Episode 21: Why It’s Okay to Have a Side Hustle and Still Call Yourself a Stylist

In last week’s episode, we talked about why having a full time job is the BEST time to also launch your personal styling career.

I’m not gonna go into all of the details here (you’ll have to go listen!), but that episode is closely related to this, so go head over there!

So let’s jump right into the good stuff and talk about WHY it’s okay to have a side hustle and still call yourself a stylist.

1 - There is a general misconception that unless you’re going balls to the wall working for yourself or in your business, that you’re not successful if you have other jobs, side hustles, or part time gigs. I want to call major BS on that. It’s a very 1950s idea that you go to school, get into college, get a job and climb that later. Today we know that we may rarely use our degrees and that’s accepted. So why isn’t having a few jobs as accepted? It’s a weird stigma that I want us to break. 

2 - As humans, we are multifaceted! Often we have a lot of interests AND talents. For a long time, I justified the fact that I was in fashion by leaning on my graduate degrees - as if those degrees proved I was smart, and therefore it was okay that I chose fashion. I would also do the opposite - I would cover up my fashion jobs when I was around my grad school people for afraid they would think it frivolous. 

Flash forward and I have now done and got paid for SO many gigs unrelated to my business and it’s been GREAT. They have included grant writing, social media management, and business coaching.

This is not to say that every interest should be turned into a money making gig, but it’s also to say that you should encourage YOURSELF to do your thing.

3 - Side hustles can be FUN. You get to work in a different industry, or use a different side of your brain. 

Right now, I have a side hustle as a grant writer - this lets me dip my analytical, research writing brain back into work with nonprofits and keeps those muscles sharp. I have worked on projects that include victims of human trafficking, social enterprise businesses for those coming out of jail and prison, and helping an arts organization fund it’s pivot to an online platform after COVID-19 changed the way the world functioned. 

I also worked at a brewery - talk about fun! I was embarrassed when local people would see me there, and then I realized that was only because I was judging myself - for what I don’t even know because that has been one of the most fun jobs I have ever had, the money is easy for what it is, and I met my partner there. I’d say that’s winning for a side hustle. 

4 - You can have fashion related side hustles! As a stylist, I used to ghost write fashion blogs and work as a wardrobe stylist for a local photographer in addition to my paying styling clients. While not technically a side hustle and still in one creative realm, I diversified my income! It’s SMART thing to do as well and you can use it as a stepping stone while you’re building your business. 

5 - How are you defining successful? 

This will 100% be different for everyone, but for me, success = NOT sitting at a desk, having freedom over my time and a flexible work schedule. Any time I have tried to go back to desk job, my soul felt like it was dying. Freedom and flexibility is success for me - and so that may also come in a variety of ways right now. 

What is YOUR definition of success? Working with 1 client a month? Styling part time so you can stay home with your kids? Hiring a team under you? This is YOUR business, YOUR life. I would challenge you to create and design it the way that works for YOU.