Emily Beach knows a thing or two about rotating. she shifts roles throughout her day: from a coach to entrepreneur, to working on multiple projects.
"I think I have some form of obsession with just coming up with ideas and, and trying to make them come to fruition," she said.
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Beach coaches field hockey full-time and she's also an inventor. She created a training tool to help her players, and now sells it online. And she's launching a recruiting web site, that will help connect athletes with coaches.
"I do know that because of how my brain works, that I'm always going to have side things that I'm involved in," said Beach.
Kimberly Palmer, author of The Economy of You: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur and Recession-Proof Your Life, says a lot of people are doing what Beach is doing and earning what she calls a hybrid income.
"There's basically no such thing as job security anymore, so we all have to build our own job security by having multiple streams of income. It's all about leveraging the experience, the skills, the resources that you have," said Palmer.
Labor statistics show nearly seven million U.S. adults have more than one job, with about half holding a full-time and a part-time position. Career consultant John O'Connor believes having multiple incomes is becoming the norm.
"It's almost surprising when people tell me that they don't," said Palmer, President of Career Pro of NC, Inc.
O'Connor says it's about more than an extra paycheck.
"The number one benefit is peace of mind. You can sort of breathe easier at night. If worst came to worse, I have a backup," he added.
Others, like Beach, also work extra because they need a creative outlet.
"I just love coming up with different things," Beach said.
But before you start juggling jobs, O'Connor stresses you need to prioritize the position that's paying the bills.
"If you're smart, you're going to say look, I do owe loyalty and I don't want to create any waves, so you have to really plan how to do this without alerting or offending or creating a concern with your main gig that you're doing this on the side," he explained.
Palmer adds that often it's a life-changing event like a layoff or becoming a parent that drives people to their side jobs. she urges people to be proactive and pursue their passion before they need the extra cash or stability.