Side hustles to small business: How to make a ‘patchwork career’ work

Whether by choice or circumstance, a growing number of people are leaving ‘real jobs’ for more flexible modes of employment. Frances Cook spoke to one such self-employed slashie about how she’s made it work for her.

Beth Vickers never planned to run her own business. She had a solid, stable career, a climb-the-ladder mindset, and a firm belief that working harder would fix everything. 

Then motherhood happened. And redundancy. And a series of job attempts that made her question everything.

Now, she’s a vocal coach, professional singer, doula, and gardening influencer – a title so eclectic it sounds made up. But, as she told the Making Cents podcast, it means she’s able to work less, earn more, and, for the first time in years, actually like what she does.

Step 1: Hit the career wall – bonus points if you’re made redundant

“I was a career girl,” Beth said on Making Cents. “Like, proper career focused. I got into recruitment at 19 and had my sights set on becoming an executive someday. That was the dream.”

Then she had kids. And, well, the plan exploded. She tried to return to recruitment after her first baby, but it felt off. 

“I was constantly torn between my job and my kid. No one was winning. I was exhausted, I was getting sick all the time, and I just felt stuck.”

Kids demand a lot from you, and being tiny, adorable biohazards, also bring home colds like it’s their full-time job. But employers, even the “good” ones, still expect you to show up. “[The working world is] just not built for parents,” Beth said.

So she tried climbing higher, thinking maybe a better role would fix things. It didn’t. She switched jobs. That didn’t work either.

Then she got made redundant.

Step 2: Turn a side hustle into an escape route

Beth had accidentally started a side hustle before redundancy hit. Mid-flail in trying to fix the identity crisis caused by career changes, she’d headed off on a vocal retreat, to enjoy her years-long hobby of singing. 

Then the retreat instructor asked if she’d ever considered teaching singing herself. 

She hadn’t, feeling that she didn’t have the proper qualifications. But being asked to consider it by someone who she respected, made her realise that she didn’t need to wait for permission from others to do something she knew she had expertise in. So she started teaching a few students on the side, for fun. 

Then redundancy hit, and she was faced with a choice:

1. Quit the side hustle, get a “real job” again
2. Go all-in and see if she could make it work

The way she saw it, it wasn’t much of a choice. Time to see if she could make it work as a full-time business.

Step 3: Get over the fear of being seen

For fun, she also started a gardening TikTok. As TikTok can do, some of her videos blew up, and soon she was getting offers for sponsored content videos. 

One of the biggest hurdles? Worrying what people would think.

“When I first started my gardening TikTok, I cringed. ‘What if people judge me? What if my friends see it?’”

Instead, it not only worked, but those who saw it were supportive, and it provided a second trickle of income that helped keep the singing teacher dream alive. 

Step 4: Embrace the ‘patchwork career’ model

By being willing to try out different income streams and see what stuck, Beth created a surprisingly sustainable business model. 

Singing lessons repeated each week, so became a version of a steady, subscription-based income. She also worked as a post-partum doula, offering support to new mums. This resulted in small periods of more intensive, highly paid work. The lump sums were welcome, but wouldn’t have been sustainable without the reliable singing teacher work. 

Professional singing tours were another source of intense work periods, for bigger pay, that otherwise wouldn’t have been reliable enough on their own. And TikTok brand deals provided pocket money for extra fun. 

Together, the multiple sources of work created stability and decent income. “It looks chaotic, but it’s actually more stable than my old job,” Beth says.

Step 5: Accept that you’ll be bad at first

You have to be bad, before you can be good. It’s a lesson we’d expect our kids to take on, but as adults, we can be really bad at allowing ourselves to suck at something for a while. 

But Beth had to allow herself to try things, knowing she might not be the best, and being willing to improve as she went. Otherwise she would never have had the confidence to start advertising her services in the many areas where she went into business. 

“You have to be OK with being bad at something first. Nobody starts out great.”

Beth says her guiding principal became “screw it, just try”. Turning 2024 into the year of “just try” meant she ended up building a business, and now she can’t ever see herself going back. 

It’s patchwork career, and self-employed life, for as long as she can make it work. And for now, at least, that means higher pay, lower working hours, and actually getting to spend time with her kids. 

For the full conversation, tune in to the latest Making Cents, the podcast for people who want financial freedom without giving up their coffee.