side project — Creativity School - Episodes

“Just take a complete chance on yourself, and see that it truly is possible. There’s so much out there, so many people that are rooting for you, so many ways that you can be successful doing something that you absolutely love. ”

— Dielle Charon

What if you could monetize your creative project and turn it into a profitable side hustle? Today’s Creativity School guest Dielle Charon, is an expert at helping people achieve exactly this and she’s here to share all her juicy tips with us in this conversation.

Dielle is a Business Coach, helping other driven and passionate side hustlers finally quit their full time jobs and live a life of freedom. And Dielle walks the walk - she currently runs her extremely profitable coaching business as a side hustle! Despite her crazy demanding day job, she was able to match her 9-5 salary within three months of starting her business.

You probably know by now that I started my photography career as a side hustle back in 2008. I know a thing or two about how to monetize your creative passion projects, but Dielle taught me SO MUCH in this conversation, she blew my mind. We talk about how to make sure your business idea is suitable for the market, how to manage your time when you have a busy day job, and how to avoid “Shiny Object Syndrome” so you can set goals and stick to them. Dielle also shares great advice on when it’s ok to quit your side hustle. We talk about so much more and she has a a wealth of great advice, so you might want to grab a pen and take some notes for this one!

**Today’s episode is brought to you by Audible! If you want to get started with a free audiobook download and 30 day free trial head over to at www.audibletrial.com/gracechon.

Mentioned in this episode:

The first steps to monetizing your creative passion project
Why you have to find a gap in the market
How to validate your side hustle idea with “coffee chat calls”
What branding is and why it’s important
How to balance your side hustle with a day job and manage your time productively
Why Dielle recommends 90 day goals and how they can give us permission to focus on the things that matter to our side hustle
The impact of side hustles on your relationships and how to balance both
Shiny Object Syndrome and how that harms our productivity
Why you have to serve the business, and not your every passion and whim
Dielle’s advice on when it’s ok to quit your side hustle

CONNECT WITH DIELLE:

Website | Instagram

CONNECT WITH CREATIVITY SCHOOL:

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“Don’t overthink it and don’t wait for it to be perfect. Making stuff that makes you happy, doing it, getting it out, and moving on is the best way to be happy and creative at the same time. ”

— Kevin Butler

We talk a lot on Creativity School about making things simply because it makes us happy, even if we don’t have a bigger plan for it. Yet we often find ourselves feeling like our creativity needs to be more purposeful than that - if it doesn’t make us money, what’s the point?

In today’s episode, I’m talking to someone who has an extremely demanding day job, and started a creative side project for one reason: purely because it was fun. What happened next was beyond his imagination!

Kevin Butler is an award winning creative director that’s created memorable ad campaigns for clients like Apple, Playstation, Tinder, Airbnb, and Facebook. While he was working at his most demanding job ever (working 6 days a week, 12-14 hours a day), he started his illustration project, Rad Cars with Rad Surfboards. It started out as one personal drawing that quickly grew to 100 illustrations. Now, 10 years later, Rad Cars with Rad Surfboards has had sold out art shows and collaborated with brands like Herschel Supply Co., Igloo Coolers, Vans, and more!

Kevin talks about how Rad Cars with Rad Surfboards is what keeps him sharp and inspired, why money is never the motivation behind his project, and why it's important that he protects the integrity of his work by choosing the right brands to collaborate with.

He also shares how he juggles his side project with such a demanding day job, and why it’s SO IMPORTANT to be selfish in the work you create for yourself.

Mentioned in this episode:

How Kevin creates effective communication that connects with people through his ad campaigns
Why he says you need to be selfish in the work you create
Why other people’s opinions shouldn’t matter
The questions he asks himself when he chooses which creative side projects to work on
How starting Rad Cars with Rad Surfboards was started purely for fun
Why you should value your work and be discerning about what brands and companies to work with
Why money is never his motivation for his Rad Car collaborations
How giving your brain space to rest and breathe allows you to be more creative
How he finds time for creativity with a demanding day job and while being a dad
The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies into Hustles
Facebook “Friends” brand campaign