BWW Blog: Embracing Your Side Hustle

Going into a career in the world of theater can be difficult, to say the least. It is a competitive industry, like many others, and it requires gut, determination and talent to succeed.

And, yes, while gut, determination and talent are necessary, they don't always bring instant success. Even when success comes, (whatever success means to you!), it doesn't necessarily come with a gigantic paycheck. There is always the stereotype of professional actors working as waiters between jobs, and that certainly helps many pay the bills. However, the structured hours of a 9-to-5 or a restaurant job don't always work if your days are filled with auditions and meetings.

Many theater artists have a "side hustle," a complimentary job, usually freelance, that you can do on your own time to help supplement income. These might still be artistic jobs, like photography, videography, teaching and art or design or they may be something completely different! Part of being a well-rounded theater professional is having a life outside of the theater. How you can you create real honest work if you know so little about the world you inhabit? Side hustles not only provide artists with additional income but allow them to explore passions outside of the performing arts. Some people have multiple side hustles and that's awesome, the more you can do, the more opportunities you will have to bring in revenue!

While you have time during quarantine, it's a great time to figure out what your side hustle may be. Something you do as a hobby may very well turn into something that people will pay you to do! Especially if it is a job that you can do from home, start working on it now and you can start profiting from it while still in quarantine!

Additional jobs are never anything to be ashamed of- life is expensive! You are a theater artist, whether or not you are currently working in the theater, so don't think that having other jobs is "selling out". How you make your living is entirely up to you and for no one else to judge.

I also think it's good to not try to hide your other jobs from your presence as an artist. Embrace all your many talents and show them off to the world! Having information about your side hustle integrated into your website or online presence is awesome! You never know where connections may come from.

There are so many possibilities of what you can do, start with something you love and go from there! You can always be learning new skills and building your arsenal of tools to use from supplementary income. So, get out there and rock your side hustles while you're taking the theatrical world by storm!