So when I first started my side hustle, I felt like I was living a double life at work.
I stopped going to lunch with people because I was spending that time on my side hustle.
My social interactions with people changed because when they’d say, “Hey Shannon, how was your weekend, what did you do?” I’d be all weird and cagey about it because I didn’t want to tell anyone that I spent it working on this side business.
And honestly, it felt super weird.
I started my side hustle because I wasn’t in love with my job, and keeping this big secret was creating an ever bigger divide.
And it was even more noticeable because it was a really small company with only about 20 people in the office, and we all knew each other pretty well.
So, it was stressful.
My ultimate goal was to grow the business up to the point where I could quit my day job, but since I wasn’t planning to quit any time soon, and I didn’t want to get fired either, I had to make a decision.
So being the good student that I am, I went onto our company intranet and looking through all of our policies to see if we had one relating to what I was doing.
In fact, we did have a “moonlighting” policy where I was required to disclose any secondary employment if what I was doing was in competition with my employer, they could tell me I had to stop, or they could choose to terminate my employment.
Okay, fair enough, I thought. And since what I was doing had nothing to do with them, I figured I was fine…
So It was time for my annual review with my new boss who had just started, and I remember sitting in her office thinking, okay, at the end of this I’m going to pull out that policy and tell her about it, and then they can’t fire me for not telling them, and then I’ll be good to go.
So what happened next was totally unexpected.
My boss says to me, “Oh, that’s fantastic!! I actually own a couple of other businesses myself. Tell me more about what you do!”
And that conversation turned into a super supportive mentorship that helped me grow the business, actually made it super hard for me to make the decision to actually leave in the end, and has even led to a consulting arrangement and referrals!
So when it comes to disclosing your side hustle to your employer, I think it’s important to consider a couple of things:
- Do you have any policies related to secondary employment or starting your own business or non-compete agreements? Make sure you understand those, and what the consequences are should you decide to not to disclose.
- Do you feel like keeping it a secret will cause you more stress?
- How can your side hustle be a benefit to your employer now and in the future?
Show Notes:
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