I have reluctantly accepted the fact that I am a “self-employed creative”, a job title that sounds like it comes from a bystander quote in a NY Times article about Portland’s artisanal popcorn scene.
But that is exactly what I am; I mainly work for myself and my livelihood comes from a podcast, an online course, and an illustrated book filled with cartoon cats explain Roth IRAs. I dress up in glittery spandex costumes to teach about budgeting.

And 3 days a week, I get up at 4:30AM to vacuum and clean toilets at a gym for 50 cents above minimum wage. Sometimes other gigs come my way. Between these 2-5 jobs in a given month, my bills are more than covered, and I put aside a few hundred to a few thousand in savings each month.
I’m doing fine financially; I funded a 13-country trip in cash a few months back, I have 8 months of expenses in an emergency fund, and a healthy retirement portfolio. I buy nice coffee whenever I want it. I don’t have any debt.
But I’m always, always hustling. I clock 50-65 hours a week of “on-task work time” in Toggl (no writing this isn’t counted), and I’ve had 2 rest days since 2018 began. There’s never enough time for sales when you’re also making a show every week and writing a book and booking non-profit gigs and managing the logistics for a book printing.
I hate how being your own boss, especially in the personal finance world, is about projecting this air of LOVING your job all the time. I *do* love my work, but I *hate* being self-employed.

I miss having co-workers. I miss having an office. I miss having a *boss*. I miss having paid vacation or sick time or occasional weekends off. I hate having to wear every single hat: Broadcaster + Teacher + HR + Accounting + Writer + Sales + Marketing + Web Designer.
I hate the self-doubt that comes from making creative work in a vacuum, and the loneliness that comes from being your own boss. So there it is. If someone else would give me a job as awesome as this, I’d take it in a heartbeat. But until I see someone hiring for a cat-based purrsonal finance instructor and media mogul, I guess I’ll keep on purring along. #selfemployed

On AMP for Email by Jason Rodriguez

February 24th, 2018

Philosophically, I’m completely against Google’s AMP project and AMP for Email, too. I will always side with the open web and the standards that power it, and AMP is actively working against both. I’m all-in on a faster web for everyone, but I just can’t get behind Google’s self-serving method for providing that faster web.