While my life experiences are dramatically increasing, the number in my bank account has been doing the opposite. So, I decided to pick up a new hobby to revive my sad PNC Student account.
Since coming to Prague, I have actively started to freelance write in my spare time. It started with simple projects found on Upwork. I would get paid small fees to review emails for non-native English speakers, or do other simple tasks. I have had a few long-term gigs that require a bit more work. These jobs have involved writing articles and blog posts around 1500 words. Topics have varied from “How Pets Make You Healthier” to a ghostwriting for large publications. My favorite assignment was for a young Colorado State Dropout though.
He had asked me to write a series of blog posts about Laser, a cryptocurrency company that is taking blockchain to a whole new level. I accepted the job because it paid well, but I did not know what I was getting myself into. Truth be told, I didn’t even know what blockchain was three weeks ago. All I knew is that it had something to do with the enigma of Bitcoin. But this kid said that the job didn’t require knowledge of the topic, just comprehensive reading skills, so I gave him a thumbs up and began my assignment.
The first half hour of me working on this project consisting of merely staring at my computer screen thinking about what the most professional way to drop the project would be. After watching three blockchain videos on YouTube though, I managed to scrape three blog posts together about the full servicenodes, layers that make transactions between users more efficient, and the evolving blockchain industry. I handed the assignment in after an hour and a half with this message:
If I am going to be super honest with you though, interpreting some of these crypto terms was tough for me, and I am afraid I didn’t do it properly. You seem like an awesome client to work with, but I don’t think that I will be able to provide you with quality work without a deeper understanding of what I am writing about. I would not want to do anything that would jeopardize what you have built and where you are heading.
After it sent, I exhaled a sigh of relief. I got myself out of the challenging situation… or so I though. The college dropout replied with this:
I’ve read papers from philosophy majors, masters degrees in English, professors, business professionals, and basically every other type of person…and never once have I liked it as much as I liked your three samples. This stuff isn’t easy, and the fact that you’re smart enough to explain something so complicated without a complete understanding means you’re exactly the type of person I’m looking for. I think I may have actually let out an audible sigh of relief when I realized I finally found someone that I trust as a writer!
If you like the idea of constantly being challenged like this (and probably even more!), I’m going to close the job and make it yours for the foreseeable future. I was looking for talent, not technical knowledge, and seeing you have it in spades I’m more than willing to help you learn whatever else you need to be successful!
If you’ll allow me to give some heavily biased AND unsolicited advice: the jobs that make you nervous are usually the most worthwhile! Again, you’ve met the only expectation I had for this position, and from here it’s a question of doing whatever I can to help make you the best and most effective writer you can be.
(Before going any further, I would like to add that my boss at my current full-time internship told me that it was too late to learn a new skill and discouraged me from attempting to do anything other than writing about marketing and sales. Already I liked this guy more.)
At first I was thrilled– he liked my work and saw potential in me. But this excitement was quickly diminshed by the realization that this position was no longer out of sight / out of mind. I would either have to quit again, after this incredibly sweet and motivating message from my client, or take a position I still felt extremely unqualified for. I knew he was right though, about how challenging jobs are the ones most worthwhile. I gave him a tentative yes, and was immediately assigned more articles and blogs– each containing a new definition that looked alien to me.
I am now officially the first real employee of Kangaroo Creative, a former Colorado State Philosophy major turned inspiration and entrepreneur. He specializes in analyzing technical investment white papers in the cryptocurrency, blockchain tech, and ICO spaces. Now, he’s also learning how to teach someone who once accidentally downloaded a virus on their Mac while attempting to download Google Chrome all about blockchain.
It has only been three weeks, but I have already learned more at Kangaroo Creative than I have all summer at my full-time internship. I am so grateful for this part-time side hustle, and I cannot wait to see where it takes me.
Brb, potentially dropping out of college and moving to Colorado to become a full-time blockchain copywriter!