Who Taught You What Success Looks Like?

The author is a professional speaker and entrepreneur who started a reselling business at 19 while studying Psychology at Duke University. Originally, it began as a “side hustle.” It became a six‐figure business, and the basis for great personal satisfaction. She describes the origins and current status of the “side hustle” term, and notes that she initially kept her business a secret. She didn't believe it fit in with a fast‐moving professional career, in which she had “published 3 books by 21, facilitated workshops for companies like Netflix and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was an International Coaching Federation certified coach, and wrote for Psychology Today .” She didn't learn to attribute more pride to her entrepreneurship until after college, with the help of her coach: “The image of success was passed down through ranking systems, report cards, job titles, and bank statements. Most of us absorbed this idea so completely and so subconsciously that we never thought to question whether it was what we actually believed.”