Quantcast
Second Shift: Making creativity pay off – Metro US

Second Shift: Making creativity pay off

Brett David
Provided

Our Second Shift series features people working more than one job and finding creative ways to make money. This week, meet a guy who runs one of the city’s best new bars who you can also see on billboards across the city. Want to be featured? Email Emily.Laurence@metro.us.

Name:Brett David
Age:35
Residency:Lower East Side
Lives: Alone
Number of jobs:3

You’re the creative director of Rochelle’s, in the Lower East Side. That sounds like a full-time job in itself.

My focus is always on the bar. The first six months, it was seven days a week, 100 hours a week. But at the same time, when you’re the man in charge, you can step away when you need to because you have no one to answer to. That said, I also have to work harder than everyone else because my partner Steve and I are responsible for getting the rent paid and keeping the place full every night.

How much time does modeling take up?

In a good week, I go on two or three castings a week. I’m 35 years old, have 140 hours of tattoo work and a big beard. I have a niche look. It works for me and I get a lot of direct bookings. There’s billboards up of me in Trbeca and Soho. I’ve booked nine runway shows in the past two and a half years and have been in seven or eight major campaigns.

What is your third job?

I’m on salary at The Line Group, which is an investment company. They invested in Rochelle’s and most of my time is focused is focused on Rochelle’s, but they throw a lot of ideas past me for other places about decor, design and functionality.

When do you sleep?

I go to bed around 2 a.m. and on average I’m up at 7 a.m. I’ve also only been drunk 10 times in my life, have never smoked a cigarette or done a drug. My vices are tattoos and coffee. I try to schedule my first meeting between 9 and 10 a.m. because it means I have to get out of bed.

Is there anything else you do that you want to mention?

I do a lot of clothing design. I used to work as a stylist back in the day and that turned into modeling when I grew my beard out and finished up all my tattoo work. I’m a partner in an upscale men’s leather accessories bandInsubordinate Lads and also make custom jackets with denim and leather, with crazy stitching and threading. I also write sonnets and have submitted several to a publishing house in Paris. They accepted 5,000 applicants and I’m in the top 30. If chosen, I’ll land a three-book deal.