Courtesy of Kate Oczypok
- After I was laid off from my first full-time job, I decided to go back to school.During my degree, I earned money through freelance writing, teaching piano, and photography.Over time, I realized I liked being my own boss, and I've continued doing these jobs for 10 years.
When I got laid off from my first full-time job in 2012, I had just turned 26 and was devastated. I had wanted to be a writer for my entire life, and after going to college in Washington, DC, and graduating in 2007, I stayed in the city and got a job at a congressional paper.
I worked my way up from soliciting senators and congressmen for op-eds to exploring and writing my own pieces about DC neighborhoods, to eventually covering events and the elegant Washingtonians who graced society pages.
A few months after I was laid off, I eventually decided to go back to school for my master's degree in education. I had all but given up on writing, thinking it would be a hobby instead of my career.
Courtesy of Kate Oczypok
I started writing, teaching piano, and became a portrait photographer
While I was earning my degree through Penn State's World Campus online program, I started teaching piano lessons to earn some extra money. I had taken 12 years of piano lessons and was eager to put what I had learned so far in my degree studies to use.
During my two-year program, I also started picking up freelance writing jobs. I started to love being my own boss, taking on clients and projects that interested me. And instead of only having the same students for one year, as most school teachers do, I could see my piano clients grow up for however long they chose to take lessons with me.
Courtesy of Kate Oczypok
I finished my degree in 2015, and that fall, I added a third gig to my trifecta of jobs: portrait photographer. I had always loved taking photos for family and was always snapping pictures of friends, particularly during Facebook's heyday in my later college years.
I utilized apps like NextDoor and used word of mouth from my piano clients and people I knew from church and my apartment complex to gradually build a photography client list. I created a website and soon found myself busy every fall and spring.
With about 30 piano students, quite a few steady writing clients, and a growing portfolio of photography customers, I soon realized I didn't want a desk job. I didn't want to be a classroom teacher, either. I was hooked on making a career out of my love of writing, working with kids, and photography.
Courtesy of Kate Oczypok
I've worked these three jobs for 10 years
So, for the last 10 years, I have worked these three jobs, and for the most part, it's worked really well for me. I do sometimes have to remind myself that freelance work has its highs and lows.
For example, when I started cobbling together my income this way, I quickly realized that many of my piano students were out of town for the summer, and I'd be without a portion of my earnings from lessons for those few months.
For six summers in a row, I worked as a camp counselor at two separate local D.C. summer day camps to supplement my income. For a few autumns in a row, I spent almost every weekend taking holiday card photos for local families. I managed to buy gifts for everyone on my Christmas list and throw some epic holiday parties with my now-husband with my photography money those years.
My early writing work led to steady freelance jobs with some pretty amazing publications. My determination to be my own boss has given me the grit and resilience to work three jobs for as long as I have. My work tends to have more demand in some seasons than others, with the fall and spring being my busiest. During those months, I tend to work a traditional 40-hour workweek, whereas the summer and winter tend to be more 25 to 30 hours a week.
Courtesy of Kate Oczypok
Freelancing can be stressful, but it's worth it
Working as a freelancer is stressful at times, but it does help my mental health, not having to worry about commuting to an office job, or dealing with a scary boss or coworkers who don't let me get my job done. In 2022, I moved back to Pittsburgh, where I grew up. It had its pros and cons, like being closer to family and a lower cost of living, so the money I made from freelance writing stretched further.
Over the years, I've seen quite a few kids who started with me at 7 or 8 years old graduate from high school, which has been wonderful. Since relocating, I am still rebuilding my client base for both piano lessons and photography. My writing has (thankfully) been thriving, though!
My monthly take-home pay can be anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. I have given up plenty of weekends for work, but to me, it's all worth it. My husband supports my choice, and for the last decade, we have found it works for us.
