Gus Vieweg

The goal of Hardly Hustle is to provide inspiration, drive and motivation in a 10 minute read or less. What you see is what you get. This is hot off the press without an editing team. 

Gus Vieweg is up.

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi! I'm Gus. I run improv comedy workshops for individuals and companies. I love encouraging passion, enthusiasm, and creativity in others. I find improv is a perfect vehicle for doing that.

It's practicing the art of interpersonal communication. Building soft skills with hard laughs, as I say. 

What did it take and how did you get started?

I've done improv for about seven years. In college, I ran North Carolina State University's premiere troupe for my senior year.

I had a front row seat to watching shy freshmen, sophomores, and juniors blossom into talented improvisers and communicators. I figured this blossoming could extend outside of college, so I set up a Meetup group and booked a room in central Morrisville.

To my surprise, fifteen strangers showed up, never having done improv before, and we all left as friends.

What does the future look like for you and your hustle?

I plan on growing the Meetup group to a community of improvisers and professional/personal development enthusiasts. I'm also looking to expand and do more corporate workshops.

What drives / motivates you?

Watching the transformation. Learning how much impact this is making in people's lives. People use it to cope, escape, and laugh their pain out.

What advice would you give someone interested in doing what you do?

It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be.

What has been the hardest part of the hustle?

Making sure everyone is satisfied. When you have to manage 15 people in a creative, improvised workshop, it's imperative to make sure everyone feels heard and seen.

What are a few resources (could be books, podcasts, websites etc) that you'd recommend?

Improv: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCarUQxbetwstImqcN0Kzi1g/videos
Platform: https://www.meetup.com/
Business: http://machinethatmakesmoney.com/such-a-great-video-annie-spano-explains-how-she-started-and-grew-her-web-site/

The STATS

Side or full-time hustle?
Side.

List the founders
Just me!

How many hours a week do you work on this hustle?
Five but will soon grow.

# of Employees (part-time and full-time)
Two.

When did you start?
April 2019

How much did it cost to launch?
$15/month in Meetup fees.

What were your funding methods and ballpark amount raised?
Bootstrapped.