Emi Lenox is one of the rising stars of the exploding Portland comics scene, best known for her sweet, adorable autobiographical webcomic EmiTown (which, by the way, has been thankfully compiled into a 400-page graphic novel from Image Comics). So if you’re someone who’s chosen “struggling artist” as a career path, heed Emi’s words of […]
careers
Posted inFeature
Back to School Career Profile: Bike Tour Guide
Scott Klees has a law degree. However, the cheery New Orleans native spends his days far from the courtroom, conducting entirely different proceedings: bike tours. The only year-round guide at Pedal Bike Tours, Klees pedals through downpours and heat waves to show tourists a good time. Did you go to school?I got my law degree […]
Posted inFeature
Back to School Career Profile: Hipster Coke Dealer
[Name Redacted] sells cocaine. He makes a lot of money. What kind of background led you to this? Did you study anything related in school? (Business? Marketing?) Do you have relevant work experience?I graduated from PNCA, where I studied painting. I’ve probably had 45 or 50 jobs in my life, a lot of bartending, a […]
Posted inFeature
Back-to-School Career Profile: Roller Derby Girl
Avalanche (Amber Castaldo for the norms) is a roller girl on the Rose City Rollers’ Break Neck Betties team. But since they don’t accredit roller derby universities with the same proliferation as clown colleges, there’s no clear path to becoming a hard-hitting roller derby athlete. Castaldo started by first becoming an elementary school teacher, a […]
Posted inFeature
Back to School Career Profile: Etsy Retailer
Thanks to the buzzing hive of homemade wonderfulness that is Etsy, the crafty masses are no longer huddled in darkness, isolated from the world with the solitary clicks of their knitting needles. Etsy has liberated craft folk and artists from the seasonal event table, providing them with a consistent and global avenue of commerce for […]
Posted inFeature
Back to School Career Profile: Food Cart Owner
With her husband Damien Gill, Becky Leonard owns the popular food cart DC Vegetarian, located in a bustling downtown pod. They’re known for giant, affordable sandwiches and delicious housemade seitan, which is also available retail at hippie-friendly establishments like the Alberta Co-Op and Food Fight. Where did you go to school and what did you […]
Posted inFeature
Back to School Career Profile: Kombucha Maker
Despite its ill-informed detractors, kombucha has a world of positive perks—plus the fermented drink makes for a tasty (and seldom used) mixer. Matt Thomas of Townshend’s Tea Company stumbled into the fermented world of kombucha a few years back with his locally produced Brew Dr. Kombucha brand, which is easily the best kombucha to ever […]
Posted inFeature
Back to School Career Profile: Leverage Extra
If you’re aiming to get paid cash and the occasional sandwich for standing around doing absolutely nothing, TV show extra is the gig for you! Luckily, crime drama Leverage employed 396 Oregonians during its second season, as unemployed graphic designer and public artist Dan Beyer experienced when he transformed for a few days into a […]