My side hustle became my full time job

Today marks 11 years since the FilterGrade journey began. So much has happened over the last decade, but one thing is for certain, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Here is the oldest capture from Wayback Machine I could find of what the site looked like in January 2014.

What started as a side hustle to sell my photo filters became a global marketplace for digital products used by millions of people.

The marketplace is nowhere near it’s peak, but over the years has:

• Paid out over $2,000,000+ in commissions to creators

• Reached hundreds of millions of users

• Shared free resources and educational content for the community

• Interviews with top photographers and other creatives/influencers

And lot’s of challenges too:

• Lawsuits and legal threats

• Struggles to pay the bills and survive while cash was tight

• Copycats and people stabbing us in the back

• Billion dollar, publicly traded competitors

I’m still working on FilterGrade every day and trying to grow the marketplace to a size that can truly compete with the big dogs in the market. It’s a fun challenge, and helping creators earn a living to support their dreams is my life’s work. I am a creator myself after all.

Wanted to share this story in case it is motivating to any other side hustlers out there.

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