I am obsessed with this new series I launched featuring badass women doing life on their terms and timelines. I have two more for you this month because it is launch month and it is so fun to be inspired by these women.
Today, meet Kelly Ferraro of Side Hustle. I cannot even deal with how creative this mini truck idea is and how Kelly has literally launched the coolest business(es) with her family in Austin, TX. Think a mobile bookstore on a mini truck, morning coffee truck, lemonade stand on wheels, pizza night and more! And have you ever heard of a smart growth neighborhood, well now you have and Kelly lives in one!
Of course, now, I want one! The truck and the hood!
Meet Kelly Ferraro:
My latest business is Side Hustle, a 1988 Subaru Sambar Japanese kei (pronounced like the letter “K”) truck.
Here is the backstory, I’ve always wanted a cute little coffee truck. I was inspired by a Piaggio Ape (pronounced “ah-pay”) that a hotel in Key West had converted into a champagne cart. My brain exploded, and instead of relaxing on vacation, I spent my time writing a coffee truck business plan and researching mobile food vendor permits in Austin, Texas.
Around the same time, I noticed my kids always wanted to sell stuff. You could walk by our porch on any given weekday and they’d be hocking lemonade, lovies, and used books. My son would even go door-to-door looking for customers.
We live in a smart-growth neighborhood (learn more here) across from a walking trail and a public golf course. Every time I step outside, I see this space where I think a coffee truck should exist.
Then my husband “needed” to rent a kei truck for an SXSW activation, and something ignited inside me.
“Why don’t we just buy it?” I said. “What if we treat it as a test-and-learn project and just try different things, partner with other collaborators, and see what jives with the community?”
We said yes, and Side Hustle was born.
In the weeks since we bought it, Side Hustle has become a vehicle for community and collaboration - an iced coffee pop-up for my track team, a mobile arcade, a pizza-party pop-up, a lemonade stand, a swim team snack bar, a vintage car show participant, and a Father’s Day espresso and matcha bar... and these are just the activations I can remember!
And we are just getting started…
It sounds trite, but success to me is being happy.
Nobody is going to remember how much money you made or whether you built the rare business that broke a million dollars. Nobody really cares whether you raised venture capital.
You can make all the money, raise all the funding, and still build yourself a prison—showing up every day with a sour face. I’ve witnessed that firsthand.
My teacher, Susanne, often said, “You are responsible for the energy you bring into the room.”
I’m always doing this little calibration of my soul: Is my soul happy? Am I bringing good energy into the room?
That’s success to me.
3. What’s one major decision that changed the trajectory of your work?
I had a lot of corporate jobs with fancy titles at fancy places, even a literal corner office.
My parents were public school teachers, and we lived near the beach, so I had the best summers growing up. I’d get summer jobs at the beach just so I could get paid to be a beach bum.
As an adult, I’ve always hated working through the summer. I’d sit in my office daydreaming about the beach, forcing myself to concentrate on corporate tasks. To me, summer is the sweet, slow season meant for relaxing, being outside, and spending time in the water with my kids.
Last summer, I finally said, “F-ck it. I don’t want to be in an office all summer. I want to be with my kids.”
I put in my notice, took my kids surfing in Costa Rica, and let go of the idea that my life had to look like a traditional 9-to-5, 365 days a year.
The main one is community. I know we share that value, Jacki, and that’s probably why I’m popping up on your Substack!
This is also about family and teaching our kids about entrepreneurship. I spend so much of my time advocating for public education, but I’m also married to a serial entrepreneur. I want to pass this value of entrepreneurship on to my kids.
And finally, this has to be fun. Because if we aren’t having fun, what’s the point? Owning any business, even a side hustle, is a lot of work.
Fun is the reward.
I wake up and caffeinate. I’m a total espresso addict, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.
I read before my kids wake up. I just finished Yesteryear, and holy heck, did that mess with my head a little. Right now, I’m tackling Master of the Senate because it struck me that I’ve been a Texan for more than a decade and know so little about local history and public figures.
One of us makes breakfast and packs lunches before I drop the kids off at camp or school.
Then I exercise: run, lift, or go to a yoga or Pilates class. Movement is a non-negotiable.
Some days are busy - trying local coffee spots, learning about coffee, meeting with suppliers, and making sure we have everything we need for upcoming events. Or I might be working on building my “main hustle”: writing coaching content, taking one-on-one calls, or debating whether I should get a job with good benefits and a pension… ha!
Other days, I’m just trying to get our house in order.
In the afternoon, I pick up the kids from school or camp and make dinner. Some weeknights are jam-packed with activities: swim practice, basketball at the Y, PTA meetings. There is no shortage of opportunities to hang out with our neighbors—swimming at the community pool, watching the World Cup, or heading to trivia night at the local pizza shop.
And if there isn’t anything on the calendar, we’ll go for a family walk and check out the wildflowers.
I wind down by reading to my kids and then reading to myself, unless I’m binge-watching a show, like the final season of The Bear.
That’s it. Pretty simple.
6. What’s something people don’t see about being a founder?
I think it can get really lonely some days, and I can get in my own head.
I’m constantly ping-ponging between the parts of me that are fast and slow.
The “go fast” part wants to be successful by traditional standards and says, “Let’s knock this business out of the park and make a million dollars!”
Then the slow part kicks in and reminds me to recommit to my why, my core values, and remember that this season is about my family.
Slow always wins.
I’ve been half-joking that I just want to sell it all and move to the beach, maybe Costa Rica.
My happy place is ocean waves, sand, tacos and margaritas.
People pretty much always want an iced coffee at the beach, and I can provide that for them.
If my kids don’t want a traditional life, they can join us and sell coffee and surf. If they “fail to launch”, they will always have a landing pad with me. I’ll take snuggle forever.
I actually do give advice in the form of coaching!
I was lonely as an entrepreneur and armed with all this marketing expertise from my corporate career, so I built what I wanted: a collective for women entrepreneurs called Rise & Build Collective.
I don’t give advice as much as I connect women who can support each other through generous listening, experience-sharing, and open-ended questions.
Oh, and laughter. Laughter is the most important part.
Is this answer a cop-out?
Okay, if I had to give one piece of advice, it would be this: find the sweet spot between aliveness and need.
What makes you feel alive?
What do people need?
Now, go do that.
I have always admired your ability to be true to yourself. You are an original, Jacki Carr.
I would want to know how you really tune into your authentic path and tune out all the noise.
There is so much societal messaging about what women should be, and social media creates endless opportunities for self-judgment and needless comparison.
I am so guilty of doom scrolling and shaming myself for not living up to these invisible expectations.
How do you tune it all out and confidently create a unique path?
That’s what I would ask for.
___
Keeping tabs on Kelly:
Follow @ sidehustleatx on instagram!
Check out Kelly’s coaching and growth strategies here.
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