What’s up everybody. I’m Shontavia Johnson and this is another episode of The Shontavia Show, where I want to inspire you to build a brand, a business, and a life that you love.

It’s Thursday, y’all. Y’all know what I like to do on Thursday. I love to pontificate. I know that’s a big word–that just means I like to talk about the stuff I like to talk about. And what I love to do most of all, is answer your questions. So if you want my thoughts about something, reach out to me at askshontavia@gmail.com, and you might hear your question on a future episode.

So let’s jump into this question, which is really, really interesting because it is something that I did a lot of in my former life, working with people on copyright and trademark-related issues, and patent related issues too when they worked for other people.

All right, so here’s the question.

Hey Shontavia, thank you so much for your work and for this show. I’ve learned so much in just the first few episodes. I’m not quite ready to jump 100% into entrepreneurship, but I do have a side hustle. During the day, I work in a hospital providing nutrition training. My side hustle is related but with a different focus and clientele altogether. In both, I write workbooks and make videos along with doing live classes. I’m in a perfect situation right now because I have some downtime at work. I can use that time to work on my business idea. I want this to become my primary source of income, but I’m not there yet. As a side hustler, I want to make sure I’m thinking everything through. What advice would you give a person working on their business as a side hustle to their day job, especially when they hate hate, HATE their day job.

I mentioned I’m in a perfect situation because of the downtime, but I’m so ready to jump ship.

And there’s no name, so I’m not going to give you a name since you don’t have a name.

But this is an amazing question and I like it a lot cause I’m a side hustler too. I have a day job and I do this work when I am not doing that day job.

So many thoughts about this and about what you can do when you’re side hustling. You hate your day job, but it’s good for you because you get to work on a bunch of other stuff for your business.

(1) So number one, I know you’re not gonna want to hear this, No Name, but you’re gonna have to change your attitude with your current hustle, with your main hustle. So remember, these are the people who gave you a chance to come and do this job.

These are the people who are paying your bills and keeping food on your table. And one of the things I think you just have to do, even when you hate your main hustle is, is change your attitude about it. Show up with energy. Show up being the best possible version of yourself that there is.

Show up and bring your great energy. You are not going to be able to–after work–I don’t know what your hours are at a hospital–I know a lot of people at hospitals work long shifts. You’re going to spend a whole, you know, 10/12 hour day in a hospital and be angry and upset about being there. How are you going to come home and flip that switch and do really amazing, great work in your side hustle? So my first suggestion to you really is to change your attitude about the current position you have.

I know it’s tough. I know you want to get out there and do your own thing, but I do think you have to show up on point in your main hustle. And I heard another podcaster talking about this recently–I’ll drop a link in the show notes about that show–I think it’s called Switch, Pivot or Quit. And she was talking about this, about you know, showing up in your current position in a way that attracts positive energy. I talk a lot about my energy. If I don’t have great energy, everything suffers. So my first suggestion to you is show up on point. Have great energy in your main gig, with your main hustle.

(2) Number two, work on your side hustle at the right time. So you mentioned you have a lot of downtime at work and you’re using that downtime maybe to work on your side hustle.

So you have to be real, real careful with this. So my background is intellectual property law. One of the things about intellectual property law that is you know, kind of tough for people when they have a day job and they’re working on their other stuff at the day job is, when you are working as an employee within the scope of your employment, your employer probably owns all the stuff you’re creating.

And so you don’t want to get in a situation where you’re working on your side hustle at work and somebody finds out or whatever and your employer ends up saying, “Hey, I own what you’ve created and you can’t use it anymore.” So be real careful about that. Work on your side hustle ON THE SIDE.

And if I can make another suggestion, work on your side hustle on your own laptop, on your own phone, on your own iPad.

And that might be a little bit extreme. But if you ever get in a situation where you know you’re working on your side hustle and you’re using work equipment, work hours, work time, you might be—you might get screwed, frankly–because your employer may own that stuff that you’re creating.

So I know this is frustrating to hear. I don’t know if you can take like an official break. I don’t know if you can squeeze your hours in a little bit so you can literally leave work. But I would suggest working on your side hustle literally on the side.

Because you don’t want to be in a position where your employer can own your intellectual property just because you didn’t take the right steps.

(3) And then my third suggestion, respect your side hustle. So as you are thinking about creating a side hustle, going out there, doing something new, treat your side hustle like a real business.

Go out and register that business with the Secretary of State. Get yourself some business cards. Show up like the owner and founder of whatever the businesse is you’re creating. Set aside time each day to work on your side hustle, not during work hours, if you’re doing things that are within the scope of your employment–I don’t know what your employment contract says about all of this–but treat it with respect. Set aside some hours each day to work on that side hustle.

I think if you do these three things, you’ll be well on your way to creating a well-founded side hustle that you own, and when you have really, really good energy to make that stuff happen.

So, just in summary, (1) show up on point to your main hustle, (2) work on your side hustle at the right time, and (3) respect your side hustle. So No Name, I hope that helps you.

I hope I’ve given you some tools and things to think about. I hope you consider really working on your side hustle on the side, because I would hate to see your dream be negatively impacted by a decision you’re making that, you know, you could easily make another decision. For everybody else, if you have questions about this or about anything else, please reach out to me at askshontavia@gmail.com. I’d love to take a crack at your question. If you disagree with me, reach out to me. If you agree with me, reach out to me.

Love to talk more about all of your questions and thoughts on Thursdays on the show. Thanks for listening.