Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Retail Manager Built a 12K Virtual Event Side Hustle
Transcript
- Lucas: You know how corporate events have mostly gone back to in-person, but there's this lingering hybrid thing that's actually created a whole new side hustle market? Luna: You mean the companies that still do virtual team building or product launches? I've seen those. Lucas: Exactly. And today's guest—well, we're telling her story—she's a retail assistant manager who turned that into a twelve thousand dollar a month side gig. Her name is Sarah, and she's in Columbus, Ohio. Luna: How did a retail manager even get into virtual events? That seems like a leap. Lucas: It's actually not that big a leap when you think about what retail managers do all day: logistics, scheduling, vendor management, troubleshooting on the fly. Those are exactly the skills you need to produce a virtual event. Sarah started small—she helped a friend's small business run a virtual happy hour during the pandemic. Then she realized there was demand beyond the pandemic. Luna: So she kept doing it even after things reopened? That's smart. Lucas: Right. She noticed that a lot of companies with remote teams still wanted occasional face to face time, but couldn't justify the travel costs. So she positioned herself as the person who could make those virtual gatherings feel polished. Her first paying client was a local tech startup that needed a virtual product demo event. Luna: What did she charge for that first one? Lucas: Five hundred dollars. She basically coordinated the Zoom logistics, set up breakout rooms, managed the Q&A, and made sure the demo ran smoothly. The client loved it, and she got referrals. Within six months, she was doing two events a month at five hundred each. Then she raised her rates. Luna: How much did she bump it up to? Lucas: Fifteen hundred per event for full coordination—that includes pre-event planning, rehearsals, live tech support, and post-event analytics. At that price, she only needs eight events a month to hit twelve thousand dollars. And she's been doing exactly that for the last six months. Luna: Eight events a month while working a full-time retail job? That's intense. Lucas: It is. She told me her typical week: she does most of her prep on weekday evenings—building run of show documents, testing tech, communicating with clients. The actual events are usually on weekends or late afternoons. The key is she batches her prep work so she's not scrambling. Luna: What tools does she use? Is it all Zoom, or something more advanced? Lucas: She uses Zoom for most events, but she's also certified on Hopin and has used StreamYard for hybrid events. She invested in a good microphone, a second monitor, and a wired internet connection—no Wi-Fi during shows. And she uses Notion to manage client projects. Luna: So the upfront investment was pretty minimal. A few hundred dollars for gear, plus the time to learn the platforms. Lucas: Exactly. Her biggest hurdle was getting those first few clients without a portfolio. She ended up offering two free 'test events' to friends' companies in exchange for testimonials. That gave her the social proof she needed. Luna: That's a great strategy. And her retail background—did it help with anything specific beyond logistics? Lucas: Absolutely. She said the most transferable skill was managing difficult situations calmly. In retail, you deal with angry customers, inventory screw-ups, schedule conflicts. In events, something always goes wrong—a speaker loses internet, a link doesn't work. She's not fazed because she's used to problem-solving on the spot. Luna: I can see how that would set her apart from someone who's only ever been behind a screen. She's got that real-world crisis management. Lucas: Right. And she also leveraged her retail network. Her first referrals came from former co-workers and vendors she'd worked with at the store. They knew she was reliable and detail-oriented. Luna: So someone listening who works in retail, or really any customer-facing role, could replicate this? Lucas: I think so. The key is to identify a specific pain point in the market. Sarah saw that companies wanted polished virtual events but didn't want to hire a full-time event producer. She offered a middle ground: a freelance coordinator who could handle the whole thing. She also niche'd down a bit—she focuses on events under two hundred attendees, which is where most small-to-mid-size companies play. Luna: That makes sense. If you try to compete for big conferences, you're up against agencies. But for a virtual happy hour or a product demo, you just need to be reliable and personable. Lucas: Exactly. And the revenue is solid because these events are often budgeted as one-off expenses, not recurring costs. So clients are willing to pay fifteen hundred for a single, high-quality event rather than hiring someone full-time. Luna: Has she thought about leaving her retail job to do this full-time? Lucas: She has, but she's being cautious. She's using the side hustle income to pay down debt and build a six-month emergency fund first. She told me she wants to quit when the side hustle can comfortably replace her day-job income, which she's targeting around eighteen thousand a month. That would mean scaling to about twelve events per month. Luna: Smart. No need to rush when you've got a steady gig and a growing side business. She's in a great position. Lucas: Yeah, and she's already turning down clients because she can't handle more. That's a nice problem to have. One thing she emphasized: she doesn't compete on price. She sells on reliability and a stress-free process. Luna: That's the sweet spot. Stories like this really show how transferable skills can unlock unexpected income streams. And it's not just about making money—it's about building confidence and a safety net. Lucas: Absolutely. And if you're getting value from these episodes, the way we keep the show ad-free and focused on real stories is through listener support. If today was helpful, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It genuinely helps us keep doing this. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that goes a long way for a show like ours. And back to Sarah—she's actually building a simple course on how to get started in virtual event coordination, targeting other retail and hospitality workers. Lucas: Which is a whole other potential revenue stream. But for now, her core lesson is: look at the skills you use every day at your job, then figure out who's willing to pay for those skills in a different context. For her, it was logistics and calm under pressure. For someone else, it might be something else entirely. Luna: That's the takeaway. Thanks, Lucas. And thanks to Sarah for sharing her numbers and her playbook. Lucas: Next time, we're looking at a nurse who turned her patient education skills into a side hustle creating explainer videos for medical device companies. That's a good one. Until then, keep building.