This is the side hustle revolution The Way We Work a TED series
Transcriber: Ivana Korom
Reviewer: Camille Martínez
I can’t think of anyone
who just has one interest in life,
and that’s all they want to do
for the rest of their life.
[The Way We Work]
Around 15 percent of American workers
don’t have traditional full-time jobs.
They’re half-time, part-time,
contract workers or temps.
The term “side hustle”
just seems to fit with this ethos
where people are putting together
a few different things to make a living.
The word “side hustle” has its roots
in popular African American newspapers.
In the 1920s, these papers
used the word “hustle”
to refer to some kind of scam.
By the 1950s, they were
using “side hustle”
to refer to legitimate work, too.
A side hustle is a little different
than a second job.
A second job is about necessity.
While a side hustle can certainly
bring in extra income,
it’s a little more aspirational.
Side hustle captures a certain kind
of scrappy, entrepreneurial spirit.
I’ve interviewed more than
100 women of color
on Side Hustle Pro
who started successful side hustles.
Nailah Ellis-Brown started
Ellis Island Tea out of her trunk.
Arsha Jones started her famous
Capital City Co Mambo Sauce
with one product and a PayPal link.
All these women are running side hustles.
What exactly does this tell us?
First, that people are seeing opportunity
within their communities.
The goal here isn’t necessarily
to be the next Coca-Cola or Google.
Scale is great, but there’s also beauty
in a successful business
that’s built for a specific audience.
Second, people are increasingly interested
in being their own boss.
Being your own boss takes discipline.
Self-made millionaires tend to have
one big trait in common:
they make decisions,
hold themselves accountable
and push through
in the face of challenges.
A side hustle is a great way
to try out being your own boss
and see if you have those skills
before fully stepping out on your own.
Third, people are multipassionate.
I want to stress that not every
side hustle is started
because someone hates their job.
Many are started simply
because people are interested
in lots of different things.
Lisa Price, who started a hair
and beauty company, Carol’s Daughter,
was working in television production
when she started side-hustling.
She says she actually loved her job.
It was the fact that she came home
every day feeling good
that led her to start experimenting
with making fragrances
and hair oils in her kitchen.
We’re always being taught
that we’re supposed to know
what we want to do when we grow up.
But when you’re multipassionate,
you want to dip and dabble
in those different things.
It doesn’t mean that you’re not
committed to your job,
it just means that you have
other outlets that bring you joy.
And that brings me to the final thing
the side hustle revolution shows us:
people want to make a bet on themselves.
Side hustles are appealing
because it’s easier to take that chance
when you have some kind
of income coming in.
Even if a side hustle doesn’t take off,
it’s still an investment in yourself.
Forty-one percent of millennials
who have a side hustle
say they’ve shared this information
with their employers.
They’re not worried about
their managers reacting negatively.
They recognize all the learning and growth
that comes with running a side hustle.
Everyone is looking to feel fulfilled.
Thirty-eight percent of baby boomers feel
some kind of regret about their career.
No one wants that.
The truth is that there are
many different ways to find happiness
through what we do.
Side hustles are about embracing that hope
that we can be the ones
making the decisions
in how we spend our work lives.