We see Black women making awe-inspiring strides in the workforce every day, but we don’t often get the real 411 on how she did it. From time management tips to advice on dressing for success, a key part of sisterhood is sharing the trade secrets on exactly how to get ahead.
This ESSENCE series explores how successful entrepreneurs and corporate baddies attained their success, and how you can do the same, step-by-step.
In this installment of Give Us The Busine$$, ESSENCE spoke with Courtnee Futch, a 28-year-old that works as a brand marketing director by day and independent culinary producer/chef/influencer by night earning well over six figures from her side hustles alone. She sat down with ESSENCE’s business editor Jasmine Browley to share masterful time management tips and how you can balance it all too.
The starter
You’ve probably seen Courtnee Futch’s face (and apartment) in Glamour Magazine’s viral feature that explored how she lived, and spent her then $156K salary in February 2020. Or maybe you caught her biweekly podcast that breaks down love, relationships, food and everything in between. Or perhaps you bought her self-published cookbook that beautifully depicts delicious brunch recipes.
However you familiarized yourself with Futch, she’s sure to leave a lasting impression. The charismatic millennial is a self-professed old soul that loves to show her affection through her delicious food and smooth storytelling, two talents she’s built a career around. And what a career it is.
All before 30, the Atlanta-native has earned degrees in communication and entrepreneurship and worked in corporate leadership roles with some of the biggest food brands around. Most impressively, she’s always juggled at least two businesses on the side while doing it.
As a freshman at Syracuse University, the then 16-year-old started baking cakes as a way to make money, and quickly scaled it into a fully functioning company from her dorm room once her entire campus (and beyond) caught wind of the delicious treats. Even then, she was a master of time allocation as she juggled a full course load and life as a college student.
“I used my calendar for EVERYTHING,” she shared. “Personal errands, resting time, frat parties. It all went there.”
That was the start of her close relationship with time management and it only grew from there.
After earning her bachelor and masters degrees, she landed roles working in branding and influencer marketing for companies like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron and Haven’s Kitchen while still running her e-commerce baking brand Thunder Cakes and catering service called The Spred. With both her corporate role and the businesses, Futch was a raking in more than $150k per year. Of that, $60,000 came from Futch’s “side hustles.”
Then COVID-19 hit and changed everything.
“I wasn’t able to offer catering services anymore because of the pan-Demi-Lovato,” she humorously explained in a TikTok video to her thousands of followers. She added that her baking services were also on hold because “food delivery logistics were tricky after COVID-19.” So like most people at that time, she pivoted.
For Futch, that meant offering virtual cooking classes to individual and corporate clients and creating an entire cookbook in tandem.
The secret sauce
Her secret to keeping all the balls in the air? Digital tools.
“It’s all about streamlining processes,” she said when asked how she stays organized. “I find a way to integrate everything. My mind can’t remember everything I need to do all the time, nor should it have to when there’s product out there to do it for me,” she said. “My favorite? The Google Suite.”
Here are a few of her standout digital tools:
Futch shared that she’s particularly fond of the real-time collaborative capabilities Google Docs and Google Sheets offer.
“I love a good grid,” she gushed. “It really helps my ADHD brain to keep things neat and orderly.”
To take it a step further, she said she uses Zapier to integrate all her digital tools and better operationalize her workflow. “It really makes everything so seamless because it takes the information I need from various places, connects and automates it.”
Most recently, Futch added culinary producer to her resume’, has begun securing content partnerships with companies like BET among others and expanded her cooking classes to include in-person demos, which now commands a higher fee than what she charged for virtual services in 2020. All in all, she says she brings in about $100K with her side hustles alone.
Additionally, this year she began working as the director of brand marketing for EatOkra, a Black-owned food directory platform.
“Working for a brand founded by a Black couple that previously worked full-time in corporate while building their own company is so incredible because they understand my entrepreneurial spirit,” she explained. “They get that I still have my own professional passions outside of what I do for them. And that’s why it’s so important to use the time you have wisely because when you get divine opportunities, you don’t waste them.”