I really enjoyed Gannon's perspective on creating a career that you love with multiple income streams. As someone who has always been interested in trying something outside of the normal 9-5, I was very interested in Gannon's ideas and strategies. The book was easy to listen to, and I enjoyed keeping it on in the background while going about my day.

I really wanted to enjoy this, I have only heard great things about Gannon and her writing but The Multi-Hyphen Life is dripping with privilege and littered with Americanisms that are so jarring.

DNF at 37%.

Embrace the Multi-Faceted You

Audiobook Review:
This was a surprisingly eye-opening listen that got me thinking and appreciating what the author calls the multi-hyphen life. I had been living one for a long time but never had a name for it. Simply naming something sometimes actually helps you appreciate a complex idea. I'll admit that at times I haven’t known quite how to explain myself to new friends or on job interviews because everything seems to be so niched down these days. (I even had a mentor tell me that I needed to focus on one thing.) How could I explain being a nonfiction author, a registered nurse, a freelance editor, a former specialty food owner, a former medical transcriptionist, a pianist, a harp player, and even a top reviewer on Amazon when people I talk with try to pigeonhole me to one category? How do you come up with that elevator pitch? Even when I write nonfiction, I don't stick to one topic, having several cookbooks published as well as one on the possibilities for operations and marketing during the pandemic.

While the author certainly comes across as one of her millennial generation—and I did appreciate the look into the millennial mind—she does discuss how the current workplace has four generations: baby boomers, Gen Xers (me), Millennials, and Gen Z. She spends the most time talking about boomers, her generation, and Gen Z, giving Gen Xers the short shrift—as has happened all our lives! This chapter on generations, though, got me thinking and provided insight into something that happened to me recently. I've been trying to get another nursing job after side hustling for a while and have found that job interviewers can react very differently when I answer that boilerplate question, “What do you do besides nursing?” Interestingly, this often falls along generational lines, with younger interviewers (millennials) being intrigued by all of my different and varied jobs and interests. A baby boomer gave me a blank stare when I mentioned the reviewer status, while the millennial thought this could translate into good communication, persuasion, and computer skills. After reading this book, I've decided to update my resume to show side hustle jobs (which I had never considered doing)--like freelance editing—so that it more accurately reflects my varied experience and skills.

The author herself narrates the audiobook, and you can tell her passion and enthusiasm for the subject. The keyword for this book is flexibility. What does success mean to you, and how can you make your life (both personal and professional) reflect that, especially at a time where business structures have not been able to react quickly to this important value shift for younger (and some older) workers. I think the pandemic has forced the issue in some ways, and when it's all over, work will not look the same for many of us—and that could be a very good thing if businesses will allow it or if we find a separate, viable path. While the author could not have known about the pandemic when she started writing this book, it is certainly well suited to the current times where everything is in flux. It's a great time to re-evaluate what you want and need both in terms of your job or career and personally. Sometimes these personal and professional ideas can dovetail, but it's also completely okay to pursue a passion just for your own joy—even if you don't make money at it. The author reiterates this point several times, which I appreciated, as other books along this vein don't seem to understand that some things we want to do are just for ourselves, not for the world or money. Rather, they have meaning for us and nourish our souls. I'm so glad that I picked up this book at this particular point in my career, as I now feel that it is a strength to have had so many different types of jobs and interests. Now I will know how to incorporate them not only in my job search but in my career and side hustles going forward and hobbies as well. Highly recommended.

A book I enjoyed via audio which was narrated by the author. Emma Gannon has been on my radar with her podcast as I follow other UK influencers that are in her circle. When I saw this book was coming out, I was intrigued to hear her thoughts on how people my age can approach their work lives in different ways than our parents did.

There were many moments where Emma's thoughts on work life really vary from my experience and the work life that I enjoy, but I appreciated hearing her side of things as they challenged my traditional viewpoints.

And on the opposite side there were things she discussed about a side hustle that doesn't need to pay, but can bring value to your life and I immediately thought about books and this blog and although it doesn't pay the bills, it does bring me joy and an outlet for some of my time and energy.

This was a short and quick listen and I enjoyed dipping in and out of it. I always like it when the author reads their own work as they can emphasize the moments in the book that matter to them most.

If you want a book to tell you how to “quit your job and commit yourself 70 hours a week to peddling your free range wind chimes” then this isn’t the book for you - thank goodness.

A well balanced look at the technological disruptions to our present day and future workforce. The need to balance what makes you happy with a flexible skill set that’ll allow you to set up multiple revenue streams or simply have a self fulfilling side hustle in addition to your primary 9-5.

Much of the advice presented here regarding a healthy home life/work life balance while at home is applicable to thhe vast hordes of us now working remotely thanks to Covid-19. A healthy work/life blend is very important and Gannon is not afraid to rail this fact home, providing examples and suggestions as to how you can do this as it isn't always easy.

A book I’ll revisit because it says things worth hearing more than once.

The Multi-Hyphen Life by Emma Gannon

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The book makes a case for why we need to adorn multiple hats in today's world, and not stick to any one career path. And that's it. That is all the book does. Goes on making a case till the end. Does not really give any practical advice on how to go about it.

In fact, the book is contradictory at many places. For eg. it begins by saying how much technology can help us in having a Multi-Hyphen Life (write blogs, start podcasts, sell your products online etc etc) as it will also help you save a lot of commute time, but towards the end it moves on to the need for people connect. Like go out and meet people, don't spend all your time online. While I agree we need to have a balance between online and offline lives, but what is new here? Don't we already know that?

Then the author says how multi hyphen life creates multiple streams of income (and does not put all the eggs in a single basket), but soon enough moves on to say how the 'side hustle' could simply be a hobby, and to take care that we don't end up monetizing all pur hobbies.

The book does cover two three important topics towards the end such as the extra hard work needed of women in any work sphere and the need to manage finances. However, by that time you have already been put off by the book.

- - -

It is important to realize that most of these authors/bloggers/podcasters/broadcasters/motivational speakers who tell you to write/blog/podcast/broadcast/speak...are only creating an income stream for themselves. 🤷🏽‍♀️
While I am all for social media marketing, but this kind of half hearted advice where the focus is on 'content creation' alone tends to put me off.

Btw, raining fine in Delhi right now 🙂

Okay ( Aug 2020)

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This book is the first one by Emma Gannon’s that I’ve read. Her business and life advice to be spot on, engaging, positive, and helpful.

Narrator: The book is read by the author. I enjoyed her narration.

Wow! Emma Gannon is totally ahead of the curve and writes so well about how to make work fit your life. I thought this book would be advocating going freelance but actually it’s more about finding what is fulfilling for you and prioritising multiple income streams. Totally inspiring and life-changing - one every one should read to become a better worker and better manager/ employer.

It was lovely that it’s read by the author - such a treat and made the audiobook feel even more genuine.

In her book, “The Multi-Hyphen Method,” Emma Gannon explains what is also referred to as a multi-passionate lifestyle. Meaning, you’ve got multiple gigs at once, and are hopefully generating income from one or more of them.

She suggests that we “be open minded, be a changemaker, be on a quest for a different life.”

Prior to listening to her audiobook, I wasn’t not familiar with Emma or her Webby-nominated podcast, “Ctrl Alt Delete.”

But I totally get the concept of a side-hustle.

In fact, this is the PERFECT TIME to launch the audio version of her "Sunday Times" best-selling book.

Thanks to a global pandemic (hey Corona!), people not only have more time on their hands to start a side-hustle, many folks are just plain out of a job. So they NEED to be creative and think beyond the traditional 9 to 5.

Sure, in some corporations, “presenteeism” is still a thing. But more and more, the idea of being the last one in the office, and working the typical “9 to 5” shift seems a bit archaic. Especially since younger people seem to value freedom, they also value more flexible work.

Hello, Gig Economy!

Getting a corporate job and focusing on early retirement is no longer a sign of “success.” With a Multi-Hyphen Life, you can retire early and often. Then start a new hustle and earn revenue again.

Thank goodness Al Gore invented the internet, because we can all be gainfully employed. “Desk work can be done anywhere,” Emma says.

This books seems to target more of the Gen Y and Z’ers. Emma gives them permission not to follow their parent’s footsteps. Instead, they need to think about what their value, and to create their own definition of success.

Emma also gives readers permission to:
-- Think outside of the archaic one-career playbook
-- Reclaim valuable time
-- Take risks and go for it
-- Grow a personal brand
-- Gain confidence
-- Determine and use passions
-- Remain agile
-- Be a lifelong learner
-- Never think of oneself as finished

Are you chasing your own success or someone else's?
What do you have to sacrifice?
Do you value experiences vs things?
How can you ask for flexible work?


Thank you to Andrews McMeel Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I listened to the audiobook version of Emma Gannon’s The Multi-Hyphen Life and I found it incredibly fascinating! I was spewing facts and figures from this for a whole 48 hours to anyone that would listen after I’d finished it!

I found the concept of ‘a multi hyphen life’ an interesting phrase - it’s something that I think a lot of people around me relate to, as I work in a freelance industry. The intro already had me going ‘let’s go!’, - I was ready to dive in. It was great to listen to as an audiobook - Gannon narrates it herself and she has a great voice to motivate (which people will probably already know from her podcast series!).

It was refreshing to hear someone agree with the constant comparison of people in generations is so outdated - workplaces and jobs are still operating from a system set up back in the Victorian age, so it’s definitely something that needs changing ASAP. It was also eyeopening to hear, out loud, that we currently have around 4 generations working between the ages of 17-70 within this work system!

There’s a good flow of topics throughout the book - it starts off with what it is and how it works, and then goes on to discuss the pros and cons. I thought it was a great starting point if you’re considering it or wanted to know more about it. It’s insightful and full of great research into the topics. I particularly liked the chapter where Gannon had spoken with ‘multi-hyphenate’ people as examples of what they did and how this worked. It would perhaps have been interesting to hear from people that had done it and thought it didn’t worked in the cons chapter to see the balance here as well.

The only downside for me is that I wondered if some of this advice/info is now a little outdated from where it was written/published prior to the pandemic? Due to the job loss through the pandemic and people starting new hobbies, side hustles and jobs from home etc. it is great advice for many, but equally there’s going to be a new way of working going forward regardless, due to the pandemic implications - both for better and worse!

I watched a Joan Didion documentary a few weeks ago, and they’d interviewed Harrison Ford. The subtitle on screen read ‘Harrison Ford - Actor/Carpenter’ as he’d done some carpentry work for Didion. Who’d have thought that you’d need to say who Harrison Ford was, let alone that he was an actor, and here the filmmaker had chosen to write ‘carpenter’ as well, as it fit with the story - is Harrison Ford living a ‘multi-hypen life’? haha.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend for anyone wanting to start that side hustle!

Gannon is pleasant in terms of pure listening, and I wanted to find some help in this title. The notion of a multi-hyphen life and the self-driven gig economy is a hit button issue. However, although the author claims that she’s moving beyond the abusive and problematic central issues of forcing younger generations to gig themselves into oblivion, I simply didn’t hear anything that revolutionary. I didn’t hear a way to turn a generation’s need for multiple jobs on its ear. The author’s recommendations weren’t without worth, but they didn’t live up to the promise of the premise.

Having read "The Multi-Hyphen Method" a number of years ago (and thoroughly enjoyed it), I found this audiobook the perfect top-up to return Gannon's advice to the front of my mind. The text is a thorough and supportive meditation on the changing world of work with sage guidance about how to "future proof" our careers whilst maximising the satisfaction we can draw from them. Key to this is the idea of the "side-hustle", which Gannon shows is something we can, and perhaps should, all build into our lives.

Gannon talks about how a multi-hyphen career is flexible and ever-changing; as such, her guidance needs to be a dynamic companion. In audio format, it is so easy to dip in and out of the book, or to use it as a confidence boost on the way to an important work meeting.

I feel like the universe led me to this book. For the past several months I've been struggling with my work-life balance, and have asked my management for flexibility. While my experience didn't go so well (I was denied my request to stop working overtime), this book made me feel a lot less like I was out of line asking that. I learned a lot of really great tips on how to get started using my skills, hobbies and passions to take back control of my life, in a reasonable and responsible way. This book isn't a quick fix solution, It offers no short cuts and no sugar coating. If you're thinking about leaving the corporate world to work for your self, or even if you're considering a side hustle, I really do recommend this book.

When I started this book I felt like it described my life exactly as it is. I have been studying many different areas from science and art. It is a really nice and easy book to understand how the work in the professional area is moving on in this century with the new technology, social media and how to properly apply what we learn in college. The audiobook was easy to listen to with the narrator having a proper voice to add an enthusiasm to understand the fact that we shouldn’t just focus on one thing for the rest of our life.

This was a really interesting book and I really enjoyed listening to it. As a blogger myself, I found it very much relevant. Maintaining a side hustle is not easy but to hear a fellow person (an established one, rather) is very much freeing in away. I got a ton of wonderful ideas and I am so looking forward to implementing them! It was also very quick actually and the activities were interesting and unlike the boring ones found in most books of this time - in fact, so boring that I entirely skip them. However, this one was super cool and I had a blast listening to it.
Moreover, the inclusion of the various anecdotes from the author's own life as well as the quotes from various known personalities was a great touch. Loved it and definitely recommend it to all!

Emma Gannon is the author of book The Multi-Hyphen Life and also the narrator of this audiobook. The book gives you many tips for working in multiple professions, not just one, and be good at it.

This is a book for me as I've been a multi-hyphen person all my life. At some points in the book, I felt there's too much talk about the Millennials. It is not a book about them. I would say a multi-hyphen life is suitable for all generations.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

I'm a big fan of audiobooks and I'm also a big fan of Emma Gannon, I've been listening to her podcast for years and I've enjoyed reading her online content for a long while. I was really excited to see this book, which I've been wanting to read for a while, available in audiobook format (though I have to say the audio quality wasn't as good as my usual audiobooks are).

Having said that, I feel like everyone should read Gannon's work on multi-hyphen life, especially right now with all the changes currently happening to most work places. As someone who's just approaching life as a freelancer, I definitely appreciate any read that could help me in that realm, in understanding it more and organizing my work-life in a better and more functioning way. I definitely recommend this book!

Actual rating 3.5 - rounded up to 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this listen of the Multi-Hyphen Method and I am a fan of having several "job titles". I also enjoyed the author as the narrator.

The idea of multi-hyphen life or carrying several job titles is a semi-new thing happening in the business world. People aren't satisfied with the status quo one job title of a typical 9 to 5 job, thats where the multi-hyphen life comes in. We are seeing more and more professionals that have a day job, but also have "side hustles". People are turning their passions and hobbies into mini-careers to make extra cash.

I think this book is helpful in explaining ways to make this transistion easier.
Where I think this book fell short is that its rather vague overall. If people are looking for actual directional steps that they can take TODAY, this book might come as a disappointment to them.

Overall, I found the book interesting and motivating to live beyond the status quo of a typical "job".

Thank you to Negalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a tricky one for me, but I overall enjoyed it and left it feeling more comfortable about my own "multi-hyphen" life.

I very nearly gave up in the first few chapters - why did the author feel the need to spend so long on outdated generational classifications just to call them too simplistic? the whole section felt really at odds with the book. Added to the first chapter making the argument for WFH / more flexible working, which felt very dated in our current covid times (I appreciate this is not the author's fault!) I was so close to giving up... But instead I upped the speed to 2x and carried on and am really glad I did (and slowed it down to 1.5x when I started enjoying it).

I loved the unashamedly feminist approach the author takes, her whole life view, her openness about some of the downsides of this sort of career approach, her challenge to live boldly and her excellent narration.

Definitely recommend to friends who want to move away from a full-time job and build a more varied life.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

“Work less, create more and design a life that works for you”

This amazing book tackles the topic of living a multi-hyphen life. Multi-hyphenism normalises the way people are choosing their own work life balance steering away from traditional full time work and juggling multiple incomes.

The days of a transitional 9-5 role with single income is on the outer. Millennials are choosing to have a role with flexibility and enabling them to have a side hustle or side skills that blend ones entrepreneurial desire to want more, be financially secure and more fulfilled in life.

Emma tackles technology, work life balance, finances, zoning your skills, how to multitask and get your worth! Most millionaires have servers forms of income streams. If you looking for more, to switch your career or start a side hustle this ones for you!

Once I finished Olive I knew that I needed more of Emma Gannon. Thank you so much NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this fantastic book.

Highly recommend listening/reading this if you’re looking for something empowering and inspirational.