Side Hustle Pro

Hey Guys, This message was on my heart so I decided to record a quick #hustlebomb for my younger self. Hope this helps you too! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you ever gone to the store looking for a product only to find that it doesn’t even exist?  That’s what Jacquelyn Rodgers, Founder of Greentop Gifts, experienced one Christmas season when she went looking for wrapping paper featuring a Black Santa.  Frustrated and surprised, Jacquelyn decided she would make her own. But not only that, she realized the gap in the market and got to work building...

We all know that unemployment levels are at an all time high due to the effects COVID has had on businesses. In the last week alone, I have seen many friends and acquaintances get furloughed or laid off and my heart goes out to everyone. I decided to share my own story of unemployment and some tips that may be able to help to get through this time as a side hustler. And yes, you will get through i...

Side Hustle Pro alum Jerri Evans founded six Turning Natural Juice Bar storefronts in eight years and has employed over 87 people in her community in that time. Growing up in SE Washington, D.C. she watched her mom and others struggle to find healthy options, while carry-outs and corner stores were readily available. Now she is leaving an indelible impact in SE and beyond.  Jerri first sat in the...

Side Hustle Pro alum Arsha Jones has experienced tremendous success with her businesses Capital City Co (which produces a wing sauce called mambo sauce) and Tees in the Trap (a lifestyle brand inspired by pop culture and infused with Black Girl Magic) since gracing the guest chair in 2016.  Arsha is an entrepreneur and an emerging leader in the e-commerce industry. She has built multiple, highly p...

Side Hustle Pro alum Beatrice Dixon has taken the world by storm since gracing the guest chair in 2019.  Beatrice is the Founder of The Honey Pot Company, a plant-based, chemical-free feminine care system that cleanses, protects, and balances your vagina.  Powered by herbs, made by women, and 100% natural, The Honey Pot Company is disrupting the industry with a healthy alternative to feminine care...

If you’ve watched the “Entrepreneur” video by Pharrell & Jay-Z, then you may recognize Denise Woodard’s face. That’s because her story of being rejected by 86 investors before getting that one yes from Jay-Z is highlighted in the video. Well, we actually spoke to Denise last year as she was embarking on this process. So it made my heart swell with pride to see this Side Hustle Pro alum thriving an...

This week we have a rewind episode with @PlayPits founder Chantel Powell.  As a busy working mom and wife, Chantel found herself shuttling her son Kameron between summer basketball camp and football practice. She quickly noticed that he was starting to smell like a grown man because he was sweating buckets under his armpits, and that’s when her innovative mindset kicked in. Chantel decided to deve...

Tracey Pickett wants to make sure that you don’t get caught slippin’ in the rain. She is the founder of Hairbrella, an innovative rain hat combining fashion and function to protect women's hair from the rain. Not only is she an entrepreneur, but an attorney, inventor, and speaker. Tracey’s original plan was to “get law school out of the way,” then get a job, and she did just that. While working in...

Teri Ijeoma is the first one to tell you that she loves investing in stocks because it allowed her to live her dreams. She is a millennial millionaire, minister, stock investor, and an entrepreneur who teaches others how to invest in the stock market to be able to pay off debt, go on trips, and pay down on mortgages. In other words, how to use stocks in real time to make money now. Her journey has...

It’s been a while since we checked in with our Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Lisa Pegram. On today’s episode, you’ll get a look into what her life and business looks like one year after launching her beauty tech company, Belle51. Belle51 focuses on the specific skin issues of Black and Brown communities and how to treat them effectively. Lisa is no stranger to the side hustle life. She is currently i...

Four years, and four million podcast downloads later, I’m continuing to share with you the lessons I have learned along this journey. I never thought I’d leave my job to do podcasting full-time, but I’ve grown a lot, personally and professionally, and am dedicated to helping you grow as well. Of course I had dreams of success, but when I started, I just wanted to gain inspiration from my guests, a...

Let me let you in on a little secret, I first started side hustling to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It was not to turn my side hustle into a full time job. But, I also want to assure you, there’s nothing wrong with the latter, either. In today’s episode, I take it all the way back! We’re talking childhood with pit stops at my first internship, ever, with HBO, the days of wanting to...

Lately I’ve been reminiscing on the days when I was a certified side hustler. When I was working full time and working on Side Hustle Pro on nights and weekends, I lived a completely different life from the one I live now as a full-time entrepreneur (plus a full-time entrepreneur with a baby).  Being a new mom has reminded me of the side hustle mindset and all the principles that led me to be in a...

I’m coming to you live with another solo episode, and the topic of discussion: transitioning into motherhood and getting back into the entrepreneurship life.  I’m giving you a behind-the-scenes look into how I’m flowing in this new uncharted territory for my life and my career. I went from being an entrepreneur with no kids to a momtrepreneur with new expectations, some of which I've had to shift...

Guys, I’m back! And if you’re asking yourself, ‘Back? Where did she go?’ then this is the episode for you to listen to.  I’m fresh off maternity leave.  My husband and I had our first child, a beautiful baby boy back in April, and despite all that’s going on, I couldn’t be happier and more grateful for how things turned out. When we found out we were pregnant, we could have never imagined that we...

Melissa Mitchell is changing the way we view art. She’s an “accidental” artist with a love for vibrant colors, unique shapes, and bold dark lines. In 2014 when the infamous snow storm hit Atlanta, Melissa took to old arts and crafts and began to create. From there, she went on social media to showcase what she was doing, and to her surprise, people expressed their interest in her pieces of art. Th...

An entrepreneur knows what it is to have a heart of a servant. Holli Draines had a desire to protect the vulnerable, which led to her career in law enforcement with 13 years as a secret service agent. For her, entrepreneurship came as a “blessing in disguise,” one she didn’t know she needed. In 2014, Holli lost her mother and sister, which led to a shift, not only in her personal life, but her pro...

“There’s so much more to being a boss than what’s on Instagram,” and Mielle Organics CEO Monique Rodriguez knows that all too well. Monique founded the company in 2014 after her healthy, hair care regimen for her tailbone-length hair became somewhat of a craze among her social media followers.  From living out her mother’s dream of being a nurse to pushing her own aspirations to the side, Monique...

Jessica O. Matthews has covered every part of the side hustle sphere. She is the Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power, an award-winning, full-service power and data infrastructure company. At the age of 19, Jessica invented the SOCCKET ball, an energy generating soccer ball that provides off-grid power for the developing world. At the age of 22, she founded Uncharted Power (previously Uncharted Play),...

Questions, questions, questions! I know you’re probably wondering, ‘Should I start a podcast? Should I turn my blog into a podcast? Should I start a podcast to support my business or personal brand?’ Well, I’m here to answer all those questions and more, today! I’ll dig into how to actually make money from your podcast and how to make an informed decision about the idea you might have. Trust me, I...

Some of you might not know that I was an MBA intern for a summer at Google when I was working towards my business degree at the University of Michigan. And usually, the summer before your second year in business school is when most people receive job offers from their temporary employer to come back after graduation and work full-time. But, plot twist, I didn’t receive an offer. That rejection, ev...

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my entrepreneurship journey, it’s that “no one is going to ride harder for you than you will for yourself.” That’s a fact. In this episode, I’m giving you the real on Side Hustle Pro becoming an LLC after months of side hustling and landing my first podcast sponsor. We’ll also take an inside look into my business process for goal setting and accomplishing tasks...

It’s May! And that means it’s time for a rewind. Every week this month, I’m resharing an episode that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how I turned my side hustle into my main hustle. In this first episode, I talk about how when I started my side hustle, I didn’t read business plan books or follow a business plan template. I just started. Shocking, I know! I share the six steps you can take,...

Imagine being neighbors with the same person in multiple cities for the majority of your life. Well, that’s the story of the women behind Neighborly Paper—Robin Beck and Carmelle Kendall. Neighborly Paper is a paper goods brand dedicated to, in the founders’ own words, serving all the realness for all the occasions. Carmelle is an art director, illustrator, and filmmaker. She now resides in Atlant...