TWO WOMEN ON HOW THE GIG ECONOMY WORKS FOR THEM
It comes with compromise and commitment
Kalpana Jothiramalingam, 33, left her full-time job as an educator in 2016 to help her husband, Ram, market his new private-chef business. “I started posting photos of his cooking on social media,” she shares. She’s also in charge of logistics. “I prepare the ingredients, pack the food and clean up the house for hosting.”
But private events were sporadic, and on bad months they only received a handful of orders. For added income, Kalpana took up a regular parttime gig at a student care centre, working from noon to 6pm. “I have the morning to help Ram with the grocery shopping,” she explains.
However, because the pair only had enough savings to cover two months of expenses, Kalpana decided to take up private tutoring too, working until 9pm on some weeknights. With her weekends spent on the food business, it’s been a challenge to carve out time to spend with her husband.
“The key is to plan,” says Kalpana. “If I have a long day ahead, I wake up early and sleep early. I prepare everything that can be done the day before an event. And for my teaching jobs, I make sure I never bring my work home.”
For the past two years, Kalpana and Ram have had to give up long vacations, but they have no regrets. Ram’s popularity has grown, and the pair now get about four to five orders each month. “Initially it was tiring, but now we have a more stable arrangement,” says Kalpana. She believes it is possible to sustain yourself on multiple gigs as long as you give yourself downtime to prevent burnout. Every few months, she and Ram go on short getaways to nearby countries for some well-deserved R&R.
It was the mid-career switch she needed
Ask Michelle Chua, 40, what her job is, and she replies: “Spoken word artist-singer-administrator-workshop facilitator-babysitter. I also take on ad hoc work as a receptionist and phone surveyor,” she adds.
For most of her working life, Michelle held full-time jobs in various arts organisations. Only in mid-2017 did she decide she needed a change. “I found that I was comparing myself to younger people and worrying about how competitive I was,” she says. “I needed to figure out what I could do that was meaningful and worth my time.”
When her contract with her employer expired, she decided not to apply for another full-time position. Instead, she took up project-based work. She became an exhibition guide at The Substation, and held a part-time publicity and marketing position at Epigram Books. She participated in two regional poetry slams and placed third in the individual category at the 2017 Iskarnival Kool festival in Malaysia. The freedom to pursue multiple passions was liberating.
As a free agent, Michelle continues to immerse herself in many art forms by gallery sitting, teaching spoken word poetry, and singing jazz. She also works tirelessly on writing, editing and submitting her work for publication in literary journals and other platforms. In May, one of her short story submissions was brought to life by a theatre group at the Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity.
“My deepest concern now is how best to monetise my talents,” Michelle shares. Artistic projects demand a significant amount of creative energy, but not all provide a high return on investment. She sleeps little, working late into the night. “But work-life balance is still my quest even with the need to be practical. I lower my expectations of myself to keep sane.” For example, she gave up a year of singing to focus on writing.
The best piece of wisdom Michelle can proffer is to surround yourself with people you can rely on. “I think it’s important that one’s social circle is enriching, and emotionally and spiritually supportive.”