The life of an entrepreneur can be a challenge. Balancing a business with your passion requires much of an individual. For perspective on this, we reached out to author and blogger Andrea C. Imafidon. Andrea gives us insight as an entrepreneur, blogger, and speaker. She will be a speaker at BloggerWeek 2016 later this summer. Andrea is also the creator of Brown Girl From Boston.
Polite On Society: What motivated you to write your book?
Andrea Imafidon: I was motivated to write “Turning Your Passion Into A Paycheck” because I have learned how to turn my passions into a paycheck. I was motivated to write my book because I always had side hustles to compliment my main hustle and wanted to share my knowledge of the power of side hustles and supplementing your income.
I understand the power of having multiple streams of income coming into my household and wanted to help others especially African-Americans to turn their skills, talents, and passions into a paycheck instead of throwing money down the drain and living paycheck to paycheck. This book was also inspired by a previous tele-class that I taught on turning your dream into a profit, in which I was teaching people how to create various source of income through something that they truly encourage doing each and everyday. You can turn anything into a profit these days.
POS: In embracing your passion, do you feel there is a danger at times that the process of turning it into a profit will drain your enthusiasm?
AI: I have so many passions in which I protect all of them. Some passions that I have are just passionate hobbies and wouldn’t want to profit from them because I just enjoy them such as listening to Hip Hop. I love Hip Hop but I can’t see myself being a Hip Hop journalist because I would have to listen to all kind of wack Hip Hop and would automatically have my enthusiasm drained trying to comprehend what the heck these new ages “Hip Hop artists” are trying to convey to the listeners. I know my lane and I stay in it.
As far as my other passions, such as blogging, speaking, helping people to map out their business ideas, or problem-solving, I love doing those things and have no problem profiting from them. When I blog, speak, or problem-solve personal and professional issues for people, I profit from my passions in a holistic way. I am part of the healing process, the transformation process, and the breakthroughs that bring me so much enthusiasm. My inner wealth, enthusiasm, and knowing what lane to stay in to create and profit from my passion, protects me from burnout. My business is my livelihood and I stick to blogging/writing, coaching/consultant, and speaking to profit from. I have tried to profit from all my passions at one point because I was desperate and needed money. I was in way over my head and I have failed because I realize that I cannot do any and every business idea that comes in and out my mind. I have to pick and choose wisely and stay in my knowledge lane.
POS: How important is it nowadays to have multiple streams of income?
AI:
It is essential to have multiple streams of income. No one should depend on one source of income because anything can compromise your main hustle such as illness, termination, starting a family, economy, gentrification, systemic racism, workplace racism and the list goes on and on. Having multiple streams of income give you power, it gives you a voice, provide freedom and independence. We need multiple streams of income to build strong economies, create jobs for our community, and rebuild and restructure communities and neighborhoods that are disenfranchised and being taking over by gentrification.
We live in an expensive and materialistic society in which the cost of living is high while your paycheck is barely allowing you and your survive to live a quality of life. You have debt such as student loans, credit cards, and personal debt that is holding people hostage to working multiple low wage jobs, limited of time to enjoy life, and you are basically paying bills and waiting to die. I have decided a long time ago that me and my family were not about that life. I remember walking off my “lucrative and good” job because I couldn’t take the workplace discrimination from my supervisor. My husband and I had enough saved to make it for six months and on top of his salary. I had to tap into my side hustle of resume writing, partaking in paid focus groups, and other odd gigs to survive while figuring out our next move.
There are so many talented and skillful people who are not getting paid what they are worth on their jobs while being mistreated on their jobs. I truly believe that we all have the skills to pay the bills and live a prosperous and abundant life. We have to tap into our skills, strengths, and passions and profit from them. You are planning to fail once you start depending on that one paycheck. We have to move beyond fear and start creating multiple streams to create generational wealth for our children, their children, and their children’s children. You cannot create wealth depending on a paycheck and you cannot create wealth working for someone who wealth is set for 400 years.