Melanie Osborne has worked in finance for over 20 years, but outside of work, her real passion is gardening – something she never believed would earn her a decent income.
But when she started working remotely in the pandemic, she spent more time honing her gardening skills. While she has now gone back to the office, sometimes she works in a hybrid set-up, which has given her more time and energy to keep up her hobby.
For a while, 51-year-old Melanie, a mum-of-two from near Oval in London, was looking after her elderly mother and her children. But sadly her mum passed away in 2023 and her children have grown up, meaning she has more free time.
Last year, Melanie, decided to turn her passion into a proper side hustle and work on other people’s gardens instead. She signed up to Airtasker, a platform where users outsource everyday tasks, and was immediately inundated with requests.
She now earns roughly £3,000 per month gardening for her neighbours, roughly the same as her regular monthly salary, which she says now pays for her family to go on nice holidays and has boosted her savings pot.
