Connect with Janay Trevillion: https://substack.com/@curateyourbestlife
Welcome to the launch of the Sustainable Side Hustle Podcast with Vinayak Ramesh.
Today’s episode features Janay Trevillion, who spent 10 years in the travel industry and is now combining that experience with AI to build multiple income streams around travel, education, books, and community.
We talk about how she uses AI to automate repetitive work, make a side hustle more sustainable, and why taking action quickly matters more than endlessly consuming information.
>>> Don't forget to follow the show, download these powerful launch episodes, and drop us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
>>> Claim your FREE gift for supporting the launch — the Substack Notes Starter Pack + Substack Growth Engine. Leave a review and DM me on Substack: https://substack.com/@vinayakramesh1
Transcripts
Speaker A:
Hey, this is your host, Vinayak and welcome to the Sustainable side Hustle podcast.
Speaker A:
Today I've got Janay with me.
Speaker A:
She spent 10 years in the travel industry and now teaches people to use AI so they can stop wasting time on logistics and actually start building.
Speaker A:
All while still curating real group trips on the side.
Speaker A:
She is building sustainable income not to chase some huge revenue number, but to create freedom, legacy and a life that actually feels aligned.
Speaker A:
Let's get right into it.
Speaker A:
You have two things going on.
Speaker A:
One is the travel, duration of publication on substack and other thing is teaching AI.
Speaker A:
Right?
Speaker B:
Yeah, travel was like a no brainer to me.
Speaker B:
But when I was experiencing burnout, I wanted to veer away from travel because I've been doing this for so long and I'm not where I want to be.
Speaker B:
And the more I tried to drift away, it just kept pulling me.
Speaker B:
So I decided I'm going to do both.
Speaker B:
I'm going to be travel powered by AI.
Speaker B:
So I've built several different avenues for passive income.
Speaker B:
I have a school community and that's one I've written books, so still getting royalties from that.
Speaker B:
And then travel curation, like group trips that I do, I do a little individual travel for people, but most of the bread and butter is doing group trips with people.
Speaker A:
How does the AI side of things work?
Speaker A:
So what do you teach there?
Speaker B:
What I'm teaching is how to implement AI into your business or side Hustle.
Speaker B:
My goal is to focus on solo entrepreneurs.
Speaker B:
So people such as myself, I feel like I can talk to them because I identify with them.
Speaker B:
People that maybe be short on time because you have W2 or 9,5 and you want to use AI to help create workflows that make managing your business sustainable.
Speaker B:
So that's really my focus is create products, workflows, things so you can hand off the repetitive tasks to AI and you can focus more on your passion and your business.
Speaker B:
My experience with Amazon wasn't bad.
Speaker B:
My first book was called beyond the Borders and it was about time I spent in Greece, which I loved.
Speaker B:
So I thought I would write about it and, and it was very straightforward.
Speaker B:
My marketing for it was not the best because you're always learning, right?
Speaker B:
when I wrote this book it was:
Speaker B:
I didn't have any experience anything and my marketing wasn't the best.
Speaker B:
But the experience with Amazon was okay and maybe because it was a digital book only.
Speaker B:
So my latest book, how to Talk to Chatty Like a Baddie I had a really hard time with it because I messed up on the COVID and Amazon's very picky with the COVID and you can't have images on the spine.
Speaker B:
So that was kind of a hassle.
Speaker B:
But I was more equipped with marketing this time.
Speaker B:
One I have my community that I marketed to, but also I knew about press releases and getting interviewed with different publications and stuff.
Speaker B:
That's one thing I try to teach people.
Speaker B:
Even if you don't know everything, just do it.
Speaker B:
Tell people all the time, do it scared, do it.
Speaker B:
Even if you feel like I don't know anything about this because you'll learn.
Speaker B:
Everybody doesn't know everything.
Speaker B:
But if you don't, if you don't try to do it, if you don't do it, it's not going to get done one and then you're not going to learn.
Speaker B:
If I didn't publish my first book, I wouldn't have learned what I learned to make my marketing better this time around.
Speaker B:
So it was a win win.
Speaker B:
One thing I learned is even if you are writing the book now, take pre sales because a lot of authors, they pre sell their book even before they've even written a word.
Speaker B:
If you can get on stages, and I don't mean you have to go talk on a big stage in an auditorium, but audience hack with people, get on people's podcasts, talk about your book, talk about how do people connect with you.
Speaker B:
So create a landing page so people know when it's gonna be released.
Speaker B:
Just try to get outside of your own bu bubble.
Speaker B:
Because a lot of times it's not that we have a bad product, A lot of times it's not that we're priced too high or too low, it's just that enough people hasn't seen what you have to offer.
Speaker A:
What do you see people most struggle with AI these days?
Speaker B:
For the people in my community and I've done a lot of intake calls, it's just doing it.
Speaker B:
They will come in, they'll sit, they'll be in zoom calls and they'll absorb the information, they'll download the replays.
Speaker B:
But one, they just never watch it and then they never go from getting the information to actually doing something.
Speaker B:
And I think that is the biggest thing with my community.
Speaker B:
AI moves so fast that you could sit on information and then it's just not even, it's not even relevant anymore.
Speaker B:
AI is moving so fast and you'll wait six months to implement something.
Speaker B:
It's like we're not even doing that anymore.
Speaker B:
And I've Always been taught that money loves speed.
Speaker B:
So is if you can do something, if you are serious and you can do something every day to just move the needle, you will be 90% ahead of most people.
Speaker B:
Because a lot of us, we just unfortunately, and that's what I mean about the information era.
Speaker B:
A lot of us unfortunately just consume information.
Speaker B:
That's all we do.
Speaker A:
So if someone wants to make a side hustle in the travel industry, what would you advise to them?
Speaker B:
Travel is so wide, right?
Speaker B:
You have group travel.
Speaker B:
You could focus on family travel, you can focus on brides.
Speaker B:
I feel like the first thing you have to do is pick your focus.
Speaker B:
Although you could serve all of them.
Speaker B:
It is going to make hard.
Speaker B:
Make it hard.
Speaker B:
I don't do family travel.
Speaker B:
I don't have any kids.
Speaker B:
I'm not interested.
Speaker B:
So my trips are all catered to adults.
Speaker B:
If you're speaking to everybody, you're not really speaking to anybody.
Speaker B:
So find what you want to focus on and then go where those people are so that you can build client lists.
Speaker B:
That would be my advice.
Speaker A:
First off, is there any specific need that people can capitalize on?
Speaker B:
The specific need would be human connection.
Speaker B:
You can go to AI, you can go to Expedia, but working with a travel consultant, a travel agent, you will have someone right there with you every step of the way.
Speaker B:
I have been in so many situations traveling that AI could never replace my lived experience.
Speaker B:
There's people that want curated experiences.
Speaker B:
There's still a need for actual humans to help them through that.
Speaker A:
So that was just a trailer.
Speaker A:
But we are about to get into the real story.
Speaker A:
What it actually looks like to build as an AI educator and strategist, and how she's doing it without burning herself all over again.
Speaker A:
If you have ever felt like the only way to build something is to run yourself into the ground, you probably don't want to miss this one.
Speaker A:
Make sure you hit that follow button.
Speaker A:
It's completely free.
Speaker A:
And I will be dropping the full interview really soon.
Speaker A:
And go check out Jenna.
Speaker A:
She provides tons of value in her newsletron substack by the name the Curated Life with Jazzy.
Speaker A:
And if you want more of this stuff, I write about it every week on my substack, the Sustainable Solopreneur.
Speaker A:
Consider subscribing to it and I will see you soon.
