Second Shift: Making a difference after hours

Our Second Shift series features people working more than one job and finding creative ways to make money. This week, meet a New Yorker who works two side jobs so she can pursue her dream career. Want to be featured? Email Emily.Laurence@metro.us.

Name:Helaina Hovitz
Age:25
Residency:Manhattan
Number of jobs:3

What is a typical week like for you?

Tuesdays through Fridays I work five to seven hours a day at a public relations/investor relations firm. On Mondays, nights and weekends I am focused on my job as editor in chief of Affect magazine, an online publication dedicated to stories about social issues, causes and impactful stories. Also on the side, I do independent PR for non-profits who can’t afford agency rates.

What does your job as editor in chief of Affect magazine entail?

I’m editorially responsible for everything and my colleague, who is the magazine’s publisher, oversees the day-to-day operations. I manage 40 freelance writers, so I spend a lot of time communicating with them, editing all their stories, uploading them to the website, figuring out the SEO and deciding the photo layout. I also report and write my own original stories. We publish 10 stories a week. There’s a lot that goes into it besides just the stories that go up.

Are you able to generate an income from it?

I do get paid, but it’s not enough for me to live off of yet if I were to quit my PR job. We just launched in July, so it’s still in the very early stages. But however long I have to keep up this balance I will because it’s a dream come true for me to be able to do this. … I love it. The stories have a good news component, but there’s also serious awareness there, too. We pay all our writers to dignify their work and show that this is journalism worth paying for. I think that’s really important and think we can pave the way so journalists can have a legitimate career writing about social change.

Do you still have time to relax?

Absolutely. It’s very important to me to stay balanced. I still have time to do yoga, go to the gym, meet up with friends or watch “Shark Tank” with my boyfriend. It’s not all chaos.