Hello. Coming to you from the car today for video No. 4. And one of the things that I literally was in a conversation with someone about just this morning was exposure.
So as you’re thinking about whether it’s a career change or a side hustle or a new business, right, you sometimes what happens is you have a concept that you wanna try or something that you wanna sell or a new skill that you want to somehow get paid for and you are considering, let’s say, a new job offer and it’s not quite the number you want or it doesn’t have quite the benefits you want and you’re weighing out whether you should take it or not. Sometimes it’s not only the number, right? Sometimes it’s what you can negotiate for. Sometimes it’s, you know, a sign on bonus. Sometimes it’s extra PTO. Sometimes is the ease of the job, you know, that sort of thing.
With side hustle or entrepreneurial business, there may be, you know, freebies or, you know, some in some way, shape or form you allowing people to test drive. So if you think of like if you’re in the market for a car, you know, before you buy that car, you can go and test drive that car. So in some way, shape or form, you know, testing the product is included.
And so I have a client that is literally, you know, starting their side hustle and then starting that side hustle, you know, they’ve created a lead magnet, I’m gonna call it, of swords where it’s not the typical PDF, you know, it’s them actually, you know, performing some portion of work that could be paid sometime in the future. And so their question was, you know, should I do this? I feel like I’m giving away too much. Like, you know, should I do X amount and then now after X, you know, you know, start charging and that sort of thing. And you know, s I sat with that for a minute and then having that conversation, the conversation led to this. You know, all exposure is not created equal. And by that I mean, are you planting seeds so that, you know, in some time, some future time, you’ll be able to harvest, you know, whether it’s for the greater good, whether it’s for financial gain, whether it’s, you know, classes you’re taking to complete a degree, whether it’s passes that sometimes you may have to give a loved one or a friend, not too many, you know, to preserve the relationship.
There’s so many ways. But if we were to think of people like Tabitha Brown or Rihanna, for example, Rihanna, for example, when she performed at the Super Bowl, was not paid for that appearance. However, she showed up in all her Fenty gear. You know, she was able to promote her line and she had the most sales that she probably ever had. Same thing with Tabasa Brown, right? When Tabasa Brown was, before she was Auntie Tab, so to speak, and she was just an Uber driver eating her sandwich from Whole Foods. The reality was she was able to build off of something that she didn’t know where it was gonna go.
But can you be strategic, right? If that exposure, sometimes you’re doing something you don’t even know why you’re doing it and it pays in dividends. So using myself as an example, I just got back from leave on my 9 to 5. And in coming back and kind of getting back into the swing of things, I’ve been talking to a lot of decision makers, talking to a lot of MDs, you know, putting my name out there for plus ones. And so as I’m ramping up to get back to work full time and balance everything, you know, for the first few weeks you’re doing it and you’re not sure what’s gonna happen.
Can I tell you what’s happening now is I have probably about five different roles at work. But you know what? It’s balanced. And its exposure and its networking and its community and the things that I, for example, can’t show up fully for, I politely differ and I pass the baton to someone that does have capacity, right? Or if it’s something that I’m required to do, then I tap into the resources, for example, that can support me with that. So all exposures not created equal. And that was shared with me by someone that I really respect this morning. And it really gave me perspective because as you’re saying yeses to different things, you want to say yes to the ones that really drive your goals ultimately, that create the impact that you’re looking for and that at the end of the day, you can sleep well with, right? And so as you’re thinking of what your next move is, whether it’s how to bridge your side hustle with your 9 to 5 or if you’re leaving the corporate world and just putting your stake in the ground as an entrepreneur, if you’re taking a career break, whatever the case might be, as you’re doing that, think about the things that you really wanna do and how you can get there and give yourself the Grace to sit with it and to really make a good decision because when those harvests start to come in, you’ll be surprised at how they will pay. You’ll be surprised about the new opportunities that come your way, whether it’s opportunities for fun, for rest, for work, whatever the case might be. So all exposure is not created equal. And for those of you that don’t know, I’ll be speaking next week at the Job Liberation Stump Summit virtually. I’ll make sure to put the link in my notes here for this post. Join me cuz I’m talking about from passion project 2 side hustle and how to balance that with your 9 to 5. Cuz what that’s what I’m doing. So it’s your favorite career, corporate coach, Auntie Teresa Lindo. And I would love to see you there and let me know what you think. How do you handle exposure? Cuz a lot of people say you’re not paying me, I’m not doing it. Well, think about it. There may be something that you can get out of it. If not now, in the future. So think short and long term and what makes sense to you. So happy Saturday. Talk to you soon.