Building a successful side-hustle
The last few years have seen a boom in the number of people turning their passions and hobbies into a successful side-hustle. Whether you’re focused on making money or simply relish the prospect of building something of your own, running your own business can be hugely rewarding. But how do you balance your venture with your day job? We caught up with two of our favorite Adobe entrepreneurs to find out how they got started, how it’s going, and who inspired them along the way.
Name: Liz Schmidt
Where are you based? Indiana
What's your day job? Marketing Manager for the Creative Cloud Community team
Tell us about your side hustle. How and why did you get started and how is it going?
During the pandemic, I started a chocolate and sweets small business called Aunt Izzy’s Luxury Sweets. I sell cookies, chocolate bark, and hot cocoa bombs. I have always enjoyed baking for friends and family. There hasn’t been a party or birthday without my cookies, chocolates, or bakes. It was my friends who finally pushed me over the edge because they really wanted to pay me for the quality of sweets over buying from stores.
My first year in 2021 was a very busy year for the hot cocoa bomb craze. More recently I have really been enjoying creating custom orders for customers. I get a lot of joy out of families tagging me in photos and sharing their appreciation for my work. It’s always been more about sharing experiences for me and I love knowing that Aunt Izzy’s continues to be a brand that many families in Indiana continue to love.
How do you balance your side-gig and your day job?
I made a lot of sales at craft fairs which usually take place on the weekend. I also chose to sell products with a longer shelf life so that I could prepare batches in advance.
What would your top tip be for someone looking to launch their own side hustle?
My number one tip would be to stick with a few things that are your top sellers or that you enjoy making the most. Your passion and quality will be reflected in your products and your customer’s experience. It’s great for people to recognize your brand for excellence. It was hard for me to narrow down what I was going to offer and I experimented a lot. My friends definitely benefited from that!
Having a solid brand also helped my business grow quickly. People recognized it wherever they came across it. To get the word out and build a loyal customer base, try craft fairs in your area. It’s so fun and you’ll make lots of new friends.
Where did you look for and find advice and guidance when you were getting started?
I found lots of help through Facebook communities and Pinterest. I joined a group in each category of sweets I was making. People were so excited to share tips, recipes, and reviews of your work and I learned a lot, for example how to make my craft fair stall stand out.
After a while, I started to share advice as well. Giving back was a very important part of the process for me.
What’s your favorite thing about working on your side hustle?
The sense of community with other bakers and business owners has been the best outcome of this entire experience. After I posted photos of my first craft fair I got so much positive feedback and encouragement from other vendors. And then there is the proud moment that you sell out in the first 2 hours at craft fairs. It’s validating and very encouraging.
Can you tell us about a woman who has inspired you?
When I was still in high school, my father had a side hustle working for a woman named Mari Carmen Aponte who is now the United States Ambassador to Panama. I got to work for her one summer in her legal practice in Washington D.C. She was a true force and had a never-ending stream of ideas. She took me in and taught me an incredible amount of life skills like negotiating, budgeting, communication, organizing, and how to navigate a male dominated industry as a Latina woman. She made such an impact on my life and I continue to channel the strength she gave me to believe I could do anything.
Name: Valerie Tower
Where are you based? I work remotely from Crested Butte, Colorado.
What's your day job? I’m the Sr. Experience Designer for Learn & Guidance on the Adobe Express team.
Tell us about your side hustle. How and why did you get started and how is it going?
Don’t all good stories start with bacon? My dad and I have been perfecting a seasoning for bacon for years (yes, bacon can be even more delicious), and friends and family would regularly tell us we should sell it. I’d wanted to start a small business, but it seemed like I never had the time to jump in. Enter the pandemic. I came up with some other spice blends I liked that I thought would be hits (ranch salt was a no-brainer!), researched the laws around spice businesses, designed the branding, put up a website and social media accounts, and Food Dust was born.
It has been really fun to hear how people use Food Dust! The Ranch Salt is my biggest seller, so many customers talk about how it gets their kids to eat foods they wouldn’t normally eat... like vegetables. I even heard from one parent that their teenage son takes it with him to restaurants, which is possibly the best compliment that I could get.
Now that I’ve honed my permanent collection — Meanwhile Back at the Ranch Salt, Lazy Sunday Bacon Seasoning, and Almost Flameous Chili Salt — I’m starting to do limited runs of more experimental seasonings just for fun. I’ve got a blue cheese salt coming up next, and a cheddar and sour cream salt in the works, among others.
How do you balance your side-gig and your day job?
This can be the toughest part. I try to do a lot of content creation at once (using Adobe Express, of course) so that I can post it throughout the month. For me, sales are directly related to the content I post on social media so the more frequently I post, the better. Weekends are often spent restocking inventory and shipping orders.
What would your top tip be for someone looking to launch their own side hustle?
Put your personality into your brand. It’s so much easier to come up with product ideas and marketing content when it’s coming from you, plus your customers will recognize the authenticity.
Where did you look for and find advice and guidance when you were getting started?
I got great advice from my best friend who is an e-commerce pro about setting up my shop. For advice specific to slinging spices, I looked at internet forums as well as local, state, and federal sites for legal requirements for selling seasonings online.
What’s your favorite thing about working on your side hustle?
I love using Food Dust and testing new ideas. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t sprinkle a little Chili Salt or Ranch Dust on something! Tonight, I’m making blue cheese salt-crusted steaks to test my newest Food Dust… it’s not the worst R&D.
Can you tell us about a woman who has inspired you?
My mom. She is a retired surgeon and one of the most creative people I’ve known, who believes that anyone can do anything if they just work hard enough. She has been a role model for many other women too, because she worked hard to be a great surgeon and mother when people told her she couldn’t be both. She has always encouraged me to pursue what I love, and I wouldn’t be here without her in so many ways.