A WOMAN who started her side hustle in an IKEA cupboard at her mum’s house has revealed how it made her enough money to land her first home.
NC Grey, 31, had just moved back home to Essex from Ireland and had no savings – until her small business “snowballed”.
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The music lover started voice acting by chance and ended up pulling together enough money to get on the property ladder – and soon continue climbing it.
While NC is still working her fulltime job, her side hustle continues to bring in about £1,300 extra a month.
The 31-year-old said it was the end of 2019 when she moved back home and had grand plans to chase her singing dreams – until Covid hit.
Suddenly she was stuck living at her mum’s with no savings, and unable to get into music, so she applied for a drama school.
As she couldn’t do any in-person acting, she looked into voice acting as she could “do a good American accent, as well as Nigerian”.
NC told The Sun: “It snowballed.”
More and more companies started approaching her for work so she created a studio – in a shed with three mattresses.
But, as she got more and more busy, with the likes of the World Health Organisation and NHS approaching her, NC started looking at soundproof equipment.
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Seeing that it cost up to £5,000, and feeling a hint of imposter syndrome, she came up with another plan.
NC went to IKEA and spent £150 on a ready-to-build wardrobe, foam and glue, building her own at-home studio.
She continued: “The jobs just kept coming.
“I thought maybe it’s a fluke. This isn’t going to last.”
Within a matter of months she had made enough money with the side hustle to move to her own flat.
The voice actor said: “I took my wardrobe with me.
“My profile says I work from a home studio – really it was a cupboard.”
Along with voice acting from the wardrobe and her fulltime job, NC was able to buy her own home in London at the start of last year.
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She’s now looking to buy another, and hopes to inspire to get into side hustles others, too.
NC said: “I want to put together a small e-book to be able to encourage other people to monetise their skills.
“Just take a risk – take a chance.
“It’s definitely been life changing.”
It’s not unusual for Brits to find success through side hustles.
One university graduate is raking in £1,000 a day with his side hustle and says he’ll be able to retire by the age of 35.
Jeevan Singh, 30, dreamed up his own business while studying more than a decade ago and says he’s made more than £2.5million to date.
Elsewhere a dad who dropped out of uni was able to quit his job after his side hustle took off – he now makes six figures.
James Joseph, 24, gave up being a graphic designer and decided to focus on buying and selling pre-loved designer apparel.
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