UW Madison students welcome the Side Hustle Society as a student organization to campus in the spring semester. The aim of the organization is to create a community with forums for students, in which they can discuss their “sideline activities” – or about extracurricular hobbies and passions that generate additional income.
“Almost half (45%) of US workers say they earn an extra income on the side, also known as a side hustle,” says the Side Hustle Society profile. “It’s a path to entrepreneurship, space for professional growth, and a way to generate income in your free time.”
Robinhood trading, investing, DoorDash delivery, driving, and buying and selling Etsy work can all be considered a “sideline” according to the Side Hustle Society.
“We’re new, but we all have experience with jobs on campus and other student organizations,” said Alex Becker, president of the Side Hustle Society. “This organization is our passion.”
The new club will be run by five high school students with prior leadership experience in student organizations who highlight their diverse passions and interests. Becker is a senior, studying Marketing and Management and President of the Sports Business Club. Co-founders Nikholas Parker, Daniel Tabaska, Liam Dolan and Tommy Lamers each hold leadership positions for other clubs on campus.
The founders said one of the motivating factors for starting the club was the pandemic and its impact on the students’ finances.
“If you summarize the past year for students, we have lost our internships and jobs on campus. We have not received any incentives because we are all dependent on our parents,” said Becker. “I think many of us returned to our passions in the time we had. We put ourselves on the side to earn income and do what we wanted. Many of our friends opened doors, but I also have a friend who buys and sells sports tickets. “
Several virtual events will take place this semester, in which entrepreneurs and experts will take part. Some planned speakers and UW students / alumni are:
- Troy Vosselor, co-founder of Generator, Sconnie Nation and Sconnie Beer
- Aaron Nowak, the founder and CEO of SlabStox
- Wes Schroll, the founder and CEO of Fetch Rewards
- Carrie Bohlig, entrepreneur, co-owner of Tandem Consulting and author of “This is how you want to build up a sideline”
“We are also planning a monthly presentation in which four to five different students share their sideline activities,” said Becker. “Everyone would have a time window of 20 minutes in which to speak.”
Any UW Madison student can attend, regardless of major or year. The only requirement is a membership fee of USD 10.
“Entrepreneurship is something that is addressed here at UW. We have a major for it and other student organizations, but I don’t think the sideline gets any awareness,” Becker said. “Delivering for the door opener or what you do on Robinhood doesn’t come up in class discussion, but in discussions between friends all the time.”
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The Side Hustle Society aims to establish forums on various areas of business interest and encourage participation in discussions between students and speakers at events.
Despite being a new club, Parker has expressed confidence that it will be successful.
“At the Sports Business Club, we doubled enrollments for the year,” said Parker, vice president of the Sports Business Club. “We felt we could really get attention and if we can do that with this organization we will see the same results.”
Your first event will take place on Monday, February 15th at 7pm. Students interested in the Side Hustle Society can fill out their Google form or email [email protected] with any questions.
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