Speaker 1: LinkedIn News. I mean, I've always been a hustle queen.
Speaker 1: Like I remember even in elementary school. I was like
Speaker 1: going to the school store buying your racers notepads and
Speaker 1: then flipping them. Oh my god, like, yeah, you could
Speaker 1: buy it for a dollar there, but I'm gonna charge
Speaker 1: your dollar.
Speaker 2: An entrepreneur from day one, because.
Speaker 1: I would stand outside classrooms and I'd be like, oh,
Speaker 1: you got your notepad here?
Speaker 2: You always that kid. Everyone had that kid that was me.
Speaker 1: Baby. Thank God I didn't turn to a life of crime.
Speaker 2: But from LinkedIn News and i Heeart Podcasts, this is
Speaker 2: Let's Talk offline, a show about what it takes to
Speaker 2: thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing
Speaker 2: your values, sanity or sleep. I'm Gianna Prudenti.
Speaker 1: And I'm Jamay Jackson Gadston. Listen, y'all. Gen Z came
Speaker 1: out the womb hustling. There's always been this talk about
Speaker 1: young people and how people are lazy, y'all don't want
Speaker 1: to work. But the truth is that nearly half of
Speaker 1: the young workers are balancing that nine to five with
Speaker 1: their side gig, whether it's them building businesses or even
Speaker 1: just creating content online. It's really admirable how y'all are
Speaker 1: out here a hustling. You are pursuing those passion projects,
Speaker 1: and most importantly to big Auntie Jamai, you are diversifying
Speaker 1: those income treas.
Speaker 2: Ooh, yes, it's so true. Side hustles really can like
Speaker 2: lay the foundation for a full time career. But obviously
Speaker 2: that doesn't happen overnight. It can be a long, rocky,
Speaker 2: rocky road which starts with figuring out what do you
Speaker 2: even want your side hustle to be and how do
Speaker 2: you eventually turn it into the main thing. We're gonna
Speaker 2: talk through the ups and downs of managing a side
Speaker 2: hustle and what you can do to make that journey
Speaker 2: just a bit easier.
Speaker 1: Okay, guys, so today we are talking all about side hustles,
Speaker 1: which is actually one of my favorite topics. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be talking about how to manage them alongside your full
Speaker 1: time job and possible how to turn it into that
Speaker 1: full time career. Okay, your side hustle doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be the side chick anymore. She could be the main squeeze.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys have heard this, but
Speaker 1: gen Z's allegedly been called the side hustle generation Gianna
Speaker 1: in your reporting, What have you seen or found that
Speaker 1: supports or denies that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's definitely been the narrative for the past like
Speaker 2: year or so, maybe the last two years, that gen
Speaker 2: Z is openly embracing side hustles, And I do think
Speaker 2: it's true. I think with any you know, headline like that,
Speaker 2: it's a bit of a generalization, you know, to be transparent, like,
Speaker 2: I don't have a side hustle, you know, hustle that
Speaker 2: we need. Do I've been thinking about one and I'll
Speaker 2: share more about that, But yeah, I think in general,
Speaker 2: like we've been called the side hustle generation because we've
Speaker 2: been approaching work differently, just based on the time that
Speaker 2: we enter the workforce. And I think something that a
Speaker 2: lot of gen Zers really believe is in the importance
Speaker 2: of having more of a portfolio career, right, Like, we
Speaker 2: don't expect to get one hundred percent from our nine
Speaker 2: to five jobs, so we're pursuing our passions and interests elsewhere,
Speaker 2: whether that be you know, creating content online or actually
Speaker 2: having a side business and selling something. So we're finding
Speaker 2: fulfillment through different avenues rather than just relying on our
Speaker 2: nine to five job to do that. I like that, yeah,
Speaker 2: And another reason is side hustles allow us to diversify
Speaker 2: our our income. Right. So we saw over the last
Speaker 2: few years with mass layoffs that employers can kind of
Speaker 2: just drop you on a dime. It's a sad reality
Speaker 2: of maybe a worker loyalty now, yeah, and it's totally
Speaker 2: made us question company loyalty.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So I think it's a way to have financial security
Speaker 2: in a time where there is no stability, and side
Speaker 2: hustles are a way for us to you know, not
Speaker 2: only make more money, but also diversify our income streams
Speaker 2: just in case something does happen. And then I think, ultimately,
Speaker 2: like gen Z, being called a side hustle generation just
Speaker 2: comes down to us not wanting to be boxed in
Speaker 2: by our jobs and wanting to have one single identity.
Speaker 2: So a lot of people do have side hustles. Some don't,
Speaker 2: like myself, but I haven't thinking like should I turn
Speaker 2: my baking into a side business. But I'm like, if
Speaker 2: I make money off of something I get so much
Speaker 2: passion out of, will it lose the sparkle?
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's the challenge. Yeah, because once you actually start
Speaker 1: having to create structure and the thing that you just
Speaker 1: naturally love to do. It can make you kind of
Speaker 1: fall out of.
Speaker 2: Love despite how much I love structure.
Speaker 1: But there's like something different about But what I will
Speaker 1: say is there is a benefit to having a side
Speaker 1: hustle while also having like a full time something else.
Speaker 1: You are not obligated to have to make a certain
Speaker 1: amount in order to hit your quota or pay your rent.
Speaker 1: So I would say, you know, maybe dip your tone.
Speaker 1: I want to eat some cookies or something.
Speaker 2: Well, I won't make you pay for them.
Speaker 1: Charging.
Speaker 2: I'm wondering for you, how did you even get started
Speaker 2: with your side hustles?
Speaker 1: Like how did that even? Yeah, I mean I've always
Speaker 1: been a hustle queen. Like I remember even in elementary school.
Speaker 1: I was like going to the school store buying your
Speaker 1: racers notepads and then flipping them God like, yeah, you
Speaker 1: could buy it for a dollar there, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: charge your dollars. An entrepreneur from day one, because I
Speaker 1: would stand outside classrooms and I'd be like, oh, you
Speaker 1: got your notepad here?
Speaker 2: You always that kid? Everyone had that kid that was baby.
Speaker 1: Thank God I didn't turn to a life of crime.
Speaker 1: But I've always had a very entrepreneurial spirit. My dad
Speaker 1: is a business owner, and he was very like, you
Speaker 1: got to go out here and you got to make
Speaker 1: your own luck. And I've always loved that drive for me. Though,
Speaker 1: a lot of what you mentioned about why gen Z
Speaker 1: finds side hustles enticing is exactly why I fell into it.
Speaker 1: So back in the day, my side hustle was all
Speaker 1: things content creation. I would create video, I would create
Speaker 1: blog posts. I was girl always selling sponsored ads on
Speaker 1: my website. I was making that money, okay, And so
Speaker 1: a lot of it was like in the content creation,
Speaker 1: especially like written so like blogging, writing for out reputable outlets,
Speaker 1: et cetera. But now I do a lot more in
Speaker 1: the entertainment space, so acting, working and maybe consulting with
Speaker 1: brands on how they can speak to marginalized communities. So
Speaker 1: the side hustle has changed a little bit. But what
Speaker 1: thing has not changed. I had to do all of
Speaker 1: this because I had to pay rent. And when I
Speaker 1: moved to New York, in particular, I was like, this
Speaker 1: job I have as a contractor is not going to
Speaker 1: pay my bills. And so I always knew how to
Speaker 1: put my foot in different things, whether that was bartending
Speaker 1: or waitressing, all the way to you know, writing for
Speaker 1: other outlets, which is how honestly, I got a lot
Speaker 1: of my bylines in the beginning part of my career,
Speaker 1: so everything always paid off, and then for me, I
Speaker 1: just sort of found that to your point, content creation
Speaker 1: was just something that I naturally loved. But honestly, what
Speaker 1: you mentioned about having like a separation of work and
Speaker 1: state from your job, I think is really key, because yeah,
Speaker 1: when you don't have anything else to do, work can
Speaker 1: become your life. And I'm not saying that that's always
Speaker 1: a bad thing. Some people really find meaning in their
Speaker 1: identity at work, but I think that it's always nice
Speaker 1: to have something else, just to be on the safe side.
Speaker 1: I have seen friends get laid off. I myself have
Speaker 1: already survived for layoffs in my career so and been
Speaker 1: impacted by one, so I know what it's like to
Speaker 1: feel like the rug is being pulled from underneath you.
Speaker 1: I don't ever want to feel that way. Another thing
Speaker 1: that I think is really important about side hustles, which
Speaker 1: is why I always said it's good to have something else,
Speaker 1: is it's building network and community whether it is something
Speaker 1: completely related to what you want to do, or it's
Speaker 1: something that you just tend to be good at that
Speaker 1: you really don't want to become a full time career.
Speaker 1: It's helping you get out there, build connections with other people,
Speaker 1: and ultimately that network and those connections are who's going
Speaker 1: to look out for you when you're looking for a
Speaker 1: new job, when you're looking for your next opportunity, who
Speaker 1: are going to advocate for you when you're building this
Speaker 1: online digital presence. So I don't know if you guys
Speaker 1: gonna tell it not, but Jim is fully one invested
Speaker 1: in side hustles. The only thing is it can get
Speaker 1: super tricky when you're trying to juggle those and your
Speaker 1: nine to five time management is the most important thing.
Speaker 1: And when you take on a little bit more than
Speaker 1: you can chew, you will end up burning the candle
Speaker 1: from both ends, right Because for me, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I know what hours I'm working my nine to five,
Speaker 1: but then I also had a ton of hours both
Speaker 1: before and after work that I was pouring into my
Speaker 1: side hustles, and including weekends nights. I always say that
Speaker 1: I gave up my twenties and I hustled so that
Speaker 1: I could kind of relax a little in my thirties.
Speaker 1: So looking back on it, there were a lot of
Speaker 1: things that I missed out on weddings, birthdays, trips, and
Speaker 1: some of that I do look back and I'm like, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Jamay, you could have probably pushed your deadline
Speaker 1: back to your editor and done this. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, I do think that it's positioned me in
Speaker 1: a way that I can benefit from the fruits of
Speaker 1: that labor. So I think, like everyone has to sort
Speaker 1: of evaluate, But what I think we don't need to
Speaker 1: evaluate is if Geohn needs a side hustle, make some
Speaker 1: cookies on it.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, does that mean I have to do taxes?
Speaker 2: Because I know absolutely I want to get more into
Speaker 2: the balancing piece. But I do just want to clarify.
Speaker 2: I think with side hustles it can be a bit
Speaker 2: confusing because there also has been a narrative of gen
Speaker 2: Z working multiple jobs, and I think that is separate
Speaker 2: from side hustles. Like you mentioned you were bartending. All
Speaker 2: that like working multiple jobs a lot of times is
Speaker 2: financially motivated right to make ends meet, where a side
Speaker 2: hustle really is something that allows you to be a
Speaker 2: bit more creative, and it's something that allows you to
Speaker 2: pursue kind of a passion or a purpose outside of
Speaker 2: your nine to five, which in your case was freelance
Speaker 2: writing while you were working your nine to five jobs.
Speaker 2: So I'm wondering when you were doing that, was there
Speaker 2: any I don't know, if you want to get into this,
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, were there any times where it was like
Speaker 2: conflict of interest or like frowned upon for you to
Speaker 2: be doing that, because I think that's a lot of
Speaker 2: the hesitation is Well, my company find out and we
Speaker 2: know that some employers are like, you can't have side
Speaker 2: hustles where some who if you know, if you're an
Speaker 2: employer and you want to retain gen Z talent, except
Speaker 2: side hustles, So you know, some some do, some don't.
Speaker 2: So I'm wondering did you ever receive pushback and how
Speaker 2: did you navigate that?
Speaker 1: Yes, I have always always had to disclose and advance
Speaker 1: what the things that I'm working on to create visibility
Speaker 1: as to what that can look like. I would definitely
Speaker 1: say in the beginning part of my career, especially as
Speaker 1: a journalist, you are supposed to to some degree be
Speaker 1: an extension of the brand that you write for. Right,
Speaker 1: It's the blessing and sometimes the curse of being a journalist.
Speaker 1: Your personal identity does not matter as much as the
Speaker 1: corporate identity in which you add. I never liked that
Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, I have a
Speaker 1: personality and I also believe that I could build my
Speaker 1: own personal community of people who then become enticed by
Speaker 1: the professional identity that we offered. I would say that
Speaker 1: now over the last couple of years, it's been a
Speaker 1: little eas right. I think like as more people are
Speaker 1: speaking about the creator economy, as more people are coming
Speaker 1: in very bullish saying I'm not giving this up.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I have had to walk away from opportunities before because
Speaker 1: I was like, if you won't let me still be
Speaker 1: able to, you know, fuel the flame of this thing
Speaker 1: that brings me passion, then I have to evaluate. I've
Speaker 1: always been willing to bet on myself, and I think
Speaker 1: that the challenge is the older you get, the more
Speaker 1: uh what's the word risk averse? Yes, you don't want
Speaker 1: to make as many risks, like maybe I got dogs,
Speaker 1: if feed they like snacks.
Speaker 2: And they're hustling.
Speaker 1: They are hustling, right, I imagine my dog being like, oh,
Speaker 1: so you can just sit on the couch, right, she
Speaker 1: was like, ah, I'm paid for the premium treats. But
Speaker 1: you do get a little bit more risk adverse, I
Speaker 1: think as you start adding in different elements. And so
Speaker 1: I would say when you're young, Oh, that's when you
Speaker 1: really got to just like throw caution to the wind
Speaker 1: to some degree. Right, Like, obviously take into account your
Speaker 1: particular situation and what that can look like. But I
Speaker 1: always have believed that if you take the bet on yourself,
Speaker 1: you will.
Speaker 2: And so how do you know when it's time to
Speaker 2: take that leap of faith and turn your side hustle
Speaker 2: into a full time job. We're talking with career coach
Speaker 2: Jauline Dulnay about how to grow your business and follow
Speaker 2: your entrepreneurial spirit. Ooh that's next.
Speaker 1: All right, y'all, So we are back. We are talking
Speaker 1: all about side hustles today, which, oh god, I love
Speaker 1: this topic. But it's not just about me and Gianna
Speaker 1: talking about it. We needed to bring an expert, someone
Speaker 1: who has lived walked these miles in her beautiful, delicious shoes. Gianna,
Speaker 1: who do we have this week?
Speaker 2: Okay? I am so excited. We're bringing my friend Jeline Dulnay,
Speaker 2: who is the founder of The Postgrad Playbook, a media
Speaker 2: organization that helps guide new grads on how to release
Speaker 2: mindset blocks and go after their professional goals. She was
Speaker 2: in New Grads Shoe. It was not too long ago.
Speaker 2: Jelline graduated college in twenty nineteen and pursued a career
Speaker 2: in sales, but she always had an entrepreneurial spirit, so
Speaker 2: she started creating personal development content on the side, and
Speaker 2: ultimately that became her nine to five job. Jelline, welcome
Speaker 2: to the show. Hi, We're so excited.
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to be here also, and that was
Speaker 1: an amazing intro. I'm so excited that, like I just
Speaker 1: want to sing like jelly Jellye.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: So let's lay the ground out for our listeners before
Speaker 1: we even begin, and we get into our listener question
Speaker 1: of the week. Talk us through how your coaching business
Speaker 1: even came to be.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so it was a windy journey a little bit.
Speaker 4: Like Gianna mentioned, I started creating personal development and career
Speaker 4: cared related content back in twenty twenty and people were
Speaker 4: resonating because I tailored it around the postgrad experience. A
Speaker 4: lot of times right when you graduated college, especially twenty
Speaker 4: twenty grads, there was this sense of loneliness, like loss
Speaker 4: of connection. A lot of people didn't get to walk
Speaker 4: the stage, and now you're sort of thrust into adulthood
Speaker 4: and it's like what do I do now? So I
Speaker 4: was sort of in this period as well, so I
Speaker 4: was reading a lot of personal development and career related
Speaker 4: things and sharing them online. Over time, that audience grew
Speaker 4: and I branched out into other platforms. Like Jihanna mentioned,
Speaker 4: I worked in corporate sales and a big part of
Speaker 4: that was social selling and social selling specifically on LinkedIn.
Speaker 4: So what I would do is I would post a
Speaker 4: lot of my thoughts and my insights and eventually started
Speaker 4: to grow a following there to not only build my
Speaker 4: personal brand but also generate leads. And I think the
Speaker 4: most rewarding part of that whole process was people saying, oh,
Speaker 4: this really helps me. So it led to speaking engagements
Speaker 4: and ways to help people. But I found that there
Speaker 4: was sort of like a one on one gap, so
Speaker 4: I felt like it naturally segued into coaching since I
Speaker 4: was all aready sharing, so much of this information on
Speaker 4: a broad platform in a media format. And you know,
Speaker 4: I was able to get my coaching certifications that was
Speaker 4: really honed in on the personal development piece so that
Speaker 4: I can support the career piece, and eventually that became
Speaker 4: my full time thing.
Speaker 2: So how did you make that transition from your career
Speaker 2: in sales to going full time on content creation.
Speaker 4: It didn't happen the way that I expected it to.
Speaker 4: I worked in tech, and I worked in sales, and
Speaker 4: anyone who works corporate knows that sales teams are the
Speaker 4: first ones to go. In twenty twenty three, I remember
Speaker 4: at one point there were ninety thousand tech layoffs. So
Speaker 4: my team and I we were looking left and right.
Speaker 4: We're like, oh gosh, I hope we're not next. But
Speaker 4: one day, on a random Wednesday, we all got the
Speaker 4: laid off message. So by then I'd been creating content
Speaker 4: for some time. I had some really good indicators. I
Speaker 4: had signed up for my coaching certification the week prior,
Speaker 4: so I felt like God was telling me, okay, you
Speaker 4: into your next chapter. And I'd also been preparing mentally
Speaker 4: for what do I want to do next. It's also
Speaker 4: really important to note that working in sales it's a grind,
Speaker 4: you know, you were constantly putting in a lot of effort.
Speaker 4: So after working in sales for so many years, in
Speaker 4: my first post grad job and my second, I got
Speaker 4: to the point where I was a little bit burnt out,
Speaker 4: and so I said to myself, you know, in conjuncture
Speaker 4: with everything else that was happening, I want to be
Speaker 4: able to give so much of that energy that I
Speaker 4: was giving my nine to five back to myself and
Speaker 4: let's see what I can do.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: I want to bring up one of our listener questions next.
Speaker 2: This is our segment Dear Work Bestie, where we answer
Speaker 2: your questions. This week's comes from Luisa in New York.
Speaker 3: Something that I'm really curious about and would love your
Speaker 3: input on is how I can best balance my passion
Speaker 3: projects with my day job without compromising the quality of
Speaker 3: my work in each area.
Speaker 2: Okay, so that's a really good question because balance seeing
Speaker 2: that side gig with your nine to five job is
Speaker 2: definitely a turkey. So when you were in that position,
Speaker 2: working your corporate sales job and also creating content on
Speaker 2: the side, how did you find balance And what's your
Speaker 2: advice to someone like Luisa who doesn't want to, you know,
Speaker 2: compromise the quality.
Speaker 1: Of her work.
Speaker 4: So what I did is I took stock of when
Speaker 4: I was the most creative and how to start my day.
Speaker 4: So that meant waking up a little bit earlier, because
Speaker 4: I'm my most creative and I have my best ideas
Speaker 4: in the morning. So the first thing that I would
Speaker 4: do in the morning after my morning routine is get
Speaker 4: my content ready, or start to get my ideas ready,
Speaker 4: or write start to write a new blog post. So
Speaker 4: maybe if it's for an hour or two before work,
Speaker 4: I know that can be a lot, or you can
Speaker 4: split it to an hour before work an hour after work.
Speaker 4: You can sort of start to fall into a pattern
Speaker 4: and routine. Also, I would say that it is easier
Speaker 4: if you schedule and plan over the course of a week.
Speaker 4: So let's say you are someone who's a graphic designer, right,
Speaker 4: and then you want to have more clients. Maybe some
Speaker 4: days you are specifically pitching, some days you're specifically working
Speaker 4: on the graphic design, and so on. So that way
Speaker 4: it's not like, oh, everything's so up in the air,
Speaker 4: I have no schedule, I have no routine. Things feel
Speaker 4: out of my hands. It's like you're structuring every single day,
Speaker 4: and that way, you know your brain is able to
Speaker 4: go through a task a lot faster, because when you're
Speaker 4: jumping from task to task to task, it slows down
Speaker 4: your productivity.
Speaker 2: I feel like my whole Like for You page is
Speaker 2: like my five to nine before nine to five, or
Speaker 2: my five to nine after my nine to five. It's
Speaker 2: really about like finding the time that works best for you.
Speaker 2: And I love that you like took an audit of
Speaker 2: when you were most creative and allocated you know that
Speaker 2: work to those periods.
Speaker 1: I agree. So you were in Louisa's position at one point,
Speaker 1: and you've talked about how you know you made the
Speaker 1: decision to go all in in your side hustle. But
Speaker 1: one thing that I constantly hear from people is is
Speaker 1: this the right time? What are your thoughts? Is there
Speaker 1: ever really a perfect time for one to hop into
Speaker 1: entrepreneurship or is this sort of like a baby, I'm
Speaker 1: a jump and let the net appear hopefully.
Speaker 2: That's terrifying.
Speaker 1: Are we just shooting shooting out and just hoping for
Speaker 1: the best.
Speaker 4: Oh god, Oh no, I don't think that there's ever
Speaker 4: a right time to really jump in. I was listening
Speaker 4: to a podcast called Balanced Black Girl, and the founder
Speaker 4: Les was talking about what happened when she wanted to
Speaker 4: go into full time entrepreneurship and do her podcast full time,
Speaker 4: and she was saying that someone advised her that there
Speaker 4: will never be a right time, but you'll know when
Speaker 4: it is the right time. And I completely one resonate
Speaker 4: with that sentiment. For me, the time was chosen for me.
Speaker 1: I wanted to.
Speaker 4: I wanted to, eventually, like you know, be the person
Speaker 4: who says, you know what today's going to be the
Speaker 4: day I quit my nine to five and I'm pursuing
Speaker 4: the post grad playbook and everything that I've built myself.
Speaker 4: But sometimes it's chosen for you and you might not
Speaker 4: feel it's the right time. But like you are saying, Jamat,
Speaker 4: it's like you jump and then the net appears. I
Speaker 4: think that one thing that you can do is just
Speaker 4: have that insurmountable faith in yourself. I don't think that
Speaker 4: there really is any one hundred percent perfect time, but
Speaker 4: I think you'll know in your gut and in your
Speaker 4: intuition when the time will be.
Speaker 2: So you mentioned the decision was kind of Maine for
Speaker 2: you to go full time on the postcrab playbook. But
Speaker 2: for somebody who you know has the decision to leave
Speaker 2: their nine to five job and go all in on
Speaker 2: their side hustle, how should they even go about navigating that?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 2: Is there an action plan they should have in place
Speaker 2: before deciding to go all in?
Speaker 4: Yes, there are definitely a couple of things that you
Speaker 4: should have first. The main reason why so many people
Speaker 4: don't want to jump ship finances.
Speaker 1: Yeah, finances.
Speaker 4: You do not want to jump without any kind of
Speaker 4: financial plan, So make sure you know you have your
Speaker 4: finances in check. I know that a lot of gurus
Speaker 4: recommend having an emergency fund, so you can have an
Speaker 4: emergency fund. I personally had a goal of your dream
Speaker 4: fund outside thank You, because I wanted to give myself
Speaker 4: that opportunity. So I personally set aside a specific amount
Speaker 4: of savings for myself to be able to pursue this opportunity.
Speaker 4: Think about your projections, you know, so, if you're making
Speaker 4: a certain amount of money in your business month over month,
Speaker 4: do you have the demand of clients coming in or
Speaker 4: opportunities coming in that if your corporate job wasn't there anymore,
Speaker 4: you'd be able to take on more work and then
Speaker 4: it supplements your needs and lifestyles, and also of course
Speaker 4: account for taxes and things like that. I'm not a
Speaker 4: financial advisor, but check with an accountant, right. I would
Speaker 4: also say having a clear business plan of what you
Speaker 4: want to do, So who's your company going to serve,
Speaker 4: what is the competitive analysis, what's the projections of how
Speaker 4: your industry is growing over the next year, has it
Speaker 4: been trending up? So having some sort of tangible evidence
Speaker 4: that you are going to be okay and that there
Speaker 4: is opportunity available for you is super important. I would
Speaker 4: also say you need to have a network and a
Speaker 4: community of people that are going to support you through
Speaker 4: this transition. This is one of the hardest transitions that
Speaker 4: you can make because there is some level of a
Speaker 4: big what if in financial quote unquote insecurity. I don't
Speaker 4: want to say it's completely insecure, but you are betting
Speaker 4: on yourself one hundred percent. If you don't have a
Speaker 4: supportive network and group of people around you saying that
Speaker 4: you can do it, you're going to want to go back.
Speaker 4: And trust me, no matter what, You're probably going to
Speaker 4: have thoughts that you want to go back. I've had
Speaker 4: thoughts that I wanted to go back, but I stuck
Speaker 4: it out. I had a great support system also having
Speaker 4: multiple streams of income, So figuring out ways that you
Speaker 4: can grow with scale and expand the business because without
Speaker 4: a doubt, you probably will have to pivot at some point.
Speaker 4: So you don't want to just have Plan A. Probably
Speaker 4: have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on.
Speaker 4: But work is hard. You can to make sure that
Speaker 4: Plan A is what works out.
Speaker 2: I'm curious when you were starting your business, were there
Speaker 2: any resources that you utilize to, you know, figure out
Speaker 2: what you were doing? Like I can only imagine, like
Speaker 2: you have to file taxes for the first time, maybe
Speaker 2: by yourself, so how did you even navigate all of that,
Speaker 2: and like were there specific mentors that you relied on?
Speaker 2: Specific resources?
Speaker 4: Yes, okay, this is like the number one best resource
Speaker 4: that I ever came across. It's called score Score. It's
Speaker 4: one hundred percent free, and it's for new business owners,
Speaker 4: so it's completely free business mentorship. Like everyone sign up
Speaker 4: for it right now, and basically what they do is
Speaker 4: they will pair you with a senior executive or an
Speaker 4: industry leader for free that will help you grow and
Speaker 4: scale your business and provide executive level advice. So let's
Speaker 4: say you have this idea, they'll really poke holes to
Speaker 4: your idea so that it gets to the point where
Speaker 4: it's bulletproof, and they'll be like, okay, so what have
Speaker 4: you done for your taxes? Do you have an accountant?
Speaker 4: Do you have a lawyer? These are the things that
Speaker 4: you need to do. So personally, in my experience, I
Speaker 4: got paired with an executive ex executive memorial and she
Speaker 4: was a marketing leader and so she helps me through
Speaker 4: a lot of the things that I'm doing with my
Speaker 4: business and helps put me up for opportunities as well.
Speaker 4: She's amazing. And if you do have other aspirations, let's
Speaker 4: say you are looking for someone who's going to help
Speaker 4: you SEO optimize your website. They have a whole network
Speaker 4: of mentors so they can cross mentor you so they'll
Speaker 4: pair you with someone who will teach you how to
Speaker 4: SEO optimize your website so that way you can get
Speaker 4: more leads. So that's the first one I think. Another
Speaker 4: resource that I used is YouTube University. There's so much
Speaker 4: information on there about what you can do and people
Speaker 4: who are very good sharing a lot of expert level information.
Speaker 4: Oh last thing, let people know what you're doing. A
Speaker 4: lot of times we do want to build in private,
Speaker 4: and we might be a little bit shy about what
Speaker 4: you're doing. If people can help you, if they know
Speaker 4: what you're doing, So be loud about yourself.
Speaker 1: Oh, but it's so embarrassing.
Speaker 2: No it's not.
Speaker 4: It's only embarrassing if you let it be embarrassing.
Speaker 1: Oh, I feel so cringe when you post things that
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, I didn't get this or this didn't
Speaker 1: go right. But yes, you're right. There's a community element
Speaker 1: and I love that. A lot of the tips that
Speaker 1: you share talk all about how you are building community.
Speaker 1: But also you don't have to go for broke in
Speaker 1: order to get that access, like the same way you
Speaker 1: vet if someone is credible or professional or if they're
Speaker 1: sharing good information. There are a lot of people out
Speaker 1: there who are doing that, and so I really appreciate
Speaker 1: you for sharing that.
Speaker 2: I have a few last questions to ask you about,
Speaker 2: you know, like looking back on your journey now. Two questions.
Speaker 2: One is like, what's the biggest lesson you've learned through
Speaker 2: all of that? And then is there something you wish
Speaker 2: you knew when starting out that you want to share
Speaker 2: with people? Who are considering a similar path.
Speaker 4: I think the number one thing that I learned is
Speaker 4: you have to have an unshakable faith in yourself. The
Speaker 4: amount that you believe in yourself is exactly how much
Speaker 4: you're going to be able to accomplish. Having that confidence
Speaker 4: in yourself and what you're selling and your own sense
Speaker 4: of worthiness is going to be the absolute game changer.
Speaker 4: Not to sound like a Disney Channel movie, although we
Speaker 4: wouldn't be mad about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they had
Speaker 4: some good lessons in there. Okay, but yeah, I think
Speaker 4: believing in yourself and working on those limiting beliefs if
Speaker 4: you do have any, because if you do have any,
Speaker 4: because I promise they will come up at every single
Speaker 4: level of success.
Speaker 1: And secondly, I will say.
Speaker 4: That work on your wellness and have those boundaries around
Speaker 4: your life and your work, like make sure you're still
Speaker 4: making time with your friends and your family and to
Speaker 4: do the things that you love. Because when you have
Speaker 4: a side hustle, that's your hobby, that's what you just
Speaker 4: love to do, that's your escape. But when that escape
Speaker 4: becomes your full time job, it takes on a different
Speaker 4: place in your life. So make sure that you're refilling
Speaker 4: that first cup, so that way you can still have
Speaker 4: that joy and you're not burnt out from your passion.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you talking about believing in yourself and even acknowledging
Speaker 1: what I guess can also be considered imposter syndrome to
Speaker 1: some degree is so important because I often think about, like,
Speaker 1: if you don't know who you are, or if you
Speaker 1: don't know the gifts that you bring when you go
Speaker 1: on to social media and you see this person your
Speaker 1: age pop in bottles in Miami on the yacht and
Speaker 1: you're like, wait, what am I doing here? Like social
Speaker 1: media can easily make you feel so small, and so
Speaker 1: you knowing who you are and knowing how to pour
Speaker 1: back into yourself, but also knowing that you are the
Speaker 1: sugar honey iced tea and you to the life at
Speaker 1: a party, you are the girl when you walk in
Speaker 1: us in there like that is going to help combat
Speaker 1: some of those limiting beliefs that can creep in. So
Speaker 1: I really appreciate you saying that because I think we
Speaker 1: all go through it at every stage of our careers.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2: Also I want to say before we let you go
Speaker 2: that if you guys are listening to this, it follows
Speaker 2: Jelline on Instagram LinkedIn all the things because the work
Speaker 2: you do to help people overcome those limiting beliefs. I mean,
Speaker 2: I was in like a workshop of yours at one point,
Speaker 2: I think is incredible. So if you're looking to kind
Speaker 2: of make this big transition in your life, you are
Speaker 2: definitely a resource to everyone. So give her a follow,
Speaker 2: and I appreciate you coming on the pod. This is
Speaker 2: so much fun. I feel we could talk to you
Speaker 2: for like literally.
Speaker 1: Hours about that. I want to know, like write down notes.
Speaker 1: I'm like, sure, I'm writing down now. I need to
Speaker 1: enroll into class. Girl, Okay, I haven't been postgrad in
Speaker 1: a while, but I'll be postgrad for you.
Speaker 2: This was so much fun. We really appreciate you sharing
Speaker 2: all these insights with us. I know so many people
Speaker 2: are gonna gain so much from this.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having me, Jamy and Gianna like,
Speaker 4: this was just the best time it went. It felt
Speaker 4: like five minutes. I don't know how that went by
Speaker 4: so fast. I could talk to you for hours. As
Speaker 4: a certified yapper, I could. But it's fine.
Speaker 1: If you already couldn't tell. We love Charlie and she's
Speaker 1: just one of the many many young business owners out
Speaker 1: there hustling and thriving coming up. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about sending voice memos? Convenient, annoying? That's next.
Speaker 2: I'm sad she's gone. I loved that.
Speaker 1: I am obsessed.
Speaker 2: So she's the best. No, she's the best. Okay. So
Speaker 2: a few things that are sticking with me from that
Speaker 2: conversation that Jeannine mentioned is when you are making taking
Speaker 2: that leap of faith, because it really is going from
Speaker 2: a side hustle to making it the you know, the
Speaker 2: real thing the nine to five is you really have
Speaker 2: to support yourself with a support system, right, So you
Speaker 2: mentioned before part of why you've enjoyed your side hustles
Speaker 2: is because it's allowed you to expand your network and
Speaker 2: then you then have to lean on those people when
Speaker 2: you are making this big decision to form your business
Speaker 2: or you know, go into content creation full time. So
Speaker 2: I love that she mentioned that, And I also thought
Speaker 2: it was funny when she mentioned having a backup plan,
Speaker 2: to the backup plan, to the backup land, which is
Speaker 2: so me because I feel like if I was ever
Speaker 2: making that leap, you know, the anxiety would be through
Speaker 2: the roof. So I don't even think you need like
Speaker 2: three backup plans, but really to say, Okay, this doesn't
Speaker 2: go Plan A, then what is my plan being because
Speaker 2: there are going to be hiccups.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. One thing that can really help with that is
Speaker 1: creating a business plan. Once you really want to do this,
Speaker 1: sit down and really start mapping out what you want
Speaker 1: that business to look like. Because everything you're doing, whether
Speaker 1: it's comparing your competitors to how you want to see
Speaker 1: yourself in the market, it's going to set you up
Speaker 1: for success. And I feel like it gives the girlies
Speaker 1: a little bit more structure. And then the last thing
Speaker 1: I will say that really stuck with me, because I
Speaker 1: am a woman of faith, is that you have to
Speaker 1: have an unshakable sense of faith in this. Okay. Now,
Speaker 1: whether it's about you believing in a different power or
Speaker 1: you even just believing in yourself. There are going to
Speaker 1: be a lot of good days, but there are also
Speaker 1: going to be a ton of bad days. Your job
Speaker 1: is to survive the bad days. And I love that
Speaker 1: she gave that as an actionable takeaway because I think
Speaker 1: that if you can conquer those limiting beliefs, you got
Speaker 1: to tell yourself that you already are the sugar honey
Speaker 1: iced tea. You gotta look yourself in a mirror and
Speaker 1: say that you are that girl. Yeah, And I know
Speaker 1: a lot of people are like but I don't feel
Speaker 1: confident yet.
Speaker 2: Fake itaake it, so you make it. Maybe I love that. Okay,
Speaker 2: I think it's time we do some cringe or cool.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I love grinder cool. So if this
Speaker 1: is your first time tuning in, y'all, cringe are cool
Speaker 1: is when Gianna and I introduce a topic of the
Speaker 1: week and we get to discuss is it cool or
Speaker 1: is it a little cringe? And I mean honestly, like
Speaker 1: we've we've been pretty a line.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, sometimes we're cringing.
Speaker 1: I think I think we're hard cringing. So, Giana, what's
Speaker 1: the topic this week?
Speaker 2: All right? Today we're talking about sending voice memos and
Speaker 2: set a text messages. And I'm going to tell you something.
Speaker 2: I am so here for this again. That's let us know. No, okay,
Speaker 2: this is my thing, which I don't know if I'm
Speaker 2: subjecting my friends and family to this and if I am,
Speaker 2: guys letting you know. But I can't string a thought
Speaker 2: together at the end of the day, especially I type
Speaker 2: all day. I write all day, like I can't text you.
Speaker 2: If you need me, call me. And if I'm going
Speaker 2: to message you, and it's like three, I'm most likely
Speaker 2: sending you a voice memo. Also like there's nothing like
Speaker 2: just catching up with the girls over the weekend with
Speaker 2: voice memos, like sending what happened? I'm so here for it.
Speaker 1: I agree. I think that when I send large chunks
Speaker 1: of text messages, it naturally gives me anxiety, and I
Speaker 1: know it for a fact it gives other people anxiety.
Speaker 1: But when I send a nice voice memo, you can
Speaker 1: hear it in my voice, like if I'm happy or
Speaker 1: if I'm sad. I also cannot string a thought to
Speaker 1: save my life. I very much so have the attention
Speaker 1: of a squirrel. So like I'm always thinking of things
Speaker 1: in the moment as So that's kind of the challenge,
Speaker 1: right because with the voice brain dumb. Though, here's the
Speaker 1: problem that's me. I'm not going down my philosophical bag.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be like, okay, I'm you know, I'm sending
Speaker 1: Gianna a voice memo about this project. But then also,
Speaker 1: oh my god, Gianna, but then I saw gossip Girl
Speaker 1: this weekend. But then also do this on my end.
Speaker 2: Being like, here are the bullet points I need to
Speaker 2: hit my response.
Speaker 1: Honestly, the best thing that ever happened was for them
Speaker 1: to give transcripts to voice memos, because who was keeping up?
Speaker 2: I mean, it was it's homework. Sometimes it's homework. Like
Speaker 2: if you're sending me a four minute voice memo, now
Speaker 2: it's homework, which I will, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: I've definitely hit the limits of voice memos before, and
Speaker 1: I kept talking because I didn't know I hit the limit.
Speaker 1: Where do you think it could ever be cringe? Because
Speaker 1: I definitely have an idea.
Speaker 2: Well, I do think it's cringe if it's just a
Speaker 2: brain dump, Like yeah, I'm not your therapist, I do
Speaker 2: love you so much, but like you know, keep it tight, yeah,
Speaker 2: keep it quick. And I think we're also can get
Speaker 2: cringe if you're expecting a voice memo in return, like
Speaker 2: some people are not voice memo girlies, and that's totally fine.
Speaker 2: So I think if you send it out there, like
Speaker 2: I've definitely sent it to people on the team who
Speaker 2: I would not ever expect it to send one back,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, hey, just like you know, I give
Speaker 2: context around the voice memo because when you first get one,
Speaker 2: you're like, what is this?
Speaker 1: Right? I want her to click?
Speaker 2: So definitely give some context because getting it randomly. Ooh,
Speaker 2: that's scary.
Speaker 1: I agree.
Speaker 2: Well, you guys, let us know cooler. I have a
Speaker 2: feeling everyone's gonna be like their call.
Speaker 1: Can you send us voice memos, guys, we would love that.
Speaker 2: No literally. If for a listener questions, send us voice memos.
Speaker 1: Speaking of listener questions, thank you so much Louisa for
Speaker 1: your amazing question this week. You guys, you can be
Speaker 1: just by her. Send us your questions. Information on how
Speaker 1: to do that is in the show description. Do not
Speaker 1: say that I did not tell you. Look in the
Speaker 1: show description.
Speaker 2: Also, make sure you guys are following the newsletter. If
Speaker 2: you're not already, it's called you guessed it. Let's talk offline.
Speaker 2: We go even deeper into the topics we discuss on
Speaker 2: the pod. There's some exclusive content. All the things you
Speaker 2: can find the link in the show description and it's
Speaker 2: also in my LinkedIn bio.
Speaker 1: Yes. Now, one last thing we got to remind you, guys,
Speaker 1: do not forget to rate and follow the show. We
Speaker 1: don't want you to miss this good content. Okay, I
Speaker 1: know you have been laughing with me and Gianna. You
Speaker 1: can keep laughing, rate and follow the show.
Speaker 2: And before you go, remember we've always got your back.
Speaker 2: So if something comes up, Let's Talk Offline.
Speaker 1: And I'm Jama Jackson Gadsden, Stay Thriving.
Speaker 2: Let's Talk Offline is a production of LinkedIn News and
Speaker 2: iHeart Podcasts. This show is produced by Western Sound. Our
Speaker 2: producer is Sabrina Fang. The show is edited by Savannah Wright.
Speaker 2: Our associate producer is Sarah Dilley. Alex mckinnis is our engineer,
Speaker 2: and Ben Adair is the executive producer.
Speaker 1: Executive producers at iHeart Podcasts are Katrina Norvel and Nikki Etour.
Speaker 1: We got support from LinkedIn's Jesse Hemple, Sarah Storm, and
Speaker 1: Ayana Angel. Maya Pope Chappelle is director of Content, Dave
Speaker 1: Pond is Head of News Production, Courtney Coop is Head
Speaker 1: of Original Programming, and Dan Ros is the editor in
Speaker 1: chief of LinkedIn