How My Side Hustles Helped My Career

Finding a job or career can be a challenge, especially these days with a global pandemic! There is so much that goes into getting a job; networking, resume building, and knowledge gaining are a couple that come to mind. This article is going to touch on my story and how my side hustles helped me get my newest corporate gig!

My Story

I did what most people are told to do growing up. Go to school, get good grades, go to college, get good grades, graduate, get a good job, get paid, and live happily ever after.

Sounds familiar, right?

I went to college at UW-Milwaukee, mainly because it’s what I thought I had to do. I didn’t have an idea of what my career was really going to look like and I bounced around majors trying to figure out what my future career would look like.

Near the end of my college journey I met a few entrepreneurs that left corporate America in their 30s. Through their mentorship and guidance I was able to start my own side hustles at the age of 21 while finishing school. After graduating and working on a couple projects in the IT project management field, it was time to find something in the corporate world, which is where a lot of their coaching came into play outside of growing my own side hustles.

My Mentors

My mentors helped me in a multitude of ways in my career journey: resume building, interviewing skills, and certification/training recommendations. Yes, my mentors were primarily helping me run my side hustles, but something they helped me realize was in order to run my side hustles efficiently I needed to have a good career, leading to a solid personal economy.

The association you are a part of and keep around you, has a much bigger impact on you than you think and know!

I grew so much personally, career wise, skill wise, and in my ventures any time I leaned into the environment that my mentors created. Having that environment to constantly challenge my comfort zone has been key in moving on in life.

Who You Know vs What You Know

My current business coach worked in the IT project management field a year or two before I did. The connections he made were instrumental in getting my training and certifications needed to work in the projects I did after graduating college. Who you know is better than what you know.

Having subject matter experts in my back pocket to understand and grow in my career field was essential in getting some project work, help on my resume, and knowing what to focus on when searching for a role.

Yes, you can find a lot of resources and knowledge in order to grow on your own, but it can be difficult to navigate through what is important to know. There is almost too much knowledge out there! Have someone you trust cut through the weeds.

Questions to Ask Yourself; 

What do you truly want in life?

Who do you listen to?

What is your environment?

Focus on Skill Development

Learning new skills is extremely important. Especially soft skills! Your ability to communicate, listen, and carry yourself is valued far more than any hard skill you might need. Yes, you still need hard skills in order to function and live, BUT soft skills tend to be undervalued at certain points in everyone's life.

Everything, including the job you have, the person you date, and the friends you have is determined by your soft skills.

I personally needed to put a large focus into my soft skills. I struggled communicating with others due to a hearing problem I had as a young kid. I needed to go to speech class and many “experts” and teachers I had simply assumed I was going to be slow in my development. Even going into high school and part of college I struggled with communication.

I was missing an environment to grow that skill set freely and frequently. My business coaches and mentors gave the opportunity to grow in those areas. Speaking at events, reading books,  listening to podcasts, and observing how my mentors conducted themselves were instrumental in my growth! It took a consistent intentional effort to grow those skills, but it was worth it.

I went from barely being able to communicate with a small group of people to giving talks to 60-70 people on Zoom calls and big presentations at work.

Do not stop growing your soft skills. Even reading a book a month can make a HUGE difference in your ability to grow these skills and in your LIFE.

Think About;

Constantly strive to grow your soft skills!

How much do you currently read?

Your soft skills have a bigger impact in your life than you think!

Even if your skill set is strong, it could be better.

Keeping an Open Mind

Having specific knowledge is something to strive for. My mentor talks about constantly being a learner and being open minded.

I took this to heart and looked to humble myself while taking my mentors' advice, seeking the help and knowledge I would need to grow in my career. Yes, it was uncomfortable. Yes, I didn’t want to learn (especially just after graduating college), but having that open mind and an urge to learn more was essential to getting the role I have now.

The biggest lesson we can all learn to achieve our next goal, is the ability to humble ourselves to overcome the challenges that stop us from doing so.

Realize that it’s you against you. No one is coming to save you. You have to help yourself before you can expect anything in life.

I struggled with my own stubbornness for a long time. Thinking that I was owed something for the little bit of work that I would do, not realizing that my goals required more than I was willing to give at the moment.

I did the bare minimum in my initial job search, asking why no one was hiring me. I took the path of least resistance whenever I could, thinking it was a shortcut. Ultimately I was hurting only myself.

I looked at the people that had what I wanted in life (career wise, finances, relationships, etc) and I saw what they did to accomplish those feats. It was then I realized I needed to be more open minded, look to do more, learn more, and go beyond.

Keeping an open mind is consistently humbling yourself to learn and grow in all areas of life. It is a long process that takes commitment and time, but it always starts with an internal decision to change. My mentors helped me instigate that change and realize that I need to overcome myself before I overcome the struggles that life throws in my direction.

So You Have Mentors, How Does that Help Me?

I simply wouldn’t be where I am today without the help that I got. I know the feeling of finishing up school and working hard to get a job. We tend to tell ourselves that we have to do everything by ourselves. I’m here to tell you that simply isn’t true.

It is up to you to instigate any change in your life, but if you’re willing to help yourself others will be willing to help you along the way!

My mentors had a significant impact on my life which completely changed the trajectory I was on. They created the environment that allowed me to grow, gave me access to platforms to grow my own side hustles, and helped me start my own career.

Focus On;

Challenge what you already know.

Make the decision to change.

Take Action!

Understand what you want out of LIFE! Ask yourself what your VALUES are, write them down in a notebook. Think about why those values are so important to you. Create a mission statement/motto from what you write down.

Network as much as possible, creating strong relationships with people will open doors you didn’t even know existed!

Look for the people that have similar values or motto to what you wrote down. Take the time to vet these people out. See if those individuals truly have values that align with your own.

Look to create trust with the people that you associate with. Creating that trust with my own mentors was essential in having them customize their coaching for me, along with establishing our relationship!

Everyone could use guidance in their life, I just decided to take advice from people that had the life that I wanted.

Final Thoughts;

Reevaluate who you listen to.

What skills are you developing right now?

Stay open minded/be a learner!

Where in your life could you use mentorship?

When’s the last time I looked at my values and goals?