Steve Mastroianni - Hobby Boss: Turn Your Passion Into Profits Online

Steve, its cancer. Call me as soon as you get this.

The sound of my fathers trembling voice on my answering machine shook me to my core.

I can still remember it like it was yesterday. What had started as a regular lunch with my band turned into an absolute nightmare that still haunts me to this day. It may have been pouring rain on the drive home, but the storm outside paled in comparison to the one going on inside my head.

That was the day I found out my father, my biggest supporter and number - one fan, had been diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.

I knew my life would never be the same.

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a pro guitarist in a rock band.

In the span of twenty years, I managed to teach myself how to play and write songs on guitar, and I eventually formed a band called The Envy that got signed to Gene Simmonss record label, Simmons Records. Before we knew it, we were opening for KISS across North America, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, with a bright future ahead of us.

But on April 9, 2013, all of that changed with one phone call.

Game over. Family comes first.

In one fell swoop, I became my fathers primary caregiver, and my life instantly switched from stages and studios to emergency rooms and surgeries. Of course, if presented with this situation again, I would make the same decision in a heartbeat. My father had always been my biggest supporter, and now it was my turn to return the favour and support him.

I vowed to be by his side the entire journey, no matter the outcome. My dad needed me, and I needed to be there for him.

However, I still couldnt shake the nagging feeling that I had so much more to accomplish, so much more value to share with the worldand nothing to show for all the excruciating work I had put into my craft so far.

Thats a tough pill to swallow for an overachiever like me who needs to create in order to maintain sanity.

Even though the majority of my time was devoted to taking care of my father, I still needed to pay the rent.

For years before my dad got sick, I had coached guitarists while I was on and off tour, and I developed a true passion for helping other people achieve their goals faster. I always knew coaching would be part of my life, no matter what happened with my music career.

One day, one of my guitar students suggested I start a guitar website, taking everything I teach offline and making it available online.

I remember hearing his idea and brushing it off at first. I treated it like a small project I couldnt complete right away, but that I would build over a few weekends and then start collecting the cash. Its funny now just how naive I was in assuming how easy it would bethat because I put my stuff online, people would just magically show up and buy it.

Oh, how wrong I was.

This aint Field of Dreams , buddy, and you definitely aint Kevin Costner.

Between hospital visits (and sometimes during), I started researching this online thing and was surprised to find out that there was more to it than I originally thought.

A lot more.

I really liked the flexibility an online business offered and definitely liked the profit potential. It would mean I could take care of my father, still build my business during any spare moment I could get and pay the bills without having to worry about getting a job or applying for employment insurance.