I was blessed during the housing crash and recession to have enough private work that I truly didn’t notice it much. But, that said, doesn’t mean I wasn’t a hustler, because during the early 1990s, the big insurance company I worked for closed the building we were in and laid off 3000 of us. Though, they were good to us to help us find work, or re-educate us in whatever we wanted through a special program they offered us for the next 18 months. That’s when I went to acupuncture school and it covered my expenses for my first two years — student loans did the rest. I had already been a massage therapist and used that to keep things going. For the most part, I have been on my own since then. I do work for others but it is usually by contract appointments...if I don’t have a client, I don’t get paid. I’ve had a self-employed business all along since the late 1980s, so I knew people and how to network for the work I wanted. Technology has improved that.

Necessity is the mother of invention. I was divorced by 2001, had two young boys plus animals, wanted to keep my house but was still trying to build. I knew that the main things I needed to do was make the house payment, keep my car and insurance, feed us, and constantly hustle. I worked seven days a week for years, and actually, kinda still do. But, I feel I succeeded in it all. Kids are grown and doing well. And, so am I. God is my Pilot.