Stumbling Through the Recession

Stumbling Through the Recession

waitress

Article written for Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Schoolguides website, March 9, 2009

During lunch last week, my business partner noticed that our waitress had beautifully painted nails, done in an elaborate harlequin pattern. My business partner often gets her own nails done, and asked the waitress where she got hers done. The waitress replied, “I paint my own nails, but right now I’m working two jobs and going to school, so it’s only a hobby. I now only have time to change the design every three weeks.”

As she said this, my business partner and I looked at each other and smiled. You see, both of us grew up with a love for art, especially drawing. We love to sketch, doodle, whatever, anywhere, any time. Even though we worked at different jobs when we were younger, from movie rental clerk (her) to glorified office go-fer (me), we never lost sight of what we really loved to do. Now we own a design business together.

We then asked our waitress if she ever considered videotaping her nail painting process and putting it on YouTube as a tutorial. We mentioned a web site where a young woman, about the same age as our waitress, was making a living showing YouTube videos of herself giving advice on how to apply makeup. In addition to sponsorships, she’s working paid gigs as a makeup artist at photo shoots, weddings, and movie productions. Her YouTube videos are literally her resume!

The main reason my business partner and I mentioned the YouTube makeup girl’s story was to show a real example of someone who pursued her passion and figured out a way to make money with it. During the lunch, our waitress kept coming back to our table to talk more shop, and before we left, her last words were, “Maybe you’ll see me on YouTube!”

We’re in the middle of a recession right now. Both my business partner and I graduated from college in the same year, also right in the middle of a previous recession. There’s a good chance that our waitress will graduate from college in the middle of the current recession, and finding a steady job might be very tough for her.

But if she goes through what I and my business partner went through, she should do okay. If she continues to work hard and keep her eyes and options open, she has a good chance of figuring out how to make an honest living doing what she loves to do.

Some people say that during a recession, because all the “normal” jobs are usually already taken, people get more creative and wind up inventing new ways to make a living. Those who see the glass half full see a recession as an opportunity to do something that has never been done before.