Liz Hoskin

My two kids one was dyslexic and one had ADHD and school didn’t cater for them and over the years I had taught them lots of tools and tcchniques which helped them so had the idea to design a programme for kids. Wasn’t sure what it would look like.

2 – What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when launching your side hustle, and how did you overcome them?

I wasn’t known to our local area as all my work was in England or abroad. I spent a lot of time networking in my area and then met someone who I was at college with and she was telling me her problems with the kids on the local council programmes – opportunity and grasped it with both hands and got the agreement to do a pilot programme. It’s all about your positive connections and putting yourself out there.

3 – How has your side hustle positively impacted your life, both personally and professionally?

It’s been a squiggly journey and I have wanted to throw the towel in often with all the frustrations with funding and the hoops they make you jump through however last year I decided to spread my wings outside my local area and now we have grown to 7 programmes running at one time and now we can go with a new programme idea and we are listened to and as we are specialists we don’t have much competition.. It’s helped us develop a fulfilling role for our associates, feeling grateful, don’t worry as much about funding. My positivity is off the charts as I feel amazing as we are making a REAL difference in so many lives. We have made enough to invest in ourselves, our trainers  and the business and enjoying having more time to work on myself and on the business. I’m now strategic rather than operational.

4 – What do you think sets your side hustle apart from others in your industry?

We put the young person at the centre of everything we do and we are not driven by bums on seats.

We would rather have the people who need our programme on it rather than high flyers. We have levelled the playing field for young people leaving school with no qualifications as we have so many pathways for them to get a fulfilling career. from.

5 – Can you share a success story or proud moment from your side hustle journey so far?

You know when it’s working when you get approached to run a programme rather than us looking to be noticed.

One of our participants  always wanted to  be a chef, they were from a very poor family with no support or encouragement. They were hard work as when things didn’t work out they always kicked off. We spent some time building their skillset to be more resilient and helped them work on their confidence. Fast forward 7 years and they won a world wide competition for Young chef of the year and have a secure job running a kitchen for a five star company. The powerful piece is the ripple effect. They helped their other siblings and mum work their way out of poverty and today one  of their siblings is  on the same pathway with the same level of ambition as they have real proof it’s achievable. It’s so satisfying when someone puts in the work and then shares it with others.

6 – What advice would you give to someone who is considering starting their own side hustle?

Work out what they want to do and if it feels good go after it. Sometimes you need to try a few different things before you will find it and looking back on what we have achieved gives you the warm and fuzzies.

7 – Did anything almost stop you going ahead with a Happy Side Hustle?

I was fed up and joined the Happy Side Hustle free Challenge last April as I  was ready to go down a new path. What changed my mind was I did some reflecting on my new side hustle and what kept coming up was why???  Then a whole set of synchronicities kicked everything off. I trust my intuition and my energy and everything felt right so that’s why you haven’t seen me much.

8 – What’s next for your side hustle, and where do you see it going in the future?

We will be creating a new online version to have a wider reach but we are not in a hurry as ive learned small actions are better for me when I’m running another business at the same time.

9 – How has being around Julie and part of the Happy Hustle Hive helped you achieve your goals?

If I hadn’t joined Julie’s free Challenge and changed my word for the year I might have binned my ideas. Being part of the community and Julie has amazing energy which is good to be around and the other members are all inspirational in so many different ways.

10 – What’s your favourite thing about being a side hustler, and how has it impacted your life in a positive way?

Being in charge of your own destiny and the best bit is that you are so grateful and happy all at the same time as everything is connected.  Plus it’s life changing for you and your family.😊 😊 😊