Are you a slash?
Also hot of the presses this week: The New York Times launched a new column by Marci Alboher, attorney and author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success, on “slash” careers (aka portfolio careers, or what I like to call patchwork paychecks). I, for one, was thrilled to pieces to see this topic given full-on column space in the NYT.
Variety isn’t only the spice of one’s worklife. It’s the key to greater flexibility and autonomy. And you don’t need to be a rocket-scientist-slash-brain-surgeon to realize that the more sources of income you have, the more secure your (patchwork) paycheck is. If one well dries up, you still have the other(s). This is the way many creative types and freshly self-employed folks work, often without consciously deciding to embark on a hybrid career path. Having a dual income track is just what we need to do to survive.
Some fun “slashes” I’ve interviewed in the past couple of years (and featured in The Anti 9-to-5 Guide):
- A stand-up comic/literary agent
- An engineer/ghost tour guide
- A realtor/home stager
- A graphic novelist/art school admin
- A B&B owner/sustainability activist
- A dominatrix/adult web content writer
What about you? Are you a slash who’s pulling in a patchwork paycheck? Here — I’ll go first. My name is Michelle. I live in Seattle, where I work from home as a freelance journalist, author, copywriter, copyeditor, and instructor on the freelance life. OK, now you. Go.
10 comments May 4th, 2007
