As seen in the New York Daily News.
For many New Yorkers, letting go of a regular paycheck to reach for more is too great a risk.
But for those who don’t mind giving up their weekends, late nights or early mornings, there is a way to make the transition from day job to dream job. These entrepreneurs moonlight at a second job, making a few extra bucks while giving a test run to the career they really want. Some never break the mold, some only break even, but a few find enough success to leave the daily grind.
Your Money talked to six New Yorkers – some successful, others trying to be – who made the decision to write their own paychecks and haven’t turned back.
1. Malena Perez, 29
Day Job: Coca-Cola rep
Dream Job: Indie record label boss
For Perez, the real thing wasn’t handling publicity for the soft drink giant.
In 2005, Perez gave Coke two weeks’ notice and went off to start a record label, Cubanita Groove. For Perez, an actress and vocalist, giving up her day job to pursue her interest in Latin jazz and soul music was a risky move financially.
The Atlanta native, who now lives in the East Village, contemplated her move for two years before making the jump.
“More than anything, I’m a creative person and I reached a point in a corporate environment where I couldn’t fully be me,” she said. “I ended up feeling like my true passion in life was being stifled and put off.”
Giving up a steady paycheck has been difficult at times.
“If I were making now the money I was making then, I could do so much with it,” she said. “I know what it’s like to go without.”
Now, there are positive signs that her business is going in the right direction: she has since signed an artist, released her own album, “Stars,” and licensed her own music to be featured in Banana Republic stores nationwide.
Perez said starting fresh has been both a challenge and an education, but she isn’t looking back.
“Life is short – why not be passionate about what you do?” she asked. “I have never felt more materially poor but more materially rich.”
2. Charles Black, 28
Day Job: Media salesman
Dream Job: Internet search engine specialist
After Hurricane Katrina forced him out of his native New Orleans, Black found himself living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and working an Internet sales job.
Peddling Web pages for commission paid the bills, but when Black “got tired of putting money in someone else’s pockets,” he launched ClickSupreme, a keyword marketing company that manages the bidding process for paid search results on top sites such as Google and Yahoo.
Black said he’s had the entrepreneurial urge since he was a young child.
“It’s always been my ambition,” Black said. “I’ve always wanted to strike out on my own.”
His technical and cold-calling skills came in handy when he made the jump into online media.
“This is a field that’s tested enough for me to invest in it, but it’s not saturated,” he said.
Now nearly eight months into self-employment, Black said he’s been doing well enough to pay his bills.
“It’s tough in the beginning,” he said. “I just cold-call everyday. I’m trying to market myself.”
Soon, he hopes to be able to tap a small advertising budget – for marketing online, of course.
“What scares me most is just not knowing how much money I’m gonna make next month,” he said. “Things are doing really well right now, the whole industry’s doing great, but the gravy train’s not gonna ride forever.”
3. Katherine Cruden, 29
Day Job: Rockette
Dream Job: Fitness guru
While many people want to leave the daily grind for the spotlight, Katherine Cruden is going the other direction.
Between gigs as a Radio City Rockette, Cruden, 29, co-founded FitLink, an online fitness community that helps motivate its users to achieve fitness goals.
“It makes me feel like a more relevant person,” she said. “As a Rockette, it’s my job to carry through the director’s vision. With FitLink, it’s exactly the opposite – I’m the one creating the ideas.”
Writing and working on her computer from home is perfect for Cruden, who said the demanding Rockette schedule leaves her sapped.
“Being a dancer is absolutely a seven-days-a-week, 365 days-a-year job,” the Illinois native said.
“I’m so exhausted by the end of the day that I don’t have any energy to do anything but sit in front of my computer.”
Although FitLink isn’t profitable enough yet to allow her to kick her regular gig, Cruden feels good about having a plan in place.
“I won’t be able to dance forever,” she said. “If I get injured, I’m out. I knew that this was a great way to make the next transition.
“I’m not the kind of person who can work a desk job. I wish other people knew that they don’t have to be that way.”
FitLink is going well, but Cruden said she’s not yet financially ready to leave her day job.
“We’re still trying to get this thing off the ground,” she said. As many entrepreneurs find, “Until a bigger company decides to pair with you, there is no pay day.”
4. J.P. Checa, 26
Day Job: Management consultant
Dream Job: CEO of online management service
When J.P. Checa broke up with his former employer, he asked if they could just stay friends.
He got his wish.
Checa left his day job at Acquis Consulting in 2005 to start Convos, an online venture that helps small businesses and their employees manage information online.
“When I came up with Convos, it sounded like a really good concept to a lot of people,” Checa said. “I kept working on it on the weekends in the evening.
“It just grew in momentum.”
His old boss liked the idea so well he came on as a business partner, and Convos’ headquarters is right down the hall.
“They were very supportive,” said Checa, a 2005 graduate of New York University’s Stern School of Business. “They’ve given me office space, computing equipment, advice on h.r. and accounting, even manpower.”
The first year on his own was the most difficult, and it’s constantly a challenge to manage the expectations of his friends, family and investors, Checa said.
“The quality of the people you work with is really important. Having a great partner working alongside you is very important. You start getting more ideas. It’s very motivating.”
Checa said his former employer has a lot riding on his success, too. If it works out, Acquis may look for similar ventures to back.
“It could be another aspect of their company to work with other startup companies in the area,” Checa said. “For them, Convos was a testbed for getting into that type of work.”
There have been lean times, but Checa doesn’t regret leaving a regular paycheck. And he’s confident that, if it doesn’t work, he can land on his entrepreneurial feet.
“I would definitely try something else,” he said. “I could be going to bed one night and ideas will pop into my head and I’ll be up all night.
“I really want to become a serial entrepreneur.”
5. Sara Hodges, 31 & Meredith Gray, 30
Day Jobs: Grad student and preschool director
Dream Jobs: Vintage clothing peddlers
Scouring thrift stores and rummage sales for great finds was their hobby for so long that Sara Hodges and Meredith Gray got pretty good at it.
But when they decided to make their interest more than a hobby, they knew they had to brush up on their business skills.
“Before we opened was the hard part,” Hodges said. “We had to learn how to run a business. Neither of us had done any of this before. Fitting it all in was much harder before we opened.”
Blue Bass Vintage and Handmade Clothing opened in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, last September, and Hodges has a lot riding on its success.
She was working as a geographical researcher for Columbia University and studying for a doctorate degree at CUNY, but dropped both to open the store.
Though the shop turns a small profit, she supplements her income by waiting tables.
“I would love this to be my only job,” Hodges said. “I always have trouble balancing my creative side and my more intellectual side.
“So far, I’ve been able to be creative here and do something more intellectual elsewhere.”
Gray works part-time as the director of the Co-op School, a nearby preschool.
Hodges said creating a business out of a passion hasn’t tainted her decision to make the switch.
“To take something that I used to do on vacation obviously makes it a little less enjoyable,” she said.
“But it’s still like more of a vacation than any other job I’ve had.”
Weekend plans: Starting a small business
As seen in the New York Daily News.
For many New Yorkers, letting go of a regular paycheck to reach for more is too great a risk.
But for those who don’t mind giving up their weekends, late nights or early mornings, there is a way to make the transition from day job to dream job. These entrepreneurs moonlight at a second job, making a few extra bucks while giving a test run to the career they really want. Some never break the mold, some only break even, but a few find enough success to leave the daily grind.
Your Money talked to six New Yorkers – some successful, others trying to be – who made the decision to write their own paychecks and haven’t turned back.
1. Malena Perez, 29
Day Job: Coca-Cola rep
Dream Job: Indie record label boss
For Perez, the real thing wasn’t handling publicity for the soft drink giant.
In 2005, Perez gave Coke two weeks’ notice and went off to start a record label, Cubanita Groove. For Perez, an actress and vocalist, giving up her day job to pursue her interest in Latin jazz and soul music was a risky move financially.
The Atlanta native, who now lives in the East Village, contemplated her move for two years before making the jump.
“More than anything, I’m a creative person and I reached a point in a corporate environment where I couldn’t fully be me,” she said. “I ended up feeling like my true passion in life was being stifled and put off.”
Giving up a steady paycheck has been difficult at times.
“If I were making now the money I was making then, I could do so much with it,” she said. “I know what it’s like to go without.”
Now, there are positive signs that her business is going in the right direction: she has since signed an artist, released her own album, “Stars,” and licensed her own music to be featured in Banana Republic stores nationwide.
Perez said starting fresh has been both a challenge and an education, but she isn’t looking back.
“Life is short – why not be passionate about what you do?” she asked. “I have never felt more materially poor but more materially rich.”
2. Charles Black, 28
Day Job: Media salesman
Dream Job: Internet search engine specialist
After Hurricane Katrina forced him out of his native New Orleans, Black found himself living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and working an Internet sales job.
Peddling Web pages for commission paid the bills, but when Black “got tired of putting money in someone else’s pockets,” he launched ClickSupreme, a keyword marketing company that manages the bidding process for paid search results on top sites such as Google and Yahoo.
Black said he’s had the entrepreneurial urge since he was a young child.
“It’s always been my ambition,” Black said. “I’ve always wanted to strike out on my own.”
His technical and cold-calling skills came in handy when he made the jump into online media.
“This is a field that’s tested enough for me to invest in it, but it’s not saturated,” he said.
Now nearly eight months into self-employment, Black said he’s been doing well enough to pay his bills.
“It’s tough in the beginning,” he said. “I just cold-call everyday. I’m trying to market myself.”
Soon, he hopes to be able to tap a small advertising budget – for marketing online, of course.
“What scares me most is just not knowing how much money I’m gonna make next month,” he said. “Things are doing really well right now, the whole industry’s doing great, but the gravy train’s not gonna ride forever.”
3. Katherine Cruden, 29
Day Job: Rockette
Dream Job: Fitness guru
While many people want to leave the daily grind for the spotlight, Katherine Cruden is going the other direction.
Between gigs as a Radio City Rockette, Cruden, 29, co-founded FitLink, an online fitness community that helps motivate its users to achieve fitness goals.
“It makes me feel like a more relevant person,” she said. “As a Rockette, it’s my job to carry through the director’s vision. With FitLink, it’s exactly the opposite – I’m the one creating the ideas.”
Writing and working on her computer from home is perfect for Cruden, who said the demanding Rockette schedule leaves her sapped.
“Being a dancer is absolutely a seven-days-a-week, 365 days-a-year job,” the Illinois native said.
“I’m so exhausted by the end of the day that I don’t have any energy to do anything but sit in front of my computer.”
Although FitLink isn’t profitable enough yet to allow her to kick her regular gig, Cruden feels good about having a plan in place.
“I won’t be able to dance forever,” she said. “If I get injured, I’m out. I knew that this was a great way to make the next transition.
“I’m not the kind of person who can work a desk job. I wish other people knew that they don’t have to be that way.”
FitLink is going well, but Cruden said she’s not yet financially ready to leave her day job.
“We’re still trying to get this thing off the ground,” she said. As many entrepreneurs find, “Until a bigger company decides to pair with you, there is no pay day.”
4. J.P. Checa, 26
Day Job: Management consultant
Dream Job: CEO of online management service
When J.P. Checa broke up with his former employer, he asked if they could just stay friends.
He got his wish.
Checa left his day job at Acquis Consulting in 2005 to start Convos, an online venture that helps small businesses and their employees manage information online.
“When I came up with Convos, it sounded like a really good concept to a lot of people,” Checa said. “I kept working on it on the weekends in the evening.
“It just grew in momentum.”
His old boss liked the idea so well he came on as a business partner, and Convos’ headquarters is right down the hall.
“They were very supportive,” said Checa, a 2005 graduate of New York University’s Stern School of Business. “They’ve given me office space, computing equipment, advice on h.r. and accounting, even manpower.”
The first year on his own was the most difficult, and it’s constantly a challenge to manage the expectations of his friends, family and investors, Checa said.
“The quality of the people you work with is really important. Having a great partner working alongside you is very important. You start getting more ideas. It’s very motivating.”
Checa said his former employer has a lot riding on his success, too. If it works out, Acquis may look for similar ventures to back.
“It could be another aspect of their company to work with other startup companies in the area,” Checa said. “For them, Convos was a testbed for getting into that type of work.”
There have been lean times, but Checa doesn’t regret leaving a regular paycheck. And he’s confident that, if it doesn’t work, he can land on his entrepreneurial feet.
“I would definitely try something else,” he said. “I could be going to bed one night and ideas will pop into my head and I’ll be up all night.
“I really want to become a serial entrepreneur.”
5. Sara Hodges, 31 & Meredith Gray, 30
Day Jobs: Grad student and preschool director
Dream Jobs: Vintage clothing peddlers
Scouring thrift stores and rummage sales for great finds was their hobby for so long that Sara Hodges and Meredith Gray got pretty good at it.
But when they decided to make their interest more than a hobby, they knew they had to brush up on their business skills.
“Before we opened was the hard part,” Hodges said. “We had to learn how to run a business. Neither of us had done any of this before. Fitting it all in was much harder before we opened.”
Blue Bass Vintage and Handmade Clothing opened in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, last September, and Hodges has a lot riding on its success.
She was working as a geographical researcher for Columbia University and studying for a doctorate degree at CUNY, but dropped both to open the store.
Though the shop turns a small profit, she supplements her income by waiting tables.
“I would love this to be my only job,” Hodges said. “I always have trouble balancing my creative side and my more intellectual side.
“So far, I’ve been able to be creative here and do something more intellectual elsewhere.”
Gray works part-time as the director of the Co-op School, a nearby preschool.
Hodges said creating a business out of a passion hasn’t tainted her decision to make the switch.
“To take something that I used to do on vacation obviously makes it a little less enjoyable,” she said.
“But it’s still like more of a vacation than any other job I’ve had.”