Success and Unique Businesses- Season Finale

I Make a Living

The idea of success has many faces and iterations, most of us relate success to financial freedom or fame, but when you are an entrepreneur, success can mean much more than that. Who knew that waiting in line for hours on end could turn into full fledge operation, that someone could find joy in dressing up as Batman just to bring joy to tourists or that selling finger-painting art on Facebook for $50 could turn into a million dollar business or that anyone would pay for literally garbage picked up from the streets?

The entrepreneurs that we talk to on this episode have all something in common; their business ideas broke the paradigms of conventionalism and defied the odds of 'success'.

Robert Samuel from Same Ol' Line Dudes found inspiration while waiting in line for a new iPhone; Iris Scott had a dream of being a full-time artist, so she dropped everything and moved to Thailand where she could sell her art online while solely focusing on her craft. Justin Gignac felt challenged by a former colleague on the importance of packaging when selling any product. He took that challenge by literally selling 'nicely packed garbage' to people over 140 countries. We also talk to several NYC street performers, from subway musicians like Leonel Lorador to the very popular street troupes that stop pedestrians in Times Square to a journalist by trade but Batman impersonator by passion.

Throughout this season we have learned that being an entrepreneur is not an easy job, it can be an isolating and life-consuming journey for many, but we also met incredible people that have found a way to make it work. To achieve success, whatever success means to you, you must understand the ins and outs of being self-employed and the very particular sets of challenges that will arise when you are your boss.

We hope that throughout these episodes, we have left something valuable and meaningful to you by sharing the stories of real-life entrepreneurs who have figured out how to balance life and work, be a little more productive or dealt with very particular issues that many of you shared with us as we traveled the country with the live event.

Stay tuned as we gear up for a new season. We will be back soon with more stories, more inspiration, and useful tips from real-life entrepreneurs.

Happy Summer!

Guest Speakers (in order of appearance)

Robert Samuel- Same Ol Line Dudes (also Jeff and Jerry who waiting in line for us, thanks!)

Iris Scott- Finger-Paint Artist

Leonel Lorador- Subway Musician

Batman of the People- Instagram

Joshua Reyes- Times Square Acrobat Troupes

Justin Gignac- Working x Working & The Garbage Project

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the guests and production team and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of '2ndSite.INC dba FreshBooks, its employees or affiliates.'