Exploring Pivots from Journalism

May 2026. Right after my annual physical and USC's graduation, I felt a tingle in my throat that I thought was just a cold and it turned into me throwing up while watching Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Was it caused by the flu or terrible storytelling? Hard to know which.

Either way, I was couch- and bed-ridden in the two weeks that followed, drinking bone broth (couldn't stomach anything else), and thinking a lot about the future. I had spent the past few years freelancing for some of the best editors I've ever worked with for the best rates of my career. This year, I contributed a few articles to a major international publication – including one that went viral, causing so many people in my life to come out of the "D&D closet" and nerd out with me (!). Still, the metaphorical freelance well ran dry. Due to budget cuts, I knew that by the fall season, I'd be without a professional editorial home for my writing for the first time since May 2014. It's been weird, but to quote Harry Styles, "It's a sign of the times."

On top of that, in April, I attended my friend Jamie's beautiful Brooklyn wedding, where I reunited with a bunch of my talented former colleagues, all of whom had been laid off from their media jobs and were trying to pivot to literally any other industry.

It became harder than ever to be my usually optimistic self about journalism and media when all of my friends were laid off and struggling.

But Mallory, you say, you already pivoted to teaching almost five years ago! Why yes, I did and, because of that, my situation is luckier than most, yet it's still as precarious as freelance journalism, because I'm an adjunct professor. I receive health insurance from USC, contingent on the number of classes I teach. If I lose a class, I lose my PPO.

Teaching also grants me the summers off, a double-edged sword as an adjunct professor: no teaching means no pay. This summer, it meant digging into my savings to pay rent and having two (2) short-term gigs (mentoring youth journalists at the LA Local and see below). On the other hand, I had four months of "free" time to train myself for a pivot...or several.

I love journalism and I always will. If you know me, you know I'm stubborn when it comes to always finishing what I start, being annoyingly persistent and unwilling to give up — all the things that made me a pretty great journalist. But financially, it’s become clear to me that relying on journalism alone would be a colossal mistake. It was time to [puts on a Monopoly Man Top Hat] expand my freelance service offerings to diversify my revenue streams.

I declared it the "Summer of Side Quests," in which I'd try new industries, do things differently, and begin several Pivots from Journalism.

I tried some new things that fell into the following buckets...or as we call it in teaching, "guiding questions."

• What industries are not replacing humans with AI?
• How could I still help journalists and journalism without doing journalism?
• What have I always wanted to do and try, but thought I never had the time to do?
• What industries have certifications that could be completed in one (1) summer and not require another master's degree?
• What are some legit side hustles outside of asking folks to subscribe to newsletters? No shade and much respect to all the independent journos out there giving it a go, but...

I wanted to send this out before the fall equinox, like a big announcement, but as it turns out, getting certified in new-to-you industries requires background checks that take longer than a summer vacation. And when I told friends/acquaintances what I did over the summer, not everyone was enthusiastic about my new skills – the curse of forging new paths – so I second-guessed myself a lot in the final stages. Did I really think a bunch of side hustles/quests would make things better? I still don't know, but I figure at least now I have more options than constantly writing "Hey editors, commission me! I'm looking for work/gigs" LinkedIn posts and waiting for an editorial deus ex machina to swoop in to save the day. These days, they won't; instead, I get a bunch of AI recruiter bots and weirdo stalker men hitting on me.

And that itself is the motivation for me to keep trying new things (and stay off LinkedIn). As I've written before, "A media company can’t save you. You save yourself."

So here's how it all went: