter Sells Gym Equipment For Seven Figures

What It’s About

CrossFitter creates a fitness gym equipment empire and makes 7-figures!

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you were looking to start a similar business, Peter’s words of advice are to become obsessed about a problem that people have, find out where the people who have this problem spend their time, then go out of your way to help them solve it. Looking to the future, Peter wants to look at expanding into the supplement industry, perhaps growing that hustle along the same path as the first.

Fun Fact

One of Peter’s first big marketing campaigns involved buying 10,000 condoms and giving them away to athletes and spectators at one of the first CrossFit Games. The same week he ordered 10,000 condoms, his wife gave birth to their second daughter. Peter joked to people that the consequences of unprotected sex scared him so much that he ordered a lifetime supply of condoms!

Notes from Chris

Episode 334

For electrical appliance designer and marketer Peter Keller, his honeymoon was the turning point in his life. In a small pub in Mexico, instead of focusing on a romantic evening with his wife, Peter found himself sneaking behind the bar to try and see what fridge they were using. It was at this moment he realized he was too obsessed with his current work, and it was time for a change. He knew he’d always love to work, but he was ready to focus on something a lot cooler than fridges.

Outside of his work, Peter was a keen Crossfitter and had fully bought into the lifestyle. So, he figured that may be the best place to start looking for his next idea.

Not wanting to be a trainer or run his own gym, Peter decided he would instead focus on providing the equipment that could help people transform their lives. Thus in 2010, out of the extra space in his home-garage, he started his new side hustle, FringeSport. An online store where people could buy the equipment for their CrossFit needs.

After the first two years of running his new side hustle, FringeSport, he was able to quit his job and focus on this full time. It’s now a big business. In its seventh year, the Crossfit equipment hustle should end the year with sales in the range of $4 and $6 million dollars.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • FringeSport: Put an impressive home gym together with Peter’s website!
  • Running Lean by Ash Maurya: The book Peter read that introduced him to the concept of the “Minimum Viable Product”
  • Shopify: Peter used Shopify to set up his store for FringeSport, and they’re offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
  • ShipStation: The app that Peter used to simplify his shipments. Get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
  • Google AdWords: Google’s online advertising platform that places your ad in the ‘Sponsored Links’ section next to search results to boost website traffic and sales

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"For me, authenticity is key because, at FringeSport, we are our customers. We’re the CrossFitters who geek out about barbell specs and what Rich Froning ate for breakfast, so we have to be careful of being opportunistic."
—Peter Keller #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!
Get Started Here!

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

ER Nurse Masters CrossFit and Becomes Nutrition Coach

What It’s About

A change up turns an unknown recipe blog into a successful fitness and nutrition coaching side hustle.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Show your passion so others know they can trust you, and document your journey on social media. This helps significantly when you’re looking for clients as your clients will think of you when they require help with a specific problem.

Fun Fact

Heather went part-time as a nurse in August and aims to turn her side hustle into a full-time job by the end of next year. Her goal with The Positive Thread involves transforming the minds, bodies, and lives of 100 women by December 31st, 2018.

Notes from Chris

Episode 308

For Heather McConochie, becoming a nutrition coach was an easy decision. As an Emergency Room nurse, Heather had plenty of experience in the healthcare industry, along with an extensive knowledge of human physiology, and she realized that while taking care of patients was meaningful, she wanted to do something that would allow her to help people before they landed in the hospital.

Heather knew that she could make an even bigger impact by coaching others on how they could have a healthier lifestyle and approach. Not only that, but her own personal fitness journey had taught her that many illnesses could be prevented with proper nutrition and sufficient exercise.

When she began her CrossFit journey in 2015, she ventured into healthier eating education to make sure that she could perform at her best during gym sessions. Her better eating habits quickly yielded results as she not only set personal records in her weightlifting, but also mastered skills like handstand pushups, ring dips, and pull-ups.

Eager to document and help others replicate her success, she launched her website with a vision of having a successful food and wellness blog. However, her site quickly fell into neglect as she found that she had no audience. It was simply too demoralizing and difficult to write quality posts consistently, knowing that her words weren’t reaching the people she’d hoped for.

Things remained that way for awhile. As she trained, Heather completed a nutrition certification program to ensure that she was properly fuelling her workouts. Over time, she gained a reputation for fitness, and her colleagues started approaching her for advice on nutrition.

During one such interaction, her coworker remarked that she should start a business around nutrition coaching. Heather wasn’t sure that it would work until she found out that a friend from her gym was paying $75 an hour for nutrition coaching. If there was one person willing to pay that much, Heather figured, it would probably be possible to find more people who would be willing to pay such rates for good coaching. She could have an entire business doing nutrition coaching!

She now has 19 clients and ended up making $6,250 within the first 4 months of starting her nutrition and fitness coaching side hustle, The Positive Thread. Now that many of those clients have committed to recurring plans or multiple sessions, she now has a more predictable recurring side hustle monthly income of $1,500.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • The Positive Thread: Reach your health and fitness goals—learn more about how to do so on Heather’s website!
  • SquareSpace: The website building platform that Heather used to create The Positive Thread
  • Thinkific: The course building platform that Heather used to create courses for her coaching clients, which she eventually aims to release as an individual product

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"You don’t need a degree, but if you don’t know enough to help people get sustainable results, you won’t get clients."
—Heather McConochie #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Get a FREE Audiobook from Audible!

Audible is offering SHS listeners a free copy of the Born For This audiobook with a 30-day trial membership. 📚

Just go to aonc.co/bftaudible and browse the unmatched selection of audio programs and start listening.
Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau