Colin Graves was thriving in the financial sector with a lucrative job, yet he found himself feeling “trapped and exhausted.”
Motivated to escape the monotony of his traditional 9-to-5 role, he launched a side hustle that blossomed into a six-figure enterprise.
The 50-year-old from Winnipeg, Canada, shared with the Daily Mail that his career in banking began immediately after college, eventually earning him a salary of $120,000.
Despite his financial success, the relentless pressure and repetitive nature of his office job led to a profound sense of dissatisfaction.
By 2016, after a disagreement with new management, he realized it was time to “forge a different path” for his future.
“While I was uncertain about the specifics, I was determined to utilize my existing expertise, acquire new skills, and build something independently,” Graves revealed to the Daily Mail.
Graves explained that he had always been passionate about writing, so he decided to combine that with his knowledge about money to start a personal finance blog.
‘I wrote about personal finance because it was what I knew. Over the next 18 months, and 150 blog posts later, I had built a small but engaged audience,’ he shared.
Colin Graves felt ‘stuck and burnt out’ while he was working his high-paying finance job. So he built a six-figure business from a side hustle so he could leave his boring 9-5 behind
Grave is seen here with his wife, Laura
In his first month, he made roughly $200 in ad sales from the blog and while it started small, he knew he was on to something.
‘It wasn’t much, but it changed everything. For the first time, I wasn’t completely dependent on my employer to make a living,’ he recalled. ‘That’s a powerful realization.
‘It was no longer a matter of if this could work, but how to do it over and over again.’
From there, his income ‘steadily increased’ and about a year later, he was making roughly $2,000 per month from the blog.
‘$2,000 per month just by typing away on my laptop in the evenings and on weekends,’ said Graves.
‘The key for me was consistency. I would write for one, maybe two hours most evenings, and then on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon.
‘For some, that sounds like torture, but to borrow a Jerry Seinfeld quote, “I had found the torture I was comfortable with.” [Writing was the] thing that I could do over and over again, and not get tired of it.
‘By 2020, my side hustle income grew to around $4,500 per month.’
In 2016, following a clash with new management at his job, he decided he needed to ‘create another path’ for himself
All the while, he also started learning about ‘building websites, content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).’
‘That’s when I realized that I could make money by offering these services to other financial bloggers and websites,’ he said.
In 2022, he recalled reaching a ‘fork in the road’ where he realized he had to decide whether to ‘take the safe route and stay in his banking job’ or ‘take a risk and quit.’
He went with the latter. He recalled of the moment he quit: ‘I felt an incredible sense of freedom. It suddenly felt like my career (and my life) was this big empty canvas, a clean slate. And while there was risk, I felt like the guardrails had finally come off.’
Graves now runs a ‘fully remote lifestyle business’ and ‘coaches mid-career professionals to build clear, practical paths out of the 9-to-5.’
His biggest advice to others looking to follow in his footsteps? Find something you’re truly passionate about.
‘Find that thing,’ he stressed. ‘For me, it was writing; for others, it might be something else entirely.’
He also said it’s important to find a side hustle that can actually become a full-time job and not one that’s only short-term.
He said the ‘perfect side hustle’ has three ingredients: ‘It has to be something you enjoy, something you are good at (or can learn), and something you can scale (make money at).’
He launched a personal finance blog, and it took off, eventually earning so much he was able to quit his job. He’s seen with his wife
‘Sorry, but dog walking or DoorDash won’t cut it if you want to take it full-time. If it’s missing any of these ingredients, it’s probably not worth starting,’ Graves added.
And he warned against ‘trying to make the leap’ and leaving your full-time job before you’re fully ready.
‘That usually ends badly. You need to play the long game. Build on the side, and be patient,’ he said.
Now, Graves is so grateful that he has ‘complete control over his time,’ as he gushed: ‘I feel like I was made for this lifestyle.’
‘But the fluctuating income takes getting used to, and you have to constantly pivot to stay ahead of the curve,’ he added.
‘It’s not like many 9-to-5 careers where you can kind of coast at a certain point. There’s no coasting. While that can be challenging, I also think it’s healthy. I’m 50 years old, and I’m learning new things every day.’
