I failed A-levels & barely got into uni before bagging fancy corporate job – but I quit to take on side hustle full time
A WOMAN who failed her A-levels and begged a university to accept her, landed herself a successful corporate job – but left it all behind to create a six-figure side hustle.
Shoshanna Davis took a “massive risk” and launched her own business full time after burning out in her fancy office job.
She told MyLondon: “I failed my A-Levels and ended up getting into university through clearing as all of my offers rejected me.
“I had to phone up my uni and beg them to accept me, which they eventually did.
“I started with that disadvantage so something I wanted to do was try and get as much experience as I could.
“When I graduated, I thought I’d love to start a platform to help others do the same but I’d just started a busy corporate job which involved a lot of travel, so I didn’t have the time.”
But when Covid put the world into lockdown, Shoshanna looked to earning some extra money from her side hustle – Fairy Job Mother.
The 28-year-old balanced the two careers for sometime – afraid to take the risk of relying solely on her own business.
However, soon the marketing graduate had burnt out, and she decided to take a leap of faith to pursue her side hustle full time.
Now, Shoshanna has warned people in similar positions that entrepreneurship is not all it is made out to be.
“You see on social media stuff like ‘I’ve just made my first six figures working in Bali and this is how you can do it too’ which obviously puts everyone else under a lot of pressure”, she explained.
“You think ‘why am I not making that?’ but most of the time it’s just b******t and people are saying that to sell their online courses.”
The 28-year-old candidly admitted Fairy Job mother did not provide her with the same money as her fancy corporate job – but she is hoping to earn herself a six-figure pay-check shortly.
“Usually, I work from home which is quite lonely as an entrepreneur”, she continued.
“I’m originally from London and only moved to Cheltenham a year ago so it can get lonely, but I’ve joined a co-working space to potentially meet some new people which I’m excited about.”
And Fairy Job Mother is thriving, with invites to the House of Commons for national apprenticeship week and several paid speakerships within the first few months of 2023.
It has grown to a following of 20,000 by sharing careers advice resources across TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Shoshanna said: “For me one of the things I’ve had to do in March and April is take a step back and look at processes I need to put in place to start making more money.
“When I was working full-time, I didn’t have time.
“It’s about refining my offering, carrying out market research and speaking to employers.”
The entrepreneur confessed the start of her venture has been “trial and error” and some “expensive investments”.
“But I’m absolutely confident about the future. You have to be. Mindset is everything,” she added.
This comes as hundreds of people share their advice on money making business opportunities.
One woman has claimed that she makes £3,295 a week and works less than three hours a day, thanks to her easy side hustle.
Known on TikTok as @financiallyfreee, the savvy side hustler explained that her side hustle involves affiliate marketing and product reviews.
Another woman also revealed how she makes £80,000 a year with a simple side hustle – and she only works a few hours a week.
Kelly Rocklein dropped out of college in 2015 to become a user-generated-content (UGC) creator and hasn’t looked back since.
The part-time gig sees her creating “concepts” for companies that they use in videos to promote their products online.
And one teen who started an easy side hustle from his parents’ shed at 15 now makes £4,000 a week just two years later.
Callum Baker, now 17, began an online sweet shop The Sweet Shack a week before he turned 16 having seen sweet seller Greedy Gwin’s TikTok account.
Shoshanna's top five tips for starting a business
1. Empathise – Build a genuine relationship with people in your target audience to better understand their challenges and perspective.
2. Refine your idea – Use your research and knowledge of your target audience to refine your initial idea.
3. Business plan – What is the purpose of your business? Who are you selling to? What are your goals?
4. Finances – Make sure you know if you are in the financial position to leave your current job, and research whether you will need to take out a loan or borrow money.
5. ‘Progress over perfection’ – Focus first on bringing your idea to the market and take on-board constructive criticism.