I was commuting 3 hours a day to my dead end job & barely saw my kids – now my self-taught side hustle has made me £327k
Desiree Hill, 39, was sick of travelling three hours a day to her medical assistant job, where she earned £28,000.
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She worked long hours, and never got to see her kids, which she says "took a toll", on her mental health.
After getting divorced in 2018, Desiree, from Atlanta, Georgia, decided that she needed to earn some extra cash to provide for her two children.
After deliberating about how to do this, she decided that it would be a great idea to buy, repair and resell rundown cars.
"Everybody needs transportation, that's never going to stop, no matter what", she told CNBC Make It.
"I knew that it was something that I could spend a small amount on, and potentially make a lot of profit."
Desiree's first project was an old truck that she bought for £893 and did up herself, despite having no prior experience.
Using Google and YouTube, she was able to teach herself how to fix the vehicle, which she realised just needed a replacement throttle which set her back just £44.
"I just fixed this vehicle with a $60 part, and I didn't have to pay anybody to do it", she said.
Desiree went on to sell that first truck for £2977, meaning she made £2040 profit.
"It was almost like a high. I wanted to keep doing it", she said.
I earn cash by selling 'actual rubbish' on eBay - I flogged a freebie I found on the floor by a bin for £10, it's crazy
She kept flipping and selling cars whilst working full time in healthcare.
After work, she would make dinner and then put the kids to bed before working on the cars until three in the morning, even though she had to be up at six for work.
In 2020, Desiree flipped and sold 38 cars, and decided that now was the time to leave her job.
She documented her journey on social media, which helped to build her client base.
Side hustles in numbers
Based on new research from Finder, an estimated 22.8 million Brits are using side hustles to top up their income.
Among those aged 18-23, 68 percent have a side hustle in 2024.
Those aged 24-42 aren't far behind, with 65 per cent having an additional source of income.
Side hustles are less popular among older generations, with 40 percent of those aged 43-54 having one.
Whereas 23 percent of people aged 55-73 and just 7 per cent of those aged 74 and over are earning extra cash this way.
The mum now has 120,000 TikTok followers, and in 2021 launched a mobile repair service, where she would travel to people's houses and fix their vehicles.
She found this to be much less stressful, as she didn't have to worry about whether the car was going to sell, and made exactly the same amount of money as the car flipping.
Desiree decided to switch from flipping cars to being a mechanic, and her business grew so rapidly that she was able to hire a mechanic and rent a repair space in a shop for £297.
A kind client then offered her a whopping £7500 loan, which enabled her to buy a larger space, and she now owns Crowns Corner Mechanics, which raked in £327,000 in 2024.
She now gets to spend much more time with her family, and her kids now even help out at the shop.
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