{"id":79698,"date":"2025-08-13T13:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T13:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/79698\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T13:26:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T13:26:07","slug":"how-these-entrepreneurs-turned-their-side-hustle-into-their-main-gig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/79698\/","title":{"rendered":"How these entrepreneurs turned their side hustle into their main gig"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Shelby Weaver (left) and Abby Albino (right) both have jobs based in Canada\u2019s basketball scene and together run Mack House, a sneaker decorating studio, and Makeway, a sneaker retail store. They say starting their businesses while continuing with their full-time roles reduced the financial pressures on the business.Supplied<\/p>\n

When Shelby Weaver started customizing sneakers as a hobby in 2018, she says she didn\u2019t consider herself to be particularly artistic. Ms. Weaver sought reprieve from her busy role as a director for the Toronto Raptors when inspiration to experiment with altering sneakers first struck. A year later, Ms. Weaver was hatching a plan to launch a studio where others could come together to paint and personalize their favourite pair of kicks.<\/p>\n

Today, Ms. Weaver and her co-founder Abby Albino, who is head of brand and business strategy at Canada Basketball, run Mack House,<\/a> a studio near Toronto\u2019s Queen Street West strip where sneaker heads can put their personal spin on footwear. Next door is Makeway<\/a>, launched a year later, where the pair sell sneakers and streetwear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an action person,\u201d says Ms. Weaver. \u201cIf I have an idea that I think is good, I\u2019m doing it right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many entrepreneurs, Ms. Weaver and Ms. Albino started a new venture while balancing full-time jobs, and in Ms. Albino\u2019s case, parenthood. They are two out of 7.4 million Canadian adults who report<\/a> having a side-hustle on top of other work commitments. What sets some of these entrepreneurs apart from the rest is their ability to scale their side gigs into full-fledged businesses. <\/p>\n

A key strategy for scale, according to Rawcology founder Tara Tomulka, is a willingness to experiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a recovering perfectionist,\u201d confesses Ms. Tomulka, who began building her raw food business 10 years ago while working in corporate communications. \u201cIt can hinder you from getting started if you think it needs to be perfect first. Get out there. Start experimenting, adjust and get feedback. You can change things along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Tomulka did exactly that while researching the ideal Rawcology product to place in supermarkets. She experimented with several types of plant-based foods, including a line of vegan dips, before landing on a recipe that enabled coconut chips to masquerade as Doritos.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a whim, I tried making smoky cheese coconut chips. I took the recipe to [the culinary department] at George Brown [College], and we looked at how we could launch a product like that with a shelf life. While testing recipes there, I realized I wanted to have an impact by creating snack foods that are better for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Tomulka has since left corporate communications entirely and works full time on expanding Rawcology\u2019s footprint with products like grain-free granola and other low allergen offerings. Both she and the women behind Mack House and Makeway credit their trajectory, in some part, to the support of good mentors and business partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a very positive relationship with my boss,\u201d Ms. Tomulka says when reflecting on the period where she transitioned from full-time work in communications to studying nutrition. \u201cI didn\u2019t leave my full-time role right away. We made an arrangement for me to stay on part-time while going back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Weaver says her parents are both entrepreneurs, which made taking the leap herself less daunting. She also notes that, perhaps counterintuitively, juggling multiple jobs and projects has helped relieve some of the early stress of entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing this while we\u2019ve had full-time jobs has allowed us to take the pressure off the business financially,\u201d says Ms. Weaver, who notes the recent lull in consumer spending is a difficult reality the Makeway team is navigating. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re fighting to pay your bills you make very different business decisions than when you\u2019re investing in the business. I\u2019m not saying it is viable for everyone, but having the businesses live on their own while also building our careers in basketball has been empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kimberly Knight (left) and Shanelle McKenzie (right) created Canada\u2019s first wellness space for women of colour, The Villij. They started by hosting pop-up yoga classes and that morphed into a bricks-and-mortar wellness space.Supplied<\/p>\n

Like the founders of Rawcology and Makeway, Kimberly Knight and Shanelle McKenzie were looking to improve their wellbeing when they hatched their plan for what would eventually be Canada\u2019s first wellness space for women of colour, The Villij<\/a>. The co-founders met while working at Via Rail in 2017 and started working on The Villij while holding down full-time jobs. In 2023 and 2024 respectively, they left their roles to focus on growing The Villij full time. What started as a series of sold-out, pop-up yoga classes morphed into a bricks-and-mortar space for both fitness and networking. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we were ready to open the studio because we were putting out events and we were sold out each time,\u201d recalls Ms. McKenzie while reflecting on what prompted them to take the leap into launching their studio. <\/p>\n

\u201cSixty per cent of women who came to our pop-up events said they would have never tried yoga before due to lack of representation,\u201d says Ms. Knight. \u201cWe know we are meeting an underserved community, and it\u2019s not necessarily that the demand wasn\u2019t there, it\u2019s just that we\u2019re one of the first to step up to the plate and successfully meet it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another common thread between these entrepreneurs is a powerful ability to cultivate community. Ms. Tomulka says one of her proudest moments was seeing different generations of consumers fall in love with her food. For Ms. Weaver, there\u2019s pride in building a business and community hub that engages and employs locals. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are obsessed with our community, our business, and our team,\u201d says Ms. McKenzie. \u201cThere\u2019s not a day that I don\u2019t think about something we can do for The Villij.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Shelby Weaver (left) and Abby Albino (right) both have jobs based in Canada\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[28,158,37804],"class_list":{"0":"post-79698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-ordid3766241683ce"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}