That time I worked four jobs at once

Welcome to the first Storytelling by Sean newsletter. I plan to use this space to tell some interesting tales from my 30 years in journalism and communications, and I always welcome your feedback.

Throughout my career, I've been fortunate enough to interview CEOs, government officials, entertainers, athletes and other newsmakers. I've also worked behind the scenes, helping to drive big communications initiatives. But before all that happened... I had to pay my dues.

Straight out of journalism school, I did lots of freelance work (emphasis on the "free" part of that word) to help get the Sean B. Pasternak name out there. While the revenue was practically nonexistent, I knew even back then it was a necessity. Eventually, one of the community publications I often contributed to was losing its editor-in-chief, and the outgoing editor asked whether I was interested in replacing him.

To me, working in community news was nirvana. I loved this type of storytelling and (relatively) low-pressure journalism, so to become editor-in-chief of a community publication in my early 20s? Sign me up! This was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

One thing people need to know about me: I don't tend to do things half way. So I dove right into the job, putting in more time than anyone would have expected (or probably wanted). In the early days, it was not uncommon for me to put in 14 to 16 hours a day, and that was seven days a week. As "editor-in-chief," I was not only responsible for editing the content, but also writing a good 80 percent of it. I was also handling the publication's layout and design, using the rudimentary desktop publishing skills I'd learned in J School. At the end of the month, I would take each printed page and arrange it on cardboard "flats," which the printing house then used as templates to publish the magazine from. To affix each page to a flat, you had to take bricks of wax and melt them in a machine. and then coat each page with the melted wax, which acted as a type of transparent glue.

Now, I know what you're thinking: that's probably just the way magazines were printed back in 1947. But this was actually 1997, and by then, the melted-wax process was incredibly archaic.

After the articles were written, the copy was edited, the pages were printed and the wax had all melted, I drove the publication half an hour to the printing house, beaming with pride at what I'd just created. I then typed up an invoice for the publisher, in which I accounted for the many hours I'd put into my creation. The following day, I was cut a check in the amount of $1,000 - the equivalent of about $2.50 an hour (before taxes, mind you, as I was an independent contractor). Again, in 1947 terms, that was probably a very fair wage.... but in 1997, that wasn't quite enough to pay the bills.

It was at that exact moment that I realized I had to go out and get a second job.

The second job came several months later; a very similar role at a monthly publication aimed at seniors (the ideal gig for someone who hadn't seen their 25th birthday yet). Much like my first job, I was responsible for most of the editorial, all of the editing and a good deal of the design and layout (thankfully no hot wax this time!). As the result of working two jobs simultaneously - each arguably with full-time hours - I was able to bill two different publishers. And between the two, I received a whopping $1,600 for the month.

It was at that exact moment I realized I had to go out and get a third job.

Actually, that's a bit of an exaggeration; I already had a third job. Earlier in the decade, I had co-founded a carpet cleaning business, and my responsibilities were to help run a small telemarketing operation on evenings and weekends, as well as other random administrative duties. So in actuality, I was now looking for my fourth job.

The fourth job was an internship with Bloomberg News as a part-time business reporter in their (at the time) fledgling Toronto newsroom. Compared to the extremely talented reporters there... even now, I'm not quite sure why I was chosen for the internship. Perhaps they admired the hustle of some kid who was working three other jobs. Perhaps my writing was truly inspired. Or perhaps they were looking for someone who could melt bricks of wax.

Regardless, that fourth job gave me an opportunity to open doors and show people what I was capable of. By year's end, I was offered full-time work and quickly gave notice to the other three roles. I spent 14 years in that newsroom, an incredible training ground with some fantastic colleagues, many of whom I still consider friends and mentors. From the experience I gained there, I shifted to a career in communications, where I've spent almost a decade.

The lesson learned? Hard work pays off. If you're talented and willing to put in the effort to pay your dues, it's only a matter of time before the world will see it.

If you enjoyed reading this edition of Storytelling by Sean, please encourage your friends and colleagues to subscribe. If you have any feedback, please drop me a note on LinkedIn, on Twitter @seanbpasternak, or via spasternak@gmail.com.