Have you heard about #multihyphenates?

Wednesday 22 June 2022

A #multihyphenate is a term to describe someone who doesn’t just have one 9-5 job, but who rather has a number of income streams across a variety of different projects or industries.

It’ll come as no surprise to you that I consider myself to be a #multihyphenate.

Indeed, I’m a columnist, social media marketer, copywriter, and comedy writer and performer. And that doesn’t even cover my impressive portfolio as a Crisp and Dip connoisseur... (you’ve got to follow your dreams, people!)

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that having a single job in 2022 is passé.

What do you mean you have a nice work-life balance? What do you mean you don’t want to fill every waking hour of your life with other projects and side hustles? What do you MEAN you enjoy your downtime by having non-monetised hobbies that help you relax and de-stress after work?

So boring, am I right? *Sobs into pile of unfinished passion projects*

Pictured: Martha is freelance writer, fill-time plant mother and professional Twitter lurker. Some say she's such a millennial stereotype that she's verging on parody - and they'd be absolutely right. 

I jest, of course, being my own boss suits me down to the ground.

Switching between really different projects keeps my noisy brain stimulated and it’s great to have the freedom to choose which work you take on and what you turn down.

The term #multihyphenate has been around for a little while but has been re-popularised in recent years, most notably by writer, broadcaster and podcaster Emma Gannon in her bestselling book 'The Multi-Hyphen Method’.

Speaking about her motivation for writing the book, Gannon said in a column she wrote for Vogue that she wanted to “rebrand the portfolio career and celebrate the life of having fingers in various pies.

 

 

 

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With the rise of social media and content creation, it’s no surprise that people from many different careers are creating new income streams for themselves in addition to their main profession.

But (despite my earlier whinging about work-life balance as a freelancer) Gannon stresses that “Multi-hyphenates need to know when to stop, when to switch off and when to make time for things that aren’t passion projects—making room for the smaller, more mundane pleasures of life.”

Perhaps it’s this element of the #multihyphenate lifestyle that I’m missing...  

Pictured: "Screw it, I’m off to add crisp connoisseur to my Twitter bio!"

Personally, I think the concept of the #multihyphenate is a really exciting re-invention of the world of work particularly on the heels of the major changes instigated by the pandemic.

And as Gannon points out, it also allows for people to define themselves not as their one job title, but rather as a multi-faceted professional who has a number of skills and projects on the go. 

This article first appeared in Connect Magazine, which you can read in full HERE.