My 4 Side Gigs Have Made Me Money — and Forced Me to Rethink My Career

This as-told-to essay is predicated on a dialog with Jennifer Martinez, a 35-year-old product supervisor based mostly in New York Metropolis. It has been edited for size and readability.

I’ve labored as a product manager at an AI startup in New York Metropolis since 2017, in a completely distant function that permits me to pursue a number of facet gigs.

Like many different people in NYC, I have been feeling extra financially careworn. My earnings has elevated barely over time, however it hasn’t stored tempo with how a lot costs have gone up.

About two years in the past, I made a decision I needed to really feel rather less money-strapped, as a result of I’ve monetary targets. I am in my 30s. I’ve at all times needed to own a home and journey extra. All of these items had began to really feel more and more out of attain.

I began listening to increasingly about layoffs, and I used to be unsure if my profession would even exist sooner or later. I began seeing folks round me getting laid off, and I assumed I actually wanted some monetary cushion.

Canine sitting for the cash

My first expertise with side hustles was dog-sitting in NYC two years in the past, and it is nonetheless the place I get the majority of my side-hustle earnings.

At first, I questioned whether or not I’d encounter nightmare canine that began consuming my furnishings or tried to chew me, however nothing like that ever occurred.

I’ve a canine at residence for round 20 to 25 days a month, and I cost about $65 per evening. I roughly earn about $1,000 month-to-month from canine sitting on Rover.

It is helped me extra than simply financially. As a result of I dog-sit in my neighborhood, I’ve began assembly my neighbors, which has introduced me nearer to my local people.

It additionally helps me keep wholesome. Having canine with me encourages me to go exterior, particularly throughout worrying instances at work.

There have been instances after I’ve had back-to-back conferences all day and have not been in a position to take a lunch break, and dog-sitting forces me to go for a stroll in the course of the day.

It additionally provides me firm, as a result of remote work can get actually lonely.

Ceramics for the inventive outlet

I began doing ceramics throughout the pandemic. On the time, I used to be dwelling in a home with 9 folks, and I wanted a spot exterior the house and away from my roommates to keep away from feeling suffocated.

I took a ceramics course and joined a studio the place I might are available in and work on my items as I happy. Ceramics helps me get away from my telephone and calms me down.

I like creating items with an earthy aesthetic, just like the Cyclades Islands in Greece. They’ve all received this white-and-blue structure, which is the vibe I am into.

I created an Etsy store and tried promoting items I used to be making. Over the past 12 months, I have been making snack plates, and have offered about 15 plates for $60 every thus far.

I additionally create TikTok content material about stopping burnout. All my facet hustles are geared towards well being and wellness, so I doc them on social media.

I have been shocked that I’ve gotten numerous requests not too long ago on LinkedIn for product consulting. I’ve taken a few of these gigs and earned a couple of hundred {dollars} right here and there.

It is made me extra confused

I began facet hustling to seek out solutions about what would make me happier and what would assist me really feel much less financially careworn or burned out.

I wrestle to seek out achievement within the methods I earn the vast majority of my earnings. I am transitioning to a different senior product administration function to strive one thing new and improve my job satisfaction.

And I additionally wrestle with not having the ability to earn earnings from the issues that make me happier.

My final aim remains to be to show one among my facet hustles right into a full-time job. Ideally, changing into a full-time ceramicist or having some type of handmade art business could be my dream. However I am not fairly there but.

Facet hustling has truly made me extra confused. I assumed I’d have extra readability across the course I wish to go in, however as a result of I am experimenting with all of these items, I’ve realized there are much more prospects.