Fitness model’s $1000-a-weekend side hustle

When fitness model and mum-of-two Hayley started looking for a new way to make money, she wasn’t expecting to be making so much, so soon.

“I really don’t waste one minute of my day,” laughs mum-of-two Hayley D’arn Talevski as she rattles off the many items on her planned-to-the minute schedule.

“I’m training for a fitness modelling competition, so I wake up at 5am and do a two-hour workout at the gym, then come home and take over from my husband to get the kids ready for school and make lunches,” she explains. “Then from 10am to 3pm, while the kids are at school, I work on my fitness business, then Friday nights, Saturday nights and Sunday nights, I deliver UberEats.”

The 37-year-old Sydney woman is a personal trainer by trade, and is in the process of launching an online fitness program for mums called Tuff Mother. After trying to balance her burgeoning business with full-time work in the corporate world, Hayley realised it simply wasn’t sustainable.

Stream your news live & on demand with Flash for $8/month and no lock in contracts. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

Hayley makes up to $1000 a weekend.

“I’ve spent my life working for other people, and then when I became a mum, I’d be working all day for someone else and then coming home to the kids and giving so much to them, that I realised I really had nothing left for me,” she explains.

“I knew something had to give, as I have a lot of goals I want to achieve, and one day it just popped into my head – maybe I could give UberEats a try and see how I liked it. I literally haven’t looked back.”

Hayley starts using the app at around 5pm each weekend night, and will continue delivering until about 1am the next morning.

“I can average between four or five deliveries an hour,” she explains. “And Uber has incentives called ‘quests’ that run over time, which are like bonuses. So when you’ve hit a certain amount of deliveries within a certain time-frame, you might get an extra $200, $300, $400 or even $500 extra on top of your delivery.

“So I absolutely love this. It motivates me so much. While the amount I make varies, it’s usually up to $1000 a weekend.”

The mother-of-two delivers UberEats from 5pm each weekend night until 1am the next morning to make extra cash. Picture: Supplied

Hayley’s night usually starts close to home, where the UberEats app will set a delivery radius around the location she starts from, but she says as she begins delivering, she can end up all over Sydney.

“I’ve had some great tips from people, and really I’ve been so lucky – I’ve never felt unsafe or uncomfortable, although sometimes people are shocked to see me turn up with their food,” she laughs.

“Often I’ll show up in my gym gear, a little crop top with my makeup and hair all done, and I think they’re not really expecting it!”

Due to her intense focus on competitive fitness modelling, Hayley’s diet is quite strict and most of the foods she delivers are off-limits.

“Sometimes it can be torture knowing what’s in the boxes you’re delivering,” she laughs. “Especially when you know it’s an order of hot churros with chocolate sauce!”

The entrepreneur has an unlikely secret weapon up her sleeve for resisting temptation, however – she has no sense of smell.

“I’ve suffered from horrible sinus issues most of my life,” she reveals. “So I can’t really smell the food I’m delivering – something I think is a blessing in disguise.”

While Hayley’s down time is minimal, she says the one thing that has shifted since she started delivering for UberEats is that she’s in the driver’s seat – both literally and figuratively – of her own life once more.

“The thing I love the most about it is it’s so flexible,” she says, “It’s up to me. I can make however much I want. I can go online whenever I want. I can go offline whenever I want. If I want to take a break, I don’t have anyone to answer to anyone and I don’t have to ask for permission.

“When I was working in the corporate world I was giving all my time and energy for someone else’s bottom line, and missing all the things I wanted to with my kids, and activities I wanted to be present for. I just have so much more passion and energy, even though I’m busy, because I’m working towards my own goals at last.”

Originally published as Fitness model’s $1000-a-weekend side hustle