Connect with Jessica: https://substack.com/@jessthecreator

Welcome to the launch of the Sustainable Side Hustle Podcast with Vinayak Ramesh.

Today’s episode features Jessica, a Substack bestseller who went from just 50 subscribers to building three separate publications.

We talk about how she grew through consistent publishing and collaboration, why she believes in creating opportunities instead of waiting for them, and why starting before everything is perfect can be your biggest advantage.

>>> 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

Hey, this is your host, Vinayak.

And welcome to the Sustainable side Hustle podcast.

Today I've got Jessica with me, a substack bestseller who has built three separate publications.

Her approach comes down to one line.

Move first, refine second and publish.

So let's get right into it.

So I'm a registered nurse and also a nurse practitioner.

I worked in pediatric oncology.

Then I moved to flight nursing.

And while I was in flight nursing, I started writing online on the site I used was called Ghost blog site.

Like a blog, it's like really hard.

You have to promote it and everything.

They were saying that you have to publish online once a week for two years so that you can prove to yourself that you actually can be a consistent writer.

Didn't expect anything for two years really.

I had my flight nurse job and after four years of that, they ended up basically getting rid of the flight site.

So they let us all go and I started getting into like trading and I ended up doing ghost writing for the stock market investor, trader and investor.

And so I had mentioned him to make some substacks.

So we created one substack and became a bestseller.

Then we about swing trading and investing, buying old investing.

And then we started another newsletter about creating an income stream in the stock market with margin investing, margin trading.

So if someone were to start exactly from scratch, what is the one thing that you would tell them to focus on?

First, if I lost everything tomorrow, I would go all in on publishing instead of trying to have again.

It's like that perfectionism thing of trying to make everything perfect or start the perfect brand and the perfect website.

And the strategy, Just stick to the basics, start writing.

I probably publish every day or five days a week.

Have the initiation to make the first move and start inviting people to collaborate.

Because through collaboration, that's the fastest way to grow.

If you want to grow faster.

It's easier to grow together than to grow alone.

Try out different articles, different formats, see what's working, ask questions, get feedback from your readers and try to create and build opportunities for yourself rather than just waiting.

So instead of trying to be perfect and waiting, I will start writing every day.

Just treat it like a full time job.

You often talk about creating the opportunities yourself instead of waiting to be discovered, invited.

Can you walk us through your particular instance of what you did and how you created Your own opportunity that you're proud of.

I had my license, and I was applying to jobs.

And at least here in the US when you get your nursing job, all of the jobs say you need at least two years of experience to get hired.

You wouldn't think that.

So they say there's this shortage of nursing, and it's a shortage of experienced nurses.

When you're new, it's really hard to get hired.

So I was applying jobs, and a friend of mine was like, why don't you just start showing up at the hospital and introducing yourself?

So I started applying online to these jobs, and then the next day out, I started showing up because it was three months of applying a job.

No hospitals are applying.

I went to one hospital, dropped my resume off, and then I went to another hospital and I went to HR and I got hired.

Three days later, the hospital I went to and had dropped off my resume, they called me for an interview, and I had to tell them that I had already got hired at another one.

So that was, like, the first big opportunity that I created for myself.

The next one was just writing online.

Like, I didn't start writing online saying I wanted to be a ghostwriter, but because the investor had asked me to write for him, because he saw that I was writing every Sunday, he saw that I had already been publishing, that I already knew how to write online, and I was being consistent.

So I would say, like, that created a huge opportunity for me for ghostwriting for somebody.

What you do for free will pay you the most.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started all of this?

The thing about the paid subscription, about having a paid newsletter is that I wish someone told me it's just, like, way harder than you think.

It's so hard.

Which is good to have for perspective.

So if you're not like, getting paid subscribers at first, or if you only have two, or if you had 10 and two people stopped or, like, unsubscribed, just knowing that how hard it is important to know, or else you're gonna eat yourself alive.

So if you're gonna pursue it, just have grace with yourself that it is really hard.

So that was just a trailer, but we are about to get into the real story.

How she juggles three different publications at once, and how she is monetizing it all.

If you have ever been stuck overthinking, instead of just starting, you probably don't want to miss this one.

Make sure you hit that follow button.

It's completely free and I will be dropping the full interview really soon.

And go check out Jessica.

She provides tons of free value on Substack at Unstuck to Published.

And if you want more of this kind of thing, I write about it every week on my free newsletter on Substack, the Sustainable Solopreneur.

I will see you soon.