From $80,000 to $800 To $8,000 Per Annum
Tags: Work, Life Lessons, Freelancing, Money, Creativity

From $80,000 to $800 To $8,000 Per Annum

My Work Story — The Fall and The Rise of My Income Graph

In Picture: Author, Captured By: Author

It is easy to go from making $80K per year to $800 per year. Leave your high-paying job, hunt for something more satisfying, struggle to make ends meet, and you’ve got yourself a perfect way to transition from a well-to-do life to a not so much well-to-do one.

Right after college in 2014, I started working as a software engineer at the tech giant, Amazon. I moved to a big city, earned good money, and lived independently — everything was perfect, as I always dreamt. I stayed at Amazon for about four years. During this time, I switched teams, changed cities, got promoted, moved internationally, and overall matured professionally.

The Highest Point of the Graph

Before I left Amazon in 2018, I had moved to Seattle and was earning about $80K per annum — the dream of comfort and luxury living had become true in all essence. While the things looked perfect from the outside, I was craving professional satisfaction. And before the perfect dreamy life of America could swallow me in, I quit my job.

The free air of America had freed me from fear of societal judgment, fear of failure, and fear of trying.

The Fall of the Graph

There are many people of all ages who are concerned about the inability to find their passion. Many think they have already crossed the age of trying. This thought, fortunately, did not cross my mind. I was so full of excitement about the upcoming adventure that I forgot I was 27, the age at which most people in India are already settled or planning to settle: decent job and loving family. In fact, I did not think about my age at all when I decided to leave my job: I was just a regular person who wanted a change, who wanted to try, who wanted to experiment.

When I left my job, I had no idea about the next steps — I had to figure those out along the way. I spent the first six months after leaving Amazon traveling, when one day, it struck me that I can’t keep spending without earning. That’s when the “figuring out phase started.” I spent the next year creating travel content for my social media channels and working on freelance writing and marketing assignments. There was no single channel where I concentrated my efforts and energy — it was everywhere, on all sorts of small and big opportunities. A few of the jobs that I did during this time include:

A couple of brand marketing jobs that I got through TagMango (a brand-influencer collaboration platform)

Writing jobs that I got through writers.academy

Worked as a brand ambassador for European Summer School

Did distribution and marketing for an independent film

Did influencer marketing for properties I stayed at during my travels

Got my travel videos featured on the MakeMyTrip India app

This wide range of jobs helped me make about $800(or INR 50–60K) by the end of the year 2019, of which I was extremely proud. I am, in fact, still proud: of the faith that I had in my work, of the experiments I did, of the risks I took, and of the people who supported me through this journey.

The Rise of the Graph

The year 2020 started with a hit:

I started charging a decent amount for marketing and photography assignments that I got through the properties I stayed at during my travels (the year before, I took very little payment, or most of the times, I did not charge the clients at all). This year I had a dedicated list of services that I provide along with their prices.

I almost entered into a business partnership with a hotel owner (PS: owning a travel lodge has been one of my dreams, and it was one of the most exciting opportunities of 2020). However, I had to let this opportunity go because of some unsolvable issues.

I became an online travel guide for Tripoto

I got more collaboration offers from MakeMyTrip

I got a reliable freelance writing job through Twago

Things, as you see, started well in 2020: I had a reliable travel job, big companies were reaching out to me for my travel knowledge and content. However, when the COVID pandemic broke out, my travel-related work opportunities took a downturn. But I got lucky with the freelance writing work that I got through Twago, which I must admit had been a huge source of survival during these days: it kept me busy, it helped me earn. On good days, I am able to make approximately $700(or ~INR 50K) per month. It roughly amounts to $8000 per year, which the hardships and frugal lifestyle of 2019 has taught me is more than sufficient for a single person.

The Future of the Graph

I have no idea what professional expectations to keep in 2021, but I did learn one thing over the course of the last two years: There are times when the graph goes up and times when it comes down, but all you need is a little hope and a lot of hard work and persistence.

Keep Going 💪