She Turned Her Side Hustle Into a 150-Person Business. Here's How She Used the 'Wealthy Mindset' to Her Advantage. "I know that I'm the moneymaker," Blavity founder Morgan DeBaun says.
By Nicole Lapin
This story appears in the November 2023 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Want to grow a side hustle into something bigger? Morgan DeBaun knows something about that.
Back in 2014, she was working full time at Intuit when she started a side hustle. It was called Blavity — a media company for a Black audience. "It wasn't an immediate, 'OK, I'm going to quit my job to pursue this,'" she says. She had bills to pay, after all. But she started plotting her way forward, and eventually went all in.
Today, Blavity is very much her full-time job — along with employing 150 others. DeBaun has raised $12 million, the company's website says it reaches 250 million millennials and Gen Zers each month through its multiple websites and projects, and now it also develops technology to help companies recruit diverse employees. Here, DeBaun lays out her path from side hustle to full hustle — and why you should think differently about what makes you "wealthy."
Related: Why Mindset Mastery Is Vital to Your Success
You started Blavity while at Intuit. Was there a catalyst for quitting to pursue Blavity full time?
It was a few things. I started Blavity with friends from college. We launched a minimum viable product in July 2014, and it was doing OK. Like, people were reading things, watching things on the site. Then Mike Brown was killed a couple weeks later, and that's when I decided there is a unique place for me in this space, and this is something I'm really passionate about.
So that was the beginning of saying, "OK, now I need to build a pathway to quit my job." But I did not quit immediately. I waited a couple more months, and then I took on a consulting gig so that I could pay the bills.
I'm assuming you walked away from a nice salary.
It wasn't quite six figures 10 years ago, but the equivalent of six figures today.
Related: Stop Complaining and Change Your Mindset to Become Wealthy
Are there any business milestones that you would recommend someone reach before they commit to their business full time?
There are different phases of commitment.
My 9-to-5 job prevented me from growing the business, because I could only work on it for so many hours. So I got a side hustle with the consulting gig. That gave me more flexibility. I could batch my work — only working a couple hours a week, or 10 hours a day for one day a week — which gave me more time to work on Blavity as my main hustle.
I kept that up for three years while I was building Blavity, even after I had raised our initial round of funding, because I wanted to make sure that every penny we were making in the business was going back into the business and not paying my cost of living and my bills.
So you essentially bought more time to make Blavity work, while it earned you nothing?
Yup. Negative dollars.
When you were raising money, did investors know you had a consulting gig?
Oh, absolutely not. I didn't even tell my employees. There would just be a time block on my calendar where it was like, I don't know where she went. I didn't want people to feel like I wasn't committed to Blavity.
Did they ever find out?
I told them after the fact. It took probably two years.
Related: 6 Ways to Develop a Millionaire Mindset
You talk a lot about the difference between a wealthy versus rich mindset. Can you unpack that?
Yeah. A lot of people have materialistic things as their goal. They want to be rich. But what I really want people to understand — and what has been critical to my success — is valuing your time over everything.
A wealthy mindset is, "I know that I'm the moneymaker. My brain is the moneymaker. So I should protect my time, my peace, and my health as my primary source of wealth generation." That means making decisions like, instead of walking late at night where you're going to be stressed out, you take the Uber. Maybe you bought a first-class flight on the way to a big meeting because you want to be refreshed, so you can close the deal for your business.
It's a lot of different choices. But the whole point is, you must value yourself as the asset that is the key to unlocking your full potential.
And you can always get more money. You can't get more time.
Never ever, ever, ever, ever.
What financial advice do you have for entrepreneurs who want to turn their side hustle into a full-time hustle?
Don't commingle your funds. Have a separate bank account for your side hustles. It will give you more visibility into how you're doing.
Write out your budget for the next three-to-six months. Make sure you have enough savings and build an "if this, then that" plan. Like, "If I'm not able to replace my salary with my side hustle within the next three months, then what am I going to do?" Because then once you have that plan, if it happens, you're not emotionally paralyzed and you can act.
Many people don't open business bank accounts when they start a side hustle. They keep it all in their personal account. Did you start with separate accounts?
I didn't for the first two years, and I learned from my mistake. My taxes were a mess. And I didn't get the tax benefits from having a business.
Let's run through a few side-hustle scenarios. If I sell merch on Etsy, and I'm not sure if it can become something bigger, what do I do?
If you also have a day job, then the first question is: Is this going to replace your income, or is this creating supplemental income?
If you're making a profit, and if it's not taking up all your time, and if you feel like you can continue to grow it at a slow pace, then do that. If it's not broke, don't try to fix it. I think a lot of times, people try to solve a problem that maybe isn't there.
Here's another scenario: I have an idea for a side hustle. How do I know if it has legs?
Are you making money? If you're not making money, it's a hobby.
The next question is, how much did you spend on this side hustle? If you're making $10,000 a month, but you're spending $10,000 a month, you're treading water. I need you to be moving forward with your side hustle.
Do you suggest testing your side hustle?
I do. Testing is smart. You can run Facebook advertising, you can create a landing page before the product is shipped. Do a wait list. There are all types of ways to test without putting too much of your money on the line.
Do you have a money tip that helps with financial anxiety?
Never be dependent on what somebody else will or will not give you. Invest in your skillsets, and in your core capabilities, so you can always make sure you have an income.
