This Flexible, AI-Powered Side Hustle Lets a Dad of Four Make $32 an Hour, Plus Tips: 'You Can Make a Substantial Amount of Money' Kyle Heyliger has a lot going on, so he set out to find a source of supplemental income that fit naturally into his busy schedule.
By Frances Dodds Edited by Mark Klekas
Kyle Heyliger lives in Atlanta, where his wife of twenty years and their four children are the center of his world. "It's all about finding happiness in your day-to-day and doing things that matter," he says, "and for me, it's always been the family." Over the past two decades, Heyliger has built a career as a fitness instructor, but last year, he abruptly lost a big contract that put him in a precarious position. "I took a pretty serious hit," he says. "We were anticipating a certain amount of income, so when that happened, I was kind of facing eviction."
In the past, Heyliger had moonlighted as a bartender, but he knew his roster of fitness clients and his kids' many activities would make it tough to hold down a steady bar or restaurant job. "Most companies want you to be one hundred percent committed," he says, "but my scheduling gets pretty crazy." So he started searching for ways to bring in money with a simple side hustle while building his own schedule.
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And that's when the social media gods (or the algorithm that creeped on his internet searches) served him up a FrontHouz ad on Instagram.
FrontHouz is an on-demand staffing platform, founded in 2022 by Atlanta hospitality veteran Starr Douglas. It connects venues and event companies with vetted hospitality professionals. The company does the legwork of interviewing the applicants and contacting references, and if approved, the hospitality workers can choose from gigs that match their experience. Along with bartendeing, some of the positions available include:
- Barback
- Busboy
- Server assistant or food runner
- Host & Hostess
The platform uses AI to match workers with the gigs they're most qualified for. It also offers AI-driven training prior to a gig, with 360-degree virtual tours of a venue and a summarized rundown on the company's best practices.
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Heyliger started picking up bartending shifts on the platform over a year ago, and since then, he's brought in about $1,000 a month. He peruses the platform for events or venues that appeal to him and then books gigs a couple of weeks in advance to fill in gaps in his schedule. "The company that I love to work for always posts around the same time so I just go in, take a look, and pick up the shifts that work for me."
He's worked at everything from product activations to corporate parties and weddings, sports events like an Atlanta Falcons friends and family night, and even a summertime luau. "I like the diversity," he says. "And I haven't really had a bad experience. If you're bringing your A-game, bringing your skill set, bringing your personality, then the majority of gigs you find will be very pleasurable."
Aside from the flexibility and enjoyability of the gigs, Heyliger says the most attractive thing about FrontHouz is the base pay rates. His gigs typically pay between $25 and $32 an hour, plus tips on top of that. "It's been a while since I worked directly for restaurants but I can imagine the going rate is still your typical $2.50 or $3.50 an hour," he says. "So you're pretty much working for tips, and banking on traffic. But with a solid base pay, I can plan ahead and never worry about having a bad night."
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Ultimately, Heyliger says, for someone like him who likes to switch things up, or supplement their other jobs, FrontHouz is a great option. "I'm not even doing it full time," he says. "I'm just kind of just doing it to fill in the gaps — two, maybe three times a week. But if you wanted to dive all the way in, you could make a substantial amount of money."
