How Our Covid-19 Hobbies Can Craft Our Edge
by Caroline
September 25, 2024
The Covid-19 pandemic forced people to reevaluate their means and reprioritize what is important to them. Many people ended up taking up new hobbies that helped them pass the time during quarantine. This article by the American Heart Association highlights the benefits of taking up hobbies that include lowering stress levels and heart rates, increasing brain activity, and improving overall mental health. Hobbies can be a necessary creative outlet for people who need to improve both their physical and mental health.
But what else can our hobbies do for us besides helping our mental health? What if you used your hobby to also generate extra income? It’s time to combine your hobby with your professional skillset to help better craft your Edge.
My Journey of Becoming “Crochet Caroline”
My pandemic hobby started when I saw Harry Styles wearing a beautiful color-blocked cardigan from his Today Show performance and it then went viral on TikTok. People began posting videos of them recreating the sweater which inspired me to try to as well. I quickly taught myself to crochet and within three weeks I had successfully recreated the cardigan. This created a monster. I began crocheting everyday, creating bags, scarves, and sweaters for friends and family. I would crochet during work meetings, watching movies with my friends, and even while eating. My friends started to call me “Crochet Caroline” because I was so addicted to the craft.
How I Combined My Craft with My Career
During undergrad, I concentrated in marketing doing two co-ops within social media marketing, and became very proficient at it. I created and ran social media campaigns on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok which helped me really understand how these platforms work and how to be successful on them.
Out of curiosity, I started posting about the pieces I crocheted on social media and it began to generate interest. People were starting to slide up on my stories asking if I could crochet them something and that they would pay me for it. I began to sell custom pieces to my friends and started to make money from my “side hustle”. I had successfully combined my personal passion for crochet with my professional expertise of social media marketing.
What Your Hobby Can Do For You
Step 1: Find Your Passion
Your hobby can either be something you currently do, or something that you’re interested in learning how to do. Think of a hobby that you can use that could generate income for you in the future. This could be writing for a blog, creating handmade jewelry, or even going to the gym and being passionate about fitness. Then, become an expert in that hobby. In order to be able to sell your product in the future, it must stand out against everyone else who also sells their craft online.
Step 2: Assess Your Skills and Combine Your Craft
My internal means was my career in social media marketing, but it doesn’t have to be your career as a whole. Take a look at specific things you do in your day-to-day life or what you consider yourself to be an “expert” in. Start by assessing how you can utilize your own personal skillset to help enhance and promote your hobby. Create “matches” between your current skillset and see where you leverage these skills to help enhance your craft.
Step 3: Create Your Edge
Once you’ve found your matches of your skills to the hobby, it’s time to actually begin to implement them to create your Edge. For me it was posting aesthetic photos of my crochet pieces on Instagram and Snapchat to generate interest. If you’re in charge of brand management for your company, design the branding for your own hobby. If you are a Computer Science major, create a high quality website to share your craft. If you’re a sales representative, try to start strategizing how to maximize selling your craft to people. These are skills that only you have within your hobby, so try to really leverage them to get your competitive edge.
Conclusion
Now that the pandemic’s over, I understand it’s hard to pick up new hobbies or expand on your current ones. However, if you can combine your hobbies with your own professional expertise, it makes it much easier to craft your “Edge”. I never planned for my hobby to become something that created money; it was just an added bonus to enhance my own Edge so if I can do it, so can you.
About the Author
Caroline is a candidate for a Master’s of Science in International Management at Northeastern University. She also received her undergraduate degree at Northeastern where she majored in International Business with a dual concentration in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. She’s currently pursuing marketing opportunities within social enterprises due to her passion for sustainability and ethical consumption.
LinkedIn profile of Caroline McCauley
