Founder Stories

The Secret Ingredient to Turning My Side Hustle Into My Main Hustle

Corporate jobs were basically free training, but I still had to figure out how to make the jump

Illustration: Evan Weselmann

I am a self-made relationship expert. Did I go to school for this? Nope. Did people question my credibility because I didn’t have post-nominal letters? Yep. Did I continue to learn everything I could about the subject with maniacal determination? Sure did.

Maybe she’s not born with it

There are some people who are just born with it. Maybe it was in their stars to be famous for their craft, and by some freak coincidence, they got magically discovered. Or their video went viral. Honey Boo Boo, I’m lookin’ at you.

There are some who were born into it — having the luxury of family money, status, and connections passed down, making it easy for them to carry the torch forward.

And then there are people who had to work for it. People like me — bullied in school, absent parents, barely middle class, constant problems with focusing, and a serious addiction to cookies. I wasn’t born special. I defied the odds not because I was given a lucky draw of cards but because I refused to give up. I absolutely refused…