Explore my transformative journey with app-based jobs, a beacon during pivotal life shifts. Ideal for women, college students, and immigrants seeking the time they need to heal and evolve.
What good can come out of Covid? A new way to work.
Long story short, I dove into app-based jobs. I needed to find a way to provide for myself and my three kids immediately! And I found app jobs or the gig economy to keep me afloat while I started the long, painful journey of healing from trauma. Sitting in my master bedroom, devastated... December 2020.
Attempt to make money #1
Dabble in website design because, naturally...instant ad money*.
Get lost in the process of learning how website design platforms work.
Attempt to make money #2
A website about a healthy food lifestyle from my new adventures with elimination diets.
Design something; venture into social media; deal with the insecurities of posting on social media. Get lost in posting about my life on social media.
Attempt to make money #3
Second attempt at a dropshipping website for the above-mentioned food website because of... instant ad money and orders*. Find awesome dropshipping products, but I am scared of the inadequacies of pricing tools, and look into wholesale bulk ordering instead. Get lost in packaging design, and how to mitigate bad customer experiences, but have a ton of fun, in the world of Alibaba merchant chats and sample ordering. I did find some unique products that I later saw on Nordstrom's shelves.
Attempt to make money #4
I am researching how to set up the systems needed to run any type of online store. To do this, I am exploring shipping and contracts...still need that instant money*...I think, brilliant! I will work in this field and be able to understand how the ins and outs of dropshipping work before spending $$$ on a product and ads! (I must have been doing it wrong because everyone said to start dropshipping for free 🙀).
Looking for a new career...
And I am looking for jobs on Indeed for a new career path...when I saw a job posting for a dropshipping warehouse on Indeed [insert affiliate link? Nope]. Heck, let's see where this goes...I haven't interviewed in 10 years, who knows if they will even hire me... bam🎇, I applied.
First attempt at app work:
The next thing I know, I am scheduled for a video interview, got "verified" (rough usage of the term) and I now am on this app called... IndeedFlex?
On this app, there are a bunch of shifts to choose from in this unnamed dropshipping warehouse and I select one. It was for 3 days, like a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 9-hour shifts. I figured out babysitting arrangements for my kids (which went horribly) and off I went for three days to this warehouse. I was assigned a coworker, worked on basically assembly line stuff for 8 hours with a 1-hour lunch, went with the flow, no overbearing managers, and then went home. [I broke down crying a few times, had trouble staying on my feet for so long, and social interactions were tricky. More about that trauma recovery another time.] Came back and did it again the next day. When the three days were over there was zero obligation to come back and I had to select more shifts before I could come back. There it was, my first experience with app work.
What I realized on day one: This is a new generation of day labor.
I immediately related it to a modern-day form of Home Depot "Day Labor", like international skilled labor workers from the Home Depot corner lot. I have skills, somebody comes to hire me for one day to be amazing for their workplace, and then the transaction is done. Unfortunately, there are differences like we have to go through background checks, pay taxes, and get paid via bank account days later...And you get to select shifts from a depressed state on your couch instead of standing with like-minded skilled individuals on a street corner with coffee...its all about perspective. I would argue there is still a language barrier between coworkers regardless of industry.
But there are benefits to this form of hiring as well like, No tiling or drywall skills were required. It is a basic hustle and 'follow-directions' work and some technical savvy for working an app. No one is vetting my abilities before I accept the jobs, and I am providing my transportation to and from the workplace. Did I mention no awkward interviews for either party?
This has now opened up the door for "legals" to work on a one-day-only basis... If that exists somewhere else, comment below!
I am sure there are other more fundamental differences as well but this isn't a research paper. It is a retelling of my introduction to making money through apps. So, it's a loose analogy.
What I realized a year later:
This kind of work: the gig economy, app work, or app jobs, was a doorway for me to survive when I could not commit to an 8-hour shift due to the physical, mental, and emotional struggles of my situation. When I had no babysitting arrangements. And some days I had to stay home and care for people. When my mind could not handle the sophistication of corporate America, work politics, and the dramas of basically any job; the overwhelming emotions of my situation caused me to break down crying.
I could simply make money for a few hours at a time, doing simple-minded tasks, and "no-judgment-breaks" for my emotions while I recovered from the tragedies and hardships of life.
Moral of the story:
This new line of work is the way for me to transition from one phase of life to the next transformation. This type of work provided the financial opportunities for me to stay on my feet when I had physical, mental, and emotional struggles in my life that kept me from qualifying for the work I needed. What's your story? Do you agree? [Find the best way for people to share...is it comments below? or maybe comments on social media Hmm 🤔] But I want to connect with you!
This article is the beginning of a series on my experience with app jobs or gig economy work. How I started, what I learned, and why I think it is important to have this kind of work available for people and employers. Stay tuned for my reviews of IndeedFlex, Instacart, AmazonFlex, Amazon Fresh, Uber Delivery, DoorDash, and finally Uber "People", which is what I am doing now...August 2023!
Thanks for hanging around,
-Kimberly
*The use of the term "instant money" refers to the commonly depicted $10k per month profits people are talking about online. "So easy to make money selling one niche product!", they said. None of the mentioned attempts made money initially, quickly, or allowed me to change any aspect of my lifestyle...yet. 😂
**This article will be under construction while I improve my blogging skills. Subject to content updates, edits, analogy changes...and links being added. It's an evolving experience.
First Edit - 08/17/2023 Initial post, updated title, messed around with keywords and SEO
Second edit - 09/07/2023 Updated intro paragraph, added graphics, linked to IndeedFlex...not affiliate link : ( added SEO! and basic edits so this blog sounds slightly more sophisticated than the original edit.
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