My parents were hippies. When I was born, my Dad was in a band. Music of the 60s and 70s was a big part of my childhood. Lullabies were songs from The Mamas and the Papas or Simon and Garfunkel. Mornings, however, were a different story; my dad had an early morning singing song (Good Morning Star Shine from the musical Hair) followed by whatever groovy tune he could think of to jump-start our day, usually something by The Beatles.
By the time I was in grade school, my father traded his drumsticks for a full-time job he hated and started moonlighting as a DJ. As I entered middle school, I started assisting him on weekend gigs. I carried equipment and whatever else he needed help doing. I watched my Dad put on his ‘microphone persona’ to work the crowd, and his ‘square’ self to handle customers, reminding folks they need to pay their bills, etc.
Little did I know, he was sharing a few tips and tricks on becoming an entrepreneur.
Once I was his official assistant, he changed the sign in front of his DJ booth from “DJ Keith” to “K & S Entertainment.” After adding my initial, he asked me to design our business card. My dad was sharing his passion for music as a career, but when I look back, I see it as my first rebranding gig. That card was nothing to put in my portfolio, but it did make me feel included. I felt proud of that card, unlike how I felt taking song requests from drunken wedding guests. I mean, how many kids have a business card before entering High School?
Later, when I went to Art school to study photography and graphic design everyone thought I would be a vendor for the wedding world and work side-by-side with my far-out father. But by then, I had had enough of the wedding industry. It just wasn’t for me.
I rebelled against my flower power parents and went into branding and marketing. My free spirit father didn’t get it. He absolutely encouraged my creativity, but he just couldn’t understand – how could he, of all people, have raised someone who leaned so much into ‘business’? Dad never saw himself as a business owner. He saw himself as a musician/performer. Being a DJ was more like a hobby that made a little extra cash while keeping him connected to his rock’n’roll dreams.
That’s where a lot of entrepreneurs go wrong. And why their passion project never becomes their full-time gig.
If you stay stuck in the mindset of I love what I do, but I hate:
- Sales
- Business
- Paperwork
- Networking
- Taxes
- etc.
You will never get unstuck from the side hustle blues. The other side of that frame of mind is being the full-time thing you love and doing it your way, and on your schedule. The thing(s) you ‘hate’ just may be holding you back from that thing you love.
I spent years doing what I do now, as a side hustle. I had no idea how to get past the hobby hurtle and make a real life for myself. Not to mention feeling burned out from the full-time job I had grown to resent. (Like father like daughter) If All You Need is Love, then I really needed to love my job. It took almost losing my dad to get me to see where I was headed and finally take action.
I left the job that kept me up all night from stress and prevented me from going ‘all in’ on my business.
I applied for and was accepted into a business accelerator at EforAll. I went to countless SCORE workshops. I reached out to WeCan for legal advice. I joined a public speaking group to get out of my shell. And within a year my full-time position became a business owner with one employee (me). And now, I always get the best assignments.
My dad recently explained that adding me to “the show” was his way of showing me that I didn’t have to go off and “work for the man” . Unlike him, I had options.
My response was, “Pop, you did. Music was your thing but for me it’s art. I get to be creative daily. I love what I do. I do not work for ‘The Man’ I work for me! And all my clients are out of sight.”
He laughed. But I wasn’t sure he understood. Then he said, “As long as you’re happy, I guess I did my job. Do you at least listen to music while you work?”
I did not have the heart to tell him I usually listen to audiobooks. So I said, “When the mood strikes.”
“What are you listening to these days?”
“Oh… you know, Queen, David Bowie, The Doors.”
“RIGHT ON, THAT’S MY GIRL!”
I’m grateful to my hippie dad for showing me the entry point for self-employment. I’m just as thankful that he also showed me what not to do before it was too late. That new perspective led me to seek out community resources. From there, I learned how to stay on the path and have a fun and fulfilling career all the time, not just on the side.
This is a contributed blog post by Saraphina Churchill, a commercial photographer, graphic artist, and proud owner of Images by Saraphina—an award-winning virtual art department. Her passion is helping small businesses without an in-house creative team get the stunning visuals they need to move their mission forward.
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