Welcome to another edition of Side Hustle Spotlight where I interview actors and filmmakers at different levels of their careers who have used their other passions to capitalize on a fulfilling side hustle. These folks no longer or have never had to do serving work that drained their energy and made them miserable. Be sure to check out the original article for inspiration on discovering your side hustle.
This week we interview an author and TV and film writer who uses his expert writing skills and creativity in his niche work-from-home side hustle helping students gain entry into Ivy League business schools!
Name: John Vorhaus
Side hustle: Graduate Educational Consulting
Years writing: 40
Favorite writing credits/opportunities: TV/Film: “Married…with Children,” “Save Angel Hope,” “Pretty, Sick & Twisted.” Books: “The Comic Toolbox,” “Creativity Rules,” “Lucy In The Sky,” “Poole’s Paradise,” “Decide to Play Great Poker,” “Decide to Play Drunk Poker,” “A White Belt In Art,” “The little book of SITCOM.”
What do you do when a writing gig comes up?
Grab it like a dog with a bone and write the crap out of it. Devote myself to it completely, for I never know if or when another gig will come up.
Have you ever felt like your side hustle was in jeopardy because of writing? How long did it take you to feel like you had security at this side hustle, even if you took time off for a project?
This has never been a problem for me. I made the decision early in my professional life to “own my own time.” Since I never sell my time wholesale (in 40-hour-per week clumps), I always have plenty available. I have also learned that capacity, like gas, expands to fill the available space. If there’s work that needs to get done, it gets done. That’s just my ethic.
What skills or talents did you need for this side hustle? How long did it take you to qualify or complete training for your side hustle?
I had the editing and interactive tools that I needed to be a good consultant to my clientele: people applying to top business schools such as Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. I needed to acquire an understanding of the business school environment and application process as a whole. I also needed to learn “what the numbers meant.” That is, the relationship between a candidate’s overall strength and their GPA and/or GMAT/GRE scores. I worked at this part-time, mostly as an editor, for three or four years until my related skills and understanding came aboard.
How does this side hustle fulfill you? Do you feel like you’re helping people/society/humanity in a tangible way?
Boy, you hit the nail on the head. When I help someone with worthy ambitions position themselves to execute on those ambitions, I get the “knock-on” benefit of having facilitated positive change. You won’t know this, perhaps, but top business schools are all about training and equipping transformational leaders, and, in fact, the process of applying to business school is (or is anyway intended to be) transformational in and of itself. When I help a client get into business school, I’m literally helping to make their life rise. That’s not nothing. That’s “ticket to heaven” stuff.
Has your side hustle made you better at writing or achieving your goals?
Working with clients who are not, by nature, writers, has caused me to think about my own process more deeply. If there’s an issue that my clients are facing as writers, it’s likely one that I face myself. As I deepen my understanding, for example, of how fear impedes their writing process, I gain insight into my own relationship to fear: the little voice inside my head that I call my ferocious editor.
Survival Jobs 101 Why did you choose to do this side hustle instead of more stereotypical showbiz side hustles like serving?
Sick hourly rate. In that field I am an expert and a consultant. In most other side-hustle fields, I can only hope to be an accessory or a functionary. This is something that I learned very on in my long, long relationship with side hustles: If all I have to sell is my time, I can’t prosper because I have the same “value add” as everyone else. This will naturally depress the rate I can charge. But if I’m selling my expertise, and not just my time, then I can charge a premium, specifically because of the value add. So the advice I would give to anyone pursuing a side hustle is to find something that you’re better at than most and build your side hustle around that.
If you produce your own work, do you feel like this current side hustle allows you the freedom/resources to do that?
Yes, absolutely. It provides an income floor that I can count on, leaving me free to explore my creative side without worrying if I can make every or even any exploration pay.
Do you have any advice for writers that aren’t sure what path to take while they are waiting for their passion to pay all the bills?
Yes, I have four pieces of solid advice, derived from my years as a writer, creative consultant, and inveterate side hustler.
1. Go off in all directions at once. You’re bound to arrive somewhere interesting. You think that you will dilute your efforts by spreading them around, but this is not the case. Instead, you cross-pollinate your creativity in ways that you can’t imagine.
2. Keep giving them you until you is what they want. The only thing any writer really has to offer that’s unique is their own voice. Hone your voice, sell your voice, and keep focused on your voice. This will make both the process and the outcomes of writing more rewarding and more valuable to one and all.
3. Never leave money lying on the table. If there’s writing work to be had, have at it. You might think that it’s beneath you or beside you, but that is not the case. Every word you write, good or bad, off-point or on-point, contributes to your practice and your craft, and it’s along the path of practice and craft that true career and spiritual growth lie.
4. Walk down the beach, pick up everything you find, and turn it into a party hat. This has been my business model for four decades, and it has brought untold richness into my life.
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and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.
