I recently read an article under the “Women Mean Business” section of telegraph.co.uk centred round Black British Youtuber, Patricia Bright, and her transition from the corporate finance world to the business of social media. According to the article entitled “Youtuber Patricia Bright on how to ditch your day job and make your ‘side-hustle’ pay”, Bright worked at the biggest names in the finance world during the week, and uploaded fashion and make up reviews to Youtube at the weekends. Over the course of 9 years, she has amassed over 2.7 million subscribers on Youtube, and she now earns ‘easily six figures’ from what started as a side hustle. In the interview she encourages others to pursue their side hustle(s), a piece of advice she expands on with her book title, “Heart and Hustle: Use your passion. Build your brand. Achieve your dreams.” I agree with her.
I found the above mentioned article very interesting, and decided to read more about Patricia Bright’s journey. According to a 2018 article by Glamour Uk, Bright’s foray into the Fashion&Beauty world started at Uni where she charged girls to do their weaves & extensions, a skill she learnt herself. Her story got me thinking of a friend of mine who turned her passion for cooking into a money-making venture at Uni some time last year. I was reeling with pride last week when she told me that her business is still ongoing , and is moving at a very satisfactory pace. Bright’s story and my friend’s positive feedback taught me two things: there is value in widening the range of your skills set, and side hustling pays. If you belong to the category of people who need to learn more skills, you’re not alone; acquiring more skills is one of my goals for this year. If you belong to the category of people who already have the skills but are yet to fully harness them, this article is for you.

If you have a passion complemented by the required skills, I think you should consider pursuing your passion. If you have the time, resources, and necessary values (for example: diligence), I think you should consider turning whatever it is your passionate about into a side hustle. It is a way of creating a source of income for yourself at a young age simply by doing what you enjoy. Also, you never know what great things may come from it; it may open doors for you, and bring you favourable opportunities. You may even discover your purpose and begin to walk in it. If it’s something that you’ve been thinking about, you should start now! Start somewhere, start small; just start. Big-ups to everyone who is currently juggling school and a side hustle; keep going, it will pay off one day. To those who are not interested in pursuing a side-hustle now, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t get caught up in the fact that “everyone is doing something outside school”; we are all called to tread different paths at different times. The goal is ensure that we are doing us at all times, never conforming to standards set by the world.

QUOTES

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started”- Mark Twain

“Unless you are willing to do the ridiculous, God will not do the miraculous. When you have God, you don’t have to know everything about it, you just have to do it”-Mother Angelica

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”-Vincent Van Gogh