{"id":1462,"date":"2026-03-15T13:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2026-03-15T13:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:00:45","slug":"this-college-student-accidentally-emailed-thousands-of-classmates-it-turned-into-a-big-side-hustle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/?p=1462","title":{"rendered":"This college student accidentally emailed thousands of classmates\u2014it turned into a big side hustle"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Hector Gutierrez became an overnight campus celebrity at the University of Alabama earlier this year after an embarrassing email faux pas put him in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

While applying for the school\u2019s honor society, he mistakenly sent his business school professor\u2019s recommendation letter to a college listserv with thousands of recipients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI started getting phone calls and messages saying, \u2018Why did you email me? Why did you email me?\u2019\u201d Gutierrez told Fortune. \u201cMy Outlook started blowing up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he initially found himself cringing at the mistake, the exposure turned out to be a boon for his small business. It made him a social media star, earning him a meeting with the university\u2019s president, and landed him a feature in the school newspaper\u2014all of which shone a spotlight on his small business.<\/p>\n

Gutierrez, 18, started Hec\u2019s Pet Sitting nearly three years ago. Instead of taking a traditional teen job at his local Publix supermarket, he wanted to start something of his own. The business he started as a high school student in South Florida, has grown into a registered LLC, with 10 part-time employees, and bringing in over $10,000 a year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started simply by going around my neighborhood posting flyers, saying, local pet sitter,\u201d he said. \u201cI was fortunate by having one person trust me, and I did a great job taking care of their dog, and then it started expanding, and then there was a point where I needed to hire people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now in his first year studying business management in Alabama, Gutierrez\u2019s accidental fame is opening new doors\u2014including potential clients in his college town. The business income also helps offset the more than $50,000 annual cost of attendance he faces as an out of state student. But balancing a growing company with a full course load is no small feat\u2014and he\u2019s far from the only one trying.<\/p>\n

Gen Z isn\u2019t waiting for a job offer\u2014it\u2019s building its own<\/p>\n

As traditional job pathways grow less reliable, a growing number of young workers are redefining what work looks like\u2014and starting earlier than ever.<\/p>\n

A 2023 Samsung and Morning Consult survey of U.S. students ages 16 to 25 found that 50% of respondents have aspirations to start their own business. Similarly, a survey from Intuit found that nearly two-thirds of young people aged 18 to 35 have started\u2014or plan to start\u2014a side gig.<\/p>\n

The job market isn\u2019t offering much reassurance in the meantime. Three in five college seniors feel pessimistic about their career prospects, according to a Handshake survey.<\/p>\n

Jacob Stone Humphries, the University of Alabama business instructor who wrote Gutierrez\u2019s letter of recommendation, said it comes down to a generation confronting deep uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cGen Z can see the writing on the wall. When you\u2019re not sure what the future holds, you start building things yourself. Entrepreneurship becomes less about ambition and more about survival,\u201d he told Fortune. \u201cThe students we work with every day understand that instinct; they just need guidance on how to channel it well.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI is both a driver of that uncertainty and, increasingly, a tool to work around it. What once cost hundreds of dollars to build\u2014a business plan, website, or marketing materials\u2014can now be generated in minutes. Chatbots can also serve as a de facto business partner, offering guidance on everything from payroll basics to deciphering complex tax language.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elijah Khasabo is another example of what\u2019s possible. Still completing his senior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he built Vidovo, a user-generated content platform startup on track to bring in seven figures in revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe it\u2019s just a generational thing,\u201d he previously told Fortune. \u201cI think we have the digital advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business mistakes are a rite of passage\u2014learning from them could be what leads to success<\/p>\n

While in the moment, something like an accidental email can seem disastrous\u2014but learning from mistakes is often what drives success. It\u2019s a mantra that even top business leaders have embraced.<\/p>\n

For example, Linda Tong, CEO of Webflow, a $4 billion tech firm, said it has been integral to her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back on my experiences, from being put into roles far ahead of when I was ready, failing to be a great teammate, and letting my ego get the better of me, I wouldn\u2019t trade those experiences for anything,\u201d she wrote for Fortune last year. \u201cThey shaped the leader I am today. They were painful in the moment, but lifelong lessons that ground me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs admitted that his fear of death ultimately drove his decisions in life, and allowed him to overcome that fear of failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemembering that I\u2019ll be dead soon is the most important tool I\u2019ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,\u201d he told Stanford\u2019s 2005 graduating class. \u201cBecause almost everything \u2013 all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure \u2013 these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s advice Gutierrez has already internalized\u2014acidentally emailing thousands of strangers notwithstanding: \u201cAlways remain patient, trust in God, and never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

#college #student #accidentally #emailed #thousands #classmatesit #turned #big #side #hustle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hector Gutierrez became an overnight campus celebrity at the University of Alabama earlier this year…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[3254,237,636,3257,646,637,638,3255,579,928,641,3258,310,669,936,937,1965,1384,3256,2178],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}