Episode 60: Running an Activist Side Hustle — An interview with Chelsey Goodan

In this episode, we talk with Chelsey Goodan about her day jobs as a tutor and screenwriter and her side hustles supporting activism and as a board member of A Call to Men. Chelsey shares advice on how she balances her work with her activism and details about all the great work she is doing her organization, The Activist Cartel, and different ways we can teach men how to be better feminists.

 

Running an Activist Side Hustle Episode Highlights

• Find what you really care about and there’s an organic progression of what will come to you.
• Don’t underestimate the work it will take.
• Personal discipline goes a long way for getting shit done.
• You have to hold yourself accountable, but having an accountability partner goes a long way.
• “Be a person that follows through and is good on their word.”

Chelsey Goodan

Chelsey Goodan is the founder of The Activist Cartel, a network of women and men dedicated to promoting women’s rights and equality. Every month, she focuses the nationwide group on a political, educational, or philanthropic topic around women’s equality and provides ways to take action.

Additionally, Chelsey Goodan is a screenwriter in Hollywood, answering the plea for movies with vibrant, tenacious, and complex female-driven stories. Embracing many facets of the entertainment industry, she has worked on a wide range of films such as Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Jim Carrey’s The Number 23, and Judd Apatow’s Superbad. All of her experiences in film have supremely motivated her to lead the charge in increasing women’s representation. Moreover, her written articles often focus on how women’s progress intersects with men, whether that’s turning the infamous former pick-up artist Neil Strauss, author of The Game, into a feminist, interviewing Tony Porter for Lenny Letter, or igniting conversation through humor in her article, “Can I Be the Dad?”

On top of it all, Chelsey has run her own tutoring business for the last nine years. Guiding students 8-22 years old, Chelsey assists in everything from Calculus homework to college applications. She specializes in AP History classes and finds that the lessons always inspire her writing and activism since society is so prone to repeat mistakes. Her time spent prepping a big test like the ACT is often underscored by a deep mentorship of her students. Always working to be a positive role model, she finds great meaning from the moments when her teenage girls come to her with their concerns ranging from eating disorders to birth control. Her young boys often share their fears with her first, knowing she’ll have their back when they’re up against stressful parental pressure or an impending bad grade. She continues this mentorship long after she’s finished tutoring them.

Chelsey recently became a Board Member for the nonprofit, A CALL TO MEN, which educates and activates men and boys to be a part of the solution in preventing violence and discrimination against women. She organizes their annual Los Angeles fundraiser, which she will host alongside Will Forte, David Wain, Sean Gunn, and Moon Zappa this year. A CALL TO MEN is now working with the Time’s Up leadership to engage men in entertainment to use their influence to advocate for equality. All of her life, Chelsey has been volunteering for equality-based causes, and organizing fundraising events. She grew up in Colorado Springs, graduated from New York University, married Music Producer Charles Goodan, and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Follow Chelsey online at:

The Activist Cartel: www.theactivistcartel.org
Instagram: @chelseygoodan
Twitter: @chelseydailey