Can I monetize my hobby without killing the joy?
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What regrets do people have about monetizing their hobbies?
Do you have any regrets turning your hobby into a source of income? No. I do wonder if I hadn't turned it into my career if I would still love it. Attempting to turn painting into income may have been the worst idea I've ever had. No, not at all. I tend to chase passion more than money, which probably is a bit naive. I would have done it for free. I'm Rima Grace, and welcome to This is Uncomfortable. A couple years ago, I picked up a new hobby. I started crocheting, which is like a cousin of knitting. Before long, I was spending my nights making these little stuffed animals for the babies in my life. But after a few months, after the yarn started piling up, this little voice started creeping into my head.
What if you tried to sell these? I can't tell you if this was an original thought or osmosis from my algorithm, you know, that constant nudge telling us we're doing it wrong if we don't turn our hobbies into second paychecks. That it's foolish for us to leave money on the table, money that can go towards our bills or a dream house or so we can finally get rid of our student loans. And all of this, it made me think about what it says, that even our quiet joys, the things we do just for ourselves, don't feel safe from that pressure. So this week, I really want to know, is it actually possible to turn what you love, to turn a hobby into a side hustle, without hollowing out the joy? Stay tuned, by the way, till the end of the episode to hear how you all answered this question.
While working on this, I talked with a lot of people who've tried to put a price tag on their hobby, including a woman named Camilla Klein. Camilla lives in Connecticut, works in the nonprofit world as a donor relationships manager. In her spare time, she loves making mosaics. And several years ago, she started making these mosaic belt buckles for fun. I need to be making something and doing something with my hands, and I have... I think it sort of relaxes my brain or switches my brain to another drive, you know. I don't think about other things. And then I had so many belt buckles, so I opened an Etsy store. What was that thought process like when you had all those belt buckles? Well, you know, my friends were all, oh, you know, you should sell these.
And I was like, well, would anyone buy them? But I got sucked into that, and then I started doing – a lot of craft shows, you know, and I couldn't stand it. Oh, I hated it. Oh, why? Because you have to, first of all, Pack up the car, your tent, your tables, your weights for your tent, your lunch for the day, you know, how are you going to set up the table? Lug all those buckles. Is it going to rain today? Am I going to be spending another Mother's Day in a wet tent? I mean, and then be on. Hi, yes, they're belt buckles. Yes, I'm making myself at my dining room table. Oh, thank you. They're great. And then you get guys that like stand there. In front of your table. You know, are they just chatting you up?
Oh yeah, you're like, are you trying to buy something? Move along. That's so funny. Okay, so you were over the craft shows. yeah, I thought, let me just focus on, you know, selling them on Etsy. But I was never really good at Etsy, you know, the algorithm and the whatever. SEO, whatever. Yeah, all of that. And I couldn't, it was very frustrating to me. And honestly, I don't sell that many belt buckles on Etsy. But the truth is, I can't make that many, you know, they're very time consuming. And You know, if you're under the gun to make a lot, and I've had this problem with doing the craft shows, like I need 100 buckles on my table, you know, now for the next six weeks I've got to like churn them out. Right.
Then the joy gets sucked out of it. Yeah, I was going to ask, how did selling them change your relationship with the hobby? Yeah. Yeah, well, selling them with craft markets and on deadlines and trying to be a successful belt seller sucked the joy out of it. It definitely did. The joy of designing is gone. It's not like you're experimenting with new colors and a new stone.
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