Issue #14: The $27,000 Pandemic Side Hustle Experiment

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Welcome to Issue #14 of My New Meta. We'll help you build wealth on your terms—whether by climbing the corporate ladder, launching a killer side gig, or going full startup mode.

Picture this: It's Tuesday night. I'm doing business planning (i.e., doom-scrolling Twitter/LinkedIn/Instagram) while Kirsten (my wife) is watching a Netflix documentary about sustainable business models.

And then it hits me (right between my third cat video and fifth "hustle culture" post): We accidentally built a sustainability business empire during the pandemic.

I haven't thought about those lockdown ventures in a while, but looking back now, I see that they were either complete genius or total madness. Maybe both?

🎮 Today's Power-Ups:

• How three pandemic experiments became one accidental business strategy

• The blueprint for stacking side hustles (that I didn't know I was creating)

• Why sometimes the dumbest ideas are actually brilliant (just badly timed)

• The expensive lessons that finally started making sense (full damage report at the end)

Think of this as your entrepreneurial archaeology expedition – we're digging up artifacts from lockdown that might just be the treasure map you need for 2024.

Grab your coffee, and let's dive into how being trapped at home with too much time and too many ideas accidentally created what I now call the Side Hustle Stack.

PS: I promise this isn't another "I started a sourdough business" story. Although... checks notes... nope, definitely no bread involved. Just three weirdly connected businesses that somehow made sense. Eventually. Sort of.

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Plot twist: we actually have a website (I know, so 2010):

The Accidental Side Hustle Stack

SCENE: In the basement, Thursday night. Kirsten is watching a documentary about consumerism while I'm on the laptop doing absolutely nothing productive.

KIRSTEN: (pausing the documentary) "Greg, remember when we were talking about all this back in 2020?"

GREG: (looking up from laptop) "Which part? The sustainability angle or the part where I was hemorrhaging money trying to figure out e-commerce?"

KIRSTEN: (laughing) "Both. This documentary about returns ending up in landfills... it's exactly what sparked your whole 'sustainable gear' obsession during lockdown."

GREG: "Oh god, the infamous pandemic side hustle stack! When I thought running multiple eco-friendly businesses while crushing my corporate job was totally reasonable?"

KIRSTEN: "You mean when I became the face of an outdoor adventure newsletter while you played startup ninja?"

GREG: (grinning) "Hey, corporate stealth mode worked! Nobody suspected their Senior VP was moonlighting as a newsletter mogul."

KIRSTEN: "And now here we are, watching the same sustainability problems we tried to solve, but with way better tools available..."

GREG: (eyes lighting up) "Wait... I think I just found our next newsletter topic!"

The Setup: Life in the Canadian Rockies

Picture it: 2020, working remotely from the Canadian Rockies, surrounded by mountains, trails, and enough outdoor gear to outfit a small army. While everyone else was making sourdough bread and doing virtual yoga, I was apparently building an interconnected digital empire from my mountain hideout.

Between Zoom calls, I was:

• Hiking epic trails

• Shredding powder

• Mountain biking incredible single track

• Acquiring and rebranding a sustainability-focused outdoor newsletter (under my wife's name)

• Launching four e-commerce stores, one selling outdoor gear

• Building a two-way marketplace for used outdoor equipment

• Crushing corporate targets

Sounds impressive, right? Well, hold your applause. While some parts worked beautifully, others were expensive lessons in what not to do. Let's break down the reality of building multiple ventures while keeping a corporate career alive.

The Accidental Sidehustle Stack

For new readers wondering what a "Side Hustle Stack" is, Think of it like building a recipe from your favourite ingredients. Instead of relying on one income stream, you strategically combine multiple ventures that share resources, audiences, and systems.

Each business enhances the others, creating a natural flow that builds momentum over time. It's not about working harder – it's about working smarter by finding the connections between your different projects.

Let's break down this unintentional collection of side hustle pandemic experiments (and expensive lessons):

1. The Daily Thread Becomes MTN Impact

We acquired an existing outdoor newsletter called The Daily Thread (all that’s left is a landing page here) and rebranded it to MTN Impact (still there; external links might be broken now). Running under my wife's name (corporate stealth mode activated), we transformed it from standard gear reviews into a sustainability trojan horse - sneaking earth-friendly messages into adventure content.

Despite the pen name shenanigans, we built it to 500+ engaged subscribers who opened and read our daily drops. Even better? We started donating $100 weekly to local sustainable and outdoor causes, promoting them in the newsletter to spark more giving. (Fun fact: Kirsten tells me we're still doing this – apparently, I should read my own company's donation records more often.)

2. Powder and Trail: Fourth Time's (Not) The Charm

After burning through three failed e-commerce attempts, I thought, "Hey, outdoor gear dropshipping - what could go wrong?" Turns out, plenty. Powder and Trail became expensive lesson number four in my e-commerce education. My credit card statements from this period still make me wince. But hey, at least I got really good at writing apologetic emails about shipping delays.

All that’s left is this logo (I know it’s cringe):

3. RENU: The 75% Solution

Picture this: Canada's first online marketplace for used outdoor gear. Basically, it's was an online used gear swap. Great concept, solid sustainability angle, passionate community interest. We got it 75% built, the code was sort of working, the platform was nearly ready... and then COVID restrictions were lifted.

Turns out timing really is everything. Another beautiful failure to add to the collection. But the lessons? Those were worth every penny we lost.

The landing page is still here from 2021

The Partner's Perspective (a flashback)

SCENE: Greg and Kirsten's home office, late 2020. Greg is surrounded by multiple screens, frantically switching between Zoom calls, yet another Shopify store setup, and the Daily Thread's MailChimp account.

KIRSTEN: (walking in with coffee) "Starting another e-commerce store? What happened to the first three?"

GREG: (typing furiously) "This one's different! Outdoor gear is perfect for dropshipping. And look how well the newsletter rebranding is working!"

KIRSTEN: (raising eyebrow) "You mean how well I'm making it work. Since technically, I'm the author."

GREG: (grinning) "Corporate would never suspect their Senior VP is building a secret sustainability empire under his wife's name!"

KIRSTEN: "Right. And how many failed stores before this one works?"

GREG: (counting on fingers) "Three down, but fourth time's the charm! Plus we've got the marketplace almost ready..."

KIRSTEN: "While somehow maintaining record growth at your day job?"

GREG: "Yeah! Isn't it great?"

KIRSTEN: (sipping coffee) "You know, someday there'll be tools that make all this easier. Maybe wait for those?" [foreshadowing]

GREG: "Where's the fun in that? Pass the credit card..."

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Deep Dive Articles:

🎯 The Daily Thread to MTN Impact: Rebranding For Impact

• How we transformed an acquired newsletter into a sustainability trojan horse

• The art of maintaining authenticity under a pen name

• Why today's tools would have made the rebrand 10x easier

• My New Meta blog post on all the gritty details [Read the full story →]

💼 Four Failed Stores: A Pandemic E-commerce Education

• The complete dropshipping disaster diary

• How we burned money learning customer acquisition math

• Why modern AI testing would have saved us thousands

• All the embarrassing details in this blog post [Read the full story →]

♻️ RENU: The 75% Finished Marketplace

• Why great timing matters more than great code

• How we built (most of) a two-sided marketplace

• Modern no-code tools that would have saved our sanity

• This could still happen; give me some hope with this blog post [Read the full story →]

The Stats That Matter

• Newsletter Subscribers: 500+ (Actually legit!)

• Corporate Growth: Record-breaking

• Hours of Sleep: Surprisingly adequate

• Mountain Adventures: Countless

• Lessons Learned: Priceless

CURATE & COMMENT

🥰 Influencer Of The Week

Here's the thing about building a business vs personal brand - it's like asking whether you should put on your pants or shoes first. Both ways get you dressed; you just have to decide if you want people to watch the process.

You can either:

• Build the business (or experience) first, then let people watch you stumble through personal branding

• Build the audience first, then let them watch you stumble through business-building

I'm doing both simultaneously because I apparently enjoy maximum public embarrassment. But hey, at least the newsletter subscribers are entertained.

Choose your adventure. Just remember there's no wrong path, only varying degrees of public documentation of your mistakes.

Dan is one of the geniuses behind Kortex, a second brain for creators and writers. I just got into early access and started playing with it.

💌Newsletter Of The Week

Want to see strategic weirdness done right? Follow Lessa on X if you're ready for a masterclass in personal branding, building on Twitter, and... cows. So. Many. Cows.

Her 13-day mini-course newsletter is like drinking growth hacks from a glitter-covered firehose (in the best possible way). I aspire to reach her level of "is this genius or madness?" (Spoiler: It's genius. The cows told me so).

🧑‍💻 Weekly Side Hustles

Here are a few more hustles from the Andrew Bolis playbook:

Userlytics (App & Website Feedback)

• What It Is: Test apps and websites for usability and provide feedback.

• Pay: $5–$20 per test.

• How to Get Started: Sign up and apply for available tests.

• Payout: PayPal within 24–48 hours of completion.

Redbubble (Sell Your Art)

• What It Is: Upload artwork to be printed on merchandise like shirts, stickers, and mugs.

• Pay: Commission on each sale.

• How to Get Started: Create an artist profile, upload designs, and choose products.

• Payout: Paid monthly, with consistent sales.

• Pro Tip: Use Midjourney to create digital art that people love

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Lessons Learned

The Pattern Emerges

Looking back, I can now see the early signs of what would become our Side Hustle Stack framework:

1. Audience First

   • Newsletter building community

   • No pressure to monetize immediately

   • Creating value before asking for value

2. Resource Sharing

   • Same target audience across ventures

   • Shared marketing efforts

   • Overlapping content creation

3. Synergy Effects

   • Each venture strengthened the others

   • Natural customer flow between platforms

   • Compound growth potential

Below is my master plan from 2020 that I found in my files, and it’s not dissimilar to what we are doing 4 to 5 years later.

✅ Holdco Strategy

✅ Consulting/Advisory

✅ Mountain Lifestyle

✅ Blog/Branding/Audience

❌ Electronics Store ← I have always dreamed of owning one since G&S Electronics in Georgetown, Ontario (1980s).

❌ [Hangs head in shame] Please forgive me for ever using the word "vlog." I was young(er) and foolish. It won't happen again.

The Accidental Framework

Looking back, our pandemic experiments weren't so much a success story as a crash course in what not to do. But from those expensive lessons emerged what would become the Side Hustle Stack framework.

The newsletter taught us the value of authentic community building.

The failed e-commerce stores showed us why rushing to monetize fails.

The unfinished marketplace proved that timing and tools matter more than ideas.

Somehow, these failures made me better at my corporate job - probably because nothing makes quarterly reports less scary than losing your own money.

⚡ Quick Action Steps:

1. List your current interests and activities

2. Look for natural connection points

3. Start small but think systematically

4. Build one piece at a time

5. Let the stack grow organically

THAT’S A WRAP

If you've got a collection of side hustles that might secretly be a stack, hit reply. Let's uncover those patterns together!

Stay curious and keep building,

Greg "Mountain Side Hustler" Mills

PS: If you find any other repressed business ventures in my past, let me know. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I tried starting an underground fight club for middle managers and just forgot about it.

PPS: To my one t-shirt customer - your silence is appreciated. We both know what happened there.

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Here are some back issues if you are just not sure yet:

Issue #13: The 5-Minute Research Mistake That Almost Cost Us Everything 

Issue #12: Three Easy Steps To Get Thrown Out Of A Convention 

Issue #11: From Tech Snob To Franchise Fanboy: A Transformation Story

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