Wilson teachers talk side hustles
Photo by: Meghan Dayton, Adelaide Kaiser, and Mabel Malhotra
May 5, 2019
Being a Wilson student can sometimes feel like a full-time job, and there’s no doubt that being a Wilson teacher is about as full-time as it gets. Despite this, many faculty hold occupations outside the walls of Wilson. So here, we present to you, the lo-down on our teachers’ side hustles.
Bonds
Mass media teacher Kadesha Bonds has not one but THREE side hustles. She works as a travel agent, videographer, and credit specialist. Bonds says she doesn’t need the money, but she likes to have some extra cash to spend on her passion: travel. “I do okay as a teacher,” she says, “but most teachers…we don’t get into teaching to get rich.” Every school break, Bonds goes on vacation. Bonds doesn’t keep her travel talents to herself, however–she actively plans trips for Wilson students. “I am trying to work on Copenhagen this week because I will be leading a group of kids over in November,” Bonds said. Bonds has been filming and editing for 15 years, as videoing has always been her main interest. Every once in a while, she films weddings. “You have to make sure you get the money shot, you know, the coming down the aisle, the kisses,” Bonds said. Bonds works her video requests into her mass media classes, passing off opportunities she feels her students can handle. As for her credit side hustle, she is relatively new to the field. “I am still learning the inside of that business, but it is an area that a lot of people need help in,” Bonds said.
Evans
Anthony Evans, who teaches business classes at Wilson, says he invests in properties to make money. “I buy houses and invest in real estate,” Evans says. He has a few bed and breakfasts, and invests in renovations of the properties he owns. “I just got finished remodeling one, I put probably ten or 12 thousand dollars into that bed and breakfast,” he says. “I looked at my numbers from the last ten years and those two bed and breakfasts did $250,000.” Evans runs the Wealth Club at Wilson, where he teaches students how to run businesses and make money. A lot of what he teaches them is about confidence and realizing the skills you possess are assets. After all, it runs in his family: his mom was born homeless, and after 50 years she became a millionaire. “It didn’t take me as long,” he says. When looking back on his inspiration for wanting to purchase real estate, Evans credits playing Monopoly as a kid. “I loved people paying me rent, so I’m like I’m going to do this in real time,” he says. Evans has bought three houses in the past nine months, and when asked how many properties he owns he simply answers: “a lot.”
Hartshorn
English teacher Lauren Hartshorn took on waitressing while teaching at a private school for extra money. When she shifted to Wilson, she continued waitressing to occupy her summer. “I’ve kinda treated it as like my do-whatever-I-want money,” Hartshorn says. Waitressing and teaching surprisingly call for similar skill sets. “I one time had a customer… and I could tell he was, you know, itching for attention, so I looked at him, I was like ‘One minute,’ and then I came over and he was like, ‘Oh, I liked that. I saw that you saw me. Are you a bartender?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m a teacher and I work with impatient children.’” Hartshorn finds herself using the same organizational tactics on the floor as she does in the classroom, always staying five steps ahead. The hardest part is not being in control of everything. “If the kitchen’s short-staffed then food takes a really long time, but customers only see the waitress so they think that you haven’t done something,” she says. Hartshorn doesn’t miss the gig during the school year and doesn’t see herself doing it beyond next year. In summary, Hartshorn says, “it’s mostly just run around like a maniac and make money.”
