Self-employment

I’m a certified (certifiable?) cheapskate when it comes to my business as a freelance writer in journalism and creative writing. Freelancing has been a lean-times/fat-times endeavor over the years, and it’s the ghost of the lean times that still shapes my financial habits.

“The biggest issue is that in creative industries,” says freelance writer Phoebe Mogharei, “deadlines are very variable.” The New York Minute is a recurring column by Eva Avenue interviewing creative professionals in New York City.

Billy McCall interviews Charissa Lucille about closing, then reopening Wasted Ink Zine Distro: “I have emotional whiplash from feeling so down — and then feeling so extremely excited and hopeful. So many community members stepped in and helped.”

Ayanna D.N. Freeman explains how she went from having no idea her destiny was in skincare to launching and nurturing her own successful brand.

Please forgive me for taking until now to announce that in May 2020 I hired Lisa Barrow as Editor, and I could not be more stoked to have her as my very first employee!

We thought it would be helpful to periodically summarize what’s out there to calm the storm of information that seems to be swirling around us. So here is a resource list focusing on mental health, wellness and financial assistance to help soften the impact of COVID on all our lives. 

Hey arts-loving friends! Albuquerque’s Arts Hub is raising funds for artists impacted by the pandemic. Donate at their Facebook page or at their website at http://www.abqartshub.com/relief

Eva Avenue shares more songs from bands who’ve had to COVID-cancel shows or tours. If you like what you hear, go to their page and support an artist today! Titles and links below.

The opportunities listed below are pulled from our Facebook Group page and tend to be flexible and/or remote, though we will include some from our home state of New Mexico.

We believe we can leverage our social capital to inspire allies to support our vision for a future where the lives of Native women are no longer at risk and we have no more stolen sisters.

John Fugelsang is in Albuquerque to perform “Unpresidented: The true story of a comedian trying to raise a toddler while his country was electing one” and we were lucky enough to get him into the Pyragraph LIVE studio (a.k.a. my office) to talk about comedy, politics, religion, and how he’s pulled all those elements and more into his unique creative career. 

All I wanted to do was make a cigar box-style guitar, and in this town there were no cigar boxes to be found. The next best box to find for free were the torobako, the crates used to ship sanma from northern Japan to southern ports.

After last week’s tragedy in Parkland, Florida, I reached out to Maggie Byers and Emilie De Angelis of Moms Demand Action NM to talk about recent developments on the gun control front. Moms Demand Action is a bi-partisan grassroots organization fighting the epidemic of gun violence in the US.

Welcome to the inaugural Coffee + Creatives Job Listings! We are pleased to bring you the latest in gigs, jobs, and funding for creatives around the world. Jobs and funding opportunities included in our listings tend to be flexible and/or remote, though we will include some from our home state of New Mexico.

For the most part, I’ve had the good fortune of doing work that doesn’t compromise my beliefs. But a few years ago I wasn’t so lucky.

Mainly what I’d say to my friend is this: Imagine a world where there is a free beer tap on every corner. If you want to make a living selling beer, how can you succeed? One inescapable part of the answer, it seems to me, is that you end up giving away a LOT of beer.