Sarah H Reynolds was nervous. It was a workday afternoon in late September. At 12.30pm, a gallery curator from Cheryl Hazan Projects had stopped by her Brooklyn art studio to check out her work. At 2pm, Reynolds was due at a client meeting for her day job, the photography space Root Studios. And the curator’s visit was running long.
“Fortunately, the studio visit went well, and I’ll have 10 pieces in a show at the gallery on October 29,” Reynolds says. “And I made the meeting right on time.”
As part of the growing population of side hustlers – people pursuing their passion projects outside their day jobs – Reynolds represents a new working lifestyle. It means more hours, more challenges and – if you ask her – more chances for rewards.
As a creative director by day and charcoal artist by night, Reynolds says she feels like she has two full-time gigs. Emi Soekawa and Jessie Male, who launched the website Bad Date Great Story, keep packed schedules of their own.
Soekawa and Male turned what could have easily remained a hobby into a full-on hustle. At first, they published comical, cringeworthy articles online. Then they launched a reading series. Now they host “live comedy storytelling events” for performers in New York City to share their dating dramas.
Their advice? “Pick a side hustle that you truly adore,” says Soekawa, who works in children’s television and feature film development, “because then you’ll feel the drive to put in the extra, late-night hours and exude the passionate energy that pulls people – and luck – toward your project.”
And as with many side hustlers, persistence has been critical for Reynolds. She says that after receiving a harsh critique from another curator, she spent about two years trying to improve her pieces.
Eventually, Reynolds contacted the curator again – “a ballsy move on my part”, she says. Impressed with the changes, he included her work in the Immediate Female exhibition at New York’s Judith Charles Gallery last winter. Reynolds says she didn’t expect instant success and initially thought it could take three or four years to make progress.
Josh Paynter, a graphic designer who’s also the bassist in the band No No Yeah Okay, knows the value of patience firsthand. “When you get started, you have to temper your excitement to a degree,” he says. “Don’t assume that being in a band means you’re going to be living this rock star lifestyle. If you want to be successful, you have to look at it like a business.”
Paynter taps into the same design skills he uses for his day job at GMR Marketing in New Berlin, Wisconsin, to create promotional materials for his band. No No Yeah Okay released an LP in August, and he says its efforts feel more intentional than in some of his past groups.
“When I was younger, I kind of settled and played with people who I, deep down, knew weren’t going to be able to make a true commitment,” he says. “I did it out of convenience and really wanting to play in a band. As you get older, you get a little more methodical in how you do things.”
The hustling is starting to pay off. “Our last concert was memorable because we actually didn’t recognize a lot of people there,” Paynter recalls. “If you’re lucky, you make it from ‘friend rock’, where you beg your friends to see your shows, to having people actually want to go.”
Paynter is ambivalent about whether he’d ultimately make music a full-time career, but Reynolds has spoken openly with her employer about her eventual goal to become a full-time artist with creative projects on the side.
So far, her managers have been supportive by letting her occasionally work remotely when she’s prepping for a show. “Some of the things for work, I can do at home at midnight,” says Reynolds. “I don’t have to be sitting in an office.”
For Male, an English professor at Ohio State University, pursuing a side project outside work offers the chance to connect with a unique, ever-growing community. “It’s provided a whole new network of amazing, talented, hilarious people – especially women,” she says. “We are hearing a lot of stories from people who, in a couple of years, will be household names.” Prime example: before being cast on Saturday Night Live, Sasheer Zamata had performed for Bad Date Great Story.
Having a solid network is key, according to Reynolds. “The most important advice I’ve been given is to keep creating, keep busy and do everything you can to learn about what you love,” she says. “And [for any side hustle], look for another source of not just creating the work, but learning about it – by going to shows, reading, asking questions, joining a community.”
Those seeking a community are in luck. From now through February, side hustlers will share their stories with the Guardian through a series of videos, audio features and profiles, and readers will also get practical, real-world advice on starting their own side hustles.
Have a great side project? Looking for ways to begin? If you’d like to join our movement, tag your social posts and pictures with #mysidehustle.
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