• JD Vance described the conversation he had when Trump picked him as his running mate.
• He also said he was wowed by Trump asking to speak to his son, who was being noisy in the background.
• Vance attempted to explain his 2016 comments casting Trump as potentially "America's Hitler."

JD Vance has described the conversation he had with former President Donald Trump when he was picked as his vice-presidential nominee.

Trump announced on Monday that he had chosen the 39-year-old Ohioan as his running mate. Vance was considered the most MAGA-friendly candidate for the role.

Speaking to Fox News's Sean Hannity in an interview at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Vance said that he was told by the former president: "We've gotta go save this country."

Vance went on to describe the conversation, calling Trump "the president" in the process.

"I hope I'm not betraying too many confidences here, but when the president called me today to actually formally offer me to become the vice presidential nominee — which just sounds crazy — my son, my seven-year-old son, was sort of making noise in the background. I was getting so embarrassed," he said.

But, he said, Trump "actually has me put my seven-year-old son on the phone."

He marveled at Trump taking the time to do this after "everything that's happened," and said: "It's a moment I'll never forget."

Trump survived a shocking assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

At the RNC, he wore a bandage on his right ear, the result of a bullet clipping his ear.

Vance paraphrased his conversation with Trump further, telling Hannity that Trump had said Vance would be helpful in Midwestern states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

He also reminded Vance of his endorsement of the Ohioan's Senate bid back in 2022, Vance said.

"I would not have won that race without Donald Trump's endorsement," Vance added.

In the interview, Hannity questioned Vance on his evolution from never-Trumper to MAGA heir apparent.

Two years ago, days after Trump endorsed Vance for the Senate, a 2016 message that Vance had sent to an old college friend emerged, where he said that Trump could end up being "America's Hitler."

The message also entertained the possibility that Trump was "a cynical asshole like Nixon."

Since then, Vance has become a staunch Trump ally, backing some of the most extreme consequences of the Trump presidency — such as curtailing abortion rights, and casting unevidenced doubts on the outcome of the 2020 election.

Speaking to Hannity, Vance said that he doesn't hide from his past comments.

"I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind," Vance said, adding that he had "bought into the media's lies and distortions."

• Trump's new pick for VP is former venture capitalist JD Vance.
• Some Silicon Valley leaders and other VCs are excited at Trump's decision.
• But not all GOP donors were pleased with the running mate.

Some of tech's biggest names, like Elon Musk, are crowing about Donald Trump's pick for vice president — but not all of big business immediately lined up with congratulations.

Trump chose freshman Sen. JD Vance as his running mate on Monday. Vance, who spent short stints as a venture capital investor at three firms in Silicon Valley and the Midwest, has close ties to tech and politics kingmaker Peter Thiel. Much of the initial wave of public congratulations came from men in tech with ties to Thiel, like Musk, who has known Thiel for decades.

The Trump-Vance ticket "resounds with victory," Musk posted on X on Monday.

Some venture capitalists are similarly thrilled about Vance.

He's "an American patriot, with the courage to fight America's wars but the wisdom to know when to avoid them," wrote Craft Ventures' David Sacks on X.

Sacks, along with Thiel and Musk, is part of the "PayPal Mafia," a group of early PayPal founders and employees who have gone on to invest and found tech companies and VC firms. Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Thiel-backed VC firm Founders Fund, posted about the news with three American flag emojis of approval.

Support for Vance also came from those who said they don't know him personally.

"We actually have a young candidate who seems to be tech savvy. I think it's good for the party," Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures, told Bloomberg.

The former US Marine broke with the traditional mainstream Republican platform by taking less orthodox stances on economic issues, such as supporting raising minimum wages and taxes on corporations.

Most notably, Vance was a vocal proponent of the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust enforcement of big tech companies. Startup investors like Vance and Thiel view breaking up Big Tech as a way to level the playing field for small tech companies edged out by their deep-pocketed, entrenched competitors.

But some business leaders opposed Trump's decision, like billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, a top Republican donor, the Washington Post reported. Griffin told the Post in a statement that Trump had "many good choices for Vice President, and I appreciate the thoughtful deliberation of the President and his team."

One of Vance's most outspoken critics was former chairman of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch. The media titan sent executives to meet with Trump to lobby against Vance and push for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, according to a report by NOTUS.

Vance's competition for Trump's running mate included Florida Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Burgum. After the VP pick went public, both men expressed their support for Vance.

• Getting a new job is personally and professionally exciting, and many share their news on social media.
• HR expert Carly Holm shared her top tips for posting about your new job on LinkedIn with Business Insider.
• Holm advised against oversharing and recommended keeping posts concise, professional, and positive.

A LinkedIn job announcement post is often where your professional network first learns of your new position. It could be seen by past, present, and future employers — so it's definitely something worth putting some time into.

Carly Holm, founder of Nashville-based Humani HR, has 16 years of experience in human resources and previously held roles at Bank of America and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. She told Business Insider she loves it when people announce their new jobs on LinkedIn.

Holm said it's a positive thing as an employer to see a new hire's network commenting and engaging with these updates, especially when it's from previous employers and colleagues.

Like all online posting, however, there can be pitfalls to sharing your new role online, and Holm offered five potential mishaps to avoid when announcing your latest job.

1) Oversharing

Where these posts can go wrong is where there is any oversharing, Holm said.

"You never want to talk about your previous employer," she said, advising against ever stating why you left your last role and why you wanted to join this new company.

Holm said job announcements should be "concise," "professional," "to the point," and "positive."

She held that although LinkedIn is a social media platform, it's not like Facebook or Instagram, which are better suited for sharing your more intimate or private experiences.

"I really don't think LinkedIn is the place for personal oversharing," she said.

2) The woes of finding a job

Holm says she has mixed feelings about someone sharing the struggles they have experienced in the labor market in a new job announcement post.

This is where a person opens up about applying to, say, 500 companies within 16 months, only to receive hundreds of rejections.

She says these kinds of difficulties should be saved for people in the real world.

For Holm, a job announcement post should always be positive.

3) Job hopping

It's best not to publicize starting with a new organization too often as this can signify job-hopping, Holm said.

Moving between several different positions or companies within a short period of time is classed as job-hopping.

"If people are job-hopping a lot, that doesn't look good in the eyes of any employer," Holm said.

"If I have someone in my network and every six months they're announcing that they have a new job, that's gonna raise an eyebrow a little bit," she added.

While there are different situations and sometimes things just don't work out, a recruiter might wonder why this person hasn't kept a job, Holm said.

4) Timing

She recommended waiting to announce a new position until you actually start with that company. Anything can happen between getting a job offer and beginning work, so you shouldn't announce your news too early.

You don't want your current colleagues or employer to discover you're leaving your current workplace via LinkedIn, Holm said.

5) Company policy

You should check if your company has a social media policy. Holm told BI that there are some scenarios where it's inappropriate to make a job announcement, especially if it's a more confidential role — but this is rare.

Another example Holm shared for avoiding drawing attention to a job update was for startups in stealth mode.

If in doubt, she advised talking to your manager first just to double-check.

• I don't want to forget who I was before my wife and I had kids.
• But to stay connected to my pre-kid identity, I have to make a conscious effort.
• I do things like exercise, pursue hobbies, and spend time with friends.

As a dad of two young girls, I do so much parenting that sometimes it feels like that's all I ever do.

It starts first thing in the morning. During the school year, we're up at the unreasonable hour of 6 a.m. so my oldest can catch the school bus before the little one heads off to pre-K. In the summers, we get a tad more sleep, but the mornings are still a frantic race to get everyone off to their various activities, sports, and camps.

As the kids have gotten older, our bedtime routine swallows up more of the evening. My 9-year-old often stays up late, which can be really fun when we play games and hang out, but it has started to carve into a time that used to be reserved for my wife and me to relax, spend time together, or catch up on chores — and yes, doing chores sadly sometimes passes for me-time these days.

Then come the weekends — finally, a "break!" A break from work, but also a break from structured childcare. We feed and entertain the kids from dawn 'til dusk and often re-enter the grind on Monday more exhausted than ever.

I love every chaotic moment of being a dad, and I wouldn't trade it. But in all the madness, it's easy to lose sight of who I am on my own.

Simply put, there's just not much time for my own hobbies, time with friends, or many of the things that used to make me me. But that doesn't mean I don't try! There are a few key areas where I've really dug in my heels and refused to let that part of me slip away.

Spending time with my pre-kid and non-parent friends is crucial

One thing that never fails to invigorate me is time spent with my friends who either don't have kids, or who knew me before I did.

Don't get me wrong; as parents, our little village of other parents who are struggling with the same things we are is critical to our survival and our mental health. But there's something so refreshing about being around people who remind you there's more to life than bowel movements and cartoons, more to talk about than drama at day care and how hard it is to feed picky eaters.

I feel like a different part of me comes alive when I'm around old friends, and I let myself get swept up in nostalgia or fall back into the rhythm of familiar inside jokes. In short, it's pure, easy joy.

It's not always easy to carve out adults-only time with friends, but it's always worth it.

I always make time for exercise

I'm 37 and have no delusions about chasing the elusive six-pack, but exercise still has an important place in my life. It's one of the very few times during the week that's just for me, and while I'm probably more likely to hurt myself than set a new personal record at this stage, the mental benefits are massive.

Of course, there's some vanity to wanting to look my best, but I think it's also about wanting to stay attached to my former self — who would probably be appalled if he knew when the last time was that I bought myself clothes or had a long, relaxing shower.

Music and hobbies remind me I have my own interests

I spend so much time listening to music with my kids that my own tastes can get swallowed up. There's the obvious stuff that I can't wait to turn off once they're out of the car, like Doc McStuffins jingles (though, I admit, they're catchy).

But then there's Taylor Swift, who we all love. But that's not really my music, it's a shared interest with my girls. I have to proactively remember to put on stuff that's only for me (2000s pop-punk, for the record) with no hope that anyone else in the family will like it (they won't), because it's purely for my own enjoyment.

Hobbies? Most parents I know have forgotten what a hobby is. But I pick them up frequently, even if they usually fall by the wayside quickly. What's important to me is that I keep trying, whether re-downloading that Chess app or dusting off my acoustic guitar.

I usually don't stay interested in the same hobby for long, but I like to give myself permission to pursue one when the itch strikes and the schedule loosens up. I don't feel guilty for wasting time on it or abandoning it once again, either.

Knowing how to be your own person doesn't make it easy

I rarely seem to have enough time or mental energy for these things, even though I know they're worthwhile.

And then, of course, most of the solo time I do get often comes at the expense of my wife, who has to work double-time in my absence. I do the same for her so she can go to yoga on the weekends or catch up with friends. These quid pro quos work great, but they make it almost impossible for us to get quality time together. And, crucially, that's probably the most important area of our pre-kid life we want to cling to.

It's so important to both of us that we see each other as more than just "mom" or "dad." That's a battle we're always fighting, but at least we're fighting it together.

I think it's essential to feel like I'm my own person and not just an automaton whose sole mission is to provide meals and entertainment to my children. Doing things just for me makes me a happier human, and being a happier human will — hopefully — make me a better parent in the long run.

Who would you like to work for when you grow up? That's a question the National Society of High School Scholars, an honor society for high-achieving students, asks its members in a survey every two years or so. The rankings, unsurprisingly, tend to skew to the kinds of companies most familiar to kids (top-100 staples over the years have included Disney and Build-A-Bear). But beyond the big-name brands, the survey offers a snapshot of the aspirations of America's most ambitious teens — students who will soon become the next generation of elite professionals.

For years, the top spots in the survey have been dominated by tech giants. In 2017, for example, the most aspired-to employer was Google. But this year's rankings, based on responses from more than 10,000 Gen Zers, reflect a changing world order. Google fell to No. 7 on the list; Amazon to No. 8; and Tesla to No. 33. Instagram came in at No. 48, and Facebook just barely made the cut at all, tumbling all the way down past Dow Chemical and 3M to No. 94. Tech's allure, it appears, is plummeting among the best and brightest high schoolers.

Why has tech suddenly fallen out of favor among students? Part of it, I'm guessing, is a simple calculation of who's hiring right now. Silicon Valley has been laying off workers by the tens of thousands, making tech work almost impossible to come by. In a survey conducted by Handshake, a job site for college students, the class of 2024 listed job stability as their top priority in deciding where to apply. And in the search for steady employment, the share of applications they submitted to tech companies dropped by 19% compared with the class of 2022.

Students also said a major consideration in where to apply was the reputation of a company as a good place to work. "They're looking for an employer that's going to take care of them and be nice to their workforce," says Christine Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer at Handshake. And the tech industry did itself no favors in the harsh way it conducted its recent wave of layoffs. "You've seen people go on social media and talk about what their layoff experience was like and how the company treated them," Cruzvergara says.

But the numbers suggest that tech's disfavor among Gen Z is more than self-interested calculus. For over a decade, tech has enjoyed a near-total monopoly on the country's smartest young workers. Millennials believed they were heading to Silicon Valley in service of a lofty mission. Tech, they were told, was going to democratize data, creating a digital bridge to a better and more equitable world. Instead, tech companies have been responsible for spreading misinformation, fueling hate speech, sowing digital addiction, and exacerbating an epidemic of mental illness among teens. To Gen Z, tech no longer looks like a force for good. On the high-school survey this year, more students said they believe artificial intelligence will have a negative effect on society than those who say it will have a positive one.

We've seen this happen before. Two decades ago, when I was in college, the smartest students in my class wanted to go into finance. Then, in the fall semester of our senior year, Lehman Brothers collapsed and took the rest of the economy with it. The sharp contraction in banking — combined with Wall Street's new image as evil personified — spurred students to begin looking elsewhere for employment. That's when the Googles and Facebooks swooped in, offering wildly generous stock options, free meals, offices with ping-pong tables, and a chance to build world-changing products. It didn't take long for tech to supplant finance as the ultimate dream job.

Now, the waning interest in Big Tech could pose a long-term threat to its future. After all, the industry's ascent was fueled by more than its algorithms. Part of what made Silicon Valley so dominant was the endless pipeline of brilliant college graduates who supplied young companies with the fresh ideas and mountains of code they needed to become the behemoths they are today. If Big Tech has lost the hearts and minds of today's students, it has lost its ultimate edge.

If Silicon Valley is going out of vogue, what will take its place as the next hot destination? One contender, according to the latest high-school survey, appears to be healthcare. In this year's rankings, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was No. 1. The Mayo Clinic was No. 2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which wasn't even in the top 100 in 2018, was No. 14. If the pandemic taught Gen Z anything, it's that no jobs are more important than those of the front-line workers who put their own lives on the line to save the lives of others. (Students ranked their local hospital at No. 4.) And with the healthcare industry facing severe staffing shortages, we need young people to pursue careers as doctors and nurses far more than we need them to optimize ads on the internet.

Another contender to take tech's place may be — irony of ironies — the federal government. Civil service doesn't come with the pay or the glamour of tech jobs, but it offers the stability that college students say they want. Perhaps that's why the share of applications to government jobs on Handshake this year nearly doubled from 2022. And in the survey of high schoolers, the FBI, NASA, the CIA, and the CDC all ranked in the top 20. Big Tech's biggest titans may loathe Washington, but today's smartest teenagers see it as a source of meaningful work and steady employment.

But as I've chewed this question over, I wonder if the new dream job for young people isn't a job at all — at least not the kind where they work for someone else. On the Handshake survey, three-quarters of respondents said they would be interested in pursuing entrepreneurship at some point in their career. Many, in fact, have already dabbled in a variety of side hustles, acquiring a taste for working for themselves. When I speak to college students these days, I'm struck by how they lack the naivete I suffered from when I was their age. They already know that the only company you can't get fired from is the one where you're the owner.

That doesn't mean they plan on striking out on their own right away. That would be the opposite of the stability they want, and this is a practical bunch. Instead, they're still applying for normal, entry-level jobs to support themselves while they spin up their own thing. "They're using their full-time job as a safety net to make sure that they have steady income, that they're able to pay their bills, that they're able to save," says Cruzvergara. "Then, if things are going well, they can make that transition and it doesn't feel as idealistic and scary." Today's students may not look all that different from the careerists of previous generations. But their North Star is no longer to become a senior vice president of someone else's company.

Whatever ends up becoming the next hot career — healthcare, government, entrepreneurship, or something else — the waning dominance of Big Tech is likely to be a good thing for the rest of the economy. So many sectors have languished for years, unable to compete for the bright young minds that Silicon Valley hoarded for so long. Now, like tech and finance before them, they'll finally have a shot at hiring the generation that will drive the innovation of the future.

Aki Ito is a chief correspondent at Business Insider.

• Many older Americans with fixed incomes are struggling with rising housing costs.
• A retiree in Missoula, Montana, has found a way to downsize by building an ADU in her son's backyard.
• Missoula's reformed zoning laws and state-level housing reforms support more ADU construction.

When Sylvia and her husband found out they were welcoming their first grandchild in 2018, the retired couple decided they would move from Arizona to live near their son and daughter-in-law in Missoula, Montana.

In early 2019, they relocated to a four-bedroom house around the corner from their then-one-year-old grandson.

But over the last couple of years, Sylvia, who was a city government administrative assistant in California before she retired, has felt financially stressed. Her husband got sick a couple of years after the couple moved to Montana, and he died in 2022.

While her house is paid off, her home-related costs, including insurance, property taxes, and maintenance, have risen. In 2019, her home insurance cost about $890, but last year, according to her record-keeping, she paid almost $1,500. She's also felt squeezed by general inflation, including rising grocery costs. Plus, the 3,000-square-foot house is just too big for her.

"Owning my home is going to drive me to the poor house," said Sylvia, who's 71 and requested her last name be omitted to protect her privacy.

But last year, her son and daughter-in-law came to her with an idea: she could build and relocate to an accessory dwelling unit — a small detached home — in their backyard. The ADU would likely cost less to build than it would to buy another home in the neighborhood, they reasoned. And it would allow Sylvia to live in a smaller, accessible home very close to family as she grows older.

Sylvia talked with her other two kids, and they all agreed it was a good idea. So they found an architect and a contractor, and Sylvia signed a contract to pay $274,000 for the construction, according to documents viewed by BI. The 600-square-foot one-bedroom home will have a vaulted ceiling, a big front porch, and a back deck. It'll be painted to match her son's house.

"It's going to be real pretty," Sylvia said. "I'm hoping it's the last place I live."

She's planning to pay for the ADU in cash, and the contractors are on track to complete it by December.

Sylvia plans to sell her current house, which she and her husband bought for $315,000 in 2019. According to documents viewed by BI, since home prices have soared across Montana, the home is now valued at $718,000.

ADUs — often called "granny flats" or "casitas" — are a particularly useful form of housing for older people who want to downsize into a smaller, more accessible home and also want to be close to family. Increasingly, cities and states across the country are legalizing and even incentivizing ADU construction as a way to boost the supply of smaller, more affordable homes.

"This was the most viable option for me," Sylvia said. "I don't think I would be able to buy a home for $274,000."

ADUs as a solution for cash-strapped older people

Sylvia's ADU might not have been legal in Missoula until about a decade ago — and it still isn't legal in many American residential neighborhoods. Even in states that encourage tiny home construction, local anti-development groups and policymakers often make it all but impossible to build a backyard ADU.

The western Montana city first took action to encourage the construction of ADUs in 2013 and further loosened restrictions in 2020 after just 30 ADUs had reportedly been built in the city. As part of broader zoning code reforms, the city council this year agreed to increase the allowable size of ADUs and liberalize a few other rules.

The state government has also pushed for more of these homes as part of its broader housing reform effort aimed at boosting supply. Last year, the Montana state legislature passed a bipartisan law requiring all cities and towns to allow the construction of ADUs on single-family lots. But before the law went into effect in January, a judge temporarily blocked the measure, along with several other pro-housing laws. The court sided with an organization of Montana homeowners who argued denser housing would alter the character of their neighborhoods. The state appealed the decision to the state supreme court earlier this year.

This comes as older people, including homeowners, are struggling with rising housing costs in communities across the country. Insurance costs have risen dramatically all over — a result of both increasingly severe climate issues, including flooding and fires, and the elevated cost of home construction and repairs. Nationally, home insurance premiums rose by an average of 21% between May 2022 and May 2023, Policygenius found. Home repairs are also more costly these days, with a shortage of construction workers and the elevated cost of materials.

The portion of homeowners 55 and older who are cost-burdened — or spend more than 30% of their income on housing and utilities — rose from 30% in 2001 to 45% in 2022, a new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies on the state of US housing found.

In Montana, a severe housing shortage has caused home prices to soar. But property taxes and insurance costs are also way up, making it hard for many homeowners to afford their payments.

"Elderly and disabled people are struggling really, really hard," Beverly Dashnaw, a HUD-certified housing counselor in Helena, recently told BI. "The cost of living, inflation is going up for everything, and their income doesn't go up."

Sylvia is lucky she can cash in on the rise in her home's market value without having to buy another home in an impossible market with high interest rates. And Missoula has proven to be a good place to age, she says. If she can't drive, she can take the city's free buses to the library, where she volunteers each week, and to the pickleball courts, where she plays regularly.

"This is a small town, I love it," she said. "It's easy to get around, and I know my way around."

Are you a homeowner struggling with rising insurance premiums or other costs? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.

• Overemployment is growing as workers seek financial independence and early retirement.
• Three double-dippers are sacrificing their social lives, health, and sleep to work long hours.
• Strategies include job juggling and secrecy, but risks like burnout and job loss persist.

The pay and benefits of a full-time job aren't always enough to sustain an employee's lifestyle and monetary goals. As a result, some people are choosing overemployment as an avenue for maximizing profit.

Business Insider spoke with three people who worked up to a total of 80 hours a week at multiple jobs to achieve their goals — including financial independence, early retirement, and property ownership. But, their social lives, sleep, and hobbies took a hit in the process.

Here's everything they sacrificed to secure their futures.

A Canadian woman sacrificed friends, hobbies, and sleep to retire early

In June, 25-year-old Jane, who withheld her last name for privacy reasons, told BI that she started working two full-time jobs during her last year of college, hoping to retire in her 30s. From 9-to-5, she worked a remote marketing job, and from 5 to 10, she worked a low-lift customer service job.

The flexibility of her remote role allowed her to squeeze in time for homework, while the passivity of her service job gave her a respite from the mental demands of her 9-to-5.

After graduating, keeping two jobs was a no-brainer. She landed a 9-to-5 as a marketing specialist and kept her service job. In the first half of 2024, she earned $43,000 in Canadian dollars and saved up 70% of her salary. All the while, she was living at home and renting out her college property.

Though she was getting closer to her goal of early retirement, she struggled to find the time or energy to maintain her hobbies, social life, or sleep schedule.

"When the sun goes down at 6 p.m. in winter, I've had days where I look out of the window and realize I've had no sun or exercise all day," Jane told BI.

She reduced her customer service job by 10 hours a week to alleviate exhaustion but still felt burned out.

"I know it's not good for my physical and mental health or my sleep, but I'm so focused on my goal that I'm willing to sacrifice that for a few more years."

This project manager took jobs on each coast to work 12-hour days

After her project management job went remote during the pandemic, 30-year-old Kendall McGill told BI she used the time at home to start a contract job with Apple.

But, when her manager found out about the job and confronted her with concerns, McGill said she knew she had to be more secretive if she wanted to keep double-dipping.

In September 2022, she left her full-time job and created a job-juggling system to avoid legal and professional consequences. However, it required major upkeep.

McGill told BI that she steered clear of jobs with mandatory hours, in-person meetings, and micromanagement. She even took jobs on opposite coasts to work 12-hour days without crossover. The most extreme tactic was her interview technique.

"I have multiple résumés highlighting different skills and jobs rather than listing all my jobs simultaneously. If it ever does come up, I make it seem like the dates overlap less than they did," McGill told BI.

The one time that an interviewer asked about overlap, she didn't get the job.

Despite the risky overlaps and long hours, McGill said she was happy with her choice. She was able to buy a house using four months of savings and felt motivated to keep working multiple jobs.

"We've been sold this American dream, but how can you achieve it with inflation, a pandemic, layoffs, and all these other things? The only way is to beat the system, find a loophole, and get around it."

An over-employed man sacrificed his social life, but lost both jobs in one month

Davrick Hayes got his first quality assurance job in 2014 after he stumbled across an ad that said, "Get paid to play video games." He knew he found a hidden gem because the relatively easy job required no previous experience and had room for growth.

When he moved from LA to North Dakota during the height of the pandemic and found himself with more time than ever, he decided to get another full-time QA job.

He said that he managed both jobs by multi-tasking. He kept a watchful eye on automated tests for one company while running manual tests for the other. During five months of double-dipping, he made $110 per hour.

The only downside was that he had to sacrifice his social life, which he said was manageable until the pandemic lockdowns ended. Though it was tough, Hayes planned to continue both jobs until he lost them both within one month in early 2023.

"I was super stressed about my finances because I had just closed on a house and didn't expect to lose both jobs within a month," Hayes told BI.

Luckily, the money he made from double-dipping gave him the financial security to take on just one job and enjoy more work-life balance.

If you are overemployed and would like to share your story, please email Tess Martinelli at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com

• Hera Wentong Li left a lucrative tech career to start Curio, a book subscription for bilingual kids.
• After stints at Morgan Stanley, Amazon, and Slack, she realized her career was unfulfilling.
• She has no regrets but says she does miss solving abstract and challenging tech problems.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hera Wentong Li, the 36-year-old founder of Curio in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I was born in Singapore and raised in a bilingual environment speaking both English and Mandarin. I moved to the US in 2006 to study computer engineering at Cornell.

After a 13-year tech career, I founded Curio, a subscription book club that fosters bilingual learning in children.

Early in my career, I held positions as a software engineer at Morgan Stanley, Redi Technologies, and Amazon. I then worked at a startup and AppNexus before becoming the senior engineering manager and head of search engineering at Slack.

My salary at Slack was $230,000, but I had over $500,000 in equity annually (depending on the stock price and my bonus) — and some years, I took home seven figures.

I led the search engineering team, overseeing more than 20 engineers

I wore many hats at Slack, managing projects across different tech stacks, hiring and onboarding engineers, and planning for future quarters.

I prioritized the impact of my work and the people I worked with. In my early years, we grew rapidly, I loved my job, and the high salary was a nice bonus.

However, as the growth plateaued, my role became less impactful and focused more on organizational management than creation. Over time, I realized that building an app or trading platform no longer fulfilled me.

Becoming a mother brought new challenges

The pandemic hit when I was a new mom. As the world grappled with conflicts, racial divisions, and hate, I found myself wrestling with a sense of guilt — what had I brought my daughter into?

I started thinking often about how best to prepare the next generation. How can we steer them away from endless scrolling and instead cultivate empathy, resilience, and determination in them? I also started thinking about instilling my unique cultural heritage into my children and raising them to be true to themselves.

Reading is a cherished pastime for my family, but I struggled to find quality children's books in Chinese. Reflecting on my upbringing in Singapore, where books were a cornerstone of my childhood, I realized their immense impact on shaping my imagination and broadening my horizons.

I couldn't ignore the lack of resources for bilingual education in New York City, which seemed absurd in this era of limitless internet accessibility. A spark ignited within me, and this realization birthed the idea of Curio.

I had some anxiety about leaving a successful 13-year career

I was nervous but felt I was in the right place to take on the challenge of starting a business. I waited until I had enough savings and enough vested equity to quit. My main concern stemmed from leaving a tech career with lots of potential and growth and the uncertainty of whether it would be easy to return.

Before I quit, I spent six months doing market research, competitive analysis, and talking to various founders and publishers, which helped to minimize my uncertainty. I scheduled a few meetings each week and attended networking events after work.

I found immense joy in connecting with educators and moms from diverse backgrounds nationwide.

Curio was bootstrapped with my own funds

I invested around $200,000 in the first year to get Curio off the ground. We officially launched in April 2023. A friend of mine, Kimberly Atiyeh, who has a background in linguistics and marketing, came on as head of growth in February 2023, helping launch our French subscription.

At first, we did everything ourselves, including packing orders and handling customer service. This gave us a deep understanding of every aspect of the business, which has helped us streamline and scale.

While running the business, we're also always working on the next product in all four languages (currently, we offer Spanish, French, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese).

Kimberly and I now have two toddlers each with full social and sickness calendars. Balancing all of this has been our biggest challenge.

I work more hours than I did at Slack

I have more flexibility than at Slack, but my working hours are longer. Most weeks, I wake up early at 5 a.m. to finish some work.

After breakfast and school drop-off, I get back to work. Some days, I spend hours refining the website to improve conversions or develop new features. Other parts of the day are dedicated to collaborating with Kimberly to strategize for upcoming book selections.

I also manage the operational and logistical aspects of the business. The diverse facets of my role keep me engaged and invested in every aspect of Curio.

My biggest tip for fellow startup entrepreneurs is to talk to as many people as possible

Talk to fellow founders and investors during the initial stages of exploration. It's crucial to approach these conversations discerningly, recognizing that not everyone knows your product or market well.

Additionally, try to sell something early. While surveys and market research are valuable, they can be limited by confirmation biases. The most effective way to validate your ideas is by taking the leap and actually selling something.

I don't regret my journey, but I miss solving abstract and challenging problems in tech. I'm not receiving any salary right now and don't expect to for the next few years. My focus is on continuing to grow the company.

• My son spends half the year in France and half the year in the US. 
• Whenever he goes back and forth, a few things surprise him. 
• He's shocked by how much smaller the roads in France are and has noticed Coca-Cola is better there.

I spend about half my year in Europe, an arrangement that's existed for the last few years mostly due to my partner's job as an international basketball trainer. The perks are tough to beat, and my work as a journalist means it's easy to jump on a flight as long as I have my computer with me. My teen son joins us frequently, mostly made possible because he homeschools and agenerally likes to travel.

Despite coming and going to and from Europe frequently, my son is always surprised by a few key differences between life in the US and life in France. And I don't mean the obvious things, like outlets (we have so, so many adapters) or the ease with which we can jump on a train in Paris and be almost anywhere in the city where we want to go in under 30 minutes; no, I mean the things that really matter to a teenager (or at least to mine).

Coca-Cola is better in France, Dr. Pepper is worse

If there is one thing all three of us agree on, it's that, for whatever reason, Coca-Cola in France is the best Coca-Cola any of us have had anywhere else in the world (so far). We rarely drink it at home in the States because it always feels too sugary, but in France? We are drinking Coke multiple times a week. There is something so refreshing, so very nearly clean about it.

Don't get me wrong: I am pretty sure that at the end of the day, Coke in France isn't any better for us than it is in the US. But I do know that one of the things we talk about before we head over, while we're on the flight, and again as we are getting on the train or settling into our first Uber after arriving, is sitting down at a café and enjoying a glass of Coke.

Gas stations in France are better than those in the US

This summer is the first one we've rented a car and spent significant time driving throughout France. We typically stay in Cannes and Paris and often fly or take the train between the two. This experience has come with a startling experience: Shell gas stations in France are wildly more clean and comfortable than they are in the States; in fact, they're even borderline beautiful.

I am sure I can't speak for every Shell station in America, but by and large, the ones I have frequented are small and usually dirty, and you're lucky if there's more than one restroom stall. To contrast this, we've encountered Shell stations that boast not one, not two, but three separate restaurants or cafés, Starbucks coffee stations, bookstores, the cleanest gas station restrooms with at least 10 stalls, and dining areas that can hold around 30 people.

You can buy one water bottle out of the package (instead of buying the whole thing)

Another favorite fact about France is that when purchasing bottled water (which is super popular in the country even though tap water is totally safe), you can rip open the plastic packaging that encases 12 bottles and just remove one — and you can buy just that one. This never ceases to amaze my kid, who has threatened to attempt the same feat in the US (though I have a feeling the reception would be… less than great).

The roads are tiny — even the interstates

Another difference that always seems to catch my son by surprise is just how narrow the roads in many French cities really are. Driving in France is always a fascinating experience (or, I should say, being a passenger while my partner drives) primarily because it constantly feels like you're going to slam into the car next to you, or the sharply angled, very thin descent into a parking garage is going to be the last one you'll ever make. We always wonder what it feels like for the French to drive in the US for the first time, with our massive highway lanes and monster vehicles.

There is no Taco Bell

But there is no greater surprise my son has experienced in France than this: the country is not home to any Taco Bells, or at least none that we've ever been able to find. In addition to just flat-out being my favorite fast food, Taco Bell is also a favorite of my son's because he's been a vegetarian his entire life, and you can always count on Taco Bell for a few bean burritos (no red sauce, no onions) in a pinch.

The reason for the lack of Taco Bell has never been explained to me, and France clearly has no problem hosting fast food establishments from the US (KFC, McDonald's, and Burger King are everywhere). To say that the lack of Taco Bell has made some days harder than others is an understatement, and we both remain hopeful that one day someone, somewhere, will franchise it throughout the other red, white, and blue.

• Joe Biden announced a proposal to cap annual rent increases at 5% for the next two years. 
• The plan targets corporate landlords with more than 50 units, which make up nearly half of rentals in the US. 
• But the proposal would first need to pass a divided Congress. 

President Joe Biden on Tuesday rolled out a plan offering landlords a choice: cap annual rent increases at 5% for the next two years or risk losing valuable tax credits.

The White House proposal would apply to corporate landlords, defined as those who own more than 50 units. These landlords control more than half the national rental market, according to senior White House officials.

Corporate landlords who increase rent by more than 5% would lose the valuable tax benefit known as depreciation deductions.

"Institutional investors are buying up homes with cash, turning them into rentals and raising rents," White House official Lael Brainard told reporters.

Special exceptions would also apply to units that are new construction or have undergone significant rehabilitation.

Biden will announce the plan during a speech on Tuesday in Nevada, a swing state that has faced some of the steepest housing cost increases in the country. As part of the plan, he will also announce new and proposed sales of federal land in Nevada earmarked for affordable housing, including 20 acres near Clark County and 18 acres near Henderson, Nevada.

But the rent cap proposal is essentially a campaign promise. It would first need to pass both chambers of Congress, which doesn't seem likely before the November presidential election.

Biden's announcement comes on the heels of a turbulent few weeks in the campaign, which saw a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and calls from his own party for President Biden to step down after a shaky debate performance.

This also comes as communities across the country face a severe housing affordability crisis caused largely by a steep shortage of homes. Renters are particularly hard hit. Rents across the country have risen by 26% since early 2020, according to a recent report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies on the state of US housing.

Half of all tenant households were cost-burdened as of 2022, meaning they spent more than 30% of their income on rent, the Harvard report found. That was the highest share since the US Census first started collecting this data, the report noted. Meanwhile, moving from renting to owning a home has also gotten much harder. Less than 15% of renter households can afford the monthly median payment for a median-priced home after taxes and insurance, Harvard found.

There's evidence that many landlords are taking advantage of high demand and a supply shortage to raise rents far beyond their own cost increases. A slew of corporate landlords have used rent-setting algorithmic software to artificially inflate rents. Some have been sued for alledgedly colluding to set rent prices above competitive levels.

But, at the same time, there's hope: A near-record number of new multi-family rental units are hitting the market, and rents for studios and one-bedroom apartments have recently fallen.

A focus on housing affordability

As president, Biden has pushed a series of pro-housing policies and generally favored more federal participation in housing policy. Among those policy pushes was the "Housing Supply Action" plan, which leverages federal grants and loans to incentivize states and cities to loosen land use regulations and facilitate new construction.

The administration has also pushed several initiatives to boost the supply of affordable housing, including encouraging the conversion of office buildings into homes with billions of dollars in federal grants and loans and boosting support for manufactured housing.

Biden's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which represents a sort of wish list of the administration's priorities but would require action from an often-gridlocked Congress to become law, includes $258 billion for housing initiatives, including tax credits for first-time homebuyers, homeowners who sell their starter homes, and those who build or renovate starter homes, and an expansion of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and housing choice vouchers for renters.

But some of Biden's farthest-reaching policies were cut from the Inflation Reduction Act, and still others are unlikely to make it through Congress, where Republicans have opposed the vast majority of Democrats' housing proposals.

Biden has discussed housing in the State of the Union and previously on the campaign trail, including in Nevada.

Tuesday's move is part of a series of recent housing policy announcements from the administration. Late last month, Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced $85 million in funding for 21 cities to subsidize affordable housing development and the construction of supportive infrastructure, including power lines and water mains.