When Ash Smith started a new role as an estate agency administrator last year, she never expected to be made redundant just three months later.
“I was the last one in, so the first one out,” she told The i Paper. “It really threw me,” she said.
Like many facing redundancy, the 32-year-old worried about paying her bills, including her mortgage payments for the house she lives in with her mum and brother in Hertfordshire.
“I was in a slump for about two weeks,” she said. “I was like, ‘oh my god, what do I do now? What’s gonna happen to me?’”
Fortunately, Ash already had some side gigs: working a weekly shift at her local bar and pet sitting, which is now her main source of income.
“I’ve always had that mindset of: don’t just have one income. Always have more, just in case anything happens. Nowadays, obviously jobs are getting replaced by AI and stuff, so you just never know.”
A few years ago, she started using Rover, a platform that connects pet owners with sitters and dog walkers. Like many users, she started out without any reviews, so she asked someone she knew to provide a testimonial.
“A lot of my work is word of mouth. People just see you do a good job and go from there, really. Working behind the bar, I’ve got clients from the bar that I work at as well.”
After losing her job, she decided to leave the estate industry for good and look after animals full-time.
“I’ve grown up with pets, I’ve always loved animals, so getting into an industry with animals is perfect. It’s the best job.”
Rover takes between five and 15 per cent of the earnings made from each booking. After these fees and other expenses, Ash’s take-home pay is around £1,500 a month – enough to cover her mortgage payments and bills. She still works at the bar for around four hours a week to top up her budget.
Ash says that her income is more or less the same as before her redundancy, and she’s much happier.
“I don’t think I’ve had many negatives doing this job. I’ve only ever had good times with the pets.
“Obviously when everyone’s on holiday, I get so many inquiries that I have to turn people down. So I guess the only downside is when people ask me at the last minute and I have to turn them down.”
Some of the dogs she looks after can be left alone for a couple of hours. During that time, she can go and walk another dog, or feed someone’s cat, and make more money.
Ash regularly saves on food costs too, as some owners will provide meals when she’s staying in their homes.
“I’ve got some of the nicest owners ever. They’re always getting me bits at Christmas,” she said.
Like many self-employed workers, Ash has to deal with uncertainty when it comes to her hours and pay. But despite this, she believes that having multiple streams of income is the way to go.
“The way Millennials and Gen Zs work is different. I think our mindset on work is so different now to what it was before. Sometimes not even one job can cover everything because of the cost of living and the way the world is.
“The older generation say, ‘don’t leave a job till you’ve got another job’. But in this day and age, jobs are getting replaced. You could lose your job. Anything could happen, which it did to me.”
While her redundancy was difficult at first, she now sees it as a blessing.
“It’s panned out perfectly so I can’t complain at all. I just wish I’d done it sooner,” she said.
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