Meet John Herwick
I’m the person behind SideGigToolbox — not a team, not an agency, just someone who’s actually done the side gigs this site is built around.
My background isn’t in any one craft — it’s hands-on experience across a lot of them. I’ve restored and sold furniture, blogged, done mystery shopping, and spent real time behind the wheel driving for Uber. That range is exactly why this site doesn’t lean on being an expert in any single gig — it leans on knowing what it actually costs, in time and money, to run one.
The day job
By career, I’m a retired Marine Corps engineer officer and a recovering Big 4 IT consultant. That combination is exactly where this site’s insistence on getting the numbers right comes from — military engineers don’t get to eyeball a load calculation, and nobody survives a Big 4 engagement presenting a number they can’t defend. SideGigToolbox’s calculators get held to that same bar: real data, worked examples, no hand-waving. See How We Build Our Calculators for what that actually looks like in practice.
Furniture
Refinishing and reselling furniture is where a lot of SideGigToolbox’s DNA comes from. It’s slow, hands-on work where the margin lives or dies on material costs and the hours nobody tracks. That’s exactly the kind of blind spot this site’s pricing and profit calculators are built to catch.
Rideshare and delivery
The rideshare and delivery tools come from the same place — real trip data from actual driving, not industry averages. Gas, depreciation, deadhead miles, self-employment tax: the stuff that quietly eats into what a driver actually takes home, and what most free calculators skip entirely.
Blogging and mystery shopping
Different gigs, same lesson: the real number is never just what shows up before expenses. Both taught me to track the small stuff most people don’t bother with — exactly the habit this site is built to encourage.
Why I built SideGigToolbox
For the bigger picture on the site’s mission and what makes it different, see About SideGigToolbox.
Get in touch
Questions, feedback, or a calculator idea? Visit our Contact page or email hello@sidegigtoolbox.com directly.