When you run a business it can be so easy to get caught up in a one-track state of mind. All of your energy, down time and resources can feel like they only revolve around your business – especially in the beginning when you are trying to establish yourself.

When we started, we were literally spending every day of the week and every waking hour of the day either working on or thinking about our business. We loved it so much, but it was also exhausting, and we realised that we were neglecting other things that fulfilled us in our lives. It was a bit counter-intuitive, because part of the reason why we wanted to start a business was to have the time to do other things and cultivate other passions in our lives that would be difficult to do in a normal 9-to-5. So we made a deliberate decision to embrace our own personal ‘side hustles’ and ensure that our business wasn’t the only thing in our lives.

For us, our ‘side hustles’ are mainly in the arts – dance, acting, creative writing, art, languages – we both crave creative outlets for personal expression in these areas. Ever since we were little girls, we played soccer, piano, gymnastics, French lessons, etc. and we loved it. Dance and performance became such an intrinsic part of our lives as we joined choirs, and musical theatre in school and college. Once we transitioned into adulthood and our lives got busier with jobs and the high octane corporate life, we found we barely had time for these things in our lives anymore. And it was soul destroying.

When we made the decision to start our business, we went into it full throttle, but realised we still weren’t living the lives we wanted because we still didn’t have that creative outlet. So we pushed each other to cultivate these things in our lives – such as going to classes, joining performance groups and getting involved in different extra-curricular projects. We have found this to be so important – these activities not only enrich our personal lives, but add so much to our business as well. As adults, It’s important that we cultivate our passions and keep our side-hustles going – whether it’s volunteering, singing in a choir, or making pottery. 

So if you loved painting back in the day, but fell out of it due to one reason or another – you owe it to yourself to get back into it and cultivate that side-hustle!

What about you? Are there any passions you have had, or things you always wanted to try that you could start doing on the side?