Editors note: At the opening of our 2015 National Training in Milwaukee earlier this summer, our facilitators from Fission Strategy asked participants to pair up and share personal experiences that led them to become part of our People Powered Movement. The exercise wasn't just an ice-breaker — it set the stage for a wealth of information on effective communications. Today we're sharing Randy's story. Stay tuned for more later this week on storytelling strategies.

By Randy Lobasso, Communications Director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and participant in the Alliance National Training

Lots of us lost our jobs during the 2008 financial crisis, and each person’s economic recovery was unique. For me, it was my first time dealing with unemployment. I assumed that given my education and skills, if I applied for enough positions in the area, one would come along.

Just a few weeks of this, I thought, and things would be back to normal.

Nope.

After a couple months of applying for, and never hearing back from, temp agencies and companies looking for part-time workers, I had a new idea: I was going to work for myself. I was a writer after all.

But freelancing isn’t easy. Especially during a recession, I had to prove I could do everything. So, I created business content, edited peoples’ novels, reported and wrote stories for local publications, transcribed interviews, researched and wrote grant applications, wrote web content, and largely got those jobs because I was willing to work for a low wage.

As a new independent contractor, those jobs alone did not pay the bills. I could pay my rent for the time being, but I was purchasing about half the food I had before and I was basically only leaving my house for potential work meetings, interviews, short meetings, and “networking events” — which I didn’t like, and at which I would purchase just one cheap drink, collect some business cards, and head home to get ready for another day of sending out resumes.

Getting to and from jobs by car was out of the question. Even the $2 per train or bus ride cut into my budget. Philadelphia is walkable enough through certain neighborhoods, but I didn’t have the time to head from my house to Center City (a 30-minute walk each way).

The bike I’d purchased off Craigslist was the single tool that got me through that time. I’d use it to go everywhere: job-to-job, interview-to-interview, and between meetings.

Philadelphia, I learned somewhat by accident, is a great place to bike. It’s pretty flat. The streets are small. At that time, many of my job interviews and meetings were within four or five miles of the house I was renting with three other guys. The Schuylkill River Trail, an off-street trail through the west side of Center City and into parts of West Philadelphia, is a convenient, safe way to travel long distances.

My bike was my commute, my exercise, and kept me sane during, arguably, the toughest stretch of my life up to that point.

Over time, the editorial skills I’d honed through desperation proved worthwhile. April 2009 was my first month “in the black” as an independent contractor. By July, I had a regular, contracted gig that awarded me a bi-weekly paycheck. By Spring 2010, I was a regular blogger and columnist at Philadelphia Weekly, one of Philadelphia’s alternative weekly newspapers. Months later, I was teaching English at Community College of Philadelphia, too.

Throughout my own economic recovery, my bicycle has remained my standard means of transportation and still gets me to and from work everyday. Now, though, after four years as a full-time journalist and instructor, I’m an urban bicycling advocate at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Using the same skillsets, I regularly write, edit and produce content about how important a tool bicycling can be for anyone. At the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, I try to show people who are interested but concerned about riding a bike how important a bicycle can be in your life—and that, of all things, pays the bills.

It’s a pretty great gig.

Stay tuned for more on storytelling tactics from our National Training on the blog this week!