THE IDEAL TRAVEL GUIDE-

Packs Light, a blog-based platform covers all the quintessential aspects for a safe and ideal trip along with providing info & tips on solo female travel, black travel, funded travel opportunities, application tips and adventure.

Gabby also shares exclusive tricks and techniques for newbies in the blogging world and how they can set up their venture, the algorithms that go behind building a successful blogging platform and cheat codes for creating a brand image that would eventually build a substantial audience base.

Did She Waste her Engineering Degree?

Gabby pursues herself as a TCK (third-culture kid) who left her stable engineering job in 2020 to pursue her passion of applying to things and seeing the world.

Many acquaintances remarked that she wasted her engineering degree.

However, according to Gabby, that turned out to be the best career decision she made.

She has visited 40+ countries and is traveling the world as a full-time digital nomad.

Moreover, her venture brought in over $170,000 in gross income last year owing to sponsored social media posts, blog articles and B2B marketing consultations.

But what’s even better than the mint is the satisfaction  she gets.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CONVERT A HOBBY INTO A MONEY MINTING SIDE HUSTLE-

Gabby’s success didn’t come easy-

When Packs Light started out, she was completely clueless about the nitty-gritties of content creation that would grow readership and attract clients.

She sought mentors, asked questions and embraced failures.

But what really helped her was knowing the hurdles one is inevitable to face in building a brand image.

This helped her stay motivated and mentally prepared.

Here’s some advice from the six-figure Mint Maker-

Here are four things this young entrepreneur swears by-

1. At first, you’ll take on roles you didn’t even know existed

According to Gabby,

“The key to success is to be a self-starter and continuous learner. If you’re serious about building a business, you must be willing to take on as many roles as you have to.”

She learned and developed skills essential for building the platform which included writing,  photographing, designing, accounting and marketing.

Moreover, she regularly applied to business grants and pitch competitions.

In the initial days to save money on graphic design, she did it on her own and launched her website single-handedly.

She recalls this as being a fruitful experience-

“Doing all that work and working a full-time job was exhausting. But I’m glad I did, because you can’t begin to delegate tasks until you have a solid understanding of how every aspect of your business works.”

2. Invest in building a team:-

According to Gabby, once the business starts to gain traction it’s best to let go of the ‘solopreneur mentality’ and strategize on building your team.

She currently works with a personal assistant, blog manager, management agency, and an entire group of contractors.

We have discussed how contractors helped Laura Belgray make a million dollars a year–

Growing a team is a key ingredient to creating a sustainable business and work environment as it allows the venture owner to outsource the work that require differential skill sets and focus on the tasks which they have mastered

3. Not everyone will be happy for you

With success comes criticism from people who refuse to believe in renaissance.

When Gabby cashed in on $170,000 in her blog’s first year of full-time business she received a lot of congratulatory messages, but some also said that she was wasting her engineering degree and had just gotten lucky with her success.

However, now she doesn’t allow don’t allow herself to feel down.

“Don’t take criticism from people who aren’t willing to bet on themselves and take a risk to pursue their passions in life.”

4. Don’t let money be your primary drive:-

According to Gabby,

“Money milestones are lucrative, but at the end of the day, they are arbitrary. It’s more satisfying to be able to say “I’m financially free” “I’m doing what I love every day” or “I’m making an impact.”