Side Hustles: A Career Consultant’s Perspective
Posted on February 16, 2023 by Ginger Terrell, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
What is your life work doing to help other people? Are you working in your passion? If not, what are you waiting for?
When I was asked me to submit a guest post in a Facebook group about different types of businesses and how to choose a side hustle from my perspective as a career consultant, client stories began rushing back to me as I reminisced on my time with each one.
To date, Career Direct, a division of Crown Financial (the company I’m certified with) has helped over a quarter million people find direction in line with their personalities, interests, skills, and values. We’ve been featured in Relevant Magazine and Fox News, and universities you may have heard of (Lee in Cleveland, TN and Liberty in Virginia, to name a few) are using our assessments among their student bodies.
It’s the assessment that helped me move forward with my MBA, which in turn made me eligible to teach in a local college. It also helped me realize my passions and gave me permission to blog and create and connect and even return to school for a second Masters degree in Theology & Culture.
Being certified has allowed me to help others who are struggling with what they either want to do as a side hustle or a complete career change. It cost me several hundred dollars to be certified, but I made that back the first week. If someone offers you a side hustle opportunity without some sort of investment (whether it be time, money, or other resources), be wary. There’s always an opportunity cost if it’s legitimate. In addition, don’t overprice your side hustle. But don’t under price it either. Research. Know the ins and out. Become an expert at it.
I haven’t had people balk at my pricing for the assessment process as it sets people up for future success. I know it works and have witnessed transformation, so I never apologize for my pricing. It’s worth every penny and then some. My therapist friends (who often refer to me) would agree. Oftentimes they have clients who have spent thousands on education, MLMs, and various other ventures, only to be left wanting and wondering what it is that will really be the answer for them. Career Direct really helps, and having a trained consultant to read in between the lines of the proverbial results is invaluable because it allows for a creative mind to help each client see past the results and into the reality of making things happen.
I’m sure some of you might be thinking, “Yeah, I’ve taken those personality tests, and they’re pretty much all the same. They tell me I need to be a _____________, and I don’t want to be a _____________.” Or maybe you don’t want to go back to school or maybe you feel too old and you’ve missed your chance. This is why it’s important to have someone who has been trained and is skilled in reading people, interpreting results, asking the right questions, etc to help you delve deep and pull out those dreams that may have gotten buried long ago. Or if your son or daughter is on their way to college, it helps to have an unbiased person who has no agenda whatsoever help them peel back the layers of who they are and give them some tools for future decision making.
I’m honored to have worked with the kid who couldn’t decide between studying to be an orthopedic surgeon or a financial advisor. I was able to help him work through those two scenarios, and for him it came down to his personal values of time, family, friends, and travel. He’s now a student at the University of GA working on his MBA in finance.
And the woman who was in mid career transition who started a non profit based on her passion for animals.
And the former addict who needed to be reminded he has been given so many gifts and talents and that his passion for sales was legitimate despite what his father wanted.
And the beautiful young woman who suffered from severe depression who now has a wide open beautiful world of opportunity in her future.
I tell you these stories because at the end of the day, if our work isn’t contributing to people’s lives in a positive manner, perhaps we need to rethink what we are doing.
What is your life work doing to help other people? Are you working in your passion? If not, what are you waiting for?
If I can ever be of service to you to help you in the first step of discovering yourself again so you can have some fresh wind in your sails to pursue a new adventure, I’m always a click away.
