Got a personal project you’d like to take to the next business level, like the side hustlers we’ve been spotlighting? Guardian Labs US is offering a chance to be spotlighted on our website! You’ll also get a monthlong mentorship with Roz Savage – the executive coach whose passion is rowing across entire oceans by herself.
Win our contest and Savage will help you navigate toward specific goals, like developing a strong elevator pitch, tailoring a business plan and marketing properly. Rough waters, indeed, for a new entrepreneur – check out Savage’s own story below and you’ll want her expertise!
To enter:
- You must be 18 years old and a resident of the US.
- Upload a photo on Instagram that visually represents your side hustle. (For those of you who have a private Instagram account, please either email a screenshot of your entry with the description to glabs.us@theguardian.com or tweet the entry to @GuardianLabsUS.)
- In the photo caption – two sentences or shorter, please – state what your day job and side gig are, plus what your longer-term goals are for the side gig.
- Include #mysidehustlewins in the caption and tag both @guardianlabsus and @squarespace.
- The deadline for entering is 31 December 2015.
- Prize: four one-hour coaching sessions with Savage via phone or video conferencing, plus a written profile of your side project on theguardian.com.
Your future coach
It was late 2005, the storms kept coming and Savage kept rowing. The 37-year-old from London had quit her job as a management consultant to cross the Atlantic Ocean by herself in a small boat.
A titanic challenge under perfect conditions, her voyage became even tougher thanks to a stretch of bad weather midway through the trip. Strong winds and massive downpours broke all four of her oars and destroyed her navigation equipment. Loneliness and shoulder tendinitis only added to the agony.
Needless to say, she was having second thoughts about whether this adventure was still a good idea.
The year before, Savage had tried a writing exercise to help her figure out the next steps in her life. She penned two versions of her own obituary, one about the comfortable life she had and one about the adventurous life she wanted. Seeing the difference helped her decide to start fresh and hit the high seas. Now, as she was stranded somewhere in the Atlantic, the notion of an obituary seemed too real.
That’s when a peculiar thing happened: Savage’s survival instincts kicked into full gear. She found a boat hook and duct tape to reinforce the oars. When they later broke again, she used wheel axels from her rowing seat to fix them. And when they snapped apart yet again, she was able to piece together two of the oars.
“It’s amazing how resourceful you can become when you’re in the middle of the ocean and there’s only one way to get to the other side,” she said later in a TED Talk.
Savage survived her mission. After 103 days and about a million oar strokes, she arrived in Antigua nearly 3,000 miles from her starting point in the Canary Islands. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy in my entire life,” the Oxford Law graduate later recalled in a speech. “It was like finishing a marathon, getting out of solitary confinement and winning an Oscar all rolled into one.”
She didn’t take it easy after that. Now 47, she’s the first woman to complete solo rowing trips across three oceans – Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. The journeys have taught her countless life lessons about perseverance, preparation and how to accomplish goals. When on dry land, she shares her wisdom as an executive coach.
Let’s face it – figuring out how to build up a passion project while holding a full-time job leaves many people feeling lost. If direction is what you need, who better to help navigate than a woman who has successfully rowed across three oceans?
Enter our competition now – you only have until late December – and, just maybe, Savage will help launch you on your side hustle journey.
This content is brought to you by Squarespace. Receive 10% off your new Squarespace signup with offer code SIDEHUSTLE.
GUARDIAN NEWS & MEDIA SIDE HUSTLE PHOTO CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
ELIGIBILITY: The Guardian News & Media Side Hustle Photo Contest (the “Contest”) is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States plus District of Columbia who as of the date of entry are 18 years of age or older. Members of the immediate family or household of Guardian News & Media LLC (“Sponsor”) or any of its parents, subsidiaries or affiliates, prize suppliers, or any advertising or promotion agencies involved in this Contest, are not eligible to participate. Void where prohibited. All applicable federal, state and local laws apply. By participating in the Contest, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules (“Official Rules”).
ENTRY PERIOD FOR CONTEST: The Contest will begin on 4 November 2015 at 12:00:01am Eastern Time, and end on 31 December 2015 at 11:59:59pm Eastern Time (the “Entry Period”).
HOW TO ENTER: During the Entry Period, post a photograph of yourself that visually represents your side gig, side business or passion project (your “Side Hustle”) outside of your main day job to your Instagram account, along with a description of your day job, your Side Hustle and the goals you have related to your Side Hustle (in two sentences or less), and label it on Instagram with the hashtag #mysidehustlewins and tag @GuardianLabsUS and @squarespace. In the event of a dispute over the identity of an entrant, the applicable entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the Instagram account associated with the applicable entry. “Authorized account holder” means the natural person who is the primary account holder of the applicable Instagram account.
ENTRY/PHOTO REQUIREMENTS: All photos that you post to Instagram in connection with the Contest must: (a) be the exclusive original work of the entrant; (b) not defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon the rights of any person or entity, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy or publicity; (c) not contain any commercial/corporate advertising, including but not limited to corporate logos, brand names and slogans other than the Sponsor’s, (d) not depict any conduct or content that is unsafe, immoral, obscene or otherwise inappropriate as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion; and (e) not have been submitted in any other contest or won any prize. Each entrant must also obtain permission from any and all recognizable persons other than the entrant depicted in a submitted photo and agrees, upon request, to furnish written proof of such permission. Failure to meet any of the requirements above, or to otherwise comply with these Official Rules, may result in disqualification.
ENTRANT’S WARRANTY AND AUTHORIZATION TO SPONSOR: By entering the Contest, you warrant and represent that (a) your photo submission has been created by you as an original work; (b) you have obtained all required third-party releases (if any) in writing; (c) each of the photos you submit as part of the Contest: (i) has not won previous contests or awards, or been entered in contests, or been published previously in any medium, (ii) does not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights, (iii) does not contain obscene or pornographic material, (iv) does not contain defamatory statements (including but not limited to words or symbols that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic group), (v) does not include threats to any person, place, business or group, (vi) does not invade privacy or other rights of any person, firm or entity, and (vii) does not in any other way violate applicable laws or regulations. In addition, by entering this Contest, you grant Sponsor and its agents and persons acting with Sponsor’s authority, a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual worldwide license to use and publish your photo submission and to post, display, use, adapt, edit and/or modify your photo submission for purposes connected to the Contest, in any and all media, without consideration to you. You agree to irrevocably waive, for the benefit of Sponsor, all moral rights in your photo submission to which you are entitled.
JUDGING/SELECTION OF WINNERS: All eligible photos posted to Instagram as described above during the Entry Period will be judged by a panel of judges using the following criteria: Creativity (50%) and Entertainment Value (50%). Judges’ decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to the Contest. At the close of the Entry Period, the judges will select one prize winner from among the entrants.
PRIZES: Four one-hour sessions of goal-oriented business coaching with an executive coach (the “Executive Coach”) selected by Sponsor (Approximate Retail Value $1,600) will be awarded to the prize winner selected by the judges and the prize winner will be featured in a written profile on theguardian.com website relating to his or her Side Hustle. Prizes are nontransferable and no substitution by winners is allowed. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value in the Sponsor’s sole discretion in the event any advertised prize becomes unavailable. Winners are responsible for all taxes due as a result of receipt of a prize.
VERIFICATION OF WINNERS: Potential winners will be notified via Instagram direct messaging using the contact information or handle listed on Instagram. Notification is scheduled to occur within fifteen (15) days after the end of the Contest. The prize may be awarded to an alternate winner if any requested document or response is not provided by a winner within five days after initial notification is sent to the applicable winner by Sponsor, or if a prize notification is returned as undeliverable.
RELEASE OF SPONSOR FROM LIABILITY: By participating in the Contest, you release Sponsor and each of its subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, employees, directors and agents, including advertising agencies (“Released Entities”), from and against any and all injury, loss or damage caused or claimed to be caused by your participation in the Contest and/or the acceptance, awarding, receipt, use and/or misuse of the prize; and you agree that the Released Entities are not responsible for any warranty, representation or guarantee, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, relating to the Contest and/or the awarding of any prize, including without limitation any liability relating to or arising out of the advice given by the Executive Coach, except as expressly set forth in these Official Rules; you further agree that (a) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or in connection with the Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action, (b) any claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Contest, but in no event attorney’s fees, (c) under no circumstances will any entrant be permitted to obtain any award for – and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim – punitive, incidental or consequential damages and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased and any other damages, other than damages for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and (d) any dispute will be governed by New York law without regard to principles of conflicts of laws, will be heard in the state or federal courts located in New York, and the entrant hereby consents and waives any objection to the jurisdiction of such courts.
RELEASE OF INSTAGRAM FROM LIABILITY: By participating in the Contest, you release Instagram and its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, employees, directors and agents from and against any and all injury, loss or damage caused or claimed to be caused by your participation in the Contest and/or the acceptance, awarding, receipt, use and/or misuse of the prize. By participating in the Contest, you acknowledge that the Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by Instagram.
RELEASE OF OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES FROM LIABILITY: In addition to Instagram, the Contest may be provided or promoted through various social media services, such as Facebook and Twitter (“Social Media Services”). By participating in the Contest, you release each applicable Social Media Service, and its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, employees, directors and agents from and against any and all injury, loss or damage caused or claimed to be caused by your participation in the Contest and/or the acceptance, awarding, receipt, use and/or misuse of the prize. By participating in the Contest, you acknowledge that the Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, any Social Media Service on which the Contest is provided or promoted.
RELEASE OF EXECUTIVE COACH FROM LIABILITY: In addition, if you are a prize winner, you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with the Executive Coach containing a limitation of liability and other terms relating to the services provided to you by the Executive Coach before the prize will be awarded.
INDEMNIFICATION: Entrant hereby agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Released Entities against any and all third-party claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable legal fees and expenses, arising out of or related to any breach by the entrant of any provision of these Official Rules, including, without limitation, entrant’s representations and warranties made herein.
ADDITIONAL TERMS: Sponsor does not assume any responsibility for: (a) lost, late, misdirected, damaged, garbled, incomplete or illegible entries, all of which are void; (b) error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions of any kind, or inaccurate transmission of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof; or (c) any injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in the Contest.
By participating in the Contest, you (a) agree to be bound by these Official Rules, including all eligibility requirements, and (b) agree to be bound by the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest. Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to: (i) permanently disqualify from any contest it sponsors any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules; and (ii) suspend, modify or terminate the Contest if Sponsor believes, in its sole discretion, that malfunction, error, disruption or damage is impairing or will impair the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest.
LEGAL WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER OR NOT AN ENTRANT, TO DELIBERATELY INTERFERE WITH THE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST, IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND DILIGENTLY PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AGAINST ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
WINNERS’ NAMES: For the names of the winners, visit www.theguardian.com/side-hustle after 15 January 2016.
SPONSOR: Guardian News & Media LLC, with offices at 222 Broadway, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10038.
