The Side Hustles That Weren’t Supposed to Work (Or: How I Accidentally Built Four Companies)

I didn’t go to college. I didn’t sit down one day with a business plan and a dream. Honestly, I just started solving problems and sometimes, those turned into companies.

No pitch decks. No seed rounds. No branding retreats.

Just side hustles that weren’t supposed to work… until they did.

1. The Parts Business My Parents Didn’t Know About

My first business? Technically illegal if you count lying to your parents as a crime (they did find out about the junkyard i put together a few years ago so i think this won't be a surprise). I was still living under their roof when I started buying rare muscle car parts during racing trips. I’d stash them at their house, sell them online through AuctionWeb (yeah, before it was even called eBay), and ship them out between “real jobs.”

Eventually, it turned into a real operation:

• A warehouse

• A full e-commerce site (before that was normal)

• Inventory that included both new and used parts

• A niche shift from American muscle to 1977–89 BMWs

I sold that business after six years profitable, respected, and still under the radar of most people who knew me at the time. Just a side gig, right?

2. The Gunsmithing That Started as a Helping Hand

It started simple: a friend with a gun shop needed help removing a trigger lock from a trade-in. I did it without damaging the gun, which turned into a conversation about how I liked tinkering with guns and watches.

A few repairs later, I decided to restore a Colt Trooper to give to my dad. That side project turned into a federally licensed firearms manufacturing business, with clients in law enforcement and the military, specializing in:

• AK-pattern and H&K rifles

• Colt revolvers and 1911s

• Pre-1898 antique weapons

I wasn’t trying to be the next big gun brand. I just got good at something people trusted me to do and in that world, trust is currency.

Four years later, I exited the business with a strong reputation for reliability and discretion. Quietly. Just like I started it.

3. The Liquor Brand Named After My Dog

Beer brewing was too rigid. Whiskey? That was art I could get behind.

I learned the craft from the master distiller at Teeling Whiskey in Dublin, then started blending my own.

In 2006, I launched Pibbles Nibbles (named after my dog, obviously):

• Developed the original mash recipe

• Sold rum to generate near-term cash flow

• Let the whiskey age right

• Designed every element from barrel to label

And yes, the back label of the bottle literally started with:

“This little fairy tale started back in 2006 when this arrogant bastard thought he knew better than the entire liquor industry.”

Six years later, I wrapped production. I didn’t build a liquor empire but I did build a product I was proud of, in a tightly regulated space, while having a hell of a lot of fun doing it.

4. The Consulting Firm That Started With a Question

This one was the most inevitable.

For years, clients at my day jobs would pull me aside with, “Hey, can I ask you something real quick?”

Those “real quick” questions kept turning into side projects. Side projects turned into strategy calls. Strategy calls turned into full-time consulting work.

Eventually, I launched VPE Consulting:

• Took on big ops and event projects

• Landed multi-year contracts (like the rebuild at WD Matthews)

• Imbedded myself and my staff as fractional leadership

• Designed infrastructure for companies large and small

In 2024, I sold the company and stayed on as a consultant.

Same work. Less overhead. Zero regrets.

No MBA. No pitch deck. Just real work.

Every one of these “side hustles” started the same way:

I saw something that didn’t work — and I couldn’t leave it alone.

That’s the through line. Whether it was classic car parts, tactical rifles, distilled spirits, or operational overhauls… I saw something broken or missing, and I built the thing that made it better.

Sometimes with a label. Sometimes with a federal license. Sometimes with just a set of keys and a deadline.

But every time, it worked.

Because when you’re not building for ego or trend, you end up building something that actually holds.