NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — The side hustle game is strong in the Buckeye State.
New data shows the number of gig workers in Ohio increased by 220% in just the past two years.
Our state now has a workforce of nearly 180,000 gig workers.
News 5 anchor Mike Brookbank caught up with a North Olmsted woman who is taking advantage of just a handful of apps to pull in some serious cash, all while having the flexibility she needs for demands at home.
She didn't realize it at the time, but when Tricia Mills jumped feet first into the gig economy, she joined a rapidly growing workforce.
"We show that Ohio is a top half of the country in terms of places where gig workers are exploding,” said Tyler Ashby with Agents Only.
Mills, who described herself as "semi-retired," brings in big bucks by delivering groceries through Point Pick-Up and renting out her pool in the summer through the Swimply app. But the biggest cash flow comes from Poplin.
“Poplin is a nationwide laundry service kind of like Uber for laundry. I have 31 regular customers a month, and last month I did 72 orders," said Mills.
She may be a well-oiled, self-employed machine now, however, that wasn't always the case.
Mills said she experienced some bumps in the road with some of her side hustles when she first started.
"It was very, very slow," said Mills.
Ashby said workers like Mills now make up nearly 3% of the workforce in Ohio.
“COVID changed the way people lived and some are just not willing to go back," said Ashby.
According to Ashby, the pandemic, technology, and flexibility are the top drivers of this trend.
He said gig workers need to constantly remind themselves that they are their own business.
"I need to act as my own business. I need to hold myself accountable as my own business. Then I think you're going to quickly get into the benefits and the benefits are flexibility, more money," said Ashby.
With that of course comes some challenges.
"I think in the U.S. in particular, the biggest challenge with if you're only going to be a gig worker is health insurance, and so that's something that you really need to plan for," said Ashby.
Mills uses the same technology that connects her with work to also keep tabs on her finances for Uncle Sam through you guessed it, an app.
"All your tax information, all your mileage, all your gas, you put in all your receipts, and it does it for you at the end of the year, you get your little W2s from all your places, put it in the Stride app and it will figure it out for you," said Mills.
Right now, Mills said with the apps she has she is working about six hours a day and making more than enough to pay all her bills with the flexibility she needs.
Here’s how Mills responded when Mike asked her what it has meant for her to have this opportunity to be at home with her mom at this stage of her life.
"Everything. Family means everything to me. My dad died at a young age, so my mom is my number one priority," said Mills.
