So, what do you do for a living?
Like a lot of people, I dread being asked that question. As soon as I hear it directed at me, I immediately want to shut down or abruptly change the subject. What should be a harmless conversation starter is actually something far more sinister, and we've all just come to accept it as part of our lives. That seemingly innocuous question is the first step in a nebulous algorithm that helps people determine your worth as it relates to the amount of money that you make. (Or don't make.) I spent the better part of my adult life underpaid, but now I have a Good Job. It affords me the ability to provide for my family in a way that I never dreamed would be possible, but I do not feel any different as a person. I am still the same tattooed goofball that I was three years ago, just with a different job.
Somewhere along the line I developed the habit of asking people "What do you do?" When they inevitably start to hem and haw about their job I rescue them and say "I didn't ask you where you worked...I asked you what you do." It's part of my personal mission to redefine how folks around me view their contributions to the world, and in some small way, it's how I came up with the idea for my podcast. By day, I am a Senior Regional Account Manager for a specialty pharmacy; by night I am:
With my podcast, my goal is to speak to a variety of creatives about how they balance the realities of living in a world that simultaneously places art and artists on a pedestal and then immediately undervalues said art and artists. (Ask your artist friend about working for "exposure" if you want to see someone eye-roll themselves to death.) The title is intended to be a somewhat clever turn of phrase that skewers the notion of what we do for "work," and what we create when we're off the clock. Does the joke land? Not for me to say. What I can say is that the title of the show is not intended to say that the art my guests create is not their job. That distinction falls solely to the creators, and I'll let them explain it to you in their own words.
This Is Not My Job will be launching in February 2021. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Like a lot of people, I dread being asked that question. As soon as I hear it directed at me, I immediately want to shut down or abruptly change the subject. What should be a harmless conversation starter is actually something far more sinister, and we've all just come to accept it as part of our lives. That seemingly innocuous question is the first step in a nebulous algorithm that helps people determine your worth as it relates to the amount of money that you make. (Or don't make.) I spent the better part of my adult life underpaid, but now I have a Good Job. It affords me the ability to provide for my family in a way that I never dreamed would be possible, but I do not feel any different as a person. I am still the same tattooed goofball that I was three years ago, just with a different job.
Somewhere along the line I developed the habit of asking people "What do you do?" When they inevitably start to hem and haw about their job I rescue them and say "I didn't ask you where you worked...I asked you what you do." It's part of my personal mission to redefine how folks around me view their contributions to the world, and in some small way, it's how I came up with the idea for my podcast. By day, I am a Senior Regional Account Manager for a specialty pharmacy; by night I am:
- a podcaster
- a writer
- an editor
- an actor
- a musician
With my podcast, my goal is to speak to a variety of creatives about how they balance the realities of living in a world that simultaneously places art and artists on a pedestal and then immediately undervalues said art and artists. (Ask your artist friend about working for "exposure" if you want to see someone eye-roll themselves to death.) The title is intended to be a somewhat clever turn of phrase that skewers the notion of what we do for "work," and what we create when we're off the clock. Does the joke land? Not for me to say. What I can say is that the title of the show is not intended to say that the art my guests create is not their job. That distinction falls solely to the creators, and I'll let them explain it to you in their own words.
This Is Not My Job will be launching in February 2021. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.