James Laughlin recounts how the Christchurch earthquake threatened his drum-teaching income, prompting him to diversify by opening a retail drum shop and expanding digital education products to sell globally. The piece frames diversification (retail + digital products) as a way to de-risk income and asks the audience to evaluate their own income diversification.
When the Christchurch earthquake slammed into Christchurch, I realized all I do is teach drums. If this place I teach drums decides it's a luxury, we don't need a band anymore at this educational institute. Well, hey, maybe I'm out of a job. What do I do? I have no idea. Living 12,000 miles from where I grew up, all I've ever done was play drums, teach drums. So right then, at that point, I thought, I need to diversify. So I started a retail shop selling drums. I doubled down on digital products, education products, so that they could sell globally. That de risked my income. Where are you at with your income and your investments? Are you diversified or are you stuck on one form of income?
