I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My eleventh job was starting my own business Beautiful Melodies in December of 2013.
Original Intentions
Beautiful Melodies was created so that I could make a more consistent income. I had been struggling to find full-time work in Memphis for about a year at the time I began the business. I offered vocal lessons to children in the Memphis community from 2013 until 2016. Also, I wanted to perform at churches, weddings, and special events which did not come to fruition the way I originally planned. My singing and acting work is freelance so it is under the umbrella of Beautiful Melodies.
Memphis Vs. NYC
Once I moved to NYC, Beautiful Melodies has not been as active. I marketed my business quite a bit when I first moved to NYC, but there is so much competition for vocal teachers here. There are so many teachers who have significantly more experience teaching vocal lessons. Furthermore, it is expensive to rent space in New York, which is why vocal lessons are so pricey here. The voice teacher has to make money, but when they are paying for the space too, they have to charge more to see a profit.
Future Plans
When I book freelance singing and acting work, it goes under Beautiful Melodies. I have not taught vocal lessons since I left Memphis. I will audition for local NYC projects, but my new goal is to get out of debt. Owning a business takes money as well as network marketing, as well as being a singer and actor. These are great career fields, but when you are struggling to make ends meet, it was challenging to get any of these endeavors off the ground. It takes money to make money.
I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My tenth job was working for multiple multi-level marketing companies.
Independent Insurance Company
After I quit AFLAC, I began working at an independent insurance company. At this company, you sold insurance to elderly individuals, but agents had to go to the homes of the clients in the evenings. I did not feel comfortable going to stranger’s homes at night, so I quit immediately. 2013 was a rough year financially so I began my network marketing journey.
Mary Kay
I bought products to sell Mary Kay and it was shipped to my house after I was recruited to join. But after receiving the box of products, I decided to send the box of products back for a partial refund. I do not wear much make-up. In order to sell Mary Kay or any type of make-up, you need to be a walking billboard of the products. Since I was struggling to find full-time work in Memphis, I thought that multi-level marketing would help solve the financial issues, but selling Mary Kay was not the solution.
Multi-Level Marketing
Multi-Level Marketing or network marketing can be a great way to make money, but it usually takes money to make real money. I tried to sell coffee products with Organo Gold in 2014 and Total Life Changes or Iaso Tea in 2015. I sold some of the products, but did not have enough of a network to be successful with multi-level marketing. Many people still think MLMs are scams. Most MLMs are not scams or pyramid schemes.
In order to be successful with an MLM, you have to sell products and recruit people. In a pyramid scheme, you only recruit people and there are no products to sell. As someone who struggled to make ends meet during my time in Memphis, network marketing seemed like a great idea for me.
If you are struggling financially, it is less likely that you will be successful with multi-level marketing because it costs money to make real money with these MLM companies. Network marketing is a great side hustle with your regular full-time job. If you want to join an MLM, try it and see if you like it as a side hustle. Here are some links below to some of my former MLM ventures.
I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My ninth and current job is a professional singer and actor.
The Color Purple at Playhouse on the Square 2013
Memphis Performances
As soon as I graduated college, I auditioned for a musical in Memphis in February 2013. I received a callback, but was not originally cast in the show. In April 2013, I was asked to audition again for the role of Nettie in The Color Purple at Playhouse on the Square. After the second audition, I was cast in the show and this was my first professional musical theatre job.
For the 2014-2015 season, I sang in the chorus with Opera Memphis for Don Giovanni, Dido & Aeneas, and Les Mamelles de Tiresias. Also, I participated in the photo shoot for the season promos shown in the picture above. Lastly, I performed at Hattiloo Theatre in Once on this Island and If Scrooge was a Brother.
In 2015, I was cast as Little Inez and a Dynamite in Hairspray at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse in Little Rock, Arkansas. Then in 2018, I was cast in the ensemble of Ragtime the Muscial at Midtown Arts Center in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2023, I performed in a workshop musical presentation of Love is Afoot in Reading Pennsylvania.
In NYC, I have performed in a play in Brooklyn, participated in a couple of new musical readings in Manhattan, and performed at school assemblies in the Bronx with WinceyCo. I have auditioned in Manhattan for Broadway shows, cruise ship contracts, national tours, regional theatres, and NYC plays and musicals. I have submitted for hundreds of projects on Backstage.com over the last couple of years and received over a hundred callbacks.
Most recently, I went on tour with Bruce Vantine’s Cornerstone Chorale & Brass in late 2023. I sang soprano in the choir and we toured 20 cities in 25 days. It was a wonderful experience that I would love to do again. Whenever a contract ends, I usually cry so much because I do not know when I will get to perform again. My college voice teacher told me that performers audition more than they actually perform and she was absolutely correct!
Bruce Vantine’s Cornerstone Chorale & Brass 2023 National Tour
2024
In January of this year, I was cast as a last minute replacement for a children’s theatre company black history tour. Once I arrived in North Carolina and received the three 45-minute scripts, I realized that I was in over my head. When the theatre directors asked me and my partner if we wanted out of the contract with no penalty, I ended the contract. I referred a friend to the company for the job. The contract was meant for her, but, it was devastating to quit a contract and return home. I have never quit a performance contract in my life.
At this point in my life, my goal is to pay off my debt by the time that I am 40 years old. Since singers and actors are always unemployed in-between contracts, I am taking a break from singing and acting full-time for awhile. I will audition for local NYC projects and performances, but only part-time until my debt is paid if full.
Presently, I am singing with the Fire Ensemble in NYC created by Troy Anthony. I performed with Troy Anthony in 2021 at the Shed for The Revival: It is Our Duty. The Fire Ensemble is performing on June 13 at 7PM at New York Live Arts and will be recording an album in June. This will be a way to continue performing, but have some stability in my life too.
I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My 8th job was an insurance sales agent at AFLAC. Yes, the insurance company with the duck!
Post College Job
I moved to NYC on January 2nd, 2013 right after my college graduation in December. This move was supposed to be permanent, but I moved back to Memphis three weeks later. As soon as I returned to Memphis, I began applying for full-time jobs. The only full-time jobs that contacted me for an interview were insurance companies. So, I went to an interview at AFLAC. The manager told me that AFLAC would pay for my certification tests if I took the full-time position. I passed both health and life insurance exams at the end of February and began working at AFLAC in March.
AFLAC
AFLAC was my first full-time job, but I did not make any money during the four months that I worked there. An insurance agent is usually a commission-only position. This means that you only get paid if you make sales. AFLAC is supplemental health insurance, which made it a bit difficult to sell. The life insurance plan could be sold to an individual, but the supplemental health insurance plan had to be sold to businesses for their employees. Memphis is a smaller city compared to most big cities and there are only so many businesses there.
No Income
During my time at AFLAC, I booked a musical at Playhouse on the Square. I would work at AFLAC during the day and go to rehearsals in the evenings. I never made anything at AFLAC, except for $200 that I did not earn. One of the AFLAC sales agents sold a health plan to Kingdom Ministries. Our manager thought some of the sales agents would quit because we were not making sales. So, he decided to split the commission on that sales agent’s Kingdom Ministries account. I did not earn that money, it belonged to that sales agent that sold the account.
Quitting
I quit working at AFLAC in July of 2013. I drove all around town wasting my gas for four months, trying to make sales to no avail. But, I met some cool people at AFLAC, a couple of whom, I still keep in contact with today. If you are thinking of selling insurance, get a part-time job to supplement your income until you begin making sales. Selling insurance can be lucrative, but it takes time to begin making commissions. It is best to work for a company that gives you a base pay at least until you begin making sales.
April 2008: Germantown High School Students after The Mid-South Region of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awards GHS-TV with five “Student Emmy” awards and four honorable mentions. The wins came in the categories of Public Affairs, News, Sports (2) and Writing.
I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but WORK has been my drug of choice! I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My 7th job was Features Staff Writer for the Murray State News.
Double Major
I studied music and journalism at Murray State. In high school, I was involved in television production, choir and theatre. In 2008, I won two Student Emmy awards for my ENG reports and won reporter of the year in my Production class. Four of my reports aired on the local news in Memphis, Tennessee.
Journalism was supposed to be the backup plan if music performance did not pan out for me. However, I realized that if I truly wanted to be television journalist, I would not be able to be a performer. Both careers are not very lucrative and do not mesh well together. Some journalists make millions of dollars, but most journalists make about the equivalent of a teacher’s salary.
Features Writer
During my final semester of college, I was hired as a staff writer for the Murray State News. Since I wanted to be a television journalist, I never considered writing for the school newspaper. The Features editor would give me weekly assignments to write for the paper. I never chose any of my writing assignments. Recently, I found several of my articles online, but had no memory of writing some of the articles.
Last Article Before Graduation
I wrote about 12 articles for the school newspaper. My final writing assignment was to cover The Suspensions, an a cappella male singing group on campus. This article was significant for me. My friends Daniel Milam and Micheal Martin sang in the group. I interviewed both of them at the same time and recorded the interview.
We laughed and had so much fun. I kept the conversation on the recorder for a few years after the interview. Daniel passed away a few months later in a car accident. It was a devastating loss for the Murray State community. This article was the last article about Daniel before he passed away. I cherish my memories with Daniel especially this article and that interview.
Writing for the school newspaper was quite the experience. I actually do not remember writing most of the articles because it was so long ago. I was shocked to find some of the articles online. It is a bit surreal that I wrote articles that I have no memory of writing. However, this job gave me an opportunity to use the writing skills that I had learned in my journalism classes during my time at Murray State.
How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.
There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. Job number 6 was Assistant Office Manger at Camp Thunderbird in Bemidji, Minnesota in the summer of 2012.
Summer of 2012
I would come home to Memphis from college every summer and could never get a summer job. In 2012, I got creative. I decided to apply for several summer camps in different states. Within a few days, I heard back from a camp in Minnesota and interviewed for a position. I signed the contract and left Memphis about a week or so later. Yay for creativity!
Camp Thunderbird
I flew to Minneapolis and took a bus with other camp staff members to Bemidji, Minnesota. It was a beautiful city and camp site. There were two camps, one for boys and one for girls. I worked as an assistant office manager at the boys camp. The first week all of the staff members cleaned up the camp site. This included painting, sorting and organizing materials, and thoroughly cleaning the cabins for the incoming campers. During the second week, we had training for all of the staff members at both camp sites. The third week, the campers came!
Summer Camp
The campers came from everywhere around the United States. All of the staff members came from different states as well as different countries. The camp lasted eight weeks for the campers. Some campers only did one of the four week sessions, but most did the entire eight week session. All meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner were provided. Every staff member went by a nickname. My nickname was “Aria”. No one ever called me Dominique the entire summer.
There was even a snack after the campers went to bed for the adult staff members. We ate together every meal with the campers in the dining hall. The cook was amazing! This job was completely out of my comfort zone, but it was a wonderful experience. I am not an outdoor person, but I think this experience did give me a better appreciation for nature and its beauty. I did not quit this job, but the contract ended after the summer.
Little Shop of Horrors at Playhouse in the Park in Murray, Kentucky
How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.
There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. I will reflect on my experience at each job. Job number 5 was Campus Pizza at Murray State.
Campus Pizza
Campus Pizza was a pizza delivery service at Murray State. I worked at Campus Pizza during my senior year of college from fall 2011 until October 2012. This job was a solid job for a college student. It was not as physically challenging as working at Winslow Dining Hall. You would prep cook the pizzas when you arrived to the shift. Then, we would wait for students to call in orders for pizzas, make and cook the pizzas, and delivery the pizzas to the students’ dorms.
Schedule
I worked Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from around 4pm or 5pm until midnight. During the 2011-2012 school year, I did not do any musicals or operas. I just did the Alpha’s Miss Black & Gold Pageant in the fall of 2011. This freed me up to work most weekends at Campus Pizza and get a consistent paycheck. Furthermore, my grades were much better my senior year when I had a job than when I did not have a job during my junior year.
Student Managers
Murray State Dining Services had student managers. The student managers were in charge of the older staff members who had been at the University for years, which was a bit weird. Most student managers were pretty good, but they were college students. It was too much responsibility for a college student. Management is hard for adults in general let alone, 19 to 22 year olds. A student manager is a great idea and concept, but it was poorly executed at times.
Shift Coverage Issues
We did not have the student managers’ cell phone numbers. No one ever answered the dining services phone, especially on the weekends. There was one student manager, who was a former roommate of a close friend. She was amazing at the job and I loved working with her. She knew that I was a music major and had performances sometimes that may conflict with my work schedule.
In the past, if I had a performance, I would place my name on the shift coverage sheet for someone to take my shift ahead of time. I tried to get someone to cover my shift. If no one signed up, I would let this student manager know ahead of the shift, so it was never a “no call, no show”. However, this student manager graduated in the spring of 2012. Unfortunately, I had one more semester of college in the fall to complete my double major in Journalism.
New Manager
One of my former co-workers was promoted to student managers in the fall. I had worked with her the previous school year. This student had taken some of my shifts a few times when I had performances in the past. I was cast in Big River and Little Shop of Horrors at Playhouse in the Park and had performances on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the fall of 2012. So, just like in the past, I tried to get someone to cover my shift, but no one signed up for this shift.
Firing
On the day of the shift, I left a message on the Winslow Dining Services phone to no avail because no one received the message. After my performance, I got an email from the new student manager and former co-worker saying that I was fired because I did not show up for work. The job was about to end in a little over a month permanently since I was graduating in December 2012. But it hurt a bit to be fired by someone who I had worked with and who knew that I was a good employee.
Reflection
I worked hard at that job for over a year and was dropped like a hot potato. If there had been an adult with life experience in this situation, it would have been handled much differently. If I had just been able to contact the student manager, everything would have been fine. I sent an email to the student manager explaining that I did call, but I never received a response from her.
You should always contact your employers if you cannot come in to work and speak to them directly. However, this has never been an issue at any of my jobs before. There was no way to contact my student managers since I did not have their cell phone numbers or email addresses at the time. I graduated college a little over a month after the firing. Lastly, I was still working at the Murray State News during that semester, so comme ci, comme sa. Next post will discuss my time at the Murray State News.
How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride. There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss and reflect on one of my former or current jobs. Here is job number 4!
First United Methodist Chancel Choir
In college, I began singing in the choir at the United Methodist Church in Murray, Kentucky. The chair of the MSU music department was also the choir director at this church at the time. She would hire a few university singers to sing with her church choir. I attended rehearsals on Wednesday nights and sang with the choir every Sunday. It was a wonderful job for a college student and, even better for a music major to work on their sight reading skills.
Cultural Difference
Many predominantly white churches pay some of the singers. Before college, I had no idea that this was a thing because I had only attended black churches. Most predominantly black churches view paying singers as something you should not do. I have received so many mixed messages over the years about singing at church for pay.
Quitting
For me singing at church is not just a job. It has been my way of serving in the church. Well, the paid singers were serving First United Methodist Church in Murray because the university singers helped the elderly singers feel more confident with their singing as well. However, I quit this job because I had mixed feelings about singing at church for money. It was actually a classmate’s comments that convicted me about it.
Conclusion
After I quit the choir, I was often asked to sing at different churches during my time in Kentucky. I was always paid after I sang a solo at a church. So, I could have just kept my regular church job to be honest. One friend recently said something recently that resonated with me. She said that she invested thousands of dollars to be a trained singer.
So, she should be compensated for her singing at a church. It is not just a talent, but something that I have invested so much time and money into. However, I am still on the fence about this topic, even in 2024. As an adult I have been paid several times to sing solos at churches over the years. I am grateful to share my gifts in the church whether I am paid or not. If I am paid it is a nice bonus, but if not that is okay too.
Photo at Winslow Dining Hall during my sophomore year at Murray State University on Mardi Gras
How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.
There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. I will reflect on my experience at each job. Here is job number 3!
First College Job
When I went to college, I debated multiple times whether to work while I was in school. I did not mind working, but music was an extremely time consuming major that required several rehearsals and way too many classes each semester. During my first semester of my sophomore year, I decided to get a job at Winslow Dining Hall at Murray State.
I cannot remember how much I got paid for this job, It was probably minimum wage. Minimum wage in Kentucky at the time was $7.25 an hour. I worked this job for only one school semester August 2009 until December 2009. This job involved some serious back breaking work on top of my crazy music major schedule. I worked Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
Winslow Duties
I worked in the dish room for most of my shifts. Working in the dish room is not for the faint of heart. It is hot, wet, and you see some pretty nasty food combos on the dishes. On weekend mornings, I sometimes made omelets for students. I tried flipping an omelet just like my co-worker did, but dropped it on the floor. LOL. Also, I would have to clean all of the tables and there were several tables on both sides of the dining hall. This was a pretty big dining hall.
Quitting
If I had a normal major that did not require so many outside rehearsals, I would have continued working this job. Yes it was hard work, but it was similar to the work that I did at Ryan’s Grill Buffet & Bakery. Furthermore, I made straight A’s the semester that I worked at Winslow Dining Hall. The only time in my college career that I did that. This part-time job kept me more focused with my schoolwork because I had less time to complete it. So, maybe, I should have kept this job after all. If you are a college student, consider getting a part-time job. It actually may keep you more focused on your schoolwork than you think.
How many jobs have you held in your life? I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. This does not include all of the musicals, operas, and television and film projects either. I am a professional singer and actor. Did I plan on having 33 jobs in 17 years? Of course not, but life has been a crazy wild ride.
There were no drugs, very little alcohol, but my drug of choice has been WORK! Most of my adult life I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing. Each week I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. I will reflect on my experience at each job. Here is job number two!
My Second Job
In the summer of 2008 before I went off to college, I worked as a server at Ryan’s Grill Buffet & Bakery. This job may have been one of my worst job experiences to date. Ryan’s Grill & Buffet on Riverdale Road in Memphis, Tennessee was a very popular restaurant for years. I remember going there often to eat with my family on several occassions. However, it was much cleaner and well managed back then.
Bug Problem
When I worked at this restaurant, there was a significant roach problem. It was terrible. One day, a customer told me that a roach went into the salad on the buffet line. This was mortifying. When I would go to the stock room there were always roaches in there too. The Riverdale location closed not long after I left. I was not surprised when the location closed because I am sure they failed the health inspections.
Money Woes
Since Ryan’s servers received tips, the hourly wage was only $2.14 an hour! I had checks that were $14! My total tips for two months was only about $350 dollars. This was enough to pay for my college textbooks only. It is tricky when you are a server at a buffet restaurant because people do not think tipping is necessary since the server does not deliver the food to the guests. But at Ryan’s, I took all of the drink orders with unlimited refills, gave guests multiple baskets of buttered rolls, and bussed the tables.
Quitting for College
I quit this job when I went to Murray State in the fall of 2008. Ironically, there was a Ryan’s in Murray, Kentucky so I could have tranferred! Who Knew! This was my only restaurant server job to date. After this experience, I never wanted to serve again due to the super sporadic tips and low hourly wage. Furthermore, I was not the best server, even at a buffet style restaurant.
Yes, I was friendly, but moving quickly has never been my strength in life. A server has to work fast and swift especially at a non-buffet style restaurant. I struggled to be fast at the buffet style restaurant so there would be no serving for me in my future, not in this lifetime. Serving is a very challenging job that requires significant muli-tasking and strong customer service skills.
Food for Thought
I encourage everyone to appreciate their servers when they go out to eat. If the food is messed up, it is not the server’s fault unless the server took your order incorrectly. If the food is taking too long, this is usually not the server’s fault either. The cooks are probably behind on the orders. If you have ever been in a restaurant kitchen, it is chaotic back there, especially during rush hours.
Your server has between six to eight tables at a time. At the end of the day, most servers want you to have a positive experience and they are not trying to ruin your day. Servers have been some of the kindest people that I have worked with most times. Servers extremely hard working, even the grumpy ones, lol. Please give your servers some grace the next time you go out to eat. Empathy goes a long way.
