At 28, her side hustle brought in $142K/year—now it's her full-time job: My career and finances have 'never felt safer'

CNBC

a day ago

Kelly Rocklein didn't panic after she was laid off from her six-figure marketing job in August 2023, she says.
Instead, she took it as a sign to take her side hustle full-time. She'd been spending 15 hours per week in front of a camera, scripting and editing user-generated content (UGC) — the videos you often see in paid reviews on websites like Amazon, or on brands' social media profiles depicting customer experiences with their products.
Rocklein, now 30, lives in Bend, Oregon. She started making UGC videos and helping influencers with creative strategy ideas in her early 20s. Working with influencers felt like "the wild west," she says. One influencer, a YouTuber, fired her as his creative director — she later sued him for wrongful termination — in 2018.
Craving stability, Rocklein took a corporate job at an marketing agency that year, she says. But after amassing $25,000 debt from a failed startup attempt, she started making UGC videos again in 2020, cold-pitching herself to potential clients on social media. By 2022, she was bringing in more than $142,000 in annual side hustle revenue, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
The UGC industry was worth $7.62 billion, part of the broader $22.2 billion global influencer marketing landscape, in 2024, according to creator marketplace Collabstr. Today, Rocklein's entire workload revolves around it: In addition to her own client work, she runs a consulting business called UGC Pro that helps companies with their UGC strategies, and offers video courses and mentoring services to aspiring UGC content creators.
Making user-generated content is different than being an influencer, Rocklein says. You don't need a social media following to become successful at UGC, but you do have to pitch yourself to brands, write compelling scripts and film and edit videos of you promoting the company's product, service or experience for their social media.
In total, Rocklein and her business brought in $233,000 in 2024 revenue, she estimates. The business has four employees, including Rocklein and her fiancé and co-founder Shane Murphy, and the bulk of her income comes from consulting with brands, she says.
Roughly 95% of her 2024 revenue was profit, with labor as the business's largest expense, she adds. "I've felt so confident in this decision. I've actually never felt safer in my career trajectory and in my financial security," says Rocklein.
Here, Rocklein discusses her tips for replicating her side hustle, the networking tactic she uses to gain new clients and how her career differs from the broader influencing industry:
CNBC Make It: Do you think the success of your UGC side hustle is replicable?
Rocklein: Absolutely. I am of the belief that anyone could technically be a UGC creator. I'd call it a simple, but not an easy, job — because you have to be willing to put in work in beginning, before you know you're getting paid.
There's very little barrier to entry, but if you're a marketer, you're going to have a shorter learning curve and probably find success sooner than [for example] a nurse who has no prior knowledge or brand contacts.
If you're a marketer by trade and you already have contact with brands, you could close your first client in your first week, and build up an income as quickly as four to fix weeks. But without a background or prior industry experience, there's going to be a bigger learning curve and it'll take longer, maybe three months, to find success.
What do you need to start this side hustle?
Startup costs are probably under $100 [if you already have] a phone with a camera to be able to film. You'll want a mini microphone and a window with a light coming through — but you can also just buy a basic ring light. I'd also recommend a portable tripod.
Whether you're freelancing or running a consulting business, finding clients often requires networking — both in person and cold pitching. What's one communication tip anyone can use to make a business connection?
I think the more personable you are, the more people tend to gravitate toward you. Talk about the things that you're genuinely passionate about — but make sure to ask them questions, too, so you can figure out if you have any shared goals or interests. Everyone wants to talk about themselves, anyway.
Whether it's a prospecting client or a team I've worked with before, I just try to leave everyone off better than when we started the conversation. You never know where people are going to end up, and it's nice to have friends in high places.
In the early stages of my career, I had no option but to connect with people. It was either make contacts or I'd have to take my sorry ass home.
UGC creating isn't the same as being an influencer, but there are some similarities — and influencers often say their pay is unsustainable, particularly in an increasingly saturated market. Is that the case with UGC?
For most brands on a budget, UGC creators are more efficient and cost effective. If you have an intermediate level of experience, you can charge $500 to $750 for a 10- to 15-second video. Unlike influencers, who sometimes charge $2,000 to post that video on their personal social media accounts, you're not paying to use a UGC's creator's name, image, likeness or following.
Plus, as TikTok has become so popular, more platforms have invested into video content. It just further affirms that, especially now with the rise of artificial intelligence, people want humans. Combined with UGC becoming more popular, the bar is being raised.
UGC is going to become more competitive. But as long as you're offering a return to brands, they don't care what format it is, as long as it's making them money.