Sam Vander Wielen
Sam’s Sidebar is the must-read weekly newsletter that translates “7-figure strategies” into simple next steps for people who’d be happy with a steady income and weekends off. “Possibly the best emails I’ve ever read from someone I’ve not met IRL.” - Phil, Sidebar subscriber. EVERY TUESDAY ⤵️
How I actually knew I didn't want it
On Working on Your Craft My office closet is like a little shrine to all of my 'failed' business attempts. If you read my book, you know I started a food blog called Barrister's Beet when I was still working as a corporate lawyer. This wasn't just some side hobby. I really wanted to be a famous food blogger. So I did what I thought you were supposed to do when you wanted a really big thing. I bought everything a "famous food blogger" needed. A fancy camera I didn't know how to operate. A...
I have to be honest (this is embarassing)
I'm Having a Day I just deleted a 1,000 word email I'd worked really hard on because I would've felt like a phony for sending it. I wrote to you about my 8-week pottery class and everything it's teaching me about perfection and our negative self-talk. But the truth is: I'm sitting here with my heart racing after having woken up at 5am, my mind spinning with all my to-do's. Don't forget: this is my 'entrepreneurial gap year.' (I wrote a Substack about it here.) I couldn't (in good conscience)...
I judged myself so hard for this…
I Said "Yes" To My Dream I just slipped off my Minnie ears and put down my Dole whip to write to you, Reader... I cannot believe I'm able to say it: I'm in DISNEY WORLD! No, I'm not a Disney adult (though if you are, you do you boo! Life's too short!) But it's one of the places in the world where I feel the most connected to my dad, Norm. (My dad and BFF, Norm, passed away in May 2022 from AML leukemia, in case you're new here.) Growing up, the only vacation I ever went on with my dad was to...
How I made $500k in 4-days
How I Pulled This Launch Off (aka, Courses Aren't Dead) I gotta be honest, "HAVE MY BIGGEST LAUNCH EVER" wasn't on my 2026 Bingo card... Especially since 2026 is my "entrepreneur gap year." (I wrote about it on Substack here→) 🥳 So I didn't see it coming when the 4-day Ultimate Bundle®️ sale I ran last week made over $500,000. I walked around all weekend staring into the abyss. I just ran a $350k launch like 3 months ago... Plus, lately everyone's been all like, "courses are dead! Launches...
This is where I stop using AI
We've Lost the Plot I swear I left an imprint on the couch. I spent most of the past two weeks squarely planted on it -- mostly watching Knife Edge, a new Apple+ series that follows restaurants chasing Michelin stars. You can learn a lot from that show. Not even about food. But what happens when you get so focused on outside awards and vanity metrics that you lose the plot. Some of the restaurants on the show won the star (or three!) they so desperately wanted, but others didn't. The...
These were your favorites (and I get it)
That's a Wrap! I'm about to slide a batch of gluten-free gingerbread cookies into the oven and shut my laptop for good this year, but I couldn't logoff without sharing this. This has been quite the year over for me. In 2025 alone, I... ✈️ traveled more for work than ever 🔈 delivered a keynote on my dream stage (Kit's Craft + Commerce) 📚 published my book, When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy and got to see it all around the U.S. in bookstores (!!) 🎧 seriously grew my podcast, On Your...
As the plane was crashing, this was all I could think of
A movie reel of my life plays on the back of my eyelids as we plunge toward the earth at hundreds of feet per second. Everyone on this airplane is about to die, and my tombstone will read, “Here lies Sam Vander Wielen, an 70-hour a week lawyer who cries in the bathroom between meetings and masks her pain with bags of Boom Chicka popcorn hidden in the bottom drawer of her desk.” Spoiler: I didn’t die. But “almost dying” – or at least feeling like I was about to – was a sea change moment in my...
How to build an $8 million+ digital product
6 Lessons Learned from my $8 Million+ Digital Product 🍕 Hi from the Windy City! I'm in Chicago to re-film every single video inside of my best-selling program, the Ultimate Bundle®️. When I created the Bundle 8 years ago, I had no idea it would become what it is today -- a program that has over 4,500 students creating incredible businesses all over the world, worth well over $8 million, and basically the focus of my everyday 🤣 The Ultimate Bundle®️'s success didn't happen by accident. And it...
How 2025 actually went for me
If You Thought This Year Would Be Different I don't know about your 2025, but I feel like I'm on the last mile of a marathon I was so excited to start back in January... but then halfway through was like, "what the heck was I thinking?!" 🤣 I knew this year would be big. I had an audiobook to record in NYC, a $350k+ 4-day launch in February, a book launch in April, a keynote at Kit's Craft + Commerce conference, a cottage purchase in Vermont... the list goes on. As the year went on, the...
My best email list building tips [inside]
But do they trust you? On more mornings than I can count, I’d wake up to the sound of my dad, Norm, telling someone on the phone, “If it’s so important, put it in the mail!” He didn’t trust anyone who called asking for anything — whether they called to confirm his appointment time or to remind him to pay a (definitely) past-due bill. “If it’s real,” he’d say, “they’ll send me something.” Since he passed away 3 years ago, I’ve carried his Philly-skepticism on as a joke with my husband, Ryan....
Sam’s Sidebar is the must-read weekly newsletter that translates “7-figure strategies” into simple next steps for people who’d be happy with a steady income and weekends off. “Possibly the best emails I’ve ever read from someone I’ve not met IRL.” - Phil, Sidebar subscriber. EVERY TUESDAY ⤵️