Debbie Strong
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I run the contributors and freelance team @businessinsider Boston/NYC. Pitch me! dstrong@businessinsider.com
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Articles by Debbie Strong
5 experienced side hustlers share their breakthrough advice for finding success Original
Side hustles are often sold as quick wins — easy money you can make in your spare time. Loading audio narration... In reality, they're usually messier. Some ideas flop, some bring in a little extra cash, and a few grow into something much bigger than expected — even replacing a full-time career. So what separates the ones that work from the ones that don't? Business Insider has spoken to dozens of experienced side hustlers to understand how they got started and what helped them scale.
I vibe coded an AI tool to help my mom fight stage 4 cancer. It helped us catch errors in her treatment and let her die with dignity. Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with New Jersey-based Pratik Desai, 34, who vibe coded a tool — which he later refined with advanced coding tools — to help his mother navigate Stage 4 duodenal adenocarcinoma, an advanced cancer affecting the small intestine. His words have been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration... I don't really have a medical background; I've just been healthcare adjacent throughout my life because my family's in it.
I'm a dad who took paternity leave 3 times and learned how to do it better each time. Here's what Scott Galloway got wrong. Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Paul Sullivan — a former New York Times columnist and founder of The Company of Dads — about his experience with paternity leave and his reaction to professor and podcaster Scott Galloway's comments that he wasn't sure there should be mandatory paternity leave and that dads are a "waste of time" in the first few months of a child's life. Galloway recently told Business Insider, "The comments on paternity leave were meant to be funny.
I travel 100+ times a year for work and have an established airport routine. Here's my advice for handling the TSA chaos. Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heather Wagenknecht, a vice president of sales for a company that deploys towers for public safety and telecom from Batavia, Illinois. It has been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration... As the VP of sales for my company, I average between 100 and 150 flights a year, and I have 13 flights just this month alone. I spend so much time in airports, I don't want to be there a minute longer than I have to.
Capitalism is having an identity crisis. You're caught in the middle. Original
From Davos to Washington to America's high school classrooms, people are questioning the foundations of our economic system — and we at Business Insider are tracking what the fight over the future of capitalism means for your work, your wealth, and your world. Polls show Americans' trust in capitalism is falling fast, as daily life has grown more expensive and less secure.
How to Write for Business Insider
Business Insider covers the people, companies, and ideas changing our world — and we welcome outside voices to help us do that. There are two main ways to write for Business Insider: as a contributor or as a freelance writer.
We quit our jobs and turned our true crime obsession into a hit podcast Original
We're a married couple who channeled our mutual obsession with true crime into a full-time podcasting business that eventually replaced our careers. We gave four years of our lives to one particularly haunting murder case — the Delphi murders — producing hundreds of podcast episodes, breaking news, and ultimately writing and publishing a crime nonfiction book about the mystery. Things got pretty wild.
We save money on school supplies through homeschooling. It lets us spend valuable time with our three kids. Original
Marcus: Homeschooling's not that taboo anymore. Our decision to take up homeschooling was more internal between us than external. We follow Jefferson Bethke, an author and prominent voice in Christian media, who wrote several books on family and marriage, which led us to learn more. We read one book after another and fell into the rabbit hole of reimagining how we wanted to raise our family.
I'm a single dad of 3. Here's how I take care of my kids, my job, and my mental health. Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Daniel Medved, 33, a senior product marketing manager at a tech company in Seattle. It has been edited for length and clarity. I'm a one-man band raising my three little ones. My mornings start at 6:30 a.m., unless one of my kids comes to my room before I'm up. Those early hours are filled with getting them dressed, brushing hair, brushing teeth, and applying sunscreen in the summer. I raise my three kids here in Seattle.
Every summer, I take a "Fellesferien" period like they do in Norway — and I highly recommend it Original
Through my 20s, when I spent my days working in London media offices, I used to carefully allocate each vacation day for maximum bang for my buck, padding out weekends so I could catch flights on Thursday nights and return Sunday afternoon, all with minimum cost to my annual PTO allowance. I used this method to go on adventurous if hectic trips to Cinque Terre in Italy, Dubrovnik in Croatia, and Athens in Greece, going straight back to the office after a non-stop weekend.
I quit my job to scale my side hustle. I've earned over $800,000 in 5 years on Fiverr by raising prices and optimizing my profile. Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Harlan Rappaport, 27, who turned a side hustle of email marketing into his full-time career. Business Insider verified his earnings with documentation. His words have been edited for length and clarity. I started working as an investment analyst at a financial institution after college. I liked the company and the people I worked with, but I'd always had an entrepreneurial bug, and my job just wasn't satisfying that.
"Gen Z stare"? Millennials, your boomer trauma is showing. Original
Just when I thought the millennial-Gen Z alliance had reached a zenith, the "Gen Z stare" debate was born. The "Gen Z stare" is supposedly the blank look Gen Zers give when they're asked a question or faced with a situation they don't know how to respond to. Most of the debate hinges on Gen Zers working customer service roles, like hostessing at restaurants or taking orders at coffee shops.
An Olympian With an Engineering Degree Is Still Jobless After 14 Months Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shaun Gill, a 32-year-old Olympian in track and field and an engineering graduate from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The following has been edited for length and clarity. At the Paris Olympics last summer, I was the only athlete representing Belize. During the opening ceremony, I waved my country's flag with pride, energy, and joy.
When my wife and I changed our minds about being childfree, we did 5 things to assess our retirement plan Original
For many years, my wife and I opted to be child-free. I could see myself having kids, but also felt at peace with the idea of not having children at all. My wife was more firmly in the "no thanks" camp when she was in her 20s. Then, we both changed our minds. It wasn't any one particular event or conversation, but more of the cumulative effect that I think many people experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020 put things in a different perspective.
I'm a drag queen in NYC whose bookings for Pride Month have plummeted this year. I'm trying to work smarter, not harder. Original
Brita Filter, 39, is a household name in drag entertainment. Her popularity went mainstream when she appeared on season 12 of "RuPaul's Drag Race," and she's made appearances on "Saturday Night Live," "Broad City," and "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah." I first heard of Brita in 2023 when my then-employer, PayPal, was trying to book her for a Pride happy hour near our NYC office.
I got fired while in cancer treatment. I thought it was a death sentence, but it led me to my dream job. Original
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alex George, a 29-year-old baker and content creator living in Philadelphia, about her career pivot following her Ewing's sarcoma diagnosis. It's been edited for length and clarity. I truly loved baking from a young age. When I'd watch TV, I'd usually opt for Food Network and loved every single show. That was a big part of wanting to make — and also loving — food.
I'm a 64-year-old Amazon employee. Retirement wasn't even on my radar, but I'm being forced to leave due to RTO mandates. Original
Mark Lennihan/Associated Press 2025-04-23T09:12:02Z Facebook Email X LinkedIn Copy link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Lee Ann Million has been an executive assistant at Amazon since 2011 and has worked remotely for nine years. Due to Amazon's return-to-office policy, Million has been told that her last day is April 30.
I was furloughed from my global public health job due to the USAID freeze. Foreign aid makes the US safer and stronger. Original
Kirsten Weeks is a global health leader with over 25 years of experience. Courtesy of Kirsten Weeks 2025-04-20T09:15:02Z Facebook Email X LinkedIn Copy link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . Kirsten Weeks has worked in global public health for over 25 years. With the Trump administration's freeze on foreign assistance, Weeks worries that America's soft power will suffer.
I was an email hoarder until it got out of control. Here are 7 quick ways I cleaned up my inbox and freed up storage space. Original
The first step to cleaning up your Gmail inbox is to admit you're an email hoarder. chaofann/Getty Images 2025-04-05T10:14:01Z Facebook Email X LinkedIn Copy link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? . I ran out of Google storage space because my Gmail inbox was flooded with unread messages. To continue receiving new emails, I had to delete over 30,000 older ones.
Celebrities When They Were Schoolchildren: Pictures
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34 Most Jaw-Dropping Pics of Celebrities When They Were Schoolchildren: Revisit Their Younger Years
Writing 2 hours ago Ed Burns' advice on surviving 'bittersweet' transition to becoming an empty nester Fox News - By Stephanie Nolasco • 2h Ed Burns officially became an empty nester this year. The 56-year-old actor and filmmaker shares two children with wife Christy Turlington: Grace, 20, and Finn, 18.
Local photographer identifies bald eagle
Onassis Arroyo is a local avid bird photographer enthusiast who regularly photographs birds and other wildlife in the Yucaipa area. He is especially drawn to a pair of bald eagles, one with a band on its leg, who are often together near the Crafton Hills area. “From 2021-2024, I made it my quest to try and capture the numbers on the banded female eagle in my photographs. Over time I have collected hundreds of images of the banded eagle,” said Arroyo.
Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher: 15 Rare Must-See Photos - First For Women Original
The world has never been the same since the news that legendary Star Wars actresses Carrie Fisher and her mom and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) leading lady, Debbie Reynolds, died within a day of each other back in December of 2016. While Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher admittedly had a fraught relationship, it was also one filled with a deep love and appreciation for one another.
Original Mickey Mouse Club: 12 Wacky Best-Kept Secrets - First For Women Original
Even if you never missed an episode of the original Mickey Mouse Club when you were a kid (we’re singing the “Mickey Mouse March” in our heads right now!), there was a lot going on behind the scenes that the audience never really knew. After all, the Mickey Mouse Club, which aired on ABC from October 3, 1955 to September 25, 1959, came way before the days of social media or reality television.
Angela Lansbury Young: 10 Rare Photos of The Beloved Star Long Before 'Murder She Wrote' Original
With a legendary career that spanned nearly 80 years, the British actress Angela Lansbury was long known as a true class act. The star, who was made a Dame in 2014 for her status as icon of the stage and screen, sadly passed away in 2022 at age 96. Perhaps best-known for her role as Jessica Fletcher in the whodunit series Murder She Wrote, which ran from 1984 to 1996, Lansbury was 58 when she took on the lead role, which broke down barriers for women over the age of 50 in TV shows and movies.
'The Golden Girls' Secrets: 12 Amazing Stories About Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia Original
Entertainment Learn who didn't like cheesecake and who kept their costumes from the show! By Debbie Strong Updated: October 24, 2023 @goldengirls/Instagram The Golden Girls is one of the most beloved sitcoms of the ’80s. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty as a quartet of senior single women sharing a house in Miami, the popular show racked up 11 Emmys (including one for each of its four stars!).
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