Pursuing your passion into a fulltime gig

Words of advice from the original PopSugar, Lisa Sugar, "If you have something that you're really passionate about, but you have to have the other job going to pay the bills... it's finding the time to do (what you love) on the side so that you know if it really does take off, then you can put your all behind it."

With the help of her husband, Brian Sugar, Lisa took her passion and turned it into a viable and successful business. Lisa started PopSugar, a celebrity gossip blog, as something she did for fun on the side. But her passion for blogging about celebrity gossip was something others were passionate about reading. PopSugar grew in popularity and Lisa soon had a large following of regular readers. Brian suggested monetizing it, and together they created Sugar Inc.

According to their corporate site, the Sugar Network comprises of 15 distinct lifestyle and entertainment sites covering topics that include celebrity, fashion, shopping, beauty, entertainment, food, health and more. The site names range from GeekSugar and PetSugar (two of my favorites) to CasaSugar and BellaSugar, as well as the popular social networking site TeamSugar. Brian is the CEO and publisher, and Lisa is editor in chief.

Lisa and Brian's entrepreneurial spirit and inspiring story of how PopSugar and Sugar Inc. came into existence and then evolved into what it is today is a great example of how to grow something your passionate about into a fulltime gig.

I'm a big believer in discovering and pursuing your passions in life, which is why I find Lisa and Brian's story so inspirational, not to mention I love what they've created. The Sugar sites, including TeamSugar, are all insanely addictive and I personally have enjoyed being a part of it as a TeamSugar member.

Many months ago I wrote a short post on Lisa Sugar on my blog at TeamSugar and tonight I re-read it after a conversation that I had with a friend who is wanting to turn her side gig, which she is completely passionate about and quite talented at, into a fulltime gig. This of course is not always an easy task when the day job pays better than the side gig. So what does one do in this case?

In addition to what Lisa Sugar says in her quote above, I told my friend, it's about doing as much of it as you can, as fast as you can until it grows into a fulltime gig, which means late nights and working on weekends. However, when you're truly passionate about something you don't really notice the time flying by nor do you view it as work. In my prior life as a dancer, time didn't even exist. We would be so focused on what we were rehearsing that we didn't even think about when it would end. You never want "it" to end when you love what you're doing.

I'm that way to this day when it comes to producing and editing videos (one of my many passions), and I'm always amazed when I'm editing how it seems like only two hours have passed when it's actually been six. I think this is also why I love entrepreneurs and artists so much. They possess this kind of passion and drive, and it's contagious and inspirational.

I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa and Brian Sugar last month at a video shoot that I did for the TechCrunch PopSugar party at the Vanguard in Hollywood; and it was filled with entrepreneurs doing what they're passionate about and making their crazy ideas into reality. You can check out some of the videos we shot that night at TechCrunch, the technology news site started by Michael Arrington, which is another great story of someone who took a blog that was a hobby and turned it into a successful business.

If you dream of quitting your day job to pursue your passion, do it. Go the extra mile, dig a little deeper and keep your eye on the prize and before you know it, you will turn your side gig into a fulltime gig (if that's what you really want).

The quote in the opening paragraph comes from an interview that Lisa did with Ladies Who Launch, which is an excellent resource for women entrepreneurs. Ladies Who Launch was founded by Victoria Colligan and Beth Schoenfeldt, two great women who also pursued their passion into a fulltime gig. Last summer, the site featured an interview with Lisa Sugar.