This past week, I spent a lot of it researching and gathering resources for an article about the Noma fall-out, which I touched on in last week’s letter.
Here’s the article in full (published today, gift link).
I’m particularly proud of the opening line: “The stink began long before the fermentation.”
It got me thinking about the times I’ve done unpaid work, knowingly or unknowingly.
Today’s newsletter: Lessons from unpaid work, and fighting to get paid for work. Plus Zeitgeist-y!
The PR firm
There was that time I was in London, after I, desperate for work following my paid stint at Bloomberg TV, decided it would be a good idea to learn the ropes in the world of public relations.
I got the “apprenticeship” as they call it across the pond, through a friend of the CEO.
Over the course of about 2 months at the fledgling Flame PR (which is shockingly still operating today), I learned how to email blast a Rolodex with half-hearted, poorly crafted press releases, infused with a few canned CEO responses from our financial and technology clients.
Surprisingly, we actually managed to get people quoted in print broadsheets and on broadcast news. Mostly because of our connections with news editors, reporters, and producers, and not newswire releases, though at the time newswires were important.
Of course, I have a ton of respect for PR people and companies; without them news couldn’t and wouldn’t exist.
It’s a hard job which nowadays requires even more in the form of visuals and words to adapt to digital and social media demands.
I’m Shindy. I sold my financial content company and now I write this weekly culture, money, and lifestyle Substack. I’m a journalist and bestselling author featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bankrate, Cheddar TV, and HuffPost. If you haven’t yet, and would like to join more than 7,200 people on the internet who I call my “shin-siders” then tap this button right hee-ya:
Years later, I moved back to New York and had gone back to the content writing and marketing side of things where I belonged.
On a visit to London, I met with one of my (paid) colleagues at said firm.
She was the star there, and had gone on to work for a much bigger PR company. She told me, proudly, that she was working for “a real PR firm now,” and slammed everything about our previous firm, from the lack of structure to the boss’ mismanagement and flakiness. Lol.
But that’s what you do when you’re younger and trying to get your foot in any door, right?
You cut your teeth and one day you realize you’ve outgrown your job.
Let’s just hope you’re smart enough to know when it’s time to move on.
All in all, I’m grateful for my short time there, and the small glimpse into what my PR friends do.
The startups
There were also times I “unknowingly” worked for free.
Like the time I worked as a a marketing consultant at a trade finance (like factoring) company that abruptly shuttered operations, and didn’t pay anyone their last paychecks or offer any kind of severance package because they’d somehow managed to sign everyone on as contractors without benefits.
The CEO never referred to the company as “a startup” until conveniently, the last day of operations. As if this was supposed to make up for its failure.
The nerve! I felt particularly bad about the people who had families to support and mortgages to pay.
And then there was the time I was just starting to do freelance financial writing work.
When a startup continued B.S.-ing me about why they weren’t paying for months of outstanding invoices, citing lack of funds due to “rolling fundraising” efforts—it’s amazing how creative people get with excuses for why they’re not paying you—I threatened to sue and take them to court.
We settled before that happened.
My aggressive (female) lawyer helped me recoup my costs—which in the end was pretty much what I’d billed. That’s all I wanted, to be paid for my work.
Can you believe I actually “felt bad” and like a “mean girl” at first about having to resort to this, when I was the one out thousands of dollars, who hadn’t broken any contractual or service terms? Never again.
What’s funny is they could have just paid me from the start rather than waste mine and their own time and money in avoiding a possible lawsuit.
What about you?
I’d love to hear about your paid or unpaid internships and whether they were worth the experience!
P.S. I know I said I’d circle back about my trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, and I will, but to avoid this letter going too long, enjoy photos from the Sun Valley Lodge:
📺 I’m watching:
The Oscar Awards this Sunday. Though I’ll admit, I haven’t seen many of the movies nominated 😒
Top Chef, Bravo, Peacock
I’ve never been a big Top Chef fan, but because this season focuses on cuisine in the Carolinas, I’ll be watching and recapping every episode. Episode 1 just aired last week:
Age of Attraction, Netflix
As someone who has been in multiple age-gap relationships and is constantly mistaken for being much younger (trust me, this is both a blessing and a curse; I credit my genetics and a very strong sun protection and skincare game), this show resonates, although some contestants are a little cringe. I’ve also known about it for a while because my dear friend Billy Bosch is a cast member (check out my recent live chat with him about longevity and wellness), as well as Charleston man-about-town “Justin S.” I’ll keep watching as it aims to clarify whether “age is truly just a number” when it comes to genuine love connections…the singles can ask everything except each others’ ages.
📚 I’m reading:
In my quest to avoid falling victim to AI slop I try to focus my attention on things that make a dent or hold my attention.
These were the ones that did:
Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok
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