How I Got My First Consulting Gig

Over the past few years, I have had a number of ill-fated attempts at starting side hustles. In the end, the easiest and most lucrative venture was simply consulting on a project very similar to my full-time job.

My Past Attempts at a Side Hustle

My first side hustle was back in 2016. At that time I was working for a nonprofit that provided work experience opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. Team Members would volunteer on community beautification projects, and that work would help them gain full-time employment.

I ran the branch in San Rafael, CA. Among our various cleanup projects, we had a contract with a local business owner to collect littered cigarette butts. One year we collected nearly 100,000! Cigarette butts are actually made of plastic, and a company called Terracycle could recycle them.

That’s when I had my first brilliant idea. Rather than waiting to pickup the littered butts off the ground, what if I could design a cool receptacle that would encourage people to dispose of them in a responsible way? The dream was to eventually make the receptacles themselves from recycled cigarette butts.