Latest news with #DesireeHill
Economic Times
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Economic Times
She was a cancer nurse, now she fixes cars: This 39-year-old YouTube trained mechanic's income will leave you stunned
The First Spark: From YouTube Videos to Real-World Repairs Grease-Stained Dreams: The Garage Becomes a Goldmine The Moment of Truth: Can Passion Pay the Bills? You Might Also Like: 'Don't be that person who ignores this technology': Nvidia CEO warns AI will rewrite the rules of employment Beating the Odds—and the Bias From Torque Wrenches to TikTok Fame Desiree Hill used to save lives for a living. As an oncology nurse in Duluth, Georgia, her days were spent navigating the emotional weight of a high-stress hospital unit. Add to that a three-hour daily commute and the overwhelming demands of single motherhood, and life had become more exhausting than fulfilling.'I rarely saw my children,' Hill reflected while talking to CNBC Make It. 'Everything started to feel like it was slipping away—from my personal happiness to my health and peace of mind.'Her career was stable, sure. But was it enough? That's the question that nudged her toward a decision most would call irrational—until they heard what happened zero experience under the hood, Hill began watching YouTube tutorials on car repairs out of sheer curiosity. What started as a late-night distraction soon became a hands-on hustle. She bought an old truck for around $1,200, fixed it with just $60 in parts, and flipped it for more than triple the price within two days.'It was electric—the feeling of making something work with my hands and actually turning a profit,' she says. She wasn't just fixing cars. She was rewiring her entire the side hustle grew, so did her ambition. Within a year, Hill left nursing behind and started flipping cars full-time. It wasn't long before she was waking up at 6 a.m., working till 3 a.m., and involving her kids in the business. Even her 10-year-old daughter built a expanded into mobile repairs, took on customer jobs, and documented her progress on TikTok, where she now has a follower base larger than most small towns. Then came the real pivot: opening her own 9,000-square-foot auto shop, Crown's Corner Mechanic, just minutes from began as a leap of faith. What it became was something much first glance, becoming a mechanic may not sound like the most lucrative midlife switch. But beneath the surface of oil changes and engine overhauls, a financial transformation was brewing. The tiny side gig that once brought in a few thousand dollars here and there has grown into a six-figure business is now pulling in monthly numbers that would make most white-collar professionals raise an eyebrow. Let's just say she's not missing her hospital paychecks anymore. While she keeps her precise profit margins guarded, documents reviewed by CNBC confirm what the figures suggest: she's now earning more in a month than she once did in a Hill has built a business most would only dream of—one that now earns nearly $440,000 a not just the business of cars that Hill is navigating—it's the business of perception. Standing at 4-foot-11, she often stuns customers who assume she's the receptionist or assistant. But when she dissects their vehicle's issue before they've finished explaining, the assumptions quickly fall apart.'I have to prove myself every time I open my mouth,' she admits. 'But I love it. I love showing them what I know.'Her shop is now a hub of collaboration, with space rented out to welders, tow truck operators, and other mechanics. The rent is steep, but the returns—financial, emotional, and reputational—are her clientele grows, so does her vision. She dreams of owning the space she currently rents, expanding her team, and maybe even earning a mechanical engineering degree. She's already repaid a generous loan from a customer-turned-angel-investor and is now setting her sights on crossing a milestone few small businesses ever just how much is she making now?Let's put it this way: her first year flipping cars brought in six figures. Her auto shop's revenue has nearly doubled since last year. And projections suggest she's barreling toward $1 million in annual revenue—a far cry from her nursing Hill didn't just switch careers. She rewrote her story, replacing burnout with empowerment and stagnation with momentum. Her journey is a masterclass in self-belief, grit, and the courage to chase unfamiliar dreams.'If you don't know about us yet,' she says, 'you're going to know about us real soon.'And with the kind of numbers she's pulling in? That's a promise worth betting on.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
She was a cancer nurse, now she fixes cars: This 39-year-old YouTube trained mechanic's income will leave you stunned
The First Spark: From YouTube Videos to Real-World Repairs Grease-Stained Dreams: The Garage Becomes a Goldmine The Moment of Truth: Can Passion Pay the Bills? You Might Also Like: 'Don't be that person who ignores this technology': Nvidia CEO warns AI will rewrite the rules of employment Beating the Odds—and the Bias From Torque Wrenches to TikTok Fame Desiree Hill used to save lives for a living. As an oncology nurse in Duluth, Georgia, her days were spent navigating the emotional weight of a high-stress hospital unit. Add to that a three-hour daily commute and the overwhelming demands of single motherhood, and life had become more exhausting than fulfilling.'I rarely saw my children,' Hill reflected while talking to CNBC Make It. 'Everything started to feel like it was slipping away—from my personal happiness to my health and peace of mind.'Her career was stable, sure. But was it enough? That's the question that nudged her toward a decision most would call irrational—until they heard what happened zero experience under the hood, Hill began watching YouTube tutorials on car repairs out of sheer curiosity. What started as a late-night distraction soon became a hands-on hustle. She bought an old truck for around $1,200, fixed it with just $60 in parts, and flipped it for more than triple the price within two days.'It was electric—the feeling of making something work with my hands and actually turning a profit,' she says. She wasn't just fixing cars. She was rewiring her entire the side hustle grew, so did her ambition. Within a year, Hill left nursing behind and started flipping cars full-time. It wasn't long before she was waking up at 6 a.m., working till 3 a.m., and involving her kids in the business. Even her 10-year-old daughter built a expanded into mobile repairs, took on customer jobs, and documented her progress on TikTok, where she now has a follower base larger than most small towns. Then came the real pivot: opening her own 9,000-square-foot auto shop, Crown's Corner Mechanic, just minutes from began as a leap of faith. What it became was something much first glance, becoming a mechanic may not sound like the most lucrative midlife switch. But beneath the surface of oil changes and engine overhauls, a financial transformation was brewing. The tiny side gig that once brought in a few thousand dollars here and there has grown into a six-figure business is now pulling in monthly numbers that would make most white-collar professionals raise an eyebrow. Let's just say she's not missing her hospital paychecks anymore. While she keeps her precise profit margins guarded, documents reviewed by CNBC confirm what the figures suggest: she's now earning more in a month than she once did in a Hill has built a business most would only dream of—one that now earns nearly $440,000 a not just the business of cars that Hill is navigating—it's the business of perception. Standing at 4-foot-11, she often stuns customers who assume she's the receptionist or assistant. But when she dissects their vehicle's issue before they've finished explaining, the assumptions quickly fall apart.'I have to prove myself every time I open my mouth,' she admits. 'But I love it. I love showing them what I know.'Her shop is now a hub of collaboration, with space rented out to welders, tow truck operators, and other mechanics. The rent is steep, but the returns—financial, emotional, and reputational—are her clientele grows, so does her vision. She dreams of owning the space she currently rents, expanding her team, and maybe even earning a mechanical engineering degree. She's already repaid a generous loan from a customer-turned-angel-investor and is now setting her sights on crossing a milestone few small businesses ever just how much is she making now?Let's put it this way: her first year flipping cars brought in six figures. Her auto shop's revenue has nearly doubled since last year. And projections suggest she's barreling toward $1 million in annual revenue—a far cry from her nursing Hill didn't just switch careers. She rewrote her story, replacing burnout with empowerment and stagnation with momentum. Her journey is a masterclass in self-belief, grit, and the courage to chase unfamiliar dreams.'If you don't know about us yet,' she says, 'you're going to know about us real soon.'And with the kind of numbers she's pulling in? That's a promise worth betting on.
CNBC
3 days ago
- Automotive
- CNBC
This Nurse Googled How To Repair Cars - Now Her Auto Shop Brings In $440K/Year
In 2018, Desiree Hill, 39, was a nurse commuting three hours a day and barely seeing her kids. Hoping to earn extra income, she started a side hustle of buying, repairing, and reselling rundown vehicles. With no prior auto repair experience, she learned by searching the internet and watching YouTube videos. Today, she owns a 9,000-square-foot auto repair shop in Georgia that brought in $440,000 in revenue in 2024.
CNBC
3 days ago
- Automotive
- CNBC
39-year-old quit nursing to become a mechanic—her business brings in $440,000 a year: ‘It was the fastest way to make money'
Six years ago, Desiree Hill spent her days diagnosing patients. Now, she diagnoses cars. As an oncology nurse at Northside Hospital Duluth, in Duluth, Georgia, Hill made around $40,000 per year. "I wasn't happy in my career at that time. I wasn't happy in my personal life," says Hill, 39. "It was three hours of commuting in Atlanta traffic every day. And [as a single mom at the time] I never saw my children. So it really was taking a toll." Today, Hill is the owner of Crown's Corner Mechanic — an auto repair shop in Conyers, Georgia, just a 15-minute drive from her home in Covington. Her company brought in nearly $440,000 in net revenue last year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. This year, Crown's Corner Mechanic has brought in about $70,000 in monthly revenue — roughly double last year's monthly average — and is profitable, says Hill. Hill started fixing cars in 2019 with no prior mechanic or entrepreneurship experience, teaching herself through YouTube videos and involving her family. Her 10-year-old daughter recently built a motor, and her son is a mechanic in the U.S. Army. "We learned together," says Hill, adding, "I not only have a family at home, I have a family here [with my employees] and I have a family with my customers." Hill got a Registered Medical Assistant diploma from Florida Metropolitan University, a now-defunct for-profit school, in 2011, she says. (By the time she graduated, the school was known as Everest University.) Over roughly a decade of nursing, she worked her way up to a high-demand, high-stress oncology unit at Northside Hospital Duluth. But she was unhappy, she says: long hours and commutes for a unit where patients often succumbed to their illnesses. In 2019, Hill sought to increase her income by starting a side hustle. She began buying and renovating run-down vehicles to sell for profit, despite not knowing how to change her own car's oil, she says. "Everybody needs transportation. That's never going to stop no matter what. And I knew it was something that I could spend a very small amount on and maybe potentially make a lot of profit," says Hill. "It was the fastest way to make money." Hill watched tutorials on YouTube about how to fix or change certain car parts, or diagnose various vehicle problems. Her first purchase was a truck, for about $1,200. After spending $60 and putting in only an hour of work to fix it, she sold the truck for around $4,000 two days later. "I bought three more cars the next day," says Hill. "It was almost like a high. I swear, it was beautiful." Hill stayed up until 3 a.m. nightly fixing cars, waking up at 6 a.m. to get back to the hospital. After 15 months of minimal sleep and time with her kids, she quit nursing around January 2020. Over the next year, she bought, fixed and sold 38 cars, which made her around $100,000 she says. In June 2021, Hill decided to additionally work on other people's vehicles as a mobile mechanic, traveling to customers to fix their vehicles. She spent a "couple thousand dollars" on her business license, auto tools, website, advertising and billing software, she says. Hill brought in about $13,000 as a mechanic in six months, she says. She documented her repair jobs on TikTok, which brought a wave of new clients her way. In Spring 2022, she stopped flipping cars and rented a garage at a local repair shop to keep up with demand, and quickly outgrew that space, too. A four-month RV repair job led to a stroke of luck: The RV owner saw her struggle, and offered her a $10,000 loan — without interest — to pay for her own auto body shop. Hill insisted on paying 10% interest, she says, and the pair drew up a three-year contract. In September 2023, Hill began renting Crown's Corner Mechanic's 9,000-square-foot space, initially receiving two months prorated before paying $6,375 monthly. She brought on a mechanic, a welder and a towing professional, each renting space in her shop, covering about half of the now $6,566 monthly rent. "It was the smartest thing I could have ever done." Hill paid back the RV owner's loan in 18 months, documents show. Many of Hill's customers find her through her TikTok account, where she has over 120,000 followers. Others walk into the shop, see a 4-foot-11-inch woman, and do a double take, she says. "There's people that walk in here that don't know [I'm the owner] ... and they're just baffled. Just because of how I look," says Hill. "And then, when they tell me what the issue is, I take them 20 steps further and break it down for them before they can even get to the next question. I have to wow them with my knowledge. Every time, I have to prove myself. Every time I open my mouth." Hill projects that Crown's Corner Mechanic will bring in $1 million in revenue this year — roughly double last year's figure, though still less than the national average, according to a 2023 report from auto parts supplier PartsTech. Hill's shop has eight bays, and the average gross revenue per bay for auto shops in the U.S. is $203,000, the report says. She hopes to soon switch from renting to owning a space, she says, but she'd need about $4 million to buy her current building — which has her exploring mortgage loan options. Owning would help her put more money back into both the business and her five workers' pockets, she adds. In the meantime, she plans to keep growing her clientele through social media — if TikTok disappeared overnight, it'd be "devastating to my business," she says — and one day get a mechanical engineering degree, preferably through a flexible, online program. "We don't stop," says Hill, adding: "If you don't know about us yet, you're going to know about us real soon." ,
