When the Great Recession hit in 2008, millions were downgraded to part-time, furloughed or simply laid off. But if there’s one thing the recession has proven, it’s that sometimes a downturn in life can be a blessing in disguise.

ISSUE: Fall 2011

DEPT: Features

STORY & PHOTO: Shirley Lau

It’s impossible to look in any direction without seeing someone playing the Words with Friends app on their iPhone or messaging a friend on their Blackberry. Despite government-issued checks being the sole source of income for many, it’s not hard to find restaurants with people waiting in a line that goes out the door, eager to spend their scavenged cash on a nice meal. It may look like the economy is getting better, but looks can be awfully deceiving.

Being unemployed or making a career change during what is considered by economists to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, is anything but an anomaly. As of this past summer, the unemployment
rate was nearly 10 percent, about 31 million people. And with constant fears of a possible double-dip recession, it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon.

So what is one to do when she’s living off unemployment and sending hundreds of résumés into a black hole? Some may choose to make a career out of being couch potatoes, while others are just trying to stay afloat, holding out for the day when they can make a career out of what they’re most passionate about. And then there are those fresh (and once fearful) faces who’ve changed their lives for the better — and they have the recession to thank for it.

Turning Lemons into Literature

{ Kimberly Lin, 27, Chinese American }
Previous job: Hedge fund analyst
Current job: Financial analyst, writer

“You start doubting your own abilities. You always teeter on ‘Am I going to end up depressed and on a Cymbalta commercial?’ But things end up working out in the weirdest ways. You can control yourself; you can’t control the environment,” says Kimberly Lin, who, this year, made the transition from crunching numbers to putting her life down in writing.

Part memoir, part fiction, with a bit of therapeutic ranting, Recession Proof is Lin’s latest endeavor. Inspired by her own life events, Lin writes about her struggles with finding her passion during these tough economic times — all through the fictional character of Helen. It’s a drastic change from working stock market hours and being the only female analyst working at her hedge fund.

After cycling through three finance jobs in a matter of about four years, Lin was at a standstill. She hated her job and couldn’t satisfy her boss’ every whim. At one point during a bout of unemployment, she had to sublet her room and was sleeping on her couch because she couldn’t afford the $1,400 monthly rent, or the $3,000 to cancel her lease.

“I had time to really reflect what it is that I wanted and to reevaluate why was I always getting myself into these situations where I was constantly stressed and chain smoking,” says Lin. Now that the self-inflicted pain has stopped, Lin is able to write while also paying the bills as a financial analyst. Lin even has a second novel in the works, focusing on the trials and tribulations of 30-somethings. “It just never occurred to me that I could make a career out of [writing],” she says. “I look at the recession as a blessing in disguise because I truly believe that I would have not been as motivated to complete my book or had fodder for it had [the recession] not happened.”

– Shirley Lau

Purchase the Summer issue of Audrey Magazine here.

Audrey Magazine‘s Fall Issue feature story, “Picking Up the Pieces,” looks at how the economic recession has affected the lives of Asian Americans. And in light of President Obama’s recent jobs speech to a joint session of Congress, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), released the following statement in response.

In spite of the dangerous myth that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) have been largely untouched by this recession, our community has been devastated by long term unemployment, high rates of foreclosures and downward mobility. Many who have spent decades working to attain the American dream are now falling out of the middle-class or struggling to make ends meet.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Asian American and Pacific Islander community experienced the fastest percentage growth of any racial group over the last 10 years. Since the recession began, AAPIs have experienced a 54 percent drop in median household income and the largest decline in home ownership of any racial group. As a whole, AAPIs also remain unemployed for longer periods of time than any other group. Certain AAPI communities, such as American Samoans, also have unemployment rates that are nearly twice the national average.

The President’s plan is a step forward for our community and our country. By extending unemployment benefits and investing in job creation, we can help AAPI workers suffering from disproportionately long periods of unemployment. The President’s proposal for tax relief on small businesses will also benefit the 1.5 million AAPI owned businesses that employ over 2.8 million people. As elected leaders in Congress, we need to come together and pass a meaningful jobs package that puts Americans back to work and invests in our current and future needs.

To check out our Fall issue, purchase here.