Side Hustle School Ep. 3323 - TBT: English Language Game Throws Down Amazon Gauntlet
Feb 5, 2026
Alex Bricker, an English teacher and founder of ESL With Purpose who created the Phrase It game to teach phrasal verbs. He talks about turning teaching into a side income, balancing a full-time job with a growing YouTube channel, a costly $17,000 Amazon mistake, and strategies for long-term audience building like email lists.
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Phrasal Verb Game Born In Classroom
- Alex created Phrase It after seeing students struggle with phrasal verbs in class.
- He built games to make practicing those difficult English constructs fun and effective.
Passion Project Plus Day Job
- Alex balances a full-time job while growing ESL With Purpose as a passion project.
- This hybrid approach lets him sustain income while investing long-term in the side hustle.
A Costly Amazon Mistake
- Alex invested in a toy product for Amazon and lost $17,000 because the market was oversaturated.
- He ran deep discounts and failed to factor in cost of goods, which taught him to do the math first.