[00:02] I even got my cert. It happened within a span of three months. salary. That's That's wild. >> So, I was super excited, but I kept kind of my mindset on it's not just
[00:17] financial, [music] like earning more money, but that time freedom and like >> Your skills aren't set in stone, and if the path you're on doesn't lead you where you want to go, let this video be your permission and inspiration to make
[00:32] a change just like Hermela did. >> I realized that I can be good at this career path. I had the skills necessary to to [music] be an excellent >> Stick around in this one to learn the proven framework and strategies to start
[00:45] earning $150 an hour from home. Ready? Let's do it. >> So, we were commuting like about two and a half hours on average in the DC metro area, and traffic was horrendous. And for context,
[00:58] I worked at a as a college advisor on campus, and I loved my job, but once COVID occurred and I got back those time, it was the first taste of
[01:10] time freedom, really, because now I can clock in at 9:00 instead of my work day beginning 7:00, 7:30. So, it was a sweet taste of freedom. And then, at the same time, I was kind of listening to financial independence podcast, and I
[01:25] was learning about financial independence and the path to financial freedom, and my kind of my thoughts and head started racing, like, am I on the right path? Is this it for me? Or is there something else more to help me
[01:37] achieve some of that time freedom, financial freedom I'm looking for? >> Yes, so, ChooseFI, the flag bearer of the financial independence movement. And And if I could summarize hundreds of their episodes, it is,
[01:52] you know, mind the gap between your income and expenses. Be intentional about your spending. earn as much as you can, and invest the difference. Now, the kind of job that's through
[02:06] you know, maybe an academic institution in your case, where it's like the the earning upside, it's not like you know, you're at a startup and I'm going to get stock options or there's you know, this career progression where you could all
[02:18] of a sudden be making multi-six figures. It's like I kind of I'm in the role that cost of living and there's kind of a ceiling at least for the foreseeable what are you thinking as Brad and Jonathan start working their way into
[02:33] your earbuds? >> I was starting to realize as much as I loved my job, how much how limiting it was into achieving financial freedom. My salary progression was capped to, you
[02:46] know, what the department budgeted for and promotion looked like waiting for and promotion looked like waiting for someone to to retire or get promoted out of their position so that a spot can open up for me. So, I just really
[02:59] realized, wow, like that increasing your income side of the equation wasn't really looking good in this current career path I was on. And on top of that, the expenses side I was really good at. I was good at managing my
[03:13] expenses, keeping my cost of living low, but to mind the gap, I really needed to but to mind the gap, I really needed to look into other professions that I can earn more income and that's when on Tuesday's Five podcast I heard about
[03:26] Bradley Rice's story and others in the industry who were using a career pivot into Salesforce career path that allowed them to earn more money, reach financial freedom a lot faster, and that's when I was like, okay, I think this is it for
[03:41] me. I can make this pivot. It could be strategic and I can kind of increase my strategic and I can kind of increase my income potential, no longer be capped by how much I can earn following this path, which we can talk more about as we
[03:55] continue to talk. >> Yeah, we can link up Bradley's episode on both ChooseFI and the Side Hustle Show, of course, because it's an attention-getting headline. When he came on the show, he's like, "Oh, I'm making
[04:08] a year working 18 hours a week." And it's like, >> "Okay, I'm I'm listening. I'm paying attention to this." But it didn't It >> Right. >> there's this introspection and maybe a
[04:23] difficult moment of saying like, "I'm going to need to change trajectories here." And you almost like, you know, giving up on what you've been working for and towards for a while in order to, you know, alter that angle a
[04:37] little bit. But at the same time, saying, recognizing, "I Look, I'm a ability to learn new skills. I can figure this stuff out." What attracted you to this Salesforce path specifically? And we can talk about
[04:51] whether or not that's still as relevant today, but uh let's talk about that pivot and kind of the first steps there. >> Yeah, absolutely. And what helped me, I would mention, is that this wasn't my first career pivot. My background was
[05:05] accounting and business administration in school, then realized that wasn't for me, made my path towards college administration and working as a college advisor. So, I kind of dealt with the uncomfortability or the
[05:19] skills required to translate some of your transferable skills into a new your transferable skills into a new career path um previously. So, when when I heard about Salesforce as a career path, what attracted me most about it
[05:31] path, what attracted me most about it was because at my current um position, I was already adjacent to Salesforce. We were implementing Salesforce as a were implementing Salesforce as a database system at the university. So, I
[05:43] kind of got a taste of it. I also had close contacts, were working in Salesforce, too. So, I kind of got to see day-to-day what their work was like. And then I realized that I can be good at this career path. I had
[05:57] the skills necessary to to be an excellent Salesforce consultant. There's Salesforce career path. You can work internally for an organization, managing their database systems, or you can work as a consultant, where you're working
[06:13] with different organization and you're serving as an adviser, helping them implement solutions for their database system, helping them manage it. And I realized that that would have been an easier pivot for me
[06:25] because I was already working as a college adviser and I had those college adviser and I had those consulting skills already and my going for me. So, I just had to upskill on the technical skills piece and then I
[06:38] on the technical skills piece and then I can make that pivot a lot easier. not it's not a complete 180. Look, I'm able to use some of the skills that I already have, apply them to this new tech. Now,
[06:50] today, I mean, what what's the current state of Is it as good as it was a few years ago? Has of AI? Well, I don't know. What's your crystal ball hold for people trying to
[07:04] get into it today? >> In general, it's a little bit more crowded than when I transitioned, but there's still a lot of opportunities because there's so many organizations who adopt the solution as their main CRM
[07:18] who adopt the solution as their main CRM system, but don't have the resources to hire full-time staff. Um so, that's where like freelancing and consulting for these organizations can come into play. Um there's also many organizations
[07:32] play. Um there's also many organizations who are hiring and are open to um people who don't have as many experience. You might not make as much we did like I did when I first transitioned. I think the the salary was
[07:47] a little bit higher back then. Um but I think it is still possible and with AI it makes pivoting a lot easier. You can leverage AI to even scale up a lot
[07:59] faster than I would have had. Um I leveraged Trailhead, which was the Salesforce learning platform, but couple that with AI and you can really accelerate your learning process and help you when you get the job, help you
[08:14] help you when you get the job, help you do the job a lot easier as well. >> Okay. Oh, talk me through this upskilling transition. How long it takes, how much it costs, what kind of time investment went into that for you?
[08:29] >> Yeah, so for me I did a free boot camp at the time that was being offered. It was like a 12-week boot camp to learn um to prepare for the Salesforce administrator certification. So I did that, but a lot of my learning happened
[08:44] on the Trailhead platform. Um Salesforce gives you access to their platforms and then there is like modules you can complete to learn how to do the role. So for the technical piece I did that and then the networking piece is really
[08:59] where your the path to landing a job becomes a lot faster instead of following a traditional path of applying blindly to job applications. I network heavy on LinkedIn. I would follow
[09:12] people, I would reach out to people on LinkedIn. Um I would send them a quick message like, "Hey, my name is Hermela. I'm interested in this career path. I organization for quite a while. Would you be open to 15 minutes to 30-minute
[09:26] people would actually reach back out. And some of those informal conversations later would turn into opportunities, um job opportunities. So those people would remember me and our conversation and when an opportunity came up, they would
[09:41] reach out to me and say, "Hey, actually we're hiring right now. Why don't you um apply and let's get you interviewed." So, I was able to kind of pass a lot of the um you know, being weeded out by AI.
[09:55] >> Yes, you skipped the line in a lot of cases by by being the squeaky wheel or making yourself visible and known. >> Exactly. With any job field, I think networking is key. Sharing with people and being loud about the pivot that
[10:08] you're making so that that people are aware and they keep you in mind and their network can become your network. But also not being afraid to connect with people you don't know on LinkedIn um so that you can start building those
[10:21] professional networks and opportunities can kind of come to you. You can attract them that way. >> Was that weird with the college consulting gig where all of a sudden
[10:34] talking about this completely different career? >> Um it wasn't for me. I didn't do as much public posting as I did like engaging in other people's posts and reaching out to people at the time. So, I didn't feel um
[10:50] any way about it. Um sometimes people don't want their current employer to know that they're searching or looking to pivot. So, if that's the case, you to pivot. So, if that's the case, you can simply you know, quietly block your
[11:03] current uh your current coworkers on your LinkedIn network so they don't see your posts. Um so, you can go about it that way too if that's a concern. But that way too if that's a concern. But for me, it wasn't. Um I think I was just
[11:16] I even did as much as connecting to the team, the Salesforce team at my university letting them know I was interested and that I wanted to learn uh more about what they did too. So, I networked inside and outside cuz the way
[11:30] universities work, you know, my team is completely separate than like the IT team. So, there was no concern about, oh, would I risk my job by talking out loud about this. >> Was this LinkedIn outreach before or
[11:46] during or after achieving the certification? >> Most of it was before. In the end, I landed three job opportunities before I even got my cert. Um and then the job I accepted gave me a
[12:01] condition that I think it was like within the first 90 days I had to get this cert and I was very close at that point. But all those three jobs, um all those three opportunities came through networking. None of them came from blind
[12:15] applying. So, um that I would I mean, whatever career path you're in, your network is your net worth. So, highly recommend reaching out to people and not being afraid to connect. >> How do you figure out who to send these
[12:30] connection requests to? >> I would look at people who were in organizations I was interested in. Um so, I specifically looked at people that would be in positions that I'm looking to apply to, but also people who
[12:46] would seem like hiring managers, manager level or senior level professionals. Um messages. If they're already active on LinkedIn, it's even better because I can
[12:58] start engaging with some of their posts already prior to, you know, reaching out and connecting with them. >> So, not necessarily the people in the Salesforce roles themselves or maybe them too, but kind of the
[13:12] the hiring people who might oversee your future role. >> Exactly. Yeah, that was my focus. It's like some peer level connections and also some people who are in the managerial role who would have the power
[13:26] to kind of make hiring decisions. >> Was there a database of like these are the companies and brands that I like I cross-reference all this. These are These are the publicly traded companies
[13:40] or whatever that we know use Salesforce and trying to like mesh those together? >> So, the way I went about it is I really focused on my background. So, I already had like 10 plus years in nonprofit, higher education, association
[13:56] industries. So, I wanted to leverage that. So, I specifically focused on companies who worked with nonprofits, higher education, and association because that meant that those were transferable skills that I can build on
[14:10] when talking to these companies cuz they're looking for industry experts and though I'm I didn't work with the platform, the potential clients that we will have are working in the industry that I'm coming from. So, that's how I
[14:25] went about it and whenever I advise people on how to go about making a career transition, I always tell them focus on what you have. Especially if you're mid-career, you're not starting over from scratch. You are translating
[14:40] what all the experiences that you already had into this new career path. And there's a lot of one-to-one transfers if you really think about it. Like industry knowledge is huge when it comes to working with clients um
[14:54] cuz you have to understand how the technology is going to support the work that they do on a day-to-day basis. So, that's how I went about it and when I'm making my case to why I would be a good fit for the company, I kind of said, you
[15:08] know, I already know the clients you're going after because I I was that client. I was working in those industries and I know what their business process is and I've also been skilling up technically and I have these soft skills of working
[15:23] as a college advisor, knowing how to ask good questions, and how to um draw out, if someone has a problem, like a student comes to me and they're dealing with something, I know how to ask good questions to help them identify
[15:38] within themselves what a solution can be, or help them find their path. So, all of those skills was already inside of me, and I was able to translate that for them. So, in those informal conversations, I really like I tried to
[15:52] low-key pitch myself. Um not that I'm begging for a job, but I'm just telling them, "Hey, like this is the skills I have. Do you have any advice? Tell me about your experience. How was your transition?" And all those conversations
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[18:10] One more time, start your free trial today at shopify.com/sidehustle. Trailhead, which is free, yes? >> The one I did was I think low cost or
[18:22] >> Yeah. >> So, we're using our new-found not commuting time to level up our our skills and do this networking kind of in >> Mhm. >> A few months in, now we got three new
[18:39] job offers on the table. So, which one do you pick? How does this go with with the day job at work and like kind of the the leap of faith to say, "All right, this is it. I'm I'm going to go for it."
[18:52] >> It happened within a span of three months, and unfortunately, the job offers kind of staggered each other. They didn't all come at the same time. They were like two weeks apart. So, the first job opportunity, it was to be I
[19:05] think I was like project manager. I would have some technical responsibilities, but mainly it was to be a project manager of implementations at a consulting firm. And as I looked at that position, I realized
[19:18] it would have been it's a good starting point, but I felt like I could get a better more technical role since I was already in conversations with the companies. So, I decided to decline that position. And then I think
[19:31] it was like two to three weeks after I got my second offer. And that was working in consulting as well. as Salesforce administrator for all these
[19:45] nonprofits helping supporting them with all their administration needs. So, I felt like that was a really good fit and I was waiting for the third offer to come, but I was running into a deadline. So, I ended up accepting the second
[19:58] And then I think it was like a week or two later the third offer came. I don't know which one I would have taken if both of them came at the same time, but it was super exciting because I worked really hard in networking and skilling
[20:12] up. So, to kind of see the fruits of my labor with these three job opportunities it kind of validated to me that there were definitely opportunities and I had
[20:24] skills that I was coming in with that was attractive to these companies. >> Are you comfortable sharing what the before and after salary picture looked like between the old job and then this new one that you accepted?
[20:39] >> Yeah, absolutely. So, I think my last salary as a college advisor was about something like that. I can't remember what the first offer was, but the job that I accepted it was I think it was 72,000 or 73,000 and it was fully
[20:56] remote. And at that point by the time I accepted we were being required to commute back to the college campus cuz COVID was at a point that they were welcoming everyone back on campus and I had to work um get back to those
[21:11] >> Yeah, yeah. >> So I saved money on gas, I had increased pay, and I get to continue working remotely 9:00 to 5:00 from my home. So it was I mean it was a huge increase in my eyes. I mean it was like $20,000 a
[21:26] >> It was pretty awesome. >> worth of work. >> It really wasn't, yeah. I mean it was a lot It was a steep learning curve once I got there. But I think it was worth it and I was
[21:39] But I think it was worth it and I was kind of dead set on this being my path. >> As somebody who's gone through this, I'm curious to get your take on it with it seems like everything that's changing so fast and any work that can be done on
[21:52] so fast and any work that can be done on the computer seems at risk of AI kind of career pivot, saying like, "Look, where I'm at today isn't going to get me where I want to go, so I need to upskill like Carmela did."
[22:06] Where would you look today to try and future project what skills might be in demand? Like could somebody follow a similar path and in 3 months >> I would focus on yes, learning Salesforce as a skill, but I would
[22:21] Salesforce as a skill, but I would definitely focus on how to do good AI prompts so that you can kind of leverage that as part of your skill set. I think a lot of companies are looking at, "How do we adopt AI? How do we build agents
[22:34] to do some of the work for us?" So if you can kind of come in and position yourself as someone who who's well-versed in how how you can use AI with CRM to make the work go faster or be more
[22:50] efficient, I think that makes you stand out. I would also say the business analyst skills, like those soft skills of knowing how to take a problem, like a business process that needs um more efficiency. Like how to draw that out of
[23:06] clients. Those soft skills are really important. And I think that would become even increasingly more important cuz AIs are as good as the prompt you give them. And you still need to translate, you know,
[23:20] the business problem into technical um requirements. And the person who can be skilled on making that translation um can really stand out in the future climate, I think. >> Yeah, I looked this up on uh ChatGPT
[23:35] some of the most in-demand skills? Some of these are kind of surprising. Uh you mentioned AI implementation and automation, you know, five stars worth of demand there. Um data analysis is a little bit surprising. Software
[23:48] given all of the vibe coding stuff that's going on. But cybersecurity, um not surprising. You know, it's difficult to learn, right? But it's, you know, uh definitely in demand. Anything cloud computing. But also on this uh
[24:03] cloud computing. But also on this uh list was uh sales. Like kind of of the day, the robots aren't going to do all of the selling for us. This learn how to be an effective salesperson, that is still in demand.
[24:17] skilled trades. And we've talked about this on the show. Like you go go full analog. Go offline. Do something with your hands. That is another way to upskill that we don't always talk about. But yeah, could you learn something
[24:32] that uh that is hands-on and and pivot in that direction instead. So, some different ways uh to go about it uh from that standpoint. So, at this point you have made the leap. You've given your notice at work. You've
[24:46] You've given your notice at work. You've accepted this now new fully remote gig at this $20,000 salary increase. What happens after that? >> Yeah, so my goal was to kind of replicate Bradley's story. I was like,
[25:00] okay, work at a consulting firm, learn everything I can so that I can work for myself because that was the next goal for me. I wanted to buy back my time. So, I bought back my commute time. Now, it's I want to be in charge of my
[25:13] full-time. I want to work for myself. I want to have flexibility. I want to earn more for less hours. Um, so I was soaking up everything I could in my current role. I was there for about 6 months when a
[25:27] prior networking engagement reached out to me and they said, "Hey, we have this job opportunity. We think you'll be great for it. Would you like to necessarily looking to leave my current position cuz I was really learning a lot
[25:42] and growing in my skill set. Um, but always open to have a conversation. So, always open to have a conversation. So, um, I got connected. I did the interview and that uh that they came with a job offer at the end of the interview and I
[25:56] got offered 105,000. And at the time I was thinking, "This is amazing. This is a huge jump in like 6 months time." >> I was super excited cuz I've never made anywhere close to six figures at that
[26:11] point. And Yeah, we're not talking about almost doubling the old salary. >> Yeah, in such a short amount of time. Yeah, so I was super excited, but I kept kind of my mindset on it's not just financial, like earning more money, but
[26:27] that time freedom and like designing the kind of life I want, the work-life balance that I want and that ultimately comes from being in charge of your own time. So, I thought about the offer and I realized
[26:40] I thought about the offer and I realized I can negotiate the hours with them. So, um, I went back to them and I said, "I'm so excited to start at this role, but hours to 24 hours instead of 40 hours and um
[26:55] like? And they were open to it. They they said, "Okay, we'll just prorate your salary based on 24 hours and that math came to I think it was
[27:09] like $63,000 which to me was still a win. I was still which to me was still a win. I was still living based on my old salary so my cost didn't have to pay for gas cuz I was working from home. Um so even earning
[27:24] $63,000 was still a win. >> "Okay, I I took a a baby pay cut from 6 months but I'm still up compared to the other one. I don't have the commute and I'm down now just to just 24 hours." >> Yeah, exactly and that was so amazing
[27:38] and the whole point for me was, "Okay, if I can work 24 hours then I can get back two more working days, right? And then I can leverage that time to kind of build something on my own." So that's when I started um looking into freelance
[27:52] consulting um upskilling in that way, learning more about that and then starting to get clients um on my own to kind of supplement that income with the hopes that eventually I would um at the time I was like family
[28:07] planning, getting ready to have my daughter and I really wanted time with her. Um so not just time freedom for the sake of time freedom but I wanted to be when she woke up, that's
[28:20] >> her early days with her um and I can only do that if I kind of bought back my time that this way. So as I at the same time as I was working at this 24-hour um consulting position, I started acquiring my own clients and
[28:34] then when I took maternity leave I realized like I don't have to go back. I can just continue to work for myself um and that's been the path that I've been on since then.
[28:48] >> Oh, okay. So, there's this recognition and I think a lot of side hustlers probably relate to this is this mindset shift of that that just happens to be my largest
[29:01] client so far, right? I'm I'm free to go out and and get more and especially if you're, you know, have kind of the the two extra working days per week to go and do it. Was it still LinkedIn networking? What
[29:13] what kind of drove these initial freelance gigs or freelance consulting contracts? >> It was a combination. I had a contact who who was a Salesforce administrator at an
[29:26] organization and he was leaving for another job and they were needing to augment you know, the hole that he was kind of leaving at his job. They weren't ready to hire a full on Salesforce administrator cuz they didn't have the
[29:40] kind of budget for it. So, um kind of partnering with that with my contact there, I reached out to them and the opportunity presented themselves that like they were looking for someone who can work for them about 5 to 10
[29:55] hours. Um they were looking to hire a consultant. So, that's how my first client came and as I was kind of having those conversations, I realized I knew nothing about how to set up a freelance consulting business.
[30:09] And that's when I looked into Bradley Rice's freelance course. He has a a great course um that kind of helps you learn how to do client acquisition, how to do some of the documents that you need to produce like how to write the
[30:24] contracts, how to do the invoice and all of that. So, I kind of skilled up again. Skilling up is always a thing, right? Whenever you're trying to do something, go to the person who already did it, learn from them. It kind of fast tracks
[30:37] your process and that's been my approach and um so after taking that course, I kind of had a better idea of how to position myself, how to what what rates to set, how to write the contracts, how to protect myself, and
[30:51] I landed my first client through networking, basically. And then the networking, too. Just being connected to other independent consultants and being
[31:03] in regular connection with them when they had when one of them was looking to offload a client, I had already expressed to them that I was growing my independent consulting and if anyone had opportunities to reach out to me, and
[31:19] that statement kind of was in the back of her mind, and when she was ready to offload a client, she reached out to me, and that's how my second client came >> flag, like, I don't want to work with these people anymore, but you, it would
[31:32] >> Yeah, well, she was looking to do a different type of work. So, it wasn't a different type of work. So, it wasn't a negative experience. She just uh she was pivoting into kind of changing her business model a different way,
[31:47] um and didn't want to do as much technical work, so it worked out really well, and both those clients are still my clients today, and >> Is there a and maybe you can school me on this,
[31:59] like a nichification of within the Salesforce world to you talked about course, like Salesforce admin, Salesforce consultant like seems pretty broad, but like or is it Salesforce consultant for nonprofits,
[32:14] you know, you know, something more more specific? How did you go about it? >> Yeah, that's a great question. So, I mentioned earlier how I kind of always leverage my industry experience, right? A lot of my industry experience was in
[32:26] nonprofits, associations, and higher ed, and those are kind of the clients that I centered my intention on, and the consulting organizations that I worked consulting organizations that I worked for served the nonprofit industry and
[32:41] the higher ed industry and then when I went on my own too, that's my specialization. So, I kind of position myself as a Salesforce consultant to help mission-driven organizations. They can be nonprofit or for-profit, but
[32:55] really like mission-driven. Helping them leverage technology and advance their impact through leveraging technology. So, that's my specialization. Other people focus in on like platform-specific, like they'll be
[33:09] like platform-specific, like they'll be like CPQ or marketing cloud, like you way. There are some who specialize in like manufacturing businesses. So, there is ways you can niche down
[33:22] your expertise and then focus on that those clients. >> And in most cases those clients know they're already using Salesforce as their tool, so they know they are looking for somebody with that skill set
[33:35] rather than some something more broad. >> Correct. Or it could be that there a few can kind of become an expert in an industry that future clients who are looking for a new
[33:49] platform, you know, like for example, nonprofits have low budgets sometimes nonprofits have low budgets sometimes and they use disconnected systems. So, help them get away from Excel sheets and using
[34:03] Microsoft forms and having a more connected integrated experience to managing their constituent data. So, that's kind of like my approach. So, another person's approach can be like there's a lot of like small fitness
[34:17] instructors and they're looking for a way to manage their way to manage their their fitness process, like their client acquisition or managing their client journey, that kind of process. And then
[34:29] if you specialize in that, then you can even people who don't already have a platform, you can pitch your services to say that you can implement that solution >> Got it. Did you have to do a lot of proactive um
[34:44] applications or or cold pitching? Or was it mostly just like I built up this network over the course of the last 3 6 months where people kind of knew my name, they knew what I could do, and you know, when they had a gig open
[34:57] up, I was on the top of the list. >> I haven't had to cold pitch, and that's also because I'm not trying to like grow massively super fast. Right now, my my goal is like I don't want to work more than like 20 to 24 hours
[35:13] Cuz I still want to be like the primary caretaker of my daughter and still be a super involved mom in that way. But, I know other people who uh make themselves visible on LinkedIn by like being thought leaders in their industry or in
[35:29] their specialization. So, they'll kind of post about solutions and kind of put themselves out there that way, and that's also kind of a passive way of bringing clients to you if it makes you uncomfortable to cold outreach.
[35:43] >> That's another >> really common theme or thread on the show throughout the years is kind of piggybacking on the popularity and search volume and interest around different software
[35:55] tools, whether it's Salesforce. We've had people do this with Asana and FreshBooks and ClickUp and HoneyBook. And And And a lot of times they go down "Hey, I'm a an Asana consultant, and today we're going to learn how to do
[36:09] It was kind of creating the video lesson or did you know, or we're going to share this little hack you can do in Excel." And creating some level of authority and >> Yeah. >> But, then there's other ways. Your kind
[36:22] of quiet style behind-the-scenes networking, you know, building totally works, too. And I love the discipline of keeping it at, "Look, 20 to 24 hours a week, that's my goal. My task as the entrepreneur is, well, how
[36:38] 24 hours a week? How can I level up my skills so that I can make what I was making before or more in just a fraction of the time." I think that's a That's actually kind of a fun challenge and and
[36:51] actually kind of a fun challenge and and I really like that. Now, do the Do the clients come to you with a rate in mind? Hey, we need somebody 10 hours a week. We need somebody 5 hours a week. Or is it like Or do you come to
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[37:59] experiences vary. Wealthfront brokerage is not a bank. Base APY as of January 30th, 2026 is subject to change. Please see details in the episode description. Maybe it's a prospect trying to book an appointment. Maybe it's somebody looking
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[39:09] quo.com/sidehustle. That's quo.com/sidehustle. project-based where they have a specific project in mind where they're looking for someone to implement that um that project for them. So, it could be like,
[39:25] "Oh, we want to adopt marketing cloud or some sort of marketing tool, and we want to integrate it with Salesforce, and that's the project we have in mind." And we scoped it out. Here's what it is, and people bid for that job or that project,
[39:38] can say, "Here's the scope of work. Here's how much it would cost." And you can do hourly or you can do value-based costing for that um pricing. For me, I kind of focus more on managed services, so it's already clients that
[39:53] had the platform that were looking for ongoing management of the platform. And then as um as part of that, we can have enhancement projects where if you're looking to kind of enhance it or integrate more tools into it, then we
[40:09] can work on those things. So, my approach has been uh recurring revenue as much as possible, so having um contracts in place >> feast or famine of like, well, I've got this project and now after
[40:23] 4 weeks of implementing it, now it's now it's done and I got to find another Yeah, and I think that kind of weather-proofs you, too. You can become a long-term partner, which I really love. I love working with my clients and
[40:36] kind of helping them think even forecasting long-term. Hey, what are some things you have coming up? Some programming that you're doing? How can I make your job a lot easier for you? Are there areas for efficiencies, you know,
[40:49] bogged down that you're doing manual steps so much? How can we improve that? So, I love being a long-term partner to my clients in that way. >> And what is a typical
[41:03] engagement? Is it hourly or based on the number of hours you expect to spend or kind of like, look, I'm I'm on call, I'm I'm on retainer for you. If you have something that comes up, would you Yeah, I just
[41:16] you know, a day or a week in the life, if there is such a thing and on one of client projects or client engagements. >> My packages are ranging from anywhere between like a 5-hour per month
[41:28] engagement for some of the nonprofit clients who don't have a lot of high touch, but they just want someone there to kind of maintain the platform up to to kind of maintain the platform up to like 40-plus hours per month and in I
[41:42] different depending on what they asked for, but my goal is I don't want you to sign up for any contract level that you're you don't have the work for. So,
[41:54] in the sales process, we kind of scope out together what kind of work they're looking to do on a recurring basis or a one-time basis and kind of we find the sweet spot per month for them and that's kind of their
[42:07] reoccurring charge. So, let's say they signed up for a 10 hours per month and that would be their reoccurring fixed charge per month. And then, if anything comes up more than that, then we can always add on more hours. But, at least
[42:21] the minimum number of hours is something that I know they have the work for. So, that way it's fair to them and it's fair for me like in terms of capacity management for me and my willingness to take on additional clients.
[42:34] >> What's typical in terms of an hourly rate for somebody now with 5 years of experience in this space? >> I've seen people charge as as little as >> I've seen people charge as as little as like $50 per hour, $75 per hour, up
[42:49] like $50 per hour, $75 per hour, up until um I think the highly specialized and experienced people charge even like 200, 225, 250, 300 per hour. The more experience you have, the more you're able to charge. I think the sweet spot
[43:04] able to charge. I think the sweet spot is around like that 125 to 150 per hour on average for I think that's achievable for a lot of people. It also depends on the industry. If your clients are nonprofits, then you tend to charge less
[43:17] per hour. And then, if you have more for-profit clients, you know, you can charge upwards of 250 to 300 per hour. >> So, how are you tracking towards that ultimate goal of whatever the numbers
[43:31] >> Um the the 18-hour work week and some obscene, you know, multi-six-figure gig. >> I kind of followed his model of like how I can approach freelance consulting. He kind of gave me a concept for it, but
[43:45] I'm not necessarily looking to make the most I can right now. I think my goal is make enough that I can support my living expenses, invest enough to meet my financial goals, but mainly like protect my time so I can spend my more of this
[44:01] time with my daughter while she's a toddler. I think once she's in school, then I'll definitely look to making as much as I can and like kind of accelerating my path to financial freedom. But I would say because I kept
[44:15] freedom. But I would say because I kept my lifestyle and my expenses so low throughout all this like income progression, that I've been able right progression, that I've been able right now to reach like Coast FIRE by 59. So
[44:28] if I was to stop investing completely today, I can still retire by 59, which I won't stop investing, but it's like a great marker. You know, I was only able to do that from from one, managing my money well
[44:43] and keeping my expenses low, but two, increasing my income so much that I can like invest all of that difference. >> Yeah, I love this concept of Coast FIRE and we did an episode with
[44:58] Andy Hill about this from Marriage Kids and Money, where this is the idea of front-loading your investments and your nest egg. And then kind of enjoying life more in the moment. Like [laughter] finding
[45:11] being part of it. Maybe that's a part-time gig, maybe that's a job that you really like, but then, you know, letting your expenses kind of creep up and letting compound interest on that nest egg do its do its work for you. And
[45:24] so I think that's kind of a powerful place to be coming, you know, from a sounds like you are. So I think that's really cool. >> Yeah, I would add there's also opportunities in subcontracting. So
[45:38] eventually, once you like pivot into the industry, you can subcontract under consulting firms where they're looking for a specific amount of help, like fractional help for a specific project that they have. So that's also what um
[45:54] what I do in my revenue. I look at my own solo consulting clients, but I subcontract I partner with other agencies whenever they have a gap they're looking to fill, they bring me in and I get hours and income that
[46:08] way. Um the hourly rate is a lot less, right? It's like 50% or 70% or something own, but >> Yeah. >> to start out that's also possible. Um there's a lot of consulting firms who
[46:22] just need additional help for a specific project for a fixed number of time. So, >> Yeah, and it's one relationship to manage versus now trying to be the
[46:35] business. It's like, well, they're going to go out and find the clients for you which and that comes with a cost. So, there is something to be said for that channel. >> Yeah.
[46:49] And I think this whole experience has really like also sharpened my entrepreneurial mindset. I'm like, okay, I've increased my effective hourly rate, right? I have a high demand still that earns a higher per hour income than I
[47:05] would have in my prior career. Um now I'm looking at how can I increase more passive income? Like where I don't have to like actively work the hours to earn the money. Um and that's where like I recently started a YouTube channel and
[47:21] an Etsy shop called E's into Earnings and a lot of my focus there is helping like creating budget templates and different uh tools and systems to help different uh tools and systems to help people manage their money and seeing if
[47:36] I can use that as a means for some of some passive income source as well. >> Yeah, this is awesome. So, carving back your time, leveraging up your skills, using your
[47:50] hours more effectively, and now saying, well, Like you're kind of following all of these steps and saying, well, now how uh kind of plant some digital money seeds
[48:03] in some cases, plant some maybe more time leveraged income streams. So, ease intoearnings.com. We'll definitely link that up. Hermelo, what's like what surprised you the most over the last few years of doing this or any anything you
[48:15] would do differently? >> I would say the value of connecting with people and creating meaningful relationships and how much, you know, the like the quote, like your network work is your net worth, like is so true.
[48:27] Like who you're connected to and what opportunities come your way is like very correlated. Um I would say that as someone who's not necessarily like super outgoing and not the obvious extrovert. Um I think I I surprised myself at my
[48:43] ability to like connect with people and make these meaningful relationships and for me. >> Uh and what do you think made your >> Uh and what do you think made your message stand out in the inbox from from
[48:57] what do you think people gave you the time of day? >> I think genuineness. Like I looked at their profile and I I always mentioned something about them. So, it's like, oh,
[49:09] I see that you went from working from this company to this company or I see industry for this long. And then I said why like why I'm reaching out. Like I'm reaching out because I'm curious to learn about
[49:22] your career trajectory or your career journey. Um and then I finished always people who reach out to me and they connect. They're like, oh, I would love to connect. But I'm like, okay. I mean, sometimes I accept, sometimes I don't,
[49:36] but then it's just it's dead. But in my invites and my connections on LinkedIn, I always leave with, hey, would you be open to a 15-minute conversation or 30-minute conversation? Um always giving that ask. And a lot a lot
[49:51] of people are open to it. Like some will ignore you. of like let it roll off your back, but I think most people are open to connecting and like sharing about their journey and like especially if someone is genuinely
[50:05] asking their um and expressing their interest to follow the similar career >> Yeah, people like talking about themselves. You know, you kind of you "Oh, that's so cool that you made this transition. I'm trying to do something
[50:20] >> Yeah, and I made sure like in the conversation, it kind of kind of like how we're talking right now. Like I was just my genuine authentic self. I was wasn't necessarily asking them, "Hey, get me a job at your company." But I
[50:34] they already knew, like, "Hey, I'm trying to make a career pivot or I'm trying to make a career pivot or I'm looking to grow my client uh portfolio. Would love to know how you're approaching your freelance consulting or
[50:47] whatever it might be." I was just always honest and up front. There was no hidden >> That's one of the things that stands out the most to me in this conversation is look, you know, cuz freelancing kind of
[51:00] I think it's a great side hustle and so many guests have started there. But the kind of gut reaction is like, "Well, am I going to be bidding on jobs the world? Like how am I ever going to stand out and compete?" And it's like
[51:13] how you're going to stand out and compete. You're going to cut the line by going direct to decision makers through this networking approach. >> [snorts] >> Yeah, exactly.
[51:25] >> All right, so we've got ease into earnings.com and the ease into earnings YouTube channel. Anything else got you excited for this year? What's coming up? >> My goal is to reach full financial independence by 50. So I have some ways
[51:40] Um focusing on that. I also love traveling. So I'm kind of looking at my next trip. I would love to go to Portugal and I feel like I've been seeing a lot of the positives about Portugal lately, so I'm
[51:55] kind of looking forward to that as well. And um and then seeing where Earning to Earnings goes. I'm hoping for the same amount of success I've had with Salesforce to kind of translate into doing YouTube and Etsy shop and kind of
[52:09] skilling up in this way. I think content creation is really interesting and I think a lot of people have leveraged it to kind of increase their time freedom, financial freedom, location freedom. So,
[52:22] um I'm looking to see how how this venture goes. I'll I'll send to you afterwards. >> Yeah. uh selling some digital products. Um again, earningtoearnings.com and you
[52:36] check Carmela out over there. We'll link up the YouTube channel as well. Let's wrap this thing up with your number one tip for Side Hustle Nation. >> Don't just side hustle for extra cash. Think bigger. Uh think of side hustle as
[52:50] a way to buy back to buy back your time. Always keep your expenses low so that you have leverage to leave a job or to upskill and to mind the gap by investing more. If you can manage your finances well, if you can manage what you have
[53:05] really well, then it can give you the leverage you need to get high-demand earn more money, increase your effective hourly rate so that you can have more freedom back. >> I think what I appreciate is the
[53:21] long-term vision that you took where it's like, I don't have to reinvent the wheel here. I understand this is not going to be an overnight thing, but you know, zoomed out over the course of uh half a decade or a decade, it's like
[53:34] I've made a meaningful shift in in where I'm going just by what you know, what started as, hey, you know, how can I try this 12 week boot camp? You know, just it seemed like low risk but high high upside recognizing that
[53:48] your skills aren't set in stone. Really like the call to kind of focus your line was focus on what you have like the skills that you do have and how those might be applicable. I think that makes it a softer landing
[54:01] versus like if I was trying to transition to be a plumber or something podcasting necessarily going to relate to pipes and wrenches but you know, maybe there's some some personal skills that maybe maybe
[54:14] know, what's on the shoulder or what's just to the side of what you're currently doing and maybe there's an opportunity there and then this call to kind of design a life with intention and saying, look,
[54:28] if I if I want to work 20 to 24 hours a week and make what I need to make and set aside what I need to set aside. I'm good with that and that's kind of the daughter's only going to be this age once so might as well make the most of
[54:43] once so might as well make the most of that. We will link up the episode that we mentioned with Bradley. It is number 441 if you want to scroll back in your archives and check that one out. Definitely a classic episode that gets
[54:57] referenced by multiple guests so encourage you to check that one out and appreciate you tuning in. Big thanks to Hermela for sharing her insight. Thanks to our sponsors for helping make this content free for everyone. You can hit
[55:10] up sidehustlenation.com/deals for all the latest offers from our sponsors in one place. Thank you for supporting the advertisers and support That is it for me. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you're finding value in
[55:24] share it with a friend. Make it make it go viral if there is such a thing but fire off that text message to somebody who needs to hear Hermela's story. Until next time, let's go out there and make something happen and I'll catch you in
[55:38] the next edition of The Side Hustle Show. Hustle on.