10 Fun Side Hustles To Replace That Crappy Second Job
When many of us think of a side hustle or second job, we cringe at the usual options that might either be out of our comfort zone or totally outside our passions. The motivations for even pursuing a side hustle or job can often center on money and getting it by any means necessary---especially if the need for extra cash is immediate.
It's OK to bite the bullet, make sacrifices, and take on a side gig just to reach a financial goal, get out of debt, or upgrade your life, but why not work smarter versus harder? A good way to do this is to monetize what you're passionate about or good at and finding creative ways to do so.
Let me help you out sis. Here are 10 cool and fun side hustles where you can do just that:
1. Virtual Assistance
As black women, we are the highest growing population of entrepreneurs. Knowing that, you might guess that there is always a need for someone to come in and totally enhance the work life and organizational operations of a busy power woman somewhere around the world. The great thing about being a virtual assistant is that you can do it from practically anywhere, set your own hours, and work with who you want to. If you've got great project management skills, are good with technology, or have great experience as an assistant, this might be a great option for you.
2. Admissions Coordinating
So many parents are bogged down with simply making sure their children are safe, well-fed, and not about to ruin their lives that when it's time for college prep, things can get a bit overwhelming. You can step in---and actually charge a fee---to organize college tours, set up schedules to meet with admissions counselors, and assist with applying for financial aid. You can also help with researching scholarships, special programs, and finding program fits. If you're an administrative geek who loves being part of helping students reach their higher ed dreams---and helping take the burden off parents---this is a perfect side gig for you.
3. Event Planning
This is highly lucrative these days, especially when working with corporations and brands, and if you're savvy with organizing and coordinating all the moving parts of great ones, this is a sweet spot. Many event planners will agree that it's not all fun and games, but you can enjoy a good party more often than not.
If you love making key moments of people's lives the most memorable, this is the side gig of your dreams.
4. Mobile Beauty Service
More and more people are buying into mobile beauty services, from manicures and hair grooming, to waxing and Botox. Providing these might require specialized licensing, training, certifications and even insurance, but it's worthwhile if this is something you love doing. You'll also have the flexibility to make your own hours, choose who you service, and leave that booth fee behind. It's a good way to tap into your creative side if you find yourself happy but in a primary job that doesn't require that much.
5. Freelance Entertainment or Event Hosting
Knowing how to work a room, run a show, or make people laugh are actually money-making, marketable skills. Organizations and professionals oftentimes hire personalities to take their events up a notch, host fundraisers or lead receptions, and you can definitely take a Saturday or two out of the month to make a few hundred---maybe even a few thousand---extra dollars doing just that. If you have gift of gab, are known as a person who can give a great speech or tell a good joke, or you're just good a schmoozing, start using that to your advantage to make a few extra coins.
6. Wedding Officiating
In some cases, can get ordination for this online and get to marrying folk the same week. It's that easy. Just do your research for the state where you want to start officiating, and be sure you're in love with love. Once you figure out your style and get a good buzz going in terms of the service you offer, you might become that go-to person for different types or vibes of weddings. You can create a niche doing this, and again, you make your own hours and choose the couples you'll be legally bonding together in marital bliss.
7. Fashion or Shoot Styling
Are mood boards your thing? Do you love putting together a great look or vibe? Are you familiar with lighting, angles, fits, and aesthetics? This might be a match made in heaven for you. Making someone's vision come to life for a website, special event, social media platform, or publication is a unique skill set that is in demand.
This side gig also affords you the opportunity to meet new people, travel, and be active, especially if your first job is more stoic and stationary.
8. Interior Decorating
This can go beyond putting together the look for a new homebuyer. Realtors, theater owners, church leaders, and entrepreneurs often hire interior decorators to conceptualize spaces, shop for pieces, or stage rooms for marketing or selling purposes. Get creative and think outside the box if you're looking to take this on because, again, the need is there.
9. Travel Concierge Services
International travel has increased among our sister circles, and many of us look for experiences outside of the norm. If you find yourself always being the one in the group to know about some special concert, new adventure or locale, or just a super-planner, why not charge for use of those skills? Taking the stress out of planning the next big girls trip is something many professionals and entrepreneurs will pay someone top dollar to do.
10. Freelance Editing and Writing
Obviously, I'm a bit biased on this, but if you have expertise in a certain field, are great at putting words together that actually drive change and make sense, or you're an awesome grammarian, put those skills to use by taking on freelance projects. Sites like Upwork are your best friends, and businesses and orgs are always looking for someone to provide or tweak content. This also provides you the access and opportunity to attend events, travel and meet people you may not have previously had the chance to.
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Beyond Burnout: Nicole Walters' Blueprint For Achieving Career Success On Your Own Terms
Nicole Walters has always been known for two things: her ambition and her ability to recognize when life’s challenges can also double as an inspiring, lucrative brand.
This was first evident more than a decade ago when she quit her job as the corporate executive of a Fortune 500 company during a Periscope livestream. “I’m not sure if there’s an alignment of [our] future trajectory. I’m going to work for myself. I'm promoting myself to work for myself,” she said at the time before flashing a smile at the viewing audience. As she resigned on camera, a constant stream of encouraging messages floated upwards on the screen.
By 2021, she’d fashioned her work as a corporate consultant and her personal life with her husband and three adopted daughters into a reality show, She’s The Boss, for USA Network. This year, she released the New York Times bestselling memoir Nothing Is Missing, written as she was in the process of getting a divorce and dealing with her eldest daughter’s struggles with substance use.
Convinced that there’s no way the 39-year-old has achieved all of this without intentional strategic planning, I asked her about it when we spoke less than a week before Christmas. I’d seen videos on social media of her working on 2024 planning for other brands, and I wanted to know what that looked like following her own year of success.
She listed a number of goals, including ensuring that the projects she takes on in the new year align with her identity “as a Black woman, as an African woman, as a mother, as someone who has lived a [rebuilding] season and is now trying to live boldly and entirely as themselves.” But, I was shocked by how much of her business planning also prioritized rest.
Despite the bestselling book, a self-titled podcast, and working with numerous corporations, Walters said she’s been taking Fridays off. This year, she doesn’t want to work on Mondays, either.
“A lot of us think we work hard until retirement hits. I want to progress towards retirement,” she said, noting that she’ll check in with herself around March to see how successful this plan has been. The goal, Walters said, is to only be working on Tuesdays and Thursdays by sometime in 2025. “It is intentionally building out what I know I would like to have happen and not waiting for exhaustion to be the trigger of change.”
"A lot of us think we work hard until retirement hits. I want to progress towards retirement... It is intentionally building out what I know I would like to happen and not waiting for exhaustion to be the trigger of change."
Walters said the decision to progressively work less was partially in response to her previously held notions about her career, especially as an entrepreneur. “When I first started, I thought burnout was a part of it,” she said. “What I didn’t realize is that even if you’re able to bounce out of burnout or get back to it, there’s a cumulative impact on your body. If you think of your body as a tree and every time you go through burnout, you are taking a hack out of your trunk, yes, that trunk will heal over, and the tree will continue to grow, but it doesn't mean that you don’t have a weakened stem.”
But, the desire for increased rest was also in response to the major shifts that occurred three years ago when she was experiencing major changes in her family and realized her metaphorical tree was “bending all the way over.”
Courtesy
“One of the things we have to recognize, especially as Black women, is that there is this engrained, societal, systemic notion that our worth is built around our productivity,” she added. “That is some language that I think is just now starting to really get unpacked.” In recent years, there’s been an increased awareness of achieving balance in life, with Tricia Hersey’s “The Nap Ministry” gaining attention based on the idea that rest, especially for Black women, is a form of resistance. Even online phrases such as “soft life” and “quiet quitting” have hinted at a cultural shift in prioritizing leisure over professional ambition.
"One of the things we have to recognize, especially as Black women, is that there is this engrained, societal, systemic notion that our worth is built around our productivity."
If companies are lining up to consult with Walters about their brands and products, then women have been looking to her for guidance on starting over since she invited them to livestream her resignation 12 years ago. As viewers continue to demand more from content creators in the form of intimate, personal details, Walters has navigated her personal brand with a sense of transparency without oversharing the vulnerable details about her life, especially when it comes to her family.
The entrepreneur said she’d been approached to write a book for several years and was initially convinced she was finally ready to write one about business. “I started to do that, and then I went through my divorce. When that happened, I said, why would I write a book telling people to get the life that I have when I’m not sure about the life that I have,” she said.
Instead, she decided to write Nothing Is Missing and provide a closer look at her life, starting with being born to immigrant Ghanaian parents (“You need to know my childhood to know why I’m passionate about entrepreneurship.”) through the adoption of her three daughters and eventual divorce. Despite her desire to share, however, she said she felt protective of the privacy of her family, including her ex-husband.
When discussing this with me, Walters said she was reminded of a lesson she learned from actress Kerry Washington, who released her own memoir, Thicker Than Water, just a week before Walters’ book release. Washington’s memoir grapples with family secrets, too, specifically the fact that she was conceived using a sperm donor and didn’t learn about it until she was already a successful TV star. While Washington reflects on how the decision and subsequent deception impacted her, she’s also careful to hold space for her parents’ experiences, too. “A lot of things she said was that she had to recognize where she was the supporting character and where she was the main character,” Walter said.
This is something Walter worked to do in Nothing Is Missing when discussing her daughter’s struggles with addiction. “I was very intentional about making sure that I did not reveal more than what was required,” she said. “If I say something about someone’s addiction, I don’t need to go into the list of the substances they used, how they used them, what I found. [I don’t need to] walk into a room and paint a picture of what it looked like for people to understand.”
Walters said some of the most vulnerable moments in the book barely made a ripple once it was released. She was extremely nervous to write about getting an abortion, she said. But no one has asked her about this in the months since the book was released. Instead, people have been more interested in quirkier revelations, such as the fact that she once appeared on Wheel of Fortune.
“I have bared my soul about this thing I went through in my youth that has changed me for people, and people are like, ‘So how heavy was the wheel when you spun it?’” she said, chuckling. “It just goes to show that people never worry about the thing that you worry about.”
With the success of Nothing Is Missing, Walters said she still isn’t planning to release a business book at the moment. But, as she navigates parenting a teenager and two adult children while also navigating a relationship with her new fiancé, Walters said she believes she has at least one or two more books to write about her personal journey. “There is sort of an arc of where my life has gone that I know I’ve got something more to say about this that I think is important, relevant and necessary,” she said.
In just three years, Walters’ life has undergone a major transformation. There’s no telling what the next three years will have in store for her, but it seems likely she’ll retain an inspired audience wherever life takes her.
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Spa days are the perfect hack to center ourselves. Our serotonin levels skyrocket almost instantly when we enter a nail or beauty salon. We soon return to our confident selves, ready to face the world again. Unfortunately, regular salon and spa visits can have a serious impact on our bank accounts. Maintenance treatments can cost us hundreds of dollars a month, nearly becoming a bill we can barely keep up with. Most of us ask if there is a way we can be our fabulous selves without paying for a costly maintenance experience.
At-home spa experiences are becoming increasingly popular due to inflation. Creating a spa space in your home can be cost-effective, customizable, and overall more convenient. A one-time purchase of various spa items can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in one year. Freeing up your bank account to enjoy other self-care pleasures like vacations or going out to eat with friends - someone’s gotta see that fresh pedicure, are we right? If you’re looking to take the leap by getting your own spa equipment, here is a guide of items that could help you get started.
1. Steamer
Whether for a deep conditioning treatment or a facial, a steamer is essential to start your spa experience. Amazon has a great selection of steamers, like this one, starting from only $27. A basic facial package at a spa will cost you double the price of buying your own steamer. Although some steamers will claim to be for face or hair, there are plenty of videos online of women using their steamers for more than one use.
Enjoy a steamer penetrating your pores, or turn around and use it to give your hair more life. It’s important not to get too close to the item when using it for your face. Be sure to keep yourself at a fair distance to prevent any burns.
Aja Koska/Getty Images
2. Gel X Nail Set
Gel X nails have become increasingly popular for their natural aesthetic. A classic Gel X manicure can cost you about $70 per appointment. Depending on how long your nails last, this can add up to about $140 a month before tip if you visit the salon biweekly. You can purchase your own at-home equipment for the same price as a Gel X manicure set. Aprés sells their Neutrals Gel X Nail Extension Kit Duo for $70. You can create your customizable nail kit by selecting nail colors, shapes, and sizing options.
LWA/Dann Tardif/Getty Images
3. Oil Diffuser
Oil diffusers are the most underrated part of the spa experience. Scents like lavender can instantly relax us after a stressful week, while peppermint can be a great way to feel energized. Setting up an oil diffuser in your home can help you create the mood you’re trying to achieve. This ceramic diffuser can satisfy any home aesthetic and make your space smell like your favorite local spa. Purchase your favorite essential oil from BLK + GRN. The Black-owned marketplace offers a variety of all-natural essential oils and candles if oil diffusers are just not your thing.
4. Face Mask
Would it really be a spa day if there wasn’t a face mask involved? Taking care of our skin can be the confidence boost we need to get through the week. However, not all face masks are created equal. We must be selective about what we put on our faces because, well, it’s our face. Natural face masks can be a safe way to give your skin the deep pore spa experience your skin needs. Buttah by Dorion Renaud offers an all-natural charcoal detox face mask to give your pores a fresh start. One use of this will have you feeling like you just came out of a top-notch facial appointment.
5. Massage Tools
Booking a massage is a luxury everyone deserves. Physical touch can heal us in ways we didn’t know we needed. Hiring an at-home masseuse is an option if you’re craving physical touch; if this doesn’t align with your budget, purchasing massage tools can also be a great option. A stressful work week can give us tension in our neck and back, leading to discomfort. This neck massager can smooth out all the tension from that triggering work project. Relax on your couch and let the magic of the massager do all the hard work for you.
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