This Juilliard Grad Musician Started a 6-Figure Side Hustle That Has Nothing to Do With Music — and Sold Out With Word of Mouth: 'Couldn't Ask for More'

This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Damian Primis, a 45-year-old musician based successful Queens, New York. During the pandemic, Primis started oliva lipid marque Primis Imports arsenic a broadside hustle; the business has since grown to six figures. Responses person been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Image Credit: Matt Dine. Damian Primis.

What was your time occupation aliases superior business erstwhile you started your side hustle?
For much than 20 years, I've worked arsenic a classically trained musician. My emotion for the arts and euphony started astatine a young age, which led maine to New York, wherever I graduated pinch bachelor's and master's degrees successful euphony capacity from The Juilliard School. My profession has taken maine each complete the globe, and I person had astonishing experiences moving pinch immoderate of the top musicians of each clip (and my individual favorites), for illustration the jazz fable Joe Zawinful, The Who astatine Madison Square Garden and a Tiny Desk concert pinch Josh Groban and the formed of Broadway's Sweeney Todd.

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When did you commencement your broadside hustle, and wherever did you find the inspiration for it?
When the pandemic struck, Broadway went dark, and unrecorded euphony came to a halt. This meant that I would beryllium retired of a occupation for rather a while, which was really scary. Will things spell backmost to normal soon? It was the mobility that kept popping into my mind. It was astatine this pivotal infinitesimal successful my life that I started reflecting connected what other brought maine joyousness extracurricular of euphony and really I could usage this passion to create a broadside hustle. I person ever had an immense consciousness of pridefulness successful my grandparents' ancestral homeland successful Evia, Greece. The rich | culture, the beauty of the lands and the cuisine really inspired me. So, I called a friend of excavation who produced awesome oliva oil, the benignant of other virgin oliva lipid that you can't find connected the shelves of American supermarkets, and Primis Imports was born.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Primis Imports

What were immoderate of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
The first steps weren't very easy, but I deliberation it's an basal portion of what immoderate startup aliases small business is like. You request to acquisition the "growing pains," arsenic I for illustration to telephone it. While still successful the pandemic, astir manufacturing and fulfillment were either slow aliases astatine a halt. It took immoderate clip to person the first 150 liters of other virgin oliva lipid shipped to New York from my grandfather's town, but erstwhile the merchandise yet arrived, I was capable to expedite the process of hand-labeling each azygous bottle. I started trading to friends and family who dispersed the Primis Imports sanction done word of mouth, and the bottles sold out! It reassured maine that location was a niche that I could unlock successful the U.S. marketplace and boosted my assurance to proceed connected this caller journey.

What were immoderate of the biggest challenges you faced while building your broadside hustle, and really did you navigate them?
There were rather a fewer challenges, I must say. One of the biggest challenges I faced was securing funding. With a constricted budget, I had to trust connected each shipment's profits to finance the next, which meant slower growth. But successful retrospect, it helped maine debar making costly mistakes and made maine much thoughtful astir investments successful accumulation and packaging.

I was besides wholly unfamiliar pinch the importing process. It was overwhelming owed to the analyzable regulations, paperwork and logistics. I sought proposal from anyone who could connection penetration and was persistent successful uncovering the correct contacts for guidance.

Additionally, ecommerce presented its challenges. I had to study caller skills for illustration building a website, mounting up shipping and ensuring the safe transportation of vulnerable products for illustration oliva lipid successful solid bottles. Factors for illustration upwind and somesthesia during shipment besides became cardinal obstacles, but done persistence and proceedings and error, I was capable to find solutions.

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What does gross and maturation look like?
One point to support successful mind astir Primis Imports is that we were trading a small-batch amount of oliva lipid that is harvested erstwhile a year. When the merchandise is gone, it's gone! In 2 to 3 months, we were capable to spot accordant gross and yet sold retired of our early harvest oliva oil soon afterward. This meant that we had to pivot to find much merchandise until Greece's adjacent harvest. We sought retired a confederate hemisphere shaper successful Peru, which harvests oliva lipid astatine the other clip of twelvemonth from the bluish hemisphere. This helped america to prolong brand awareness successful the marketplace and provided accordant backing and maturation for the business period complete month.

Primis Imports has consistently grown since we started successful 2022. The first year, we had 200% growth, and successful 2023, we had 305% maturation from the erstwhile year. DTC is wherever we spot astir of our sales, pinch a mini fraction coming from wholesale and smaller retailers. What makes Primis Imports unsocial is our continued ngo of sourcing smaller producers pinch the highest value products. In 2024, we started expanding our merchandise statement pinch 2 honeys from the islands of Milos and Thasos, and successful 2025, we will beryllium launching much products wrong the snacking and cooking categories.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Primis Imports

What do you bask astir about this broadside hustle?
I bask really this side hustle allows maine to enactment profoundly connected to my roots and heritage. Partnering pinch mini Greek producers not only strengthens section economies but besides helps stock their craftsmanship pinch a world audience. I emotion the situation of reimagining accepted products for the U.S. market, particularly done innovative branding that catches the consumer's eye. This task besides fuels my productivity — it's incredibly rewarding to collaborate pinch talented artists from crossed the state to creation packaging and storytelling that genuinely resonate. It's a blend of culture, intent and artistry, and I couldn't inquire for more.

Related: These 3 Americans Turned to Side Hustles After Being Laid Off. Now They're All Making Between $200,000 and $3 Million a Year: 'Sweet, Sweet Irony.'

What's your proposal for others hoping to commencement successful broadside hustles of their own?
My proposal for anyone looking to commencement a successful side hustle is to statesman mini and prioritize value complete quantity. In today's competitory market, consumers worth authenticity and excellence. A beautifully branded merchandise will only spell truthful acold if the value isn't there, truthful put successful getting it correct from the start.

Building genuine relationships pinch your suppliers is conscionable arsenic important. Be transparent astir the scope and limitations of your business. The correct partners will understand your imagination and turn pinch you; if they can't meet you wherever you are, they whitethorn not beryllium the champion fit.

Patience is different cardinal ingredient. Success doesn't hap overnight, but the small, accordant steps you return regular will compound complete time. Focus connected creating thing meaningful and unsocial alternatively than chasing speedy wins. When you attack your broadside hustle pinch care, persistence and a committedness to quality, the rewards — some financial and individual — will follow.