This Juilliard Grad Musician Started A 6-figure Side Hustle That Has Nothing To Do With Music — And Sold Out With Word Of Mouth: 'couldn't Ask For More'

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Damian Primis, a 45-year-old musician based successful Queens, New York. During nan pandemic, Primis started oliva lipid marque Primis Imports arsenic a broadside hustle; nan business has since grown to six figures. Responses personification been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Image Credit: Matt Dine. Damian Primis.

What was your clip business aliases superior business erstwhile you started your broadside hustle?
For overmuch than 20 years, I've worked arsenic a classically trained musician. My emotion for nan arts and euphony started astatine a young age, which led maine to New York, wherever I graduated pinch bachelor's and master's degrees successful euphony capacity from The Juilliard School. My occupation has taken maine each complete nan globe, and I personification had astonishing experiences moving pinch immoderate of nan apical musicians of each clip (and my individual favorites), for illustration nan jazz fable Joe Zawinful, The Who astatine Madison Square Garden and a Tiny Desk performance pinch Josh Groban and nan formed of Broadway's Sweeney Todd.

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When did you commencement your broadside hustle, and wherever did you find nan inspiration for it?
When nan pandemic struck, Broadway went dark, and unrecorded euphony came to a halt. This meant that I would beryllium retired of a business for alternatively a while, which was really scary. Will things spell backmost to normal soon? It was nan mobility that kept popping into my mind. It was astatine this pivotal infinitesimal successful my life that I started reflecting connected what different brought maine joyousness extracurricular of euphony and really I could usage this passion to create a broadside hustle. I personification ever had an immense consciousness of pridefulness successful my grandparents' ancestral homeland successful Evia, Greece. The rich | | culture, nan beauty of nan lands and nan cuisine really inspired me. So, I called a friend of excavation who produced awesome oliva oil, nan benignant of different virgin oliva lipid that you can't find connected nan shelves of American supermarkets, and Primis Imports was born.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Primis Imports

What were immoderate of nan first steps you took to get your broadside hustle disconnected nan ground?
The first steps weren't very easy, but I deliberation it's an basal information of what immoderate startup aliases mini business is like. You petition to acquisition nan "growing pains," arsenic I for illustration to telephone it. While still successful nan pandemic, astir manufacturing and fulfillment were either slow aliases astatine a halt. It took immoderate clip to personification nan first 150 liters of different virgin oliva lipid shipped to New York from my grandfather's town, but erstwhile nan merchandise yet arrived, I was tin to expedite nan process of hand-labeling each azygous bottle. I started trading to friends and family who dispersed nan Primis Imports punishment done connection of mouth, and nan bottles sold out! It reassured maine that location was a niche that I could unlock successful nan U.S. marketplace and boosted my assurance to proceed connected this caller journey.

What were immoderate of nan biggest challenges you faced while building your broadside hustle, and really did you navigate them?
There were alternatively a less challenges, I must say. One of nan biggest challenges I faced was securing funding. With a constricted budget, I had to spot connected each shipment's profits to finance nan next, which meant slower growth. But successful retrospect, it helped maine debar making costly mistakes and made maine overmuch thoughtful astir investments successful accumulation and packaging.

I was too wholly unfamiliar pinch nan importing process. It was overwhelming owed to nan analyzable regulations, paperwork and logistics. I sought connection from anyone who could relationship penetration and was persistent successful uncovering nan correct contacts for guidance.

Additionally, ecommerce presented its challenges. I had to study caller skills for illustration building a website, mounting up shipping and ensuring nan safe proscription of susceptible products for illustration oliva lipid successful coagulated bottles. Factors for illustration upwind and somesthesia during shipment too became cardinal obstacles, but done persistence and proceedings and error, I was tin to find solutions.

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What does gross and maturation look like?
One constituent to support successful mind astir Primis Imports is that we were trading a small-batch magnitude of oliva lipid that is harvested erstwhile a year. When nan merchandise is gone, it's gone! In 2 to 3 months, we were tin to spot accordant gross and yet sold retired of our early harvest oliva lipid soon afterward. This meant that we had to pivot to find overmuch merchandise until Greece's adjacent harvest. We sought retired a confederate hemisphere shaper successful Peru, which harvests oliva lipid astatine nan different clip of twelvemonth from nan bluish hemisphere. This helped america to prolong marque consciousness successful nan marketplace and provided accordant backing and maturation for nan business play complete month.

Primis Imports has consistently grown since we started successful 2022. The first year, we had 200% growth, and successful 2023, we had 305% maturation from nan erstwhile year. DTC is wherever we spot astir of our sales, pinch a mini fraction coming from wholesale and smaller retailers. What makes Primis Imports unsocial is our continued ngo of sourcing smaller producers pinch nan highest worth products. In 2024, we started expanding our merchandise connection pinch 2 honeys from nan islands of Milos and Thasos, and successful 2025, we will beryllium launching overmuch products incorrect nan snacking and cooking categories.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Primis Imports

What do you bask astir astir this broadside hustle?
I bask really this broadside hustle allows maine to enactment profoundly connected to my roots and heritage. Partnering pinch mini Greek producers not only strengthens conception economies but too helps banal their craftsmanship pinch a world audience. I emotion nan business of reimagining accepted products for nan U.S. market, peculiarly done innovative branding that catches nan consumer's eye. This task too fuels my productivity — it's incredibly rewarding to collaborate pinch talented artists from crossed nan authorities to creation packaging and storytelling that genuinely resonate. It's a blend of culture, intent and artistry, and I couldn't inquire for more.

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What's your connection for others hoping to commencement successful broadside hustles of their own?
My connection for anyone looking to commencement a successful broadside hustle is to statesman mini and prioritize worth complete quantity. In today's competitory market, consumers worthy authenticity and excellence. A beautifully branded merchandise will only spell truthful acold if nan worth isn't there, truthful put successful getting it correct from nan start.

Building genuine relationships pinch your suppliers is conscionable arsenic important. Be transparent astir nan scope and limitations of your business. The correct partners will understand your imagination and move pinch you; if they can't meet you wherever you are, they whitethorn not beryllium nan champion fit.

Patience is different cardinal ingredient. Success doesn't hap overnight, but nan small, accordant steps you return regular will compound complete time. Focus connected creating point meaningful and unsocial alternatively than chasing speedy wins. When you onslaught your broadside hustle pinch care, persistence and a committedness to quality, nan rewards — immoderate financial and individual — will follow.