590: The Most Overlooked Way to Make More Money?

24:06for like a nonprofit org, like what are some of the business processes I would outline? And then I just, I built it out. And so when I was interviewing, I could just show people like, hey, like, what do you need? Right. And this is how we can build it. So really like being able to showcase value. Okay. So it wasn't necessarily something that your old job asked you to do, but it was just kind of like a hypothetical based on my experience, what I know, like, here's what it would look like if we were to implement this over here. Okay. What was it like? walking away from that career? Or did you see it that way?

24:39Or like, well, I'm gonna take this three-month pause. And if it sucks, I can always go back. Isn't that something that I imagine would be, it could be kind of difficult to do? Yes. I'm really glad you asked that question because it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. So just like as a context, I wanted to be a marine biologist since I was like 12 years old, right? I like knew from the beginning. That's like what I wanted to do. Went to college, like straight out the gate, knew that's what I wanted to do. And then kind of got into that realm. And like, I loved it. But I just was like, there's just not a lot of jobs, right?

25:12There's just like not a lot of space for what now had become important to me, like freedom, right? Freedom to move around, freedom, financial freedom, all those things. It became a question of like, letting go of that identity, which was really hard. And even now I work with a lot of people who stitch careers. And that's probably one of the hardest parts, right? It's like, you have to kind of decouple yourself from like, this is who I am. My job is who I am, right? Yeah, it becomes a part of your identity. Yeah. And it's so hard, but it's like, okay, but what do I actually want in life? Right?

25:45And for me, it was like, I want to be able to go on these grand adventures with my partner. I want to be able to be financially independent, right? I was like, what were my actual goals? And I was like, can I get there with this? Maybe, but I know I can get there with this other path, right? And for me, I actually still was able to do some of those science communication, marine ecology pieces. But now just like, it's like my main hustle became my side hustle. And now I think I do it even more than I was once doing it. So it's like, great. Like I still do a lot of consulting for the park service and other entities do a lot of different science communication outlets.

26:24So, and now it's like more on my terms, right? Like I don't have to do it because like you have to do this now. It just a lot more level of, for me, freedom, which is the most important thing. I don't underestimate like how hard it is, right? To be like, this is who I was for the first 30 years of my life. And now I'm going to be someone different. Yeah. And I think that can be really challenging to wrap your head around, especially like, well, I went to school for this. Like this is the career path that I wanted, that I chose, but now maybe is not going to be the vehicle to get me where I want to go and being able to say, I think you've done it really well to be like, oh, I can still have my toe in that water.

27:00I can still do some science and nature consulting and projects and stuff, but I don't have to have that be my main entire focus. More with Alex in just a moment, including how she landed a fully remote job in a new industry without even submitting an application right after this. A lot of side hustlers suffer from what if-itis. What if it doesn't work? What if I don't have the skills? What if I pick the wrong path? But one thing 100 % of our amazing guests have in common is they took their shot. They phased down those what ifs and they got their answers through taking action. Our partner Shopify helps turn what ifs into why nots.

27:37Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world, from household names to the very guests on this show. What if I can't design a website? Shopify's got you with ready-made templates to match your brand style. What if people haven't heard about my brand? Shopify helps you find customers with easy-to-run email and social media campaigns. And what if I get stuck? You can tap in to Shopify's award-winning 24-7 customer support. Let's turn those dreams into and give them the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash side hustle.

28:12Go to shopify.com slash side hustle. Shopify.com slash side hustle. You also mentioned engaging on LinkedIn. What does that mean in practice? So my previous life, I didn't give LinkedIn two credits. I was like, what is this weird social media for professionals? I just didn't use it. So I kind of went through the Tom Stacker program. And Bradley was like, everything's happening on LinkedIn. I was like, you're kidding me, right? Like, no way. This is the spot. This is the spot, right? He's like, this is where the Salesforce professionals are. And I was like, oh gosh, here we go. For me, I was very apprehensive about getting on LinkedIn and sharing all these things.

28:58I was like, okay, I'll give it a fair shot, right? Like, I got to do the whole program if I want the program to work. I had waited a little bit until I got my administrator certification because that was like the proof to myself that I could do it. Right. It was like my checkbox of like, okay, if you can pass this test, maybe this career might be for you. Waited till I did that. And then I started switching everything over. So I like added my experience and started engaging in a way of like, oh, this is how I would use Salesforce to answer these like certain business queries or engaging with companies that I was interested in working with, just like with their content and like sharing out.

29:35And just from like those things, like people started reaching out, like recruiters, hiring managers, being like, hey, I'd like love to step into conversation with you. And I was like, oh, man, like, it works. Like, whoa, okay, yeah, let's get on. And like the first conversations were rough, right? Because I had no idea what I was doing. In terms of like, how do I sell my previous skills in a way that people would be like, oh, yeah, you'd be valuable to our team. Like I'd never even talked to recruiter in my whole life. Right. It took a few to like really navigate my story and like how I put all these pieces together.

30:11Right. Like, oh, I came from this previous career. And like, they're like, why are you here? I didn't like really sell that of like why I had chosen Salesforce as a path forward. Okay. Did a job come out of those conversations or did you kind of like proactively apply to a posting that was being advertised? Yeah, I actually never applied for any job. I've to this day, like never applied for a job. I am a big proponent of networking and like really like getting into conversation with people, seeing like what they need, what value I can add. The consulting job that I got into, they had reached out to me, one of the like high level people and said that they had this program for junior level consultants.

30:49And I knew like there's many different paths in the Salesforce ecosystem, which also made it really enticing for me because I'm like, oh, you can try different hats on. Like, that's amazing. But I knew like with my personality, I always like to have like kind of different projects going on at the same time. So I was like, consulting is probably for me. I love it. High paced environment. I had experience with it in previous work when this company reached out and they were like, we have a spot for you as a junior consultant on our team. I was like, sounds great. Like, let's do it. Like, let me get my foot in the door and just like kind of understand the ecosystem a little bit better and how I can really grow in this space.

31:29And this was a fully remote five, six months after starting the program? Yep. Fully remote. And at that point I was in Canada. And so I was like, Ooh, just so you know, like I'm not in the U S right now. Like I had a U S based address, right? I set my house in California, but I was like, just so you know, like I'm abroad. I don't plan on coming back to the U.S. anytime soon. And this is like that piece of it, the remote piece is definitely company dependent, right? Like not every company will allow you to do that. So they were like, that works for us. And then yeah, within five, six months of starting of even not even knowing what Salesforce was, like I can always come back to that, right?

32:09I was mind boggling. I landed a Salesforce role. What were they paying you if you're comfortable sharing? That first role, it's a consulting role, right? So there's like a base and then you make like bonuses. So annually about 60K a year, which was less than I had been making as a park ranger, but like as an entry-level marine biologist, right? Like way more, like if you kind of like rank those two and then just also way more room for growth, right? Like in certain like government roles, it's like very set, right? Like it's like, here's your scale. There is no like negotiating. There's no negotiation.

32:45Yeah. Whereas like in Salesforce, it's like, oh, oh, well, I've gotten like two more certifications or I've gotten this or I'm adding this value. Like, let's come back to the negotiation table and you can like definitely increase your pay exponentially. So there was just like more options, right? More options in this space. Yeah. And Brad kind of gave the career progression. And I don't know if this is still typical, whereas like you said, six months to go from I don't know what this is to a$60 ,000 a year position, entry level. I think that's great. And then within two to three years, you kind of keep leveling up, you add more certifications, and then you're at that six-figure level.

33:22And then when I talked to him, he was like, hey, I'm doing 200 grand a year, 225 grand a year, working half time. Like this is living the dream. Once you have this years of experience under your belt, you kind of transition to this fully remote consulting thing, and you pick and choose the projects and clients that sound most exciting to you. Is that the path ahead? Is that what you're seeing for yourself or students these days? Yeah, I mean, we joke that the program used to be called the six months and 60k program. And we actually had to like, take all that away because 60k was the low end of what people were starting at.

33:55Like now we have people starting 7580k, like entry level positions within like their first year. I think even last month, we had someone at like 100k. And I'm like, dang, I need to talk to them, right? And that's like just entry level. And then yeah, now we have people who are in their second, third year of their Salesforce career, and they're making upwards of high six figures. So it definitely, I mean, obviously there's like a negotiation piece in there, right? You need to like know your value. You need to know your worth, need to be able to convey it to a hiring manager. And I think a lot of times people are just afraid to ask, right?

34:30I think that like there is like, that is on the table, but they're just like, I don't have the tools to be able to navigate that piece. So, but we're definitely seeing those numbers. even still today. Yeah, super interesting. A couple of things you mentioned. First, I never applied for a job. That to me is really interesting. It speaks to like, well, maybe there is still this supply demand imbalance where people are looking to hire professionals who know this software tool. I think that's a great sign. And the other thing I wanted to kind of draw a contrast to was just the five, six month timeframe here versus, okay, I'm going to go back to school.

35:05I'm going to do this graduate degree program. I'm going to get another degree, much longer time horizon and way, way more expensive. So just different paths there. The next thing I wanted to ask about, like, was a day in the life. So you land this consulting gig, you're up in Canada and now you're like, okay, I guess this is what I do now. I'm in it. What's like a day in the life at this point? As a consultant, it probably depends on like what kind of consultancy you're in. But for me, I would be working with clients. So I'd have a kind of a docket of a couple of different clients and the consulting firm I was working for was a lot of like small, medium business.

35:39It's not like enterprise, like we're not talking like Amazon level consulting here. This is like, we're helping mom and pop shops, making their - So it's like a consulting agency that would like farm you out to different of their clients. Yes. Yep. So kind of small, medium business, it would vary, right? You would oftentimes like meet with clients weekly and you could have anywhere between like one and however many clients, depending on the workload and what there was being asked of you. And then when you're kind of not meeting with clients, you're configuring for them or you're helping input data or all these sorts of things.

36:12It really just depends on what the client's needs were, which is what I loved about it. One, because I got to, as a consultant, like learn a lot about a lot of different types of business, right? For anything I didn't know, I just like kind of did deep dives on those business processes and what those people were caring about, what could help make their business run more efficiently. So yeah, I did a lot of that working with colleagues, still skilling up, right? always like that's the cool part about salesforce is like there's always something to learn so you're never bored there's never like plateaus because there's just all this like free resource knowledge that you can really get in there and learn a lot something that i hadn't necessarily had before is you can really just like close the laptop at five o 'clock and like do your eight hours and be like and it's done i'm off the clock yeah and i know that's like maybe not for every single role and like some roles fluctuate on the demand of like what you have to be able to like maybe be on call for a weekend as you do like a deployment or something.

37:10But it was just kind of nice to be like, and it's done. Yay. So that was just kind of a novel concept for me. This is what I miss about the nine to five. It's like being able to be done in the world of entrepreneurship. The to-do list is never done. It's like, oh, shoot, you know, just never ending and personal issues, struggling with that. But did you end up sticking around with that? a consulting company for a while? Did other recruiters come calling now that you have some experience under your belt? What happens after that? I did work with them for a bit. And then I had been working actually with the Talent Stalker program, kind of doing some things here and there, like helping edit videos.

37:47I'm a side hustler to my core. So I was just like, oh, whatever you need, I can kind of help with that. Just because I really, the program helped me so much, right? And kind of part of that Ohana spirit is like, I really wanted to give back. So now I kind of like turned down the actual Salesforce consulting, turned up the helping other people get into the ecosystem. That has also allowed me to kind of keep some of my other side hustles going, like the grant writing and the science communication. So now it's kind of a mod podge of different things. But it's like really the best part about it is like I have built the life that I want to be living.

38:22Right. Like I have been like, I want to do this and I want to do this and I want to do this. And I'm like pretty proud of that fact. right? Just because I know it's like some people can get into that nine to five and whether they need to or not, they can like grind for 40 years. Right. And for me, I was like, I just, there's got to be something different. Right. And so I found that. And now we're in a completely different place. Four-ish years later, 2019 discovered the financial independence movement and started drinking from that fire hose. And now life looks completely different thanks to some of the changes that you've implemented.

38:58Any big surprises, mistakes along the way, missteps? Any stories that come to mind there? For me, the surprise was like, oh, I like set my mind to this thing that was completely different than what I was used to. And I did the work and it worked, right? And it didn't just work for me, it works for so many people from so many different types of backgrounds, right? Those backgrounds are actually assets. I think a lot of times people get this weird imposter syndrome, right? They're like, well, I was like a mailman before I did this, or I was like in hospitality and they forget like, yeah, I was a truck driver.

39:38Right. And they forget like all those things make you who you are, who you are today. Those are assets, right? Not hindrances. So I think for me, that was like the big surprise, like just like really trusting in the community. Obviously I did my research. Like I'm not one to just like take a huge risk without like getting data. Like I'm still a scientist at heart the data will tell me but it's like i did the steps and like i said it wasn't easy and i will never tell someone like oh this is so easy like you just sign up for talent stacker and poof you have a new career like no it's hard like it's hard work there were tears lots of them you can ask my husband and be sitting and be like why am i doing this it was because i actually paid for talent stacker that i even like stuck with it right because i was like i paid this money like i have to finish it i have to at least try and there's something to that right like this kid in the game.

40:28I remember talking with Jonathan from ChooseFI, Brad's co-founder on the program. And he's like, Nick, we got to get this in front of your audience. Like, I don't really sound like a side hustle thing. And he's like, well, no, here's, here's how it works. What if you could level up your skills and just, what if your tagline, your nine to five makes you a living, but your five to nine makes you alive. But what if your nine to five just made you a better living? And so we went back and forth. It was like, well, talk to me in six months. Like when you get this thing up and running. And some of the success stories that came out of those early cohorts of students, I was like, there actually is something here.

41:00And that's what really opened my eyes to it with Brad and then Anita and now yourself and dozens of other success stories. Because I get tagged in some of their Facebook posts of students who have heard about it on the show, have gone through it and have changed their careers, changed their lives, changed kind of their financial outlook and future. Hey, I was capped at this government job. Like you get your cost of living raise if you're lucky. And then that is, it is what it is. Like, no, you can make some changes, not necessarily easy, but relatively simple and straightforward and make a change.

41:32So alexwornecki.com is where you can find her. What's next for you? What's got you excited these days? Ironically, what's got me excited these days is actually being able to stay in one spot for a little bit. I've been on the road for two and a half years, traveling all over, like moving every two to four weeks. We're relocating the Pacific Northwest so you and I can be neighbors soon and hang out. Yes. And just, it's a beautiful place up there, right? Lots of mountains, lots of climbing, hiking, all the things I love. And like really just getting integrated into a community again, but also still like keeping the adventures going.

42:07So for me, that's kind of what's exciting right now. I know it's like super lame, but it's the truth. There's something to that. And like, there's a comfort of coming back to your own bed and like getting into some semblance of a routine. I do better when I'm out. I like love traveling. I love the adventure, but like that's kind of where things fall off the rails, routines, habit-wise. So there's something to that, staying in one place. And I've been doing a little bit more climbing. Like there's a climbing gym that we've been going word. So I got to get in better shape on the rock climbing side.

42:42Side hustle nation.com slash Salesforce is where you can join that free five day challenge. Let's wrap this thing up with your number one tip for side hustle nation. I think I have two tips. My first one is start small. So whether it's be in a new career or a side hustle, or maybe you want to try like an alternative lifestyle, like being a digital nomad, break that big goal into smaller units and test it, right like test to see if it's the thing that you actually want to be doing and then get started so I think that'd be my first tip and then my second tip and this is something it's always an ongoing practice for me but really practicing growth mindset every single day so it's like a lot of what I found holding me back originally and what I see holding lots of people back is really this fear right like fear of failure fear of change fear of change and identity like we talked about fear of what other people might think or say.

43:35So if you can really like get into this practice of shifting that fear mindset to one of growth, what can I learn from this experience? What is the data telling me? Where can I grow? I think it really will get you where you want to be just that much faster. Did you deal with any of that from former co-workers in the science community or nonprofit community? Like, oh, here goes Alex. She's just chasing the money, trying to start a new job. So like, was there any negative pushback? Oh, yeah. I mean, there's always people wanting to say stuff. It's like the societal thing. People are like, oh, you're going completely against what society has told you to do.

44:10Like, you're going to go be a digital nomad or you're going to go do all these crazy things. You're going to like rent your house out for three years and go like live somewhere else. So there's always people who will give you their opinions or they do what I say they should on you. They tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing. so you kind of just gotta like like jonathan from choose advice as you gotta like really know your why right like you gotta hold on to it i mean you gotta like really let that drive you and remember it write it down because it will get hard it's gonna be hard anything worth doing can be hard but it's like if you really just take all of those moments those moments of fear because it's scary and you just kind of be like okay i'm feeling scared right now but how am i gonna like switch this mindset, I can really help in the long term.

44:55Yeah, I like that call to start small, test it out. You can start with the free day, free five day challenge, figure out what is this all about? Like, is this something that even sounds remotely interesting to me? And if not, that's totally fine. There's hundreds of other episodes. Go choose something else in the archives on this. One thing that I'm kind of inspired by is this idea of fitting work around your life and not fitting life around your work, which I think is something that maybe Americans as a culture are super guilty of live to work. You have that identity really wrapped up in that job title or that role where instead, okay, maybe I could piece together income from several different sources that outpaces what I used to make, or even it may not need to in some cases, but between the grant writing, the science consulting, the Salesforce stuff, the new role with the talent stacker program.

45:45I think it's really inspiring just to be able to like cut your own paycheck in a lot of ways and say like, I was able to do this. So that was one note that I had. And the other one was going where the demand is. This is kind of like a common theme. We call it like the buy buttons theory, go where the cash is already flowing. Really interesting to hear that just by virtue of starting to put Salesforce consultant or certified Salesforce professional in on LinkedIn, people are reaching out like that's how hungry the market is. Like that was really interesting. And then finally, like this piggyback principle of pitching your cart to something that already has some built in user base where people might be looking for help with.

46:25It would be given lots of examples of people doing that. Maybe it's an SEO software that you use. Maybe it's Canva. Maybe it's QuickBooks. We gave the example, trying to think Notion, another one people have done tremendously well, well, build out Notion templates. And if you can, find something that may already have some search volume that you can kind of say, hey, I'm a blah, blah, blah, you know, professional, and here's how to do blank in this tool. There's an opportunity there. So what to listen to next, we've got a couple other Salesforce success stories that Alex mentioned. First was Brad Rice, co-creator of that talent stacker program.

46:57He is on episode 441, where he described that$200 ,000 a year income from 18 hours a week or working part-time. It's this location independent Salesforce consultant, not a bad gig if you can get it. And then in 497, that was a short call with Anita Smith, who we talked about. She's got laid off during the pandemic, was working hospitality and events for Hilton. But instead of maybe after the two week period, the woe is me, like how could this be happening? Took the opportunity to reskill, ended up doubling her old salary in just a handful of months. So super inspiring episodes, really both of those.

47:34But thanks to Alex for sharing her insight. Thanks to our sponsors for helping make this content free for everyone. You can hit up sidehustlenation.com slash deals for all the latest offers from our sponsors in one place. And thanks for supporting the advertisers that support the show. That is it for me. Thank you so much for tuning in. Until next time, let's go out there and make something happen. And I'll catch you in the next edition of the Side Hustle Show. Hustle on.