Side Quest Summer
Issue #51: Another post already?! Welcome back, the creative chaos is just getting started.
I’ve had enough.
After allowing it to gather dust for far too long, I’ve officially declared war on my “someday” list. Not because the timing is perfect, but because I’m tired of waiting around for it to be.
Armed with a pen, a large coffee, and the napkin that it came with, this morning I wrote down all of the creative projects and hobbies that I’ve been itching to build and explore — and it looks like I’m going to need some more caffeine.
The list is… eclectic, to say the least: I quickly came up with a dozen ideas for micro-businesses and side hustles — and that was before I flipped the napkin over and started listing all of the personal challenges and lifestyle experiments I want to tinker with.
Some ideas are delightfully ambitious, some ideas are half-baked at best, and some ideas are ready to give my imposter syndrome a run for its money. But none of that matters unless I stop daydreaming and start doing, so I’ve picked the most enticing ideas and I’m diving in head first.
Here’s the plan: Seven projects. Three months. A new launch every 10 to 14 days. Minimal planning ahead, maximum figuring it out as I go. A few lifestyle experiments thrown in on top for good measure (the Side Quest Directory link at the end of this post has specific details about each project).
And as I mentioned earlier this week, since sharing in public is often where the magic happens, I’ll be providing a behind-the-scenes look at the raw, unfiltered process as I tackle each challenge — sharing the wins, losses and learnings as I go. Oh, and figuring out how to build in public on Substack is absolutely part of the chaos.
Welcome to ✨Side Quest Summer✨
Now, you might be thinking: “Seven new projects? Won’t you be spreading yourself too thin?” Yeah, probably, but I’m choosing to interpret that as: “With enough throws of the dart, I’ll eventually hit the bullseye.”
Plus (1.) I’m going to have a lot of free time on my hands the next few weeks, and (2.) I hope this becomes a lesson in overcoming perfectionism and just launching the damn thing already — an obstacle notorious for tripping me up in the past.
Important sidebar: I have plenty of thoughts on the totally valid “don’t monetize your hobbies” argument, and I plan to talk more about that next week. But in my defense (and hear me out, because this is a bit meta), I’ve realized that launching niche micro-businesses is, in fact, one of my hobbies. Some people knit or go on hikes. I apparently find joy in vibe coding and hunting down the perfect domain name.
Anyway, thanks in advance for following along — by reading this here post, you’ll be able to one day say “I knew about Emily’s weird little projects before they were famous.”
Happy Summer Solstice, Happy Side Quest Summer, and Happy Birthday to me.
Now, someone pass me the screwdriver.
🌟 Side Quest Directory 🌟
A constantly evolving directory of all of the micro-businesses I’m building in public as part of Side Quest Summer.
Some housekeeping…
I will be posting a lot of ‘notes’ going forwards, which in case you are unfamiliar, is the Substack version of tweets — now with 95% less toxicity! You can follow along with those bite-sized updates here.
It must be a good sign that how I wanted to spend my birthday morning was to wake up early, go to my favorite coffee shop and finish writing this post, right? Cheers to 36!
Emily, you have such fun Easter eggs in your posts. The pub date on the side project list is fantastic. Well done. I’m digging the private equity approach, invest in many ventures, find a winner from the group, exit within 5 years, rinse and repeat. When hobbies become exits!
Love these. I also always wanted to make a zine!