Matthew

It's On You Now

It's Complicated

My New Normal

I was laid-off from a good paying job in advertising in November 2007, just at the very beginning of the mortgage crisis. My wife and I had just bought an apartment (yeek!) and we were about to have a baby (double yeek!). I struggled to find another full-time job, taking any freelance work I could find. Regardless of money, navigating the health insurance wilderness was no easy task, though we were able to pay-out-of-pocket into a plan through Freelancer's Union. Many waves of layoffs were taking place all around me. After several months, I decided that if we were to live with this level of uncertainty, I might as well strike out on my own and form my own business. I invested in some video equipment, and I began my own web design and video production business. It seemed insane at the time, and fall 2008 was extremely difficult-- but three years later, I'm still working, and while my profits are small, my business has grown. We've made many changes-- we eat many more meals at home, I work from home, gift-giving is curtailed from multiple gifts to one or two, our vacations have been limited to visits to friends and family-- but slowly we seem to be stabilizing.

811 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218