Georgia mom got stuck for 3 hours-until she “googled” how to fix the car. Now she brings $440K/year

admin July 9, 2025

0 19 2 minutes read

Georgia mom got stuck for 3 hours-until she “googled” how to fix the car. Now she brings 0K/year

After 10 years working as a medical assistant in Atlanta, Georgia, Desiree Hill feels trapped. Not only did she earn only $38,094 a year, but the job is getting more and more stressful.

“It's a long time,” she told CNBC. “I've never seen my kids every day, so it's really a loss.”

Then there was a breakdown: the divorce forced her to find a new way to support her family.

But, initially a desperate side of hustle and bustle – buying a tortured $1,200 truck and teaching yourself how to fix it via Google and YouTube – quickly got bigger. Flip her $4,000 for the first time.

By 2020, she had repaired and flipped 38 cars, enough to convince her it was time to quit her day job.

Today, the 39-year-old runs Crown's Corner Mechanics, a full-service car repair shop with five employees in Atlanta. Her business brought in $440,000 in revenue in 2024, and her journey attracted more than 120,000 Tiktok followers.

Want to follow her footsteps? That's how she turned the DIY hustle and bustle into a six-figure business, and what you can do, too.

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Starting from a small experiment

Hill said she decided to try flipping the car because it was a relatively cheap side hustle. “I know this is something I can spend very little, maybe, maybe, make a lot of profits,” she said.

Rather than spending thousands of dollars on professional training or buying a repair shop, Hill started with a small experiment – repairing the used truck she managed to buy for just $1,200.

If you want to change your career or start your own business, low-cost experiments can help you test the waters and see if a new career is right before overcommitting. If the experiment fails, you can walk away without permanently damaging your financial situation.

Don't quit immediately

Despite her first flip earning a substantial profit, Desiree did not immediately quit her medical assistant job. Instead, she has been building her skills for several years while working full-time.

“I got home, made dinner, and let my kids go to bed…and then I went [garage] She said and started working on the vehicle.

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Doing business as a side hustle-dive into the toes instead of diving first-is a clever, low-risk way to test the waters. And that's more common than ever: Nearly 52% of workers now report getting extra income from side busyness, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Like Hill, if your side hands start to gain enormous traction, you can consider leaving the job. But if that is not the case, you can still benefit from the additional income.

Create an online image

Hill said she initially started sharing her journey online just to track her progress, but it quickly gained more traction than she expected. Today, her 120,000 Tiktok followers have become a major source of new clients.

In today’s economy, it is absolutely essential to use digital marketing and social media as part of your business strategy. Nearly 48% of consumers surveyed by Salesforce said they prefer to use social platforms to understand small businesses. With that in mind, spending some time and money to build even moderate social presence can greatly help your DIY business and help fuel your future growth.