Side Hustle
This security guard works 9-to-5, then leaves to chase his real dream.
Noelle Sciacca
NEW YORK — New York City is alive with an electric energy. The passions and dreams of its residents course through the city's subway cars and streets. It's an unmistakable force that fuels a collective heartbeat, a desire to achieve something greater.If you're not paying attention, you'll see your doorman as just a doorman and miss the fire that sparks inside him when he hears the smooth, brassy sounds of a saxophone. You may never realize that, between grading papers, your marketing professor spends her nights and weekends in pointe shoes training for her big break.
It's the passion project that's honed after hours, the second job you're hoping to quit your nine-to-five for, the business you labor over long after your peers have gone to sleep. It's what you really love. It's your side hustle.
Jose Vazquez, 31, worked his way up from covering lobby security at publishing house Conde Nast to managing the fine jewelry at Anna Wintour's Vogue magazine at One World Trade Center.
There, he learned valuable lessons about taste and trends, which slowly stoked a passion he'd never recognized in himself before.After receiving a set of basketball-themed pins at New York's All Star weekend this past February, an idea stirred within him to start his own line. Vazquez brought the concept to his friend and fellow sneaker-head Jason Brooks, 32 who has a background in fashion, having worked in the production, marketing, editorial and graphic design departments for Tommy Hilfiger, Russell Simmons and most recently Lil Wayne's clothing line, Trukfit.After a few days of brainstorming, Pin Drop was born.
You miss all of the shots you don't take. <br>So I keep taking shots.
Pin Drop creates streetwear- and pop culture-inspired fashion pins, specializing in designs that speak to the sneakerhead community, which both Vazquez and Brooks have been part of for over a decade. Vazquez launched the brand in May with its first Nike Jordan 1 model. Pin Drop has since gained a wide following and expanded into a variety of designs, selling over 6,500 pins to date.
Despite its success, Vazquez still needs his day job."Working at Conde Nast has been a huge influence on my career," Vazquez tells Mashable. "The first couple of years I met some great people...and was exposed to a different sort of fashion eye."
In addition to working demanding day jobs, Vasquez and Brooks are laboring every night and weekend to turn their true dream into a reality.Is the hustle really worth it? Vazquez says, "You miss all of the shots you don't take. So I keep taking shots."
