CLEVELAND — For as long as Jennifer Kaplan can remember, she’s created art. 

“I mean, ever since I think I was 3, my mom used to take me to the Cleveland Museum of Art for art classes and throughout my life. I think I've hit on all kinds of different media. I was a silversmith for a while. I took lamp work glass classes. I learned how to sew and worked with fiber. I quilt, I stitch,” she said. “I'm kind of all over the map, but I've fallen back again and again and on paper cutting, which I really love because it's very simple and very complex at the same time.” 

She used to work as the development director of a Jewish day school before she decided to make a change. 

“I was considering a side hustle, something that I did after hours after my real job that may or may not have brought in extra money really, really part time. More of a hobby that I could monetize a little bit than an actual job,” she said. 

It wasn’t long before she realized she could make her art side hustle a full-time business. 

“I started my business. I felt like I really needed a plan,” she said. 

Prior to working in her art studio, Kaplan grabs a cup of coffee and heads to her living room to journal. 

“I work well when I kind of can brain dump my thoughts on paper first thing in the morning,” she said. 

A survey by Zapier found in 2021, one in three Americans had a side hustle. Aside from the extra cash, people may be inclined to start one to pay off debts or to put the extra money in savings. 

Kaplan said the same is true for her, but it was also due to the pandemic and her need for a change. 

The U.S. Census Bureau reports 418,380 new business applications were filed in December 2021. This figure was 309,607 in December of 2019. 

Kaplan said her art means a lot to her.  

“It’s also something that has been part of Jewish tradition for a very long time, for hundreds of years, and so I feel when I do it, I’m tapping into that piece of my history,” she said. 

For more information on her work, click here.