Actor Slash ?

Here's something I've been thinking about this week: how so many folks I know (myself included) are actor/something else. 

I'm an actor/theater educator.  I know actor/directors, actor/writers, actor/theater administrators, actor/musicians even actor/massage therapists and one actor/flight instructor.  Actor/ is different than being an actor with a day job (like an actor who makes their money by walking dogs, or working chain retail). 

Actor/ means that you do multiple things for work, enjoy doing multiple things for work, and if people ask you what you do you might be tempted to say "I'm an actor and also a (fill in the blank)"  However, sometimes, depending on the parts of the slash, it may not make sense to promote all the parts at the same time, or in the same way.  If you were a preschool teacher/dominatrix, it's pretty obvious that you wouldn't want to bring up both in the same breath, but what about a police officer/cake decorator, or a voiceover artist/B&B owner?

If you pursue multiple careers simultaneously, you may want to check out the book One Person Multiple Careers by Marci Alboher.  (I got it from the library several years ago).   It's full of practical advice about how one part of your slash can compliment the other, and includes things like how you might negotiate if you are a /parent.  I thought it was a helpful read, and hopefully you will too!