30-year-old's poetry side hustle brings in $12,000 a month—how he built it

After Rashan Brown finished his first major gig as a spoken-word poet — opening for bestselling author and poet Rupi Kaur at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, in December 2022 — he stepped outside and celebrated on the empty winter street.

"We're changing the game of poetry," he said in a video recorded after the event. Standing on Tilden Avenue, grinning, he yelled, "[One day] we're going to be in Kings Theatre — we'll sell out Kings Theatre, the Apollo [Theater]."

Brown, an ESPN product manager by day, was referencing his side hustle, a New York-based business called Poetry me, please. It's a spoken-word poetry showcase that hosts monthly events, primarily in New York. Selected artists, usually 10 per event, perform for free — in contrast to poetry events that charge performers entry fees — and get video and photos of their appearances after each showcase.

Brown also performs his own work and manages other poets under the Poetry me, please brand, which he founded in 2020. It brought in $148,000 in 2024 revenue — an average of $12,000 per month — according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Most of the revenue comes from ticket sales, and it's largely offset by the cost of running the events: Poetry me, please profited $500 in 2024, and Brown reinvested that back into the business, he says. He doesn't take an income from the side hustle, despite its demanding hours — anywhere from 20 to 80 hours per week, depending on the season, he notes.

Other staffers do get paid. Brown hires at least 10 contractors per event — like DJs, videographers and people manning the doors — plus a personal team including a chief of staff, agent, social media manager and project managers, he says.

"I have full creative autonomy as an entrepreneur and as a CEO, like, every decision comes back to me," from each show's theme to the visuals on advertising flyers, says Brown, 30. "I really enjoy flexing those creative muscles. I felt like I always had great ideas, and I just started to implement them."

Brown started writing and performing poetry in high school as a form of creative expression, he says. In January 2020, he sought out his first open mic night in New York. Being on stage "felt like therapy" to him — except for the $20 entry fee he paid, he says.

"It didn't sit right with me that I paid to perform" as the crowd snapped, clapped and cheered, says Brown. "I am providing a service. I prepped, I filled the room [with my friends]."

He started posting videos of himself performing on YouTube, then hosted his own small events with other poets in bars. Initially, he made pennies, if anything, in profit, he says. Then he hosted an event in October 2021 at a two-story restaurant where attendees could dress fancily and order food while listening to the performances. The change of setting paid off: He went home with $1,000 in profit, he says.

His next event netted over $4,000, he says. Excited, and perhaps ambitious, Brown looked up how to book New York's Apollo Theater. A one-night showcase would cost him $50,000, he discovered.

Over the next year and a half, Brown hosted more Poetry me, please events. The more he posted and interacted on Instagram, the more followers and partnerships Poetry me, please landed: events at New York's Soho House and City Winery, sponsorships with companies like Eventbrite and Microsoft.

In fall 2023, Brown paid a $10,000 deposit — a mix of personal savings and money from Poetry me, please — to secure a November evening at the Apollo, which he advertised heavily on social media. Roughly 1,400 people, the series' largest audience to that point, bought tickets — helping cover the rest of the event's cost, says Brown.

Brown works a lot on Poetry me, please, sometimes to his own detriment, he says.

In February 2024, Brown interrupted his recovery from a knee surgery to perform at a White House event for Black men in entrepreneurship. He says he was exhausted and in pain after the event. He ended up visiting a Washington D.C. emergency room that evening, he says.

"I feel like any time I've gotten really sick, it's because I've overworked," says Brown. "I've learned either you can take a rest, or your body is going to make you take a rest."

Still, the long hours — particularly each winter, when Poetry me, please has its biggest events — are worthwhile to him, he says. Helping fellow performers, inspiring an audience and working to build a poetry community outweigh his lack of a paycheck, he adds.

On Nov. 29, Brown returned to the Kings Theatre — this time, to host a Poetry me, please showcase. A special guest performed that evening: Rupi Kaur.

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