Summer 2022

I never intended to start a business and I certainly never intended to start a business while I was homeless.

I’m horrible at business-y details (as the IRS has learned). What I am good at is doing what needs to be done and finding a way to thrive in difficult circumstances. You learn those skills in prison.

Starting a freelancing business was not a choice. I became an entrepreneur when I was homeless because there were no other choices for me.

I Was Desperate

After being homeless for sixteen months, I was in a serious and dangerous depression. Irish was collecting cans all night, every night, usually with $50 or less to show for his efforts. We were living hand-to-mouth and the strain had taken its toll on me.

I had to find something purposeful to do with myself. Work always gave me purpose in the past, but I was up against barriers I’d never had to worry about in the past.

Looking for a job with any local business was out of the question.

  • We hadn’t had a reliable vehicle in months.
  • I often had no money for public transportation.
  • I didn’t have work attire.
  • I only had access to a shower once a week.
  • I could never get a full night’s rest.
  • I have a criminal history.

For months I’d been contemplating the idea of finally putting my English degree to use and finding a job as a writer. I’d managed to buy a Chromebook on sale a year earlier and I was no stranger to working remotely.

But then I’d look around at the inside of the motorhome my husband and I were living in and think, Writers don’t live like this. Writers have their shit together. You’re never going to be a writer.

Being able to convince someone to take a chance on me felt impossible. My motivation would crumble and the depression sucked me back down again.

If He Can Do It…

But one evening I read Jon Morrow’s article, 7 Life Lessons from a Guy Who Can’t Move Anything but His Face, and it was the kick in the ass I needed. I put my phone down after reading the end of the post and said out loud “I have no more excuses. Not one fucking excuse.” It was THE pivotal moment when I decided to go for it.

By the way, if you’ve never read this article or heard of Jon, go read it. I’ll wait.

For the next hour, I Googled “best job sites for beginning writers,” read through the results of list posts of writing websites, and bookmarked the ones that looked promising.

The next morning I began searching and there it was — a freelancing opportunity for a recipe developer/blog post writer. The application was simple: submit a cover letter explaining why I felt I was a good fit for the position.

Seriously, that’s it? I love cooking. I love writing. I love photography. Easy peasy!

My cover letter went into great detail (probably too much, looking back) about why a recipe blog post writer was a perfect union of my three favorite activities. I also disclosed the fact that I was homeless and living in an RV, but with the assurance I’d be able to cook and take good-quality photos of the recipe steps, as well as the final plated images.

I sent the letter off and anxiously waited for a response.

It came later that afternoon. It was an invitation to work on a recipe blog post that would serve as a paid “audition project” to see if the client and I liked working together. I was brand new to blogging and WordPress and I still cringe at how green I was when I wrote that first post.

But the client did like it and asked me to contribute weekly recipe posts. To celebrate, Irish and I went on a hike in a huge park near the city. We took photos to commemorate the day I became a published writer.

How to be a Homeless Freelancer

In the beginning, I worked mainly at the motorhome. We had a generator for power so I had electricity to run our countertop Ninja oven and microwave for the recipes I needed to make. I was able to keep my Chromebook and phone charged. My phone used prepaid service so I selected plan cards with 10 G of hotspot service each month and tethered my Chromebook to connect to the internet.

When I accompanied Irish on his canning trips, I worked in the car. He always tried to find places to park where I could connect to free Wi-Fi service to conserve my phone’s hotspot data. I spent hours in the car writing blog content, editing and optimizing the photos I took for the recipe, and creating my WordPress drafts on the client’s website.

Once the weather turned cold, I decided to go to a downtown mall during the day to get my work done. I figured out which electrical outlets were live (there were only three that worked) and those were the tables where I sat. I used the mall’s Wi-Fi and plugged in a power strip to make sure my Chromebook, phone, and portable batteries were all fully charged before I left at the end of the day when Irish came to get me.

When Irish was in custody for six weeks, I tried bringing Barney with me to the mall while I worked. I set up a mat, food and water bowls, and toys under the table against the wall so he’d be out of sight. After a couple of weeks, it was too hard for him to be there for 5-7 hours, but leaving him in the RV was out of the question. The high temperatures were breaking 100 degrees at the time.

I paid to join a dog-friendly co-working space so Barney wasn’t left in the RV all day. After that company went out of business four months later, I discovered the mall had modified the outlets in the food court so that normal plugs no longer fit. This was to discourage the homeless from coming to the food court and sleeping at the tables while charging their electronics.

Because I needed electricity to get my work done, I had to find another source of electricity and Wi-Fi. I went to public libraries where I worked from opening to closing. I did this until the day we moved into an apartment.

My Freelance Career Picks Up Steam

After about six months, the client stopped publishing recipe blog posts on their websites and I turned my attention to writing other kinds of articles they needed. To date, I’ve written and published over 68 blog posts on the client’s different websites. My writing portfolio would be larger, but a while ago I transitioned into an editor role for the client which means I’ve had less time for writing.

I work full-time as a senior copy editor and write as my schedule permits. This year I was asked to work exclusively with new writers wishing to join the client’s ghostwriter pool. If a writer completes five assignments meeting the client’s standards, they graduate from my “boot camp” and become part of the writer pool.

There’s a lot of mentoring, coaching, and training involved when a writer is brand new to the field of SEO copywriting. Working with new writers is one of my favorite things I get to do. I guide them through the learning process I myself went through.

But there are times when I have the awful thought: If any of these writers knew their work was being reviewed by a homeless person, they’d never take another thing I said seriously again. I’m also terrified the other editors would ostracize me if they found out.

Because my client only uses freelancers and the work environment is 100% virtual, I’ve been able to keep my secret for now.

A Weird Silver Lining of Homelessness

A long time ago I wanted to be a writer, but I had a lifestyle that required the salary and stability of my IT job. I couldn’t justify taking a career risk like that, so I stayed in IT longer than I wanted to.

But becoming homeless put all options back on the table and nothing was too risky anymore. I’d already lost everything. I had only to gain.

I’m not yet well-paid for what I do, but I’m doing work I enjoy because it’s what I’ve wanted to do for years.

And I love that when people ask, “So, Bella, what do you do?” I get to say these words:

I’m a writer and editor.

One day I’ll get the business-y shit figured out.