Ep 349. Fish Tanks and Ponds: Eric Triplett on Full Time vs Side Hustle!

Summary

Side Hustle Squad Ep 349: Fish Tanks and Ponds – Eric Triplett on Full Time vs Side Hustle!

Host: Mike Garvey
Guests: Eric Triplett, Brian
Date: July 7, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Side Hustle Squad centers on the blurred lines between hobbies, side hustles, and full-fledged businesses, using aquariums, fish breeding, and pond building as a springboard for personal stories and broader insights. Guest Eric Triplett (aka "The Pond Digger") and fellow entrepreneur Brian dive deep into how passion projects can evolve, the motivations behind entrepreneurial side gigs, the challenges of turning hobbies into businesses, and what truly defines success for the side hustler.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Hobby to Hustle: Brian’s Fish Story

Timestamps: 00:52–05:48

• Brian shares his lifelong passion for aquariums—how it began as a young adult without obligations and turned into a multi-garage, fish-breeding operation.
  • His drive: “I was just infatuated. Like, dude, I just couldn't get enough.” (Brian, 00:54)
• Even 35 years later, Brian maintains about 35-40 aquariums, breeding and selling fish—mainly to support his hobby, not for profit.
  • “I don't even know if I call it side hustle. It's like a hobby. But I sell them... it's just like supporting my home hobby, you know what I mean?” (Brian, 02:33)
• The line between hobby and hustle: When does a side activity become a ‘real’ business?
  • “When does side hustle become, like, a real business? Like, what's the lever? It’s different for everyone, right?” (Brian, 04:15)

2. Intentional Business or Casual Hustle?

Timestamps: 04:24–07:54

• Eric jumped into business with the intention to make it “real” from day one—filing paperwork and branding, not just “doing it off the side, take cash.”
  • “For me, I was like, I’m serving customers. It's a real business. Like, I filed the paperwork before I even had, like, one customer.” (Eric, 04:28)
• The “safety net” of maintaining a primary job (state police) removed a lot of the fear from starting something new, but also “takes the grit out of having to succeed.”
  • “It could be easy to quit.” (Eric, 06:11)

3. Side Hustle as a Strategic Exit Plan

Timestamps: 07:00–08:45

• Eric describes how planning a side hustle can serve as an early pipeline for post-career fulfillment and income:
  • “I started thinking about this in year five. I want something established that while I was at my full time job, it was make some...I wanted to make money while I was making money.” (Eric, 07:05)
• The importance of not waiting until retirement to figure out “what’s next”:
  • “I don’t want to be like, in the last month to be like, I don't know, do I want to teach? Do I want to, do I want to do... I don't know.” (Eric, 08:24)

4. Work vs. Passion: The Fulfillment Equation

Timestamps: 08:47–12:42

• Broad discussion about people in stable but unfulfilling jobs (e.g., state government, DMV) supplementing their lives with side hustles for personal meaning.
  • “How fulfilling can it be just yelling at people all day long?” (Brian, 10:24)
• A side hustle can be a creative or fulfilling counterbalance to a ‘day job’ that pays the bills but doesn’t spark joy.

5. Real-World Example: Softball, Baseball Cards, and the Side Hustle Mindset

Timestamps: 13:31–18:59

• Brian’s “softball guy” employee illustrates how someone can find excitement in a side gig (here, baseball card collecting and flipping) while engaging fully in their primary job.
  • “He loves baseball cards so much. And it's part of his sports health.” (Brian, 18:01)
• Brian’s own dalliance with the idea of flipping baseball cards for a side hustle—but recognizing limits on time and interest, and seeing others (like his employee) succeed with it.
• Takeaway: Success and happiness from side hustles look different for everyone. “I think everybody has, like, different interests, different levels, different ideas of what success looks like for them.” (Eric, 18:23)

6. Fear, Limits, and Ambition: The Side Hustle Ceiling

Timestamps: 19:02–21:19

• Many part-time entrepreneurs keep their hobby-turned-side-hustles “dialed back,” fearing that scaling up to a big, real business might kill their passion or enjoyment:
  • “I think there's a little bit of fear built up...if I love this so much, I don't want it to become a real big business, because then I won’t love it anymore.” (Brian, 20:34)
• Example: Potters and artisans selling at local events—happy to make money on the side but not driven to scale.

7. Pricing, Value, and Passion Projects

Timestamps: 21:19–24:13

• Social media has opened new channels for hobbyists to sell work directly (e.g., handmade pottery via Etsy).
  • “It was done so well... then I hit the link tree...that one little vase...$450. I was like, good for you, girl. Wow, this is amazing. And it’s sold out.” (Brian, 22:40)
• The difference in value perception—art can command any price; collectibles (like baseball cards) are bound to market value.

8. The Full Circle: From Side Hustle to Business (and Back)

Timestamps: 24:13–26:07

• Brian reflects on how his fish obsession led him to pond building—where his expertise and passion unique position him as a contractor.
  • “I am only a landscape contractor today because of my love and fascination for fish.” (Brian, 25:41)
• The passion never left (“I would literally go to a pet store right now just to watch, see what fish they have in stock”)—even as the hustle ebbed and flowed between hobby, career, and back.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• From Hobby to Hustle:
  “I was just infatuated. Like, dude, I just couldn't get enough.” —Brian (00:54)
• On Making it Legit:
  “I filed the paperwork before I even had, like, one customer.” —Eric (04:28)
• On Having a Backup:
  “If you have a solid backup plan and if it's a side hustle, it's really maybe a backup plan. Am I wrong by saying...?” —Brian (06:30)
• On Preparing Early for the Future:
  “I started thinking about this in year five.” —Eric (07:05)
• On Fulfillment:
  “How fulfilling can it be just yelling at people all day long?” —Brian (10:24)
• Pricing Power of Passion Projects:
  “That one little vase...$450. I was like, good for you, girl.” —Brian (22:40)
• On Being Uniquely Qualified:
  “I'm a total fish freak. Fish head. Number one, uno. I am only a landscape contractor today because of my love and fascination for fish.” —Brian (25:41)

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Main Takeaways

• The path from hobby to side hustle to full business is highly individual; some seek profit, others seek fulfillment, and for many, it’s a pulsating blend of both.
• True “success” in side hustling depends more on personal goals and contentment than on external measures of financial gain or job status.
• Fear of losing passion can hold some back from scaling up.
• A “side hustle” can be a safety net, supplemental income, or a deliberate path toward a new career—sometimes all at once.
• Unique expertise, especially when rooted in authentic personal interest (like Brian’s fish knowledge), can be a powerful differentiator in any business.

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Additional Insights

• Side hustling isn’t just about making extra money; it’s about pursuing personal interests, future-proofing your career, or simply keeping life exciting.
• Sometimes what starts as a business becomes a side passion (and vice versa)—and that’s okay.
• Creative people often find ways to monetize their passions while retaining joy, resisting pressures to scale beyond what’s enjoyable.

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For Listeners Considering a Side Hustle

• Reflect on your motivations: Is it about money, passion, or future planning?
• Success is self-defined—decide how big (or small) you want your side project to be.
• Be prepared: Turning a beloved hobby into a business changes your relationship to it.
• Sometimes, just supporting your hobby (and breaking even) is a win.

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For more stories like this and actionable advice, tune in each week to Side Hustle Squad with Mike Garvey!

Transcript

[Mike Garvey]

Are you ready to kick back and get inspired? Grab your favorite drink, pop the top and join the side Hustle Squad with Mike Garvey. This podcast is the perfect resource for anyone who's already started their side hustle or is just considering taking the lead. With in depth interviews featuring guests from the green industry and beyond, you'll gain valuable insights and learn what it takes to succeed in running a business while juggling a full time career. From personal stories to practical tips, the Soc side Hustle Squad podcast has everything you need to turn your passion into a thriving business. Now, here's your side Hustle Squad host, Mike Garvey.

[Brian]

When I first started a business, it was all built around fish. It was built around my passion for aquariums. In my, in my apartment went from one aquarium to two to five to seven. And I was just infatuated. Like, dude, I just couldn't get enough. And then I had this wild hair. I was still young, dude, I was early 20s. So I didn't have a mortgage, a car payment, a wife, kids.

[Eric]

Like no worries, just no responsibility.

[Brian]

Yeah, it could be totally irresponsible. And it was interesting because it didn't even go from a side hustle to I just went from like, I'm a framer, I quit framing and now I'm gonna figure out how to make money with fish. So it was just really, I turned it off like that. I probably, if I remember well, I probably did some side jobs on the weekends, patio cover here and there. And so still could supplement, sustain. Yeah, supplement this new business venture. But cool thing. Now the full circle. Here I am about 35 years later and I still have, I have a garage full of fish tanks because after I left that I was doing the aquarium service and then I started breeding fish and I went to a full garage full of fish to 2 car garage to 3 car garage full of fish. And then my poor landlord at the time, we converted one of the rooms inside the house to fish. You know, the carpet was just terrible. It was terrible. It was bad. But you know, I had all these different fish tanks and I was breeding all these fish. And so that was part, that was my business that just kind of kept expanding. But here I am 35 years later and I have about 35 or 40 aquariums in my garage and I'm still breeding those same fish from a long time ago. Different, different styles, different breeds. And it's totally side hustle. I don't even know if I call it side hustle. It's like a hobby. But I Sell them. I sell the fry. I don't really make enough money to do anything with it. It's just. It's like supporting my home hobby, you know what I mean?

[Eric]

Which is also support. Like. Like, you need fish for the pond, right?

[Brian]

Like, no, this is. They don't go in ponds.

[Eric]

They don't go. This is just straight hobby.

[Brian]

Straight hobby tropical fish. And it's a side hustle because really cool when the fry grow up. And I'm paying someone right now to feed my fish while I'm gone because my wife's too busy with the wild animals, you know?

[Eric]

Right.

[Brian]

Wildlife rehabilitation. And her sister's there. I'm like, you have to take care of my fish. She feeds the fish room three times a day. She hatches baby brine shrimp, like, and so I make enough money to pay her for that. But it's just, like, a little side thing. I'll call up one of my homies at a pet store. And I'm like, hey, what's up? I got Neil Leo lamprologus tricephalus coming out my eyeballs, bro. How many you need? 100. And he's like, no, maybe 20. You know, I gotta figure out how

[Mike Garvey]

to hustle the other around California.

[Brian]

Yeah. So I gotta call these jobbers, and they come and buy from them. And then I, you know, a little side hustle. I'm like, hey, I want to upgrade all my little filters in the garage. So I talked to my buddy at a pet store, and I'm like, hey, order me 40, you know, these specialty filters. He's like, I got it, dude. So it's like a little hustle thing on the side. It's fun, but it's purely for, like, my heart and, like, my. My continued desire to, like, see nuances in fish up close in my face. Right?

[Eric]

That's really cool.

[Brian]

So it's full circle like that. But when does side hustle become, like, a real business? Like, what. What's the lever? It's different for everyone, right?

[Eric]

I think it's different for everyone because what's everybody's goal? Is it that they hate their job and they want to work for themselves, or is it they want more money and they want to do something on their days off? Like, everyone's motivation's different, I think. And I think it's always a. For me, I was like, I'm serving customers. It's a real business. Like. Like, I. I never felt like, oh, this is like, a hobby. I filed the paperwork before I even had, like, one customer. Like, it wasn't like, oh, I'm gonna do this off the side, take cash, you know, like, it was never like that for me. It was always like, okay, this is going to be real. This is real. This is llc. This is as insurance. This has branding behind it. It was. Oh, even with 10 customers, it was like, I still felt it real even though it wasn't full time. It was a real business, though.

[Brian]

So your side hustle started out like it's full business.

[Eric]

Oh, full on. Yeah.

[Brian]

Even though it couldn't sustain your, you know, your lifestyle and everything.

[Eric]

Couldn't. It couldn't sustain. Sustain my lifestyle. If I quit my state police job, it couldn't sustain my life. Like, yeah, not even close. But it's like that also too. Takes a lot of fear out of starting a business.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Yeah. I have a huge safety net that I'm like.

[Brian]

But it also takes a lot of the, the real, like the grit out of. I have to succeed. It takes the totally. It takes that will.

[Eric]

It could be easy to quit.

[Brian]

Yeah, yeah.

[Eric]

And you see people do it a time. They're like, I wanted to do inflatable freaking things on the part over the weekend. So I like started an llc, but then I realized I had to work on the weekends.

[Brian]

Yeah, right.

[Eric]

Like, because I had my other job that I'm saying.

[Brian]

Yeah. I, I started this embroidery shop and I started making hats and then I had to call customers and talk to them. And I just. If you have a, if you have a solid backup plan and if it's a side hustle, it's really maybe a backup plan. Am I wrong by saying, like, because you've been an estate trooper for over a decade, like 15, 18 years, right?

[Eric]

Yeah, I just passed 17. Yeah.

[Brian]

So your, your side hustle now is like your, it's like your future. After I retire after 20 or 25 years.

[Eric]

Yeah. I'm gonna be retired at 47.

[Brian]

I'll have a kick ass, like, little couple of side things.

[Eric]

But that was, that was the thing. I, If I saw guys very early on, like, what. I've been in this since I was 18 years old and police work in some capacity or other, I would see guys retiring. I'm like, what are you gonna go do? And they're like, I don't know. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna figure, you know, I'm like, what, you're thinking about this now? I'm like, I started thinking about this in year five.

[Brian]

Wow.

[Eric]

It's like, I'm like, I want something. Well, I always wanted something established that while I was at my full time job, it was make some. Not. I have people in place that are running it and doing it while I'm at, like, it's. Yeah, I wanted to make money while I was making money.

[Brian]

Yeah, you're. That's.

[Eric]

If that makes sense.

[Brian]

You're built different, bro. Not only in your behind, but in your mind.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Brian]

For those of you, Mike has a giant, giant butt.

[Eric]

The one guy here he needs so he's got done.

[Brian]

You got it all when you were born.

[Adam Fullerton]

You got all the.

[Brian]

But.

[Eric]

Thanks, mom. But, but like, yeah, like, I don't want to think about that. Oh, I'm gonna start a. I don't want to. You're not gonna. I don't want to start a business when I'm 48.

[Brian]

Yeah. Like from the scratch Colonel Sanders started when he was like, true. 65 or 70.

[Eric]

And there's nothing to say that I, I say it wrong. I want to. I don't want to, like, figure out what I want to do. Like, then I don't want to be like, in the last, like month to be like, I don't know, do I want to, like, teach? Do I want to do? Yeah, like, I don't know.

[Brian]

What do they say, those who can't do, teach?

[Eric]

Is that what they say?

[Brian]

Yeah, like you, Eric?

[Eric]

No.

[Brian]

Okay, so here's something funny. So what's up with the side hustle just being something? Okay, so you have a job. It's not necessarily your passion in your life, but you're good at it. And so you can make your living and raise a family and buy a home and all that stuff, but maybe you just don't love it. Right. And that could be all kinds of things. It could be something a retail manager or, you know, McDonald's manager makes like 200 grand or something like that, right.

[Eric]

High level McDonald's executive chick fil A makes 200 grand. I would say.

[Brian]

That's a lot of money, no.

[Eric]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Brian]

That's a lot of money.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Eric]

I would say McDonald's manager makes a hundred.

[Brian]

Yeah. So I mean, but I mean, that's. I don't know how fulfilling that could be. I mean, like, I run the staff and it revolves all the time. I got these new teenagers coming in to make burgers and pretty soon it's going to be robots, but you know, like. Yeah, so maybe that's not fulfilling at a.

[Eric]

At a level you're not getting your fulfillment from your. Or you thought you would be fulfilled from Something or you're just. I see people in, like, especially in, like, government, in state government.

[Brian]

There you go.

[Eric]

And I'm like, are you really. Are you pension into working at the division of Taxation or.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Labor and like. Or pensions and, like, are you really, like, passionate about, like, what about the people. Office work.

[Brian]

Look. Look at the people at the dme. You know, it's like this.

[Eric]

Oh, my God, I was just there.

[Brian]

But they probably make decent money and they have retirement and pension.

[Eric]

Pension.

[Brian]

I mean, how fulfilling can it be just yelling at people all day long.

[Eric]

No. And they have to be all the same. Like, the California DMV has to be exact same as New Jersey. None of them are any better than.

[Brian]

Is it. Because everyone in the world that. That has to go to the dmv. They're all idiots. And so we get treated like idiots. Or are they just so, like, whatever the case.

[Eric]

I had a guy help me the other day, and he was really pleasant because it was good dude. Like, young. Like, my age. Younger than a lot of them. And I'm like, how did he. I wanted to ask him, like, how did this happen?

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Were you. Are you really into, like, titles, registration, though? Yeah. Like, you really want to know every little single thing about, like. I don't.

[Brian]

What lights him up about that? Right.

[Eric]

Cars, baby.

[Mike Garvey]

Cars.

[Eric]

You get to see the VINs. They're like, like, yeah. What? What? Yeah, but then again, maybe it's the pension.

[Brian]

Yeah. What. What lights you up about lines full of people that do not want to be there, that don't have the right

[Eric]

documentation, and you have to send them away.

[Brian]

Can't read English. I mean, what.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Eric]

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right.

[Brian]

Okay. So I can see someone exactly like that having some kind of side hustle where they make a little bit of coin to support their hobby. Right. Like me in my garage. I'm making.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

And then to support their hobby. But it's something that lights them up, gets them excited to wake up in the morning. I'm gonna go do my job and build my pension and take care of my family and have, you know, a nice. Yeah.

[Eric]

Safety.

[Brian]

Yeah. Safety net. And then I'm gonna do this stuff on, so.

[Eric]

And sometimes it evolved and then it evolves, and it's like, okay, I can make a clean break or. I don't know, though. Some people are so invested. You get the year 20. It's like, you're not walking away, dude.

[Brian]

I've seen a lot of guys. I. I knew a. I had a buddy that Was in the railroad. Yeah, he's in the railroad for like 13 years and he wanted to be a pond guy and like just side hustle, kind of just like dabbling in it just enough to stick around. But he's not going to leave his job for seven or eight years. But by that time he's going to be 55 and his body's broken. So like how much, how many, how big is this pawn business going to be?

[Eric]

It's a double edged sword.

[Brian]

Yeah, it's like, you know, I mean, you can't leave that kind of pension and all that stuff for the union or whatever, right? At that level after 13 years. No, no, you're just locked in.

[Eric]

You're locked in for at least another seven years this year.

[Mike Garvey]

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[Eric]

Tickets go on sale July 15th.

[Brian]

Hey guys.

[Adam Fullerton]

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[Brian]

So something really super interesting, new guy I hired. Interesting guy. He plays softball like a lot. Four nights a week. Plays softball on the weekends. It's just like softball all weekend, right? And it's interesting. I was talking to the other day, he's just, he's not even at 60 days. He's probably at like 45 days with me. I just gave his 30 day review. We're just chatting and talking and somehow, you know, softball came up. We were talking about it and. And somehow baseball comes up and then somehow baseball cards comes up and I see him kind of light up a little bit. I'm like, oh, you got some baseball cards? He's like, yeah, I got, I got quite a lot. I've been. I said, how long you been collecting? 6? Since 73.

[Eric]

I'm like, oh my God.

[Brian]

He's like, yeah. He's like, I have all this sets and this sets and this sets. I'm like, no kidding? He's like, yeah. I'm like, where are you keeping that? What are you keeping those mantles? He's like, in, in the bank and safe Deposit box. I'm like, no kidding, you know, so, like, we're developing this conversation. We're just talking about baseball cards, which I, believe it or not, love baseball cards. I've had them, got rid of them, bought new ones, got rid of them. Now I have some. And, like, I'm always regretting.

[Eric]

Yeah, getting rid of what you got rid of.

[Brian]

Oh, man, if I just had them, you know, and then I hate telling that story. Like, well, when I was a kid, I had all these, you know, like. So I hate that kind of stuff. But it's funny because we had this really fun talk about it, and then that was it. Okay, gets more interesting here, right? About a year ago, you know, I'm scrolling through Instagram, I think I went to, like a. I went to this baseball card show about a year ago in Pasadena, right? And I was just, like, blown away. And I bought some, like, 1968, the year I was born. I bought 1968 Commons to, like, build with my little collection. I was like, just checking the thing out. There's Pokemon cards and, you know, signings and all stuff. It was really fun to see. And then somehow I'm scrolling through Instagram and they're like, I'm paraphrasing this, but it's like, hey, you want to side hustle? You want to side hustle your baseball card business and make a few grand a month on baseball cards? And I'm like, yeah, sign me up. Sign me up. Like, I pay the $50 and I. And then I go to this. I went to a webinar and they're like, teaching me how to do. I swear to God, bro. And I was like, I'm gonna be a side Hustle squad baseball card collector, you know? And then what I can do, I can start to sell cards. I can make enough money to, like, recapture my childhood memories and get those cards that I sold that I shouldn't have sold. And I'll build my collection and I'll be doing. It's just a few hours a week, and I'll be able to have time for this. Yeah, I'll make enough money to where I could buy the cards that I want and I could flip them and sell them and, like, it could be fun because I think they're that cool to me. They're that.

[Eric]

Yeah, that's awesome.

[Brian]

That interesting to me. And. And so here's where it gets funny. It didn't take long for me to go like, shut the up, Eric. You on time with this. Shut the up. So, like, I Deleted the thing or whatever. Dude. Totally random. I'm sitting in the office of production manager where I'm like, still training him on stuff. And then I get a text, and I don't remember what it said, but it said, are you still interested in side hustle money? Or something like that? Like that. And I was like, who do I have the pleasure of talking to? Like, because I didn't know it was. Maybe it's a customer. They want a pond. I don't know what they want to do. And they're like, oh, it's the sports card. So. And so do you still want. You still want to. You still want to flip cars on the side for a side hustle? And I was like, looking at it, I'm like, what? I haven't heard from this guy in a year almost. And he's just hitting me up now. And I'm looking at it and I'm like, yo, Brian, look across him. He's like, yeah. I'm like, you want a side hustle? Make some money on some baseball cards. Baseball cards? He's like, oh, I already do. I went, you do? He said, yeah. I'm like, how much you make a month? He's a couple grand. I'm like, are you bullshitting? He's like, no, I make a couple grand a month on baseball cards and work on my collection. I'm like, wow, that is so.

[Eric]

That's awesome.

[Brian]

And so. But he's jazzed to be part of our team. He's psyched. You know, he was driving over an hour and a half, almost two hours a day to work somewhere else, and now he's. He looks like he lives like seven minutes from the ranch. He comes to work every day.

[Eric]

He's pumped, life changing.

[Brian]

He brings donuts and he brings snacks for everyone.

[Eric]

And he's awesome.

[Brian]

He's pumped to be at our work, but he loves baseball cards so much. And it's part of his sports health.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

Fitness journey. And I was like, I was blown away. And I'm just like, maybe I can do this. Maybe he'll be my partner.

[Eric]

I almost got out. They got me back in. Yeah.

[Brian]

So I signed up for this next webinar,

[Eric]

but that's all. I think everybody has, like, different interests, different levels, different ideas of what success looks like for them. I think some people to just, you know, supplement their income a little bit. Some people just to have fun and, like, do you know, some people to leave their job? Some people to, you know, are more ambitious than others. I think there's Just so many different levels of it. But, like, because to say, oh, when does it become a real. A real thing? I think that's ultimately you decide.

[Brian]

You know, I think I. We do a little event called Art in the arena at our facility, and we have all these local artists.

[Eric]

Yes.

[Brian]

They rent a spot.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

That money goes to the Wildlife Foundation. We do it in the center right there. And it's like a. It's pretty fun. And we don't have all this stuff from TEMU and, like, these earrings and hanging on.

[Eric]

No, you have, like, stuff, purses. I saw a lot of your content from. From.

[Brian]

It's cool stuff. So where was I going with this? Oh. So when I. When I look at things like that, I think a lot of people start like, hey, I'm gonna start making sourdough. But bre. Like, my wife loves this girl in town. She makes sourdough bread. It's the best sourdough bread she's ever had. And it's $20 a loaf. I mean, Jesus. You know what I mean? And so this is a girl's side hustle.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Brian]

You know what I mean? When I went to my son's event, we did art and clay. It's an event similar to the art in the arena. And you have all these potters. It's all like, all of them. It's their side hustle. It's either a ceramics teacher at a high school, and he. He makes so much. And then he loves it. So he's like, what? I can't. My house is already stacked.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

So I'm just going to go to the event and I'll sell whatever I have, and it'll help pay for whatever. And so I think that sometimes someone will go, like, I'm going to start a sourdough business, or I'm going to do his pottery, and I'll fire and I'll do all the events. And I think they're waiting for, like, this big, special moment where they show up, and all of a sudden they're overwhelmed with work, and, like, money's just being thrown at you like crazy, and you're like, wow, I better make this a real business. I think they're just stalled, waiting for something like that to happen. I think there's a little bit of fear built up in the fact that, well, I love this so much that I don't want it to become a real big business, because then I won't love it anymore.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

So I want to keep it. I'm gonna keep it dialed back just Enough to where, you know, it's not too bad, like, you know. So I think there's a real tug of war in some of that, for sure.

[Eric]

Oh, totally. That. Oh, I love that. Yeah, I love it. I love. This is my hobby. I do it for fun. I don't want it to make it into, like, a business or I do it a little bit, but I don't want to, like, really have to make it into a.

[Brian]

So I scroll on Instagram probably within the past two days, and I was, you know, I do. I see a lot of pottery stuff because my son's studio and Kathy Jo, she runs my office, she does a lot of pottery. So I see a lot of pottery stuff. So I'm scrolling through and this thing feeds up and it's this really interesting piece being glazed. And like, it was shot really well. And the girl was kind of hot, too. So this hot girl in a night. Nice. Making this glaze. And then she starts carving in the glaze with like a tool after it dried. And it's this gorgeous mermaid breasts out on the mermaid, not the girl doing it. Right on the mermaid.

[Eric]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian]

The art on the. On the pottery, you know, it's got like, woman's breasts and this long, flowing hair, and then it turns into the mermaid body and the scales are drawing on. Yeah. It's fascinating to watch because she's literally carving into it by hand and you're just like watching it going, wow, this is amazing. And I was like, my wife would love this. Like, this is something I could surprise my wife with. So I go to her. I go to her. Her wall, you know, it was just. It was just fed to me on my wall. But I'm like, this is. I go there and it's all about pottery. I'm like, okay, cool. This is a pottery page. And this is probably her side hustle.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

And she's probably got. She's probably given everyone in her family three or four gifts out of pottery, and she's got to start selling it now. And it was done so well. It was so beautiful. Then I hit the link tree, and then it takes me to like this Etsy thing where she's got him and dude, that one little vase, it's not much bigger than this 16 ounce glass of water, you know, but it's got some cool shape. $450. I was like, good for you, girl. Wow, this is amazing. And it's sold out. Sold out. I mean, so they're each one of a kind, but she can maybe make 10 of them, let's say, and then hand carve it. Because she's got the vision in her head and, you know, the. Maybe the vase is a little different color or a smaller, a different shape, but she's got the flow. And I was like, good for you.

[Eric]

That is awesome.

[Brian]

So, yeah, I follow her now and I'm just like, I'm waiting for the right moment to like catch it and be around Leslie's birthday or Mother's Day, something like something that's boom, I'm getting it. It's not going to be sold out. So it's interesting when it's a piece of art like that and you can create whatever price makes the most sense. What are people willing to pay different than a baseball card?

[Eric]

That's like the price is dictated based off of, Right?

[Brian]

Yeah. Market value.

[Eric]

Market value, yeah.

[Brian]

So you have it. But I, I've always been like, I'm all in. And I've never stopped loving aquatics. And I've been through a lot of shit.

[Eric]

You could have been like, I'm off. I'm done with all this.

[Brian]

Lots of employee problems and business problems and like, everything gets in the way and trouble and mad clients and happy clients. Like, it's just, it's a lot. It's a burden to run a business for sure. And man, deep down inside, I just still, I love aquatics. Like, I would literally go to a foundation, I'd go to a pet store right now just to watch, see what fish they have in stock right now. Yeah, the dude, literally.

[Eric]

That's awesome.

[Brian]

While I was upstairs on the.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

I got a text from one of my buddies that sent me pictures of his new fish that he just landed. Never seen him before in my life. And I was like, oh, my God, this is the sickest fish I've ever seen.

[Eric]

Wow.

[Brian]

And I sent him a text. I'm like, I need these. What are we doing? How do I get some?

[Eric]

That's awesome.

[Brian]

You know, So I still, I still have this, like, deep seated love and fascination and for my side hustle that turned into a business.

[Eric]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Brian]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Something that I thought was gonna be a side hust turned it into a business, and now it's actually my side hustle today.

[Eric]

And complements your.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Eric]

Other world.

[Brian]

I actually think that's one of my unique positioning pieces as a pond builder, as a landscape contractor, because I'm not just a pond guy that I'm pretty good at landscaping. So I build ponds too, because I can make money at it.

[Eric]

Right.

[Brian]

And I'm really good at rock or something like that. I'm like, I'm a total fish freak. Fish head.

[Eric]

Number one.

[Brian]

Number one, uno. I am only a landscape contractor today because of my love and fascination for fish.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

So it's a really. It's one of my unique buying positions or selling positions.

[Eric]

Yeah. That separates you.

[Brian]

Yeah. I don't think anyone. There's very few guys out there that can set something up ecologically that. That I don't have a pulse on.

[Eric]

Yeah.

[Brian]

You know, they have to battle it.

[Eric]

That's awesome.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Thanks for tuning in to the side Hustle Squad podcast with Mike Garve. We hope you enjoyed this episode and gained valuable insights to help you succeed in your side Hustle journey. Connect with Mike using the links in the podcast description. If you love the show, please leave us a well worded five star review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback and support help us grow and continue to provide you with the best content. And don't forget to follow the show to be notified when the next edition of the side Hustle Squad Podcast is available. We have many exciting guests and topics lined up so you won't want to miss a single episode. Thanks again for listening and we'll catch you next time on the side Hustle Squad podcast.