As the first all-digital bank, Ally has disrupted the industry by offering financial services that truly serve its customers, breaking the norms of traditional banks.

In 2021 Ally launched Daring to Disrupt, a content series that showcased the stories of women who are changing industries by disrupting the status quo and a contest to win $30K in funding. The overwhelming success of DTD was the catalyst to create a TV show that would drive real change for women. Having a track record for success in female storytelling, Hello Sunshine’s original idea Side Hustlers organically aligned with Ally’s mission.

Our challenge was to change the game for aspiring business leaders and inspire female entrepreneurs, establishing Ally as a brand committed to empowering and advancing women in their lives and finances.

Side Hustlers is for anyone interested in business, regardless of gender.

Our idea was to create a 5-part TV series on America’s #1 TV streaming platform, Roku, to reach audiences with the stories of real female entrepreneurs looking for mentorship and funding from established female investors. 

Side Hustlers has real-world impact with continuous effects beyond the camera's cutting, creating content that is bigger than the TV show itself. The hustlers are guided through a high-stakes boot camp to transform their side hustles into sustainable main hustles. In the end, the hosts decide if they want to invest in the business, the hustlers decide if they are going to quit their day job.

Jack Howard, Head of Money Wellness at Ally, was featured in the series offering financial coaching and illustrating that we’re all better off with an Ally. Women from Ally’s innovation hub helped the hustlers think differently about how they conduct market research using a human-centered design approach.

Less than 2% of venture capital funding goes to women-led companies in the US and less than 15% of VC investors are women.

With so few women-owned businesses receiving financial investments, we wanted to showcase women starting and growing small businesses to inspire the next female entrepreneurs.

With 70 million Americans - 45% of the workforce - having a side hustle on top of their 9-5, we created Side Hustlers - a TV series aiming to turn women’s side hustles into main hustles, elevating women and underrepresented voices in the startup and entrepreneurial space, putting them in the spotlight.

Side Hustlers was the #1 title on the Roku Channel, for both reach and engagement in its week of launch and the month of March.

The show was promoted on Roku’s streaming platform – generating over 500MM Impressions.

We generated more than 1.8 billion earned media impressions across 45+ press hits. Key coverage included the Today Show, CBS This Morning, and the Drew Barrymore Show. On social we generated over 100MM organic impressions throughout the launch window.

The campaign created a 15% spike in web traffic on ally.com

Side Hustlers has already been renewed for a second season on Roku – continuing Hello Sunshine and Ally’s mission of encouraging and inspiring female entrepreneurs to turn their side hustle to their main hustle and increase overall investment in female founded businesses.