Second Shift: ‘I call it my retox/detox lifestyle’

Our Second Shift series features people working more than one job and finding creative ways to make money. This week, meet a New Yorker who teaches yoga when she isn’t behind the bar. Want to be featured? Email Emily.Laurence@metro.us.

Name: Briana Aguilar-Austin
Age: 32
Residency: Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn
Lives with: Her fiancé
Number of jobs: 2

What is your schedule like, balancing these two jobs?

I teach yoga Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, doing either a 60-minute class or a 90-minute class, and I bartend at Angry Wade’s from 2 – 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. I used to bartend nights, but it’s so nice to be bartending days now. Your schedule and sleep patterns are just so different when you work until 4 a.m.

But bartenders get such good tips working nights. Was switching to days a difficult decision?

Yeah, it was. It was a huge decision to cut back on bartending. I actually started cutting back [a couple years ago] when I went back to get an advanced certification in animal behavior and advanced psychology. As I was wrapping up my certification, I started feeling that even though I love bartending, I didn’t want it to be my only job. That’s when I got certified in yoga. But it’s been a challenge because of course yoga doesn’t pay as well as bartending. It took me about a year and a half to feel comfortable enough with teaching classes where I feel like I can bartend only two bars a week and not be struggling.

Are you also trying to pursue a career in animal behavior, since you recently completed that advanced degree?

I was a couple years ago. I’ve been volunteering with the New York Aquarium for the past five years. But realistically, to pursue animal behavior, I’d have to move because there just aren’t that many jobs for it in New York. And I love New York too much to move.

Do you have health insurance?

I do, I have Obamacare. Before Obamacare, I wanted insurance, but it was $850 a month, which was more than my rent at the time. It’s so nice to be able to go to the doctor and have a safety net if God forbid something happen.

Are you happy balancing both jobs or are you hoping for anything to change career-wise?

I’ve very happy. I love bartending. I’ve been at the same bar for eight and a half years and really love the community, meeting new people and the experiences you have. And I also love yoga. Next week I’m getting my spin class certification, so hopefully I’ll be teaching some spin classes soon as well.

Follow Emily on Twitter: @EmLaurence