This story is based on a conversation with Gumgum commercial CEO of Phil Schraeder, who had a successful side Hustle, who appeared as a participant in the shows. The song was edited for length and clarity.
I come from a small town outside Chicago. My brother, sister and I was in the swimming team in the summer, which meant early 6 in the morning. It was in the Eighties, where after swimming training you went outside and played with friends to the dark, but in the morning no one else slept. So when we returned home from swimming practice around 7:30 in the morning, my mother made us breakfast and put on TV – and my siblings and I watched the game programs.
I was focused on these game shows resembling The price is appropriate AND Sale of the century, And I would play with their siblings. I am very competitive. I love curiosities and winning prizes.
Quick forward after graduating: I worked in Chicago for a short time before I decided to be. I wanted to go away the closet. I felt very stopped from my authentic self. I wanted to alter, so I moved with my friend to Los Angeles.
When I arrived, I only had my automotive and what I could fit in it. I didn’t have a job and I was in the debt of bank card. I had to seek out a approach to earn money. Fortunately, I have at all times focused on accounting and finance. My origin is in business. So I wasn’t nervous that I would have the option to seek out a job, but I still needed a approach to meet at the end in a short period.
Then I began a funny and unique lateral hustle and bustle: competition with game shows. It ended with this The price is appropriate With Bob Barker – and he won. I left $ 900 in money, a popcorn pram in an amusement park and a grandfather’s clock. I was like Wow, it’s amazing. Not only did I love this experience, but also lived in my childhood dream. I also loved to know that my family was in a position to enjoy watching how I was doing it.
Even when I was progressing in a financial profession, ultimately becoming a vp, I continued with the side hustle and bustle and maintained an impulse in terms of the game. Because Los Angeles is the capital of entertainment of the world, many shows are to start out there for the first time and are looking for participants locally. So it is not so competitive; This is not a national search.
When I heard about the recent program Are you wiser than fifth.I knew I desired to submit an application. Being a 29-year-old finance and business skilled from Chicago, I gave them the opportunity to try a participant who was not in the entertainment industry. Still, it was a long interrogation process. But I was invited to the program and gave about 10 days to arrange.
I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. I went to a store with a house for children and bought all the books of the third, fourth and fifth grade. I bought global geography. I bought measurements. I bought the flashcards of the presidents. Every day after my life partner Wes and I woke up, I learned, and then I went to work. I learned more during a lunch break. Later in the evening I studied at home until I fell asleep on the couch.
I finally won $ 175,000. It gave me a lot of monetary freedom.
This side hustle and bustle provided other exciting probabilities of earning money over the years. I also appeared on Dick clark pyramid showwhere I won $ 22,500. I literally took the day without work, called my brother after I won and said: “Oh, it was a good work day.”
But this sort of lateral hustle and bustle also has some restrictions. In 10 years you possibly can go through so many live shows. Now, if the right opportunity has appeared, I will consider it. I still love game shows and I appreciate that they helped me to set me financially, but at this point of my life I am in a different situation, so if I were to look on one and win, I would probably transfer the money.
My hustle with a game show definitely helped me shape as a business leader.
At first I was afraid that I couldn’t be taken seriously as an experienced business skilled in the field of finance, because I liked to compete with shows. But these were my very own ideas on social expectations and being in a box, and that actually helped me realize that as the general director and leader I don’t desire anyone to feel that their interests or side hustle and bustle negatively affect how they are professionally perceived. We wish to have a good time these interests and side hurss; We wish to encourage them.
We are in 20 countries in Gumgum and I have over 500 people, so I implemented what I call “initial activities”: Whoever began in the first quarter of this 12 months could be in the initial class Q1 2025. I ask them a lot of questions. What are the side hustles of some people? What are they interested in? It is amazing that everybody brightens. There are DJ -E, Macrame craftsmen, influencers and opera singers. Then I think about how we will translate these passions into our culture and encourage and support each other in the community.
In my experience Are you wiser than fifth. In particular, I learned the value of listening to myself and follow this instinct. I was in a situation where I wasn’t sure of the answers and I had to determine if I desired to risk all the pieces and go with the kid’s answer. If the child’s response were correct, I could win $ 300,000, but if it was improper, I would drop to $ 25,000. Because the kid was unsure of the answer, I got stuck with my very own and stopped $ 175,000.
As it turned out, the child’s answer was appropriate, so I would win $ 300,000. But it was still an vital lesson in listening to yourself – because although it might be great to win $ 300,000, it might be much worse to lose $ 150,000. After all, it wasn’t right, not winning more to guard what I already had. You must remain faithful to what works for you and what you are feeling comfortable. Do not think about what others can have or do, and then compare yourself.
My hustle with a game show also taught me a lot about my personal motivations – and how these values can translate into leadership.
ON Are you wiser than fifth.I received an unexpected video message from my mother, who is a pedagogue and my fifth grade teacher. I am emotional in the program because my mother wishes me good luck. This moment made me realize that yes, it is super funny, but whatever it is, it is nothing in comparison with how lucky I am with other points of my life. It confirmed what really matters.
When it involves business, the most successful leaders will probably be those that can deeply humanize us and ourselves. I attempt to stay away from encouraging leaders to “authentic”, because the opposite of this is “inactic” and I do not think that individuals try to look inactically. They just attempt to be more transparent.
This is my one great emphasis, especially since it concerns the promoting industry: if you are a leader in this field, the ultimate goal is to contact someone deep at the emotional level or the level of needs. The best leaders must appear, prepared for this every day.