Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jen Solomon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jen, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

About two years ago, I started a passion project–a sustainability blog that combines my desire to write with my mission to educate and inspire others to care for our planet. Initially, I didn’t consider this as a potential source of income until a friend suggested incorporating affiliate marketing. As an ancient Gen-Xer, I had no idea how that worked, but I decided to give it a try since I was already linking to eco-friendly products throughout my content. I figured it would be worthwhile if I could at least break even to recoup my out-of-pocket costs.

I dove deep, spending countless hours researching, writing, and building my site–and loving it. This year, a breakout blog post skyrocketed my site traffic. Every time I logged in, the numbers were growing. And subsequently, I discovered I had made my first commissions. This surreal moment led me to experience validation for my hard work, which was being viewed as valuable and trustworthy. And furthermore, to me, the purchases demonstrated real, tangible changes in behavior–my mission to begin with.

What started as a small project is showing promise to become more, maybe even someday allowing me to pursue this in place of my regular day job. The first dollar has proven to be much more than just income–it is possibility, encouragement, and hope.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve always cultivated an innate desire to care for the environment. One of my first memories demonstrating this is pulling my red Radio Flyer wagon around the block to pick up trash in the gutters. Over the years, I have been known to fish recyclables out of the trash to add to the recycling bin and go on an occasional tirade about wasteful watering practices.

Today, sustainability and clean living have grown even more important to me for the sake of my children, my health, and the continued worsening environmental crises plaguing the planet. As I researched ways to be more environmentally responsible in my own life, I found it time-consuming and complex. I was disappointed at the lack of a website that, to me, was comprehensive and fact-based, serving as a central hub for all things sustainable. Not just recycling information, but also how to find eco-friendly and ethical clothing, skincare products, food, household products, and more. How to change behaviors to conserve resources. And not only that, with actual science, data, and facts to back it up–this is of utmost importance to me.

I am a longtime nurse, so having a science background and access to infinite studies has helped immensely. I have been certified as a Master Gardener for almost 10 years, and I attended a Master Recycler program offered through my city. I have toured multiple facilities, such as the landfill, a wastewater treatment plant, and a scrap metal recycling operation, and spoken to many people in various areas of sustainability. I want to have real, accurate, and thorough information, but that is digestible and easy to follow. There is SO much information, and if you’re a nerd like me, you can really get sucked into rabbit holes. One of my main goals is to make it as easy and convenient for people to learn how to go green in their everyday lives.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think some people might think I’m crazy for how much of my life I have dedicated to this project, with no real intent on it being a career. Making money would be great, but I am very lucky to be in a position where I can do this on the side. I do it for a couple of reasons: first, I feel passionate about this area, and I desperately want to make a difference. I want to be part of the solution and break down the barriers that hold people back from being more environmentally conscious. I want my kids to have a better world. The altruistic part of my being doesn’t mind investing the time to do it, even if I don’t make a dime. And second, writing has always been a therapeutic outlet for me, so I do get a benefit in that regard–people pay money for that!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I started my project, I had no idea how to build a website, and I didn’t even know what SEO was. Thanks to a million online articles and YouTube videos, and some helpful people along the way, I have taught myself how to do it. And I feel proud of my progress: I found myself ranking #1 on Google for some keywords, I rose from a brand new website to now approaching 10,000 clicks from Google searches in a 28-day time period, and am beginning to collect a small income that will help me to pay at least for upkeep.

On top of that, as a solo side gig, it has been extremely tough to grow my website and blog to where I want it to be. Working as a nurse, having two busy kids, not completely neglecting my husband, and managing home and daily life is a lot as is, and a voluntary, unpaid project of this magnitude has been a challenge to keep up. I can see what it could become, but the amount of work it will take to get there leaves me feeling extremely overwhelmed at times–especially where I can go for days or even weeks without spending any time on it.

But when I look at how far I’ve come, I know I should be proud.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://letsgogreen.com
• Instagram: letsgogreen_1; letsgogreenslc