I've Made Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars With A Fun Side Hustle — And You Might Have Seen Me Doing It On Tv

This as-told-to communicative is based connected a reside pinch GumGum Advertising CEO Phil Schraeder, who's had a successful broadside hustle appearing arsenic a contestant connected crippled shows. The information has been edited for magnitude and clarity. 

I'm primitively from a mini municipality extracurricular of Chicago. My brother, sister and I were connected nan aquatics squad successful nan summers, which meant early 6 a.m. mornings. This was backmost successful nan '80s, wherever aft aquatics practice, you'd spell extracurricular and play pinch your friends until dark, but successful nan mornings, nary 1 different was awake. So, erstwhile we sewage location from aquatics judge astir 7:30 a.m., my mom would make america repast and put connected nan TV — and my siblings and I would watch crippled shows.

I became fixated connected those crippled shows, ones for illustration The Price Is Right and Sale of nan Century, and I'd play them pinch my siblings. I'm ace competitive. I emotion trivia and winning prizes.

Related: 'Jeopardy!' Champion Buzzy Cohen Reveals 5 Surprising Parts of nan Game Show That You Don't See connected TV

Fast guardant to aft I graduated from college: I worked successful Chicago for a short clip earlier deciding that I needed to find myself. I wanted to recreation retired of nan closet. I felt very held backmost from my authentic self. I wanted a change, truthful I moved pinch a friend to Los Angeles.

When I arrived, each I had was my car and what I could caller incorrect of it. I had nary job, and I was successful in installments insubstantial debt. I needed to fig retired a measurement to summation money. Luckily, I've ever been focused connected accounting and finance. My inheritance is successful business. So, I wasn't worried astir being tin to find a job, but I still needed a measurement to make ends meet successful nan short term.

That's erstwhile I started a nosy and unsocial broadside hustle: competing connected crippled shows. I ended up going connected The Price Is Right pinch Bob Barker — and won. I walked distant pinch $900 successful cash, an amusement parkland popcorn cart and a grandfather clock. I was like, Wow, this is incredible. Not only did I emotion nan experience, but I was too surviving retired my puerility dream. I too loved knowing that my family was tin to bask watching maine do it.

Related: I Made Over $400,000 From a Side Hustle connected Top of My 6-Figure Salary Last Year. I Love Diversified Income — and This Game-Changing Money-Saver.

Even arsenic I progressed successful my finance career, yet becoming a VP, I continued pinch nan broadside hustle and kept a hit connected crippled show opportunities. Because Los Angeles is nan intermezo superior of nan world, a batch of first-time crippled shows personification their commencement there, and they look for contestants locally. So, it's not that competitory to apply; it's not a nationwide search.

When I heard astir nan caller show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, I knew I wanted to apply. And, being a 29-year-old finance and business accounting maestro from Chicago, I provided an opportunity for them to effort retired a contestant who wasn't successful nan intermezo industry. Still, it was a agelong audition process. But I was invited connected nan show and fixed astir 10 days to prepare.

I wasn't going to squander nan chance. I went to nan kids' homeschool store, and I bought each nan third, 4th and fifth-grade books. I bought world geography. I bought measurements. I bought flashcards of nan presidents. Every clip aft my life partner Wes and I woke up, I would study, past spell to work. On my luncheon break, I would study more. Later successful nan evenings astatine home, I'd study until I was falling dormant connected nan couch.

I ended up winning $175,000 connected nan show. It gave maine a batch of financial freedom.

Related: Two Knicks and a Businessman Walk Into a Studio — And Turn Their Side Hustle Into a Booming Business. Here's How They Did It

This broadside hustle provided different breathtaking chances to make money complete nan years. I too appeared connected nan Dick Clark Pyramid Show, wherever I won $22,500. I virtually took nan clip disconnected work, called my comparative aft I won and said, "Oh, that was a bully clip of work."

But this benignant of broadside hustle comes pinch immoderate limitations, too. You tin only spell connected truthful galore crippled shows complete nan group of 10 years. Now, if nan correct opportunity presented itself, I'd spot taking it. I still emotion crippled shows and admit that they helped group maine up financially, but astatine this constituent successful my life, I'm successful a different situation, truthful if I were to look connected 1 and win, I'd apt donate nan money.

My crippled show broadside hustle decidedly helped style maine arsenic a business leader.

In nan beginning, I was acrophobic that I mightiness not beryllium taken earnestly arsenic a seasoned executive business maestro successful finance because I enjoyed competing connected crippled shows. But those were my ain ideas astir societal expectations and being boxed in, and it really helped maine admit that arsenic a CEO and leader myself, I don't want anyone to consciousness that their interests aliases broadside hustles negatively powerfulness really they're perceived professionally. We want to observe those interests and broadside hustles; we want to beforehand them.

At GumGum, we're successful 20 countries and personification complete 500 people, truthful I've implemented what I telephone "starting classes": whoever started successful Q1 of this twelvemonth would beryllium successful nan Q1 2025 starting class. And I inquire them a batch of questions. What are immoderate people's broadside hustles? What are they consenting in? It's astonishing to watch everyone ray up. There are DJs, macrame crafters, influencers and opera singers. Then, I deliberation astir really we tin construe those passions into our civilization and beforehand and support each different successful nan community.

Related: How to Balance a Full-Time Job With a Side Hustle

From my acquisition connected Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? successful particular, I learned nan worthy of listening to yourself and pursuing that instinct. I was successful a business wherever I was unsure of nan reply and had to find if I wanted to consequence it each and spell pinch nan kid's answer. If nan kid's reply was correct, I could personification won $300,000, but if it were wrong, I would personification dropped down to $25,000. Since nan kid wasn't definite astir nan answer, I stuck pinch my ain and kept nan $175,000.

As it turned out, nan kid's reply was right, truthful I would personification won $300,000. But it was still an important instruction successful listening to myself — because though it would personification felt awesome to triumph $300,000, it would personification felt acold worse to suffer $150,000. In nan end, I was wholly bully pinch not winning overmuch successful bid to protect what I already had. You petition to enactment existent to what useful for you and what you are comfortable with. Don't deliberation astir what others mightiness personification aliases do, and past comparison yourself.

My crippled show broadside hustle too taught maine a batch astir my individual motivations — and really those values tin construe to leadership.

On Are You Smarter Than 5th Grader?, I received a astonishment video relationship from my mom, who is an pedagogue and my fifth-grade teacher. I get affectional connected nan show because my mom's wishing maine bully luck. That infinitesimal made maine admit that, yes, this is ace fun, but immoderate this is, it's point compared to really fortunate I americium pinch nan different aspects of my life. It reaffirmed what really matters.

Related: I Turned My Side Hustle Into a Passive Income Stream That's Earned More Than $1 Million — But Making Money Isn't Even nan Best Part

When it comes to business, nan astir successful leaders are going to beryllium nan ones who tin spell very dense successful humanizing america and themselves. I effort to enactment distant from encouraging leaders to beryllium "authentic" because nan different of that is "inauthentic," and I don't deliberation group effort to show up inauthentically. They're conscionable trying to beryllium overmuch transparent.

So that's my 1 ample push, peculiarly arsenic it relates to nan advertizing industry: If you're a leader successful this field, nan eventual extremity is connecting pinch personification profoundly connected an affectional level aliases a needs level. The champion leaders petition to show up prepared to do that each day.