Weird Work

You can spot Ashly Covington out in public or on the subway pretty easily. She’s the one wearing long black gloves, a sunproof hoodie, and playing an invisible horn. Such is the life of a professional hand model. In today’s episode, Sam and Ashly talk about the dedication it takes to cut it as a hand model, how Ashly broke into the business, and why the industry term for hand model work is perhaps the most unprofessional name out there.

You’re stranded on a desert island. What do you do? If you’re Timm Woods, you find the nearest rock and start carving away at your latest Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Timm is a dungeon master, the game wizard who meticulously crafts each game. He tells Sam how he turned his lifelong passion into a profession, and why he still can’t accurately describe the game to his own parents.

Nina Keneally is the founder of NeedaMomNYC, where for $40 an hour she’ll give you the full mom experience. Nina offers sage advice, helps you battle your landlord over security deposits, and weighs-in on big life decisions. But how do other moms feel when a stranger gives their child advice? Sam calls his own mom to get a second opinion.

Ann Wroe writes obituaries for The Economist. And she knows what you’re thinking: Writing about death must be terribly depressing, right? Maybe, but not for Ann. Sam gets Ann’s take on how she deals with death, and Ann shares her unique approach to writing about those who live on in the pages of the magazine.

Pamela Paquin may have grown up on a farm, but she never thought her life would forever be linked with animals. She was living in Denmark with a high-paying job when her life was completely upended. That’s when Pamela began to notice inefficiencies in the fur industry. And after seeing the amount of fur going to waste on the side of the road, she grabbed a knife and got to work. She now creates high fashion from accidental fur for her company Peace Fur.

Peter “PPD” Dager is one of the winningest professional gamers in history. But we’re not just talking about trophies. Peter has made millions (and millions) of dollars as a professional gamer. Sam talks with Peter about his journey from being on top of the gaming world with Evil Geniuses, to becoming the team’s CEO, only to return once more to the lights, camera, controller with his new team, OpTic Gaming.

Katelyn Hempstead is a comedian and the host of Lizard People: Comedy & Conspiracy Theories, a podcast where her brilliant friends try to convince her to believe different conspiracy theories. You can even find Sam on there talking about the rogue artificial intelligence that created Bitcoin. Today, Sam and Katelyn peel back the podcast curtain to reveal how anyone (even the Illuminati) can get into the podcast game and grow an audience.

Thomas Edwards is a real life Hitch. And after nearly a decade of work, he’s helped over 150 people find love and get married. But this self-proclaimed hopeless romantic wasn’t always the ideal wingman. Thomas’ journey starts with Gary Vaynerchuck, hits a potential detour courtesy of Mark Cuban, and ends with the founding of a global wingman empire.

Martin Gregory scours the streets looking through people’s trash and sells his garbage finds on eBay. He writes about them on his website, Things I Find in The Garbage. Sam talks with Martin about teacups, the growing trend of minimalism, and just how much money you can make from selling garbage online. Because what’s one person’s trash is this man’s treasure. Sign up for free classes at HubSpot Academy, visit HubSpot.com/weird.

Cosplay is a world of transformation, where art meets performance. And no one knows that better than Riki LeCotey. You might’ve seen her on SyFy’s reality tv show Heroes of Cosplay, or maybe you’ve seen her judging costumes at your local convention. Riki has turned her passion project into a full-time business. And she tells Sam how cosplay helped her land her latest dream gig: working on costumes for all the latest Marvel movies. Sign up for free classes at HubSpot Academy, visit HubSpot.com/we

Em Schulz is the co-host of And That’s Why We Drink podcast. But Em’s resume runs the gamut: Clown school graduate, professional Segway tour guide, and the list goes on. These days, Em makes props for Hollywood, famously making Eggo waffle boxes on a little show called Stranger Things. Em tells Sam what it’s like working at the top prop shop in Hollywood, and why not knowing what you want to do for a living isn’t always a bad thing. Sign up for free classes at HubSpot Academy, visit HubSpot.co

Gary Vincent is a vintage arcade game technician at Funspot, the world’s largest arcade. He’s also the president of the American Classic Arcade Museum where he works to preserve and promote the history of arcade games. On today’s episode, Sam learns that arcade game repair can be a dangerous job. And that there’s an entire world of history to be learned, right below his fingertips.

Sister Kate isn’t your average nun. She’s a self-declared nun who owns Sisters of the Valley, a cannabis-based healing products company. But after her early days in the Occupy movement, she now answers to a higher calling. Sam talks with Sister Kate about working in the marijuana industry, how she grew the company into a million dollar global business, and how she’s helping empower women through her work.

We asked you to tell us your favorite Weird Work episode of 2017 and man did you guys deliver. You mentioned Jen Glantz, the professional bridesmaid, Steven Kutcher, the Hollywood bug wrangler, and Kassandra Brown, the professional cuddler. But one episode stood a full broadsword above the rest. That’s right. Today, we bring to you, the Weird Work Listener Favorite Episode of 2017.

Will Shortz is the crossword puzzle editor at The New York Times. But he’s also the only person in history to receive a degree in Enigmatology -- the study of puzzles. And he’s been creating and publishing his own puzzles since he was 14 years old. Today, Will talks with Sam about the origin of the paper’s famous crossword, and Will explains how the puzzle’s history is not so different from today. Oh, and there’s a puzzle. Did you really think we’d have Will on and not give you a brain stumpe