Graphic Designer Profits from Print on Demand; Quits Job to Hike New Zealand

Notes from Chris

Episode 385

Today’s story comes from Jack Faulkner in Wellington, New Zealand. By day, Jack was formerly a graphic designer at a large corporation. Jack’s side hustle, The Cabin Supply Company, sells adventure-inspired prints, stickers, and shirts aimed at weekend adventurers.

Jack decided on the side hustle idea while going on a road trip from Seattle to Los Angeles with a friend. The goal was to do something involving the outdoors and adventure, and settled on the "The Cabin Supply Co." because of a lifelong dream: to own a cabin in the woods. Jack took photos while on the trip, and then made designs using the photographs and some inspirational designs after getting home.

After uploading the designs to print-on-demand sites like Redbubble and Society6, they sat back to see what happened. The first month, Cabin Supply Co made one sale ($4.30!) and then made two the following month. In the third month, it made 17 sales. Jack kept at it, uploading more designs and adding them to other print on demand sites.

When Jack and Jack’s partner quit their jobs to walk the Te Araroa trail (a 3000km trail running the length of New Zealand), Jack took tons of photos for future designs and earned $10,000 from Cabin Supply Co designs while hiking. The trail cost around $9,000 in total, so not only did the side hustle cover all of their hiking costs, Jack made a little extra on the side, too.

From month to month, sales continued to grow. While working a day job last year, Jack earned an extra $20,000 New Zealand dollars (about $14,000 U.S. dollars) on top of that full-time salary.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Cabin Supply Co.: Life is too short—choose adventure! Check out Jack's adventure accessories on their website
• Redbubble, Printful, & Society 6: Some of the print on demand platforms that Jack used to create their products
• Big Cartel: This company makes it easy to build a unique online store and run a creative business

SEE ALSO:

• Urban Hiker Climbs to Steep Success in San Francisco: A project manager turns a passion for her city into a substantial side income of $50,000 a year
• Outdoorsman Creates “Boat in a Backpack”: A construction project manager flies to China and invents a new kind of kayak that folds into its own backpack
• Auto Employee Earns $100,000 Selling Stickers on Instagram: On a trip to Tokyo, a serial side hustler discovers popular stickers in Tokyo. He comes home, learns to produce his own, and earns six-figures in the first year of operation

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,