Why I didn’t start my business as a “side hustle”

Prioritizing my time for creativity can be a struggle, but I just have to get started.

It’s been a little over six months since I made the decision to pursue building a business around my art, and I took my first official steps to turn my dream of being an artist professionally, into a reality. I have been learning and growing so much, and the internet has been a helpful resource. I have consumed a lot of content aimed at me, an emerging small business owner. These posts are often full of helpful advice on what to do and what not to do when it comes to being a creative trying to run a small business. And I appreciate when other artists and creators share what has worked for them. It is so generous and kind.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on social media about how it is possible to build your dream art business or a creative art practice in the margins of your life. That all you need are little pockets of time. I think this is such a motivating thing to hear because I think time scarcity is such a barrier for a lot of people, including myself. I agree that you cannot wait for the perfect time or conditions to get started. Art is in the doing, not in the intention to create. And if, like me, you want to make money from your art, then you also need to just get started sharing your work and being open to opportunities. No one is going to buy my work, if they don’t know about it. In terms of building the business side, I have also surprised myself with how much admin I can get done in 15 minutes or half an hour. So, I do think it is very possible to build something starting from the margins of life, a “side hustle,” if you will.

But, the thing is for me, I don’t think small pockets of time are always enough. Depending on where you are in life, and the current level of burn-out you may be experiencing, getting started in the small pocket of time you have at the end of the day or on the weekends, may feel impossible. That was true for me. I had dreamed about starting a “side hustle” for a long time, but I got so burnt out in my old job, that I started to feel like I was stuck. I couldn’t even imagine how I would get started, or what I might do. It wasn’t until I allowed myself to entertain the idea of quitting my job, that I felt this immense relief. And after talking things through with my husband, and figuring out how we could make it work, I took that leap, and here I am now, actually doing the thing I always wanted. It’s still early days, but I do not regret that decision, and at the same time, it was a very unique and personal one. The choice I made may not be the right choice for you. There is no one right path, even though it can sometimes feel that way on social media.

Some helpful reads for artists and creatives I keep returning to on this journey.

I share my experience because I worry that the language we use to talk about “side hustling” and “building something in the margins,” just encourages burnout and still comes from a place of scarcity, rather than abundance. I think it subtly encourages maximizing time, rather than a more mindful relationship with our time. To make the margins work, I need flexibility and to lean on support from family and friends so I can be allowed the room to let those margins shrink and stretch as needed. Fifteen minutes to sketch is better than none, but there are times when I need less firmly bounded time to engage in creative practices, which include play and most importantly, rest. And I need to retrain myself to value the play and rest as an essential component of the work of an artist, not separate from it.

Didn’t expect to love this piece I did in my sketchbook as much as I did. It was freeing to play with materials in new ways. If I hadn’t, this wouldn’t have ever existed.

Time for creative play and rest also needs to be truly protected. As artists, we are sometimes our own worst enemies when it comes to protecting our creative time. Even if, like me, you have the means and opportunity to be fully self-employed, I find it far too easy to sacrifice the bits of time I have for making art to the admin of running my business and the demands of day-to-day life. This is something I am struggling with right now in working on my summer collection. I have so many ideas swimming around in my head for illustrations I want to create, but I am finding that I need more than just 15 minutes on this day and 30 minutes on another day to make any progress on them. And when I do sit down to work on them with the time I have allowed myself, then I get hung up on not wanting to squander that time. I get overly focused on the end result, rather than the act of just creating for its own sake. I become less willing to experiment and try new things because there’s that little voice in my head that asks: “Without something to show for it, was it a good use of my time?” Unequivocally, the answer should be yes, but that little voice doesn’t seem to agree. When I listen to that voice too much, then it becomes harder to protect my creative time.

This is an ongoing struggle. Why do we always seem to push our creativity to the margins? I think that’s the other subtle message of “side hustling” that I don’t love: it implies one should make art and share it on the side until you can make it your full-time work. It’s thinking that doesn’t allow me to truly center art in my life. I think it’s one of the reasons I took the drastic step of quitting my job. I was tired of sidelining my art, which was essentially sidelining myself.

It’s important to me to remember that everyone is different. I think that’s the danger of social media algorithms that prioritize short-form content. Everything gets boiled down to sound bites, “hot takes,” and highlight reels, and the nuance gets lost. It can be so easy to look at someone on social media and think they have it all figured out. And they just might—for them. I try to remember what works for them, might not work the same way for me, and that’s ok. I can take inspiration and advice from others, but I still have to find my own way, and that is a beautiful thing.

So, if you are struggling with building something or creating in the small margins of your life, and wondering why others seem to be able to do it, there isn’t anything wrong with you. And if doing the opposite — quitting your job to pursue a creative business feels unattainable, that struggle is also real and valid. I think one thing about wanting to have a creative and fulfilling life is learning to accept the natural ebb and flow of our own energy and capacity. We are animals with natural cycles and seasons. Sometimes finding time to create is easy, other times it’s harder. And that’s ok. The only requirement is not to neglect our creative self. Nurture that part of yourself however you can in the moment you are in.