Comments on: The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies Into Hustles

By: Louis

Louis — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 20:17:46 +0000

i needed this thank you! For the past 3 years i’ve tried turning my hobbies into businesses and it only made me feel worst. Just like how your friend never had a actual day off it was like that for me. I would go to work come back then work on my hobby turned in to business thing lol every day. To be honest i don’t even know how it got to that but i’m sure someone saw my work and was like you should make it a business. Every time i did something new someone had something to say about making it a business. Not everyone is a business man or woman some of us actually just like creating and enjoying the crafts we do. Like the lady that made the dress she wore at the wedding. This article hit home for real, especially in this modern gary vee era where everyone all of sudden “always wanted to be an entrepreneur” lol. Enjoy the leisure time without the extra work.

By: Sati Marie Frost

Sati Marie Frost — Wed, 13 May 2020 11:01:38 +0000

I’m lucky enough to really like my paid work, but I also have hobbies that people keep telling me to monetise. I sew – mostly cross-stitch – which I find really soothing, and I occasionally make lace.

For the sewing, I mostly do intricate portraits, the smallest of which have around 20,000 stitches, which I then turn into patches for bags and jackets. I’m currently working on a portrait of Bruce Patman for my motorbike jacket (I’m really feeling the 80s right now). For people I love, I’ll occasionally do a piece, but they inevitably want to know why I don’t turn it into a business. The thing is, that kind of intricate embroidery is REALLY time-consuming. For a jacket-sized portrait, I put in about a thousand hours. To make even minimum wage (UK) I’d have to sell the jacket for around £10K, or the patch for around £8500. While I have no doubt that people sometimes pay £10K for one-of-a-kind jackets, I don’t know how to market to those kinds of people, even if I wanted to.

The lace is even more time-consuming. Back when I thought I might get married, I got the idea to make my own veil. I mentioned this to a friend and of course she wanted me to make one for her upcoming wedding. We did the math and found it would cost around £15K for a waist-length veil and around £45K for a train, just for materials and to pay me minimum wage. Now you know why lace was reserved for nobility and royalty back in the day, and why even nobles would take lace trim off old or damaged clothes before chucking them out, and sew it onto new clothes.

Even if your hobbies aren’t that time-consuming, you still don’t need to turn them into hustles if you don’t want to, but I think a lot of people underestimate how much time some of them take. I love to embroider and cross-stitch when I’m watching TV (especially during quarantine) so it doesn’t matter to me that it takes hundreds if not thousands of hours – the longer the better – but it’s still time that I’m not earning money. I’ll give away my pieces from time to time, to people I really like (I do ask them to pay for materials, which usually come to £30-40; threads aren’t cheap) but selling them is out of the question.

By: Grace Rainsford

Grace Rainsford — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 04:12:18 +0000

I’m still dwelling on the power of these words. Thanks for putting them out there. I’ve been waiting to hear someone say this for 26 years.

By: JohnBrownForPresident

JohnBrownForPresident — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 11:34:21 +0000

In reply to Rhonda Stewart. lol Rhonda, bet you feel ashamed now in the time of covid. We need government to tax the rich at 90% and give everyone income!

By: Isa Waters

Isa Waters — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 20:40:12 +0000

This is amazing, thanks, Molly.

By: dittoaway

dittoaway — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 11:46:44 +0000

In reply to Roan Macguffin. You mean the 1% who actually pay most of the taxes? Believe me; they aren't the ones who will be paying for this program.

By: Kirstin

Kirstin — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 11:37:51 +0000

Thank you!!! You nailed it. The worst question in the world is, “So, what do you do”? The second worst is “Do you sell these? ..You could make so much money!” Instant Deer in headlights followed by overwhelm and the feeling of failure. The question usually comes from some “Salaried” woman who has it all together. When I read this I found myself exhaling, feels great to be understood.

By: thomasjacob4

thomasjacob4 — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 05:59:18 +0000

Or, you can just smoke a blunt

By: Julie Hatch

Julie Hatch — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 15:55:55 +0000

This article hit it out of the ballpark for me! Finally! Someone understands! I’m in the self-help industry of mentors, authors, speakers, bloggers, podcasters, and presenters. In this industry there is additional pressure to do more, dream big, and be more. If you quit, it’s because you didn’t have the right mindset, aren’t conquering your fears and insecurities, or aren’t taken seriously. The pressure I have felt has been so intense that I cracked. I felt like I was imploding under the pressure of it all. The goal that was drilled into me was wealth and abundance. If you didn’t have it, you weren’t really “shining your light.” If you didn’t have it, you were made to feel like you are missing out. and doing life all wrong. I decided to take a breather and disassociate with anything business related…to just be okay with being me. I admit, I struggle with feelings of guilt and selfishness. It’s been hard for me to relax into this. No one is talking about this. No one. You can imagine my relief in reading this brilliant article that states so succinctly what I’ve been feeling. It’s as if she was reading my mind! I could finally make sense of my own feelings and thoughts. Thank you to Molly a million times over for this article.

By: lensman888

lensman888 — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 13:16:34 +0000

In reply to MsM. Yes, indeed. "You MUST stop charging shipping fees to make more sales (and gain higher ranking on our site)".