One minute I'm talking to a group of women about my new novel when suddenly I'm stepping away from my side job as a furniture restorer, my day job as a professional organizer, and before I know it, I'm mentioning my love for Bruce Springsteen.
At the end of my workshop, all hands go up at the same time. A woman wants to know the best way to remove stains from an antique wooden door; another woman wants to know how many times I saw Bruce Springsteen; and finally someone specifically asks me for a part of my book that deals with how Italian Americans make Sunday gravy. Before I can figure out how these questions relate to my new novel, I realize that I have a long line of people waiting to buy my book.
Among the readers is an energetic and elegant woman named Betty Galvan. “It was great listening to you. I'm also a whirlwind," she said with a wink. My puzzled look asks for a definition. She tells me that a Swirler is someone who incorporates all of the best parts of themselves into an uber-career or uber-brand, a term coined by PR superstar Melissa Cassera. Galvan began her whirlwind teaching career with a side job at a beauty salon, which led to a successful blog and a job in digital marketing. Today, she's combined all of those passions into career advice, helping other Swirlers navigate business success in the world of digital marketing.
Related: 5 steps to turn your passion into your profession
The term swirling might be new, but the concept of creating additional income is not. People have moonlighted, taken side jobs, and even invested in real estate to create more sources of income for generations. Up to this point, I mistakenly referred to my career habits as Jacklyn of all, mistress of none. But new times call for new definition, so I went to see Cassera, who literally wrote the book on Swirling. The Swirl Effect explains the importance of combining your passions with success in business. "When you do an activity that is a passion of yours, you feel like the absolute best version of yourself," she says. “Once I understood this, it transformed my business, I quadrupled my income, building a multi-digit business every year.”
According to Wall Street 24/7, millennials make up 28% of the 44 million Americans who are hustling.
I have an epiphany after speaking with her, as I'm sure most people do. I realize that I had been whirling my whole life:I lit up my publishing career with a professional organization and started writing my novel while refurbishing furniture. Like Galvan, I always had a side job, or in today's lingo, a side-hustle. Hustle is a term I became familiar with listening to Ann Shoket present her book The High Life , which dedicates significant space to the importance of sideways hustle, an opportunity to learn something new at your own pace. Shoket's book is aimed at millennials, which isn't surprising, as she spent the early part of her career influencing opinion as the editor of Seventeen magazine.
According to Wall Street 24/7, millennials make up 28% of the 44 million hustling Americans. Sixty percent of traffic on the popular SideHustleNation.com is 18 to 34, though founder Nick Loper sees this trend as strong among millennials more out of necessity than passion. “We have seen the cost of housing, education and health care skyrocket over the past 30 years while wages have remained stable. Loper cites his site's popularity as a growing societal trend among millennials and beyond. He attributes the increase to a “pro-active drive to take control of our financial lives.”
Related: Working on a Side Gig? Here's how to prepare for your second shift
Loper resumed his financial life in 2013, when he incorporated his original business, a shoe comparison site, into a full-time business. He realized his passion was about business and marketing. He created his site as a resource for people to take control of their own financial well-being through entrepreneurship. "And that's really what it's all about:being proactive about the one thing you can control, your own efforts," he says.
The idea of sideways hustle can be comforting for someone who has a business idea and is reluctant to quit their day job, but a daunting and often unrealistic proposition to most. Chris Guillebeau founded SideHustleSchool.com to help people create a whole new source of income without quitting their day job . “It’s essential, because nowadays everyone is told that they should become an entrepreneur, but not everyone wants to do it. However, everyone wants more money and more options,” he says
“I focus on helping people create assets for themselves, not just more work or a part-time job. »
Guillebaeu's site relies heavily on storytelling focused on how people came up with their ideas, their mistakes, and the money they made. He differentiates sideways hustle from the gig-based economy, which involves contract work with short-term commitments. “I focus on helping people create assets for themselves, not just more work or a part-time job. I'm interested in stories of people who wake up in the morning, check their phone and see they've made $200 while sleeping. Loper recommends starting small with a The Side Hustle snowball, in which you itemize your monthly expenses, then try to erase those that have sources of income outside of your day job. "It's daunting to try to replace your daily wage right off the bat," he says. A recent article on Guillebeau's site lists 99 side business ideas you can start today. And for those of you still trying to decide which practical term defines you, in the words of Melissa Cassera, swirl!
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