116. The Side Hustle Economy
Every great idea starts with a crime.
Here’s one of mine.
I was 11 years old. I had just come home from school and, walking by my parents bedroom, I saw what looked like art supplies laying on their bed.
Curious, right?
I thought so too.
Fancying myself an artsy type of fellow, I sauntered over to look more closely at these new treasures. Alas, it was a package of calligraphy pens that apparently my mother had bought for herself. (She being the artsy type as well.)
“This looks pretty darn cool,” I thought to myself. “It’d probably be happier in my possession.”
So I took it.
Crime #1.
The statute of limitations for theft in Connecticut is five years. Legally, I’m free and clear from being prosecuted for that crime, which is why I am openly confessing to you today. The guilt from the abhorrent behavior, however, remains with me to this day. But that’s a different therapy session.
Anyway, I began to use the calligraphy pens and actually became pretty good at it.
One day, at the ripe old age of 12, I went to the shmancy local country club and asked if they needed a calligrapher to help make place cards for their weekly events.
It turns out they did.
It turns out they hired me.
Crime #2.
The minimum working age in Connecticut was 16. I was 12.
And so began my first real side hustle.
By day I was a regular-though-somewhat-geeky 6th grader. But by the time my daily homework was completed, I was huddled in my room working hard at a thriving calligraphy business.
The Side Hustle History
The use of the term “side hustle” has been in existence since the early 1950s.
For fifty years it was primarily used in the African-American community. Oftentimes it related to hustling people out of money.
Which reminds me, if you’ve never seen the movie The Hustler, with Paul Newman, you must. see it. now. One of my faves.
Ok, back to hustler history.
It was during the 2001 recession that the idea of the side hustle began to increase in popularity and the term began to shed the negative connotations. After all, lots of people lost their jobs and had to find creative ways to make ends meet. Plus, this new thing called the Internet and side hustle-friendly companies like eBay were rapidly growing in popularity.
The Hustle is Real
Now here we are in 2021 and there are 72m Google search results for the term “side hustle”, there’s a Nickelodeon TV show with the name and there are more than a few boats in any given marina that are called Side Hustle.
Even Fortune Magazine acknowledged the side hustle as a real thing, which means all the hoity-toities understand what a side hustle is too.
It’s a popular term. But you know what else were popular terms? “Synergy”, “cruisin’ for a bruisin’“ and “fo shizzle my nizzle”
So here’s my question: is side hustling really a burgeoning trend or is it just the latest buzzword to describe behavior that has been around for decades?
I’m going to dive into that next week. In the meantime, give me your thoughts…
Is side hustling a real thing or just a trendy word?
Do you have a side hustle?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Poll
Q. How many different PODCASTS do you listen to regularly?
None - I don’t listen to podcasts
*answer to last poll is below
Quote
“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
- Wayne Gretzky
Tidbits
Disrupting Fireworks. OK, this is cool. Fireworks are so 2019. Drone-works are the future (boom!)
Ballpoint Overachieving. There’s drawing with a ballpoint pen and then there’s this person who makes the others seem like crayola kids (on point)
Gifting 2.0. A few newsletters ago I showed you how Amazon let’s you pay without paying. They also let you send gifts without an address (check it out)
Another Useless Site. You know those sites that take a long URL and shorten it? This site takes a short URL and makes it long and suspect (get shady)
Last Poll Results
Q. How RECOGNIZED and APPRECIATED do you feel at work?
A whopping 33% of respondents feel like they are not very recognized and appreciated at work. Ummm… have your bosses subscribe to this newsletter.
brand ambassador is my 'unsuccessful' side hustle. But it doesn't cost me much, and it promotes something I actually enjoy. I typically associate 'side-hustle' with MLMs, and other pseudo strike-it-rich opportunities.