About

Purpose Over Paycheck

Those of us who pursue a career in the GLAM/cultural heritage sector are often drawn to our respective areas of interest for something more than a paycheck: purpose. The intrinsic satisfaction of working in GLAM jobs, like caring for a collection, providing access to historical information, contextualizing pieces of art or history, and more is (or at least can be) fulfilling. However, this work is not as valued by the economy as many of us think it should be. We are also dealing with inflated student loans and a limited availability of stable, full-time and permanent positions since many jobs are contract or temporary and many of those jobs don’t include benefits like insurance or retirement.

There is a tremendous amount of personal finance information available, but most of this information is either aimed at high-income/high-net worth people or it’s very general.* High-income/high-net worth information is... well, not super useful to many of us in GLAM. Generalized info focuses on the everyday working person who wants to be better with their money, from getting out of debt to building savings and investments. The information is still very useful, but some fundamental advice may not apply if the GLAM person wants to continue in their career. Advice like "find another job" (significantly challenging in GLAM) or "train for another field" (not interested) can alienate someone who doesn't value money as much as their purpose or personal goals. During my own journey towards financial stability while working in GLAM, the financial advice that was based on personal values resonated most strongly with me and I felt it could be useful to others with similar career ambitions.

With GLAM Money and the zine, Gorgeous Money for GLAMorous People (pompous yes, but fun to say), I want to help my friends and colleagues in the cultural heritage sector recognize what is in their control when it comes to their personal finances. I want to empower them to create a path for a stable financial future, one grounded in personal values, while also pursuing their career in their chosen field.

The idea that we all have circles of control or influence is a theory from positive psychology. Some things are outside of our control, like shifts in the economy or changes to government policy. Other things can be influenced, like getting involved with a union or mutual aid network to support our colleagues and neighbors.

We have the most autonomy over the things we can control: how we think and feel about money and how we manage it is within our direct control. And we often have more power than we think.

The zine is written for GLAM workers and is geared towards people working in the US, but anyone who chose a purpose over a paycheck in their career path could benefit from this as well.

About Me (she/they)

I've been working in GLAM for about 20 years, mostly with audiovisual materials in archives and museums (don't worry–I won't copy/paste my CV here). I've built up a life and career, but during this time I also built up credit card (CC) and student loan debt. Around 2016, I finally got it together and started strengthening my money skills, paying off CC debt, and contributing to my otherwise non-existent savings and investments. Taking these steps has helped me establish financial stability which has provided me with the means to travel and do things I never thought would be possible when I was in the deep end with the CC debt and worried my income would always be too low. (Student loans are still an issue though.) Gradually, I realized I enjoy helping others get started on improving their financial lives. Then the idea of a zine on financial literacy came to me and GLAM Money was formed.

My earliest memories of money: Counting and organizing the coins I collected as a kid. I loved to stack them or add them up to create arbitrary sums, like $1.35†, or organize them by year, or lay them out in different configurations to make shapes. I also remember my parents arguing or being disdainful about how the other parent spent money. Later–much, much later–I realized that their conflicting values were likely a cause, probably one of many, for these arguments.

A significant financial experience (and lesson): Towards the end of my last semester of college, I totaled my car, had my identity and bank account information stolen (my only bank account), and my computer with all of of my final papers crashed‡. It was stressful, but I wasn't anywhere close to rock bottom: I had a job and supportive roommates who were understanding about my part of the rent being late that month. That was the year I opened my first credit card. And it was way too easy. I had no idea how predatory CC companies were at the time, especially towards young adults.

What I save for: When dining out, ordering fancy cocktails I'll never make at home; spending on vacation travel without regrets; small group guided tours; really comfortable house slippers; toys for my cats (even when all they want are shoelaces).

* As an exception, some resources are intended for communities and minorities with shared cultural identities. They recognize and address the challenges these groups face in the capitalist system.
† About the cost of a slurpee at 7-Eleven at the time, if memory serves.
‡ No backups and this was before google docs or cloud sharing was ubiquitous. A computer crashing is often an entryway to digital preservation for some folks.

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