How to get less screwed as a freelancer, Global Pandemics or not.

5 min read - by Gina Hanzlik

Things have certainly changed for a lot of people in the past few weeks. Social distancing, working from home, shelter in place orders, and the ability to buy a glass of draft beer to go (shout out to Mama Fox in Brooklyn), to name a few! While conditions under COVID-19 lockdown may feel new to you, it's not such a significant change for a lot of young freelancers. 

Because I am a freelancer, a sector of the population intensely affected by the social distancing orders, many members of my family have reached out, suggesting side hustles, online work, and things I could do to stay busy. While I'm touched by their concern, I'm doing just fine. The lockdown didn't affect my structure as much as it did for 9-5ers. Here's why.

I don't work a 9-5. My schedule is never the same. And while I do "go to work," the hours are rarely predictable, the location always changes, and I love that. I tried working a 9-5 (well, actually a 7-5 - I was a 4th-grade teacher) for three years. It killed my soul. Despite my best efforts to feed it, my creative flame flickered and then dimmed.

Most importantly, I didn't feel like I was "good" at anything, because I wasn't fulfilled enough to give myself to anything. So I left my salary job with benefits, gave up on forcing an average relationship, put my life in a U-haul, and went back to music school. Three years, some debt, and another relationship later, I put my life in a backpack (U-hauls are so extra) and moved to New York City. This time, I was fueled by time spent honing my craft, working with mentors, surrounding myself with creative types, and rediscovering how to function outside of society's requirements for "a successful 20-something." 

The Freelance Hustle

One doesn't merely arrive in New York City and get handed a contract to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, at least I didn't, not even close. So, what does a highly educated, type A, classically-trained musician do if she isn't singing full time? The same thing most young freelancers do: hustle. I'm sure that word has lots of meanings in various fields, but for me, it is synonymous with work. If I were to channel my inner Webster, I might say: 

Hustle - to work, wherever you can, whenever you can, capitalizing on your strengths, simultaneously ignoring your (very expensive) degrees. 

In the cold light of COVID-19, this hustle mentality has paid off. Were my schedule to have been solely booked with recitals, operas, and concerts, I would be wringing my fingers, hoping to collect on contracts indefinitely postponed. Had I been working a full-time day job, my soul would be a pile of ash, so I'm not even going there. Point being: diversify the hustle! 

When I moved to New York, I had one teaching job securely in the bag. After I arrived in NYC, I secured additional gigs as a nanny, a church musician, a dog sitter, and a sample lady (Yes, like in the grocery store. Pride means nothing in the hustle!). 

You define your normal

If you have never held five jobs at a time (six if you count my singing gigs), you likely don't realize how much daily self-discipline is required. Some days you work four jobs, some days you work none. Some days you eat three gourmet meals because you have meetings for lunch, dinner, and second dinner; other days, you can hardly fit in an apple. Some days you wear an apron, a blazer, and a gown, other days it's sweats sun up to sundown. 

Because of that, the whole "wake up and get ready, keep some sense of normalcy" thing doesn't always resonate with me. What is normal for a freelancer? Work is the only common denominator. Working jobs that give me tax documents, working on my craft, working at home, in cafes, in my head. Preparing for contracts that are four months away, and even for gigs I haven't booked yet—working on applications for grants and competitions even though the outcome is not guaranteed. Figure out what normal is for you, and then be ready to adjust, because you likely will have to.

Diversify your hustle

Life under COVID restrictions may feel foreign, but most freelancers are used to it. We are used to self-starting; we are used to isolation; we are used to making our schedule. Freelancers dwell in the unsettling uncertainty many people are experiencing for the first time as COVID-19 prevention measures start to dictate their lives. 

So how do we do it? Or, if you already are a freelancer, how can you maximize your stability? Diversify your hustle. When NYC started social distancing, and cultural institutions began to close, I had multiple music gigs postponed. Some had been in the works for months, and I was expecting a good chunk of income. Bummer, but not a deal-breaker since I still had income from teaching, nannying, and church. Diverse income streams saved me here. 

Start with something solid

My teaching job for the Met Guild was official before I made the move to NYC. The contract was signed, and a steady, secure source of income was pretty much guaranteed (a promise the Met Guild has made good on, even with COVID-19). 

Then things with COVID-19 got serious: schools closed, churches closed, and people were certainly not up for samples at the grocery store. That effectively took me from six jobs to one. Lucky for me, two of my jobs were for established companies that agreed to pay me all or part of my salary. That isn't always something you can guarantee, but it is something to take into consideration: make sure one of your side hustles is for a solid, established company.

Work for real people

Conversely, choosing a side hustle that is NOT for an established company, and instead for a person is also smart. Despite the citywide shutdown, I am still nannying for my regular family (don't worry, I commute by bike). This person-to-person connection has proven valuable many times. When your employer knows you personally, they likely also know that your creative side is important. It makes it easier to take time off or adjust hours to accommodate creative endeavors. 

Work is work

Even though I work six jobs, I don't list them all when people ask what I do. I simply say, "I am an opera singer," because I am, even when I am handing out samples at the grocery store. Even when I'm not performing because every gig for the foreseeable future has been canceled. Being an artist manifests differently for everyone. The key is to keep working. Maintain a diverse hustle. It's all about making space to create what you love. Only you know how to make that space, be it physical or psychological. And finally, be ready for things to change, because they will. If your hustle is diverse, those changes will be less likely to derail your creative pursuits.

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