This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Six-Figure Side Hustle series, where people with lucrative side hustles break down the routines and habits they’ve used to make money on top of their full-time jobs. Got a story to tell? Let us know! Email us at AskMakeIt@cnbc.com.
When Rashan Brown hosted his first spoken-word poetry event at a bar in Brooklyn, New York, in June 2021, he broke down in tears.
As he read aloud a piece about a childhood friend who was shot and killed in 2020, he was hit by a wave of grief. “I had been through 22 years of schooling, but I was never taught how to properly grieve anyone,” Brown says. “Being on stage, when I’m crying, everyone’s like, ‘Let it out bro.’ That feeling, that experience. I realized, this is the way that I can express myself.”
Brown — then an eighth-grade science teacher, who wrote poetry on the side — wanted to create an event that didn’t charge poets to perform. He contracted a small staff including a DJ and two videographers, convinced 10 local poets to perform by messaging them on Instagram, and paid $3,000 in total to host the event, he says. His friends scanned $10 to $20 tickets at the door, and sold poetry-themed hoodies, hats and posters that Brown had previously made.
Today, Brown is a product manager at ESPN, who now runs a monthly poetry showcase series — called Poetry me, please — on the side. Poets from across the country apply and are randomly selected to perform at events in New York, or at pop-up showcases in other cities worldwide. Brown also manages other poets under the Poetry me, please brand, and has performed his own poetry in the White House, at NFL games and while opening for Rupi Kaur.
DON’T MISS: The ultimate guide to using AI to communicate better
Between event revenue and performance income, Brown’s poetry side hustle brought in $148,000 in 2024, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Most of that money comes from ticket sales, Brown says. For an upcoming Nov. 29 event at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre, which seats 3,250 people, tickets currently range from $37 to $147 each.
The events have slim profit margins: Poetry me, please, made $500 in 2024 profit, which Brown says he reinvested into the business. And the side hustle is time-intensive. During May and June, his busiest months, Brown works up to 80 hours per week writing material, scouting opportunities for his poets and researching the online poetry community before showcase events, he says.
In less busy months, he spends 10 to 20 hours per week on the side hustle, he adds.
Brown’s responsibilities at Poetry me, please have shifted over time, he says. He spends fewer hours negotiating with venues and solidifying his own reputation as poet, and more on developing the business’ newer revenue streams — like managing other poets, he says.
Here, Brown discusses how his skillset, work ethic and a little serendipity helped popularize Poetry me, please:
CNBC Make It: Do you think the success of your events-based side hustle is replicable?
Brown: I want to say yes. There is something about standard operation procedures that can be applied [to other side hustles], like finding and booking talent, and keeping their names with a description of their strengths in a database for the future.
I also feel like I’ve gotten a lot of “right place, right moment” opportunities. For example, in 2020, I wanted to announce to the world: I was a poet. I hired a cinematographer and a photographer, recorded two poems and posted them on social media.
Around that time, the rapper Lloyd Banks was looking for poets on Instagram to perform an original poem for a trailer for his new album. The video dropped on YouTube right before the first Poetry me, please event in 2021.
What kind of personality traits and skills do you possess that have helped propel Poetry me, please forward?
I’m very passionate and people believe me when I speak. If I tell you I’m going to do something, it’s going to get done, and I think that’s a big part of the support that I get. In one of our first showcases, I said we were going to perform at the Apollo [Theater, in New York] someday. We rented it out for the first time in 2023.
Rashan Brown, founder and CEO of Poetry me, please, on stage at New York’s Apollo Theater in 2023.
Rashan Brown
I’m also very analytical, and I think I’ve become more this way because I am a product manager. For example, when we rented out the Apollo for the first time, ticket sales were slow at first — but I never had a doubt that we wouldn’t sell out the theater. The data always shows that 40% of our sales happen two weeks before the event.
That data helps me also figure out how to mitigate risks. If an event doesn’t work out, I can figure out how much I’ll be in the red, and how to quickly make that money back.
You mentioned you spend up to 80 hours per week on your side hustle during busy months. Do you struggle with burnout?
I feel like any time I’ve gotten really sick, it’s because I’ve overworked. I’ve learned either you can take a rest, or your body is going to make you take a rest.
In January 2024, I tore my patella tendon in my left knee playing basketball. I had surgery. It was one of the roughest things I’ve ever been through. In the middle of February, I get an email saying, “Hey, we’re honoring Black men [leaders and entrepreneurs] in an event at the White House. Would you like to attend?”
I didn’t think it made sense to go. I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t fly because my leg needed to be straight, so it didn’t make sense to go — but I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. My publicist and I decided to pitch for me to perform.
I used to hate laying down when I knew I could be on the computer working. But since the surgery, I’ve given myself more grace to just watch TV or exercise more regularly. I prioritize stillness more often.
I sent them two videos, one of me performing [a poem called] “Capital B.” I said, “I would love to come. All I need is three minutes.” They agreed, so I rented an SUV, and my cinematographer drove me and a small team down to Washington, D.C. I laid in the back and had my leg stretched down the middle of the car.
The event went great, but afterward, I was so tired. I was mic’d up all day, and I could hear myself wheezing in the audio. I ended up going to the ER that night. The doctors found blood clots in my lungs, a rare side effect from my surgery.
I used to hate laying down when I knew I could be on the computer working. But since the surgery, I’ve given myself more grace to just watch TV or exercise more regularly. I prioritize stillness more often.
Your identity as a Black man is present in a lot of your poems. Do you have any advice for young Black men wanting to pursue a business idea?
My general advice is to lean into your passions, don’t take no for an answer and be the best you can be. A lot of times, people are nervous to let their passions fully engulf them.
I would tell young Black boys — or people with businesses — that identity is important, and you should let it shape your creativity. There are specific things that I do to lean into my identity. They come in small quirky things. We start every show with a Black woman. That’s important to me, because I was raised by a single mother.
But your identity doesn’t have to be everything. Poetry me, please is for everyone. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what type of content you perform. When you go to a show, we want it to feel very cultural.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Rashan Brown’s childhood friend was shot and killed in 2020.
Want to level up your AI skills? Sign up for Smarter by CNBC Make It’s new online course, How To Use AI To Communicate Better At Work. Get specific prompts to optimize emails, memos and presentations for tone, context and audience. Sign up today with coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid Oct. 21 through Oct. 28, 2025.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and peers.
