Second Shift: What working for yourself looks like

Our Second Shift series features people working more than one job and finding creative ways to make money. This week, meet a marketing specialist who gave up working for global brands to focus on small businesses instead. Want to be featured? Email Emily.Laurence@metro.us.

Name: Jess Fontaine
Age: 28
Residency: Soho
Lives: With her boyfriend
Number of jobs: 3

Why transition from one full-time job to three part-time jobs?

I started with one job, as the director at an investor relations firm. It was great, but I felt pretty quickly that it wasn’t my true calling. I felt what would make me happiest is working on my own and freelancing so I could decide which companies I wanted to work with, and I love the change.

What are your three jobs now?

I work part-time as the “head of pet relations” for a pet hotel in Soho called Happy Mailman. So every day, I come here and work for a few hours, calling local businesses that we’re trying to partner with and things like that. I usually leave around noon to go to meetings. Then, I work the rest of the day for home managing my own clients and also managing clients for an IR firm I work part-time for.

Do you work on the weekends?

Yes, but it doesn’t feel like work. This weekend I took my dogs to a bunch of different dog runs and met other dog owners and gave them fliers for Happy Mailman. But I loved it. Combining my passion for dogs and PR is really a dream come true.

Do you have benefits since you work for yourself?

Nope. I’m actually weeding through Obamacare now trying to figure out which healthcare situation is best for me. So I’m a small business owner trying to help other business owners figure out things like that.

Are you happy with the way things are or do you hope to cut down the number of jobs you have?

I’m very happy with the way things are. Eventually, I would like to own my own PR and marketing business. I love helping startups get up and running and helping small businesses continue to grow.