How Airbnb Supports a Musician in Brooklyn

Suzette Sundae rents a private room to travelers and subletters

Suzette Sundae and the Lovelifes. Used by permission.
last calendar month, I interviewed Garnet Henderson — personal flight simulator, freelancer writer and professional dancer — to better understand the gig economy .
How a Dancer in New York City Earns a know
This month, I talked to Suzette Sundae. For twenty years, she worked as a brick and mortar retailer in Brooklyn. however, when her vintage invest store closed two years ago, she decided to become something she ’ five hundred always dream of : a musician. Interestingly enough, Airbnb has made this dream possible .
What are your streams of income? How do you earn money?

Being a previous store owner, I still have a fortune of things to sell on eBay and a little moment on Etsy. however, my main pour of income is decidedly Airbnb. Nowadays, I besides make money here and there playing shows .
What makes your Airbnb listing unique, compared to surrounding listings?
possibly it ’ s the algorithm ! With the apartment I have now, it ’ mho set up as a secret, separate apartment. People like that. It ’ sulfur clean, organized, minimal, and very close to the L/M trains in Bushwick. That ’ s a big thing for Airbnb ; people want to be close to a good prepare to get to Times Square, which is about forty minutes away, and other attractions. placement is huge, aside from privacy and your reviews .
If you have a fortune of good reviews from past Airbnb guests, you ’ ll do a batch better. People read and check a act of your reviews, along with the ace evaluation you received .
What do guests say about their stay in your apartment in your reviews?
They like that the list description was accurate. They like the proximity to the coach .

Travelers like the vicinity, because it gives them the touch of being in a real New York setting versus the impersonal feel of a hotel with other tourists .

They like being immersed in a local anesthetic culture, I think. There ’ second a distribute of interesting things going on in my neighborhood .
Do you ever experience gaps in your income from Airbnb?
not besides a lot. There ’ randomness decidedly a dense meter for any tourist clientele. It slows down a short sting in the dead of winter, after Christmas. It slows down a little bite at the very conclusion of the summer in August, but [ clientele ] is reasonably solid. For whatever argue, I ’ molarity doing it right .
During those slow periods, what do you do to make up for the income gap?
I sell more farce on eBay or play more shows. Again, it ’ s so few times when that ’ south been an consequence with Airbnb. last winter got a short sting sparse, but I was hush selling a set at the clock, so I didn ’ thyroxine crave .
What types of products do you sell on eBay and Etsy?
I ’ ve been a vintage dress dealer for twenty years, so I still have a set of vintage dress. At this item, I ’ m at the conclusion of my trade, but I still have fixtures, supplies and things like that for a business. Until recently, I had two stores worth of inventory. I ’ m hoping to transition out of selling on eBay. I ’ ve enrolled in a copyread course for the fall .
Why are you transitioning away from selling on eBay?
I enjoyed being a retailer for over twenty dollar bill years, and I would ’ ve continued. unfortunately, the write on the wall became apparent : brick and mortar retail died, particularly for vintage clothing in Park Slope. It was impossible to continue selling anything, but I was passionate about and selling in that particular placement. even placid, careless of what we sell now, brick and mortar retail is so hard. It ’ second pointless, because for some reason, you ’ re either a entire masochist or truly love selling retail to the point you don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate take care making less money, working twice vitamin a difficult .
I made some great on-line sales, but honestly, sitting behind a calculator all day at a desk, going between your desk and the post office, working yourself ragged for little money, depending on what you sell — that on-line commercialize is so saturated. To me, why would anyone want to do that ?

I sold vintage dress for twenty years, but I thought it was enough. I wanted to do something else .

It seemed like a effective position to start asking myself what I ’ m passionate about. I thought, I ’ ve always wanted to be a singer, I have a band. I ’ ve hired many employees over the years. My last store was 2,000 squarely feet, no fewer than six or seven employees at all times, most-full time. They all had bands and I was constantly jealous ! I wanted to do something for myself and develop the skills I could be proud of. I wanted to educate myself that would basically, provide me a modern skill set .
There ’ second something actually romantic about the idea of playing a pretty song well with a nice guitar, that you can go anywhere and do that. There ’ south something truly fulfilling about that impression. I made my bow into a stagecoach. And it ’ s been going so well. recently, I ’ m surprised. My band is booked every weekend through the fall into October and we just started booking. We ’ ve got some great shows coming up. I work with incredible musicians. It ’ sulfur been a fantastic thing to do, and Airbnb has made it all possible .
Let’s talk about your bands. What are their names and genres?
My namesake band is called Suzette Sundae and the Lovelifes, the main band with five people. I ’ m besides in a trio translation of that ring called the Suzette Sundae trio. They ’ re both blend between wind songs and a bunch of rockabilly covers, like an old-timey, convivial mid-century, western-swing kind of band. I ’ ve got a wind band I started singing with called the Candyland Jazz Band, like mid-century with a short snatch of bee-bop .
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What instruments do you play?
I spill the beans and play rhythm method of birth control guitar .
Is that something you picked up later in life, or had you always been doing both?
I dabbled with sing, but having a memory for twenty years, I never had time to give it any proper attention or learn how to do it mighty. I ’ five hundred whistle in the exhibitor and the car. I started singing more right before the shop closed, when I needed something for myself. I started putting a ring together. I didn ’ triiodothyronine get down playing guitar until right before the storehouse closed, excessively, so only fair over two years. That ’ s a very modern thing for me. I would joke about writing songs, but I never in truth wrote many earlier. immediately, I have therefore many .
I ’ vitamin d been a retailer since I was 17, and towards the goal of my business, it was sad. The way that I coped with that was to become something else. I ’ ve always wanted to be more of a creative person .

I like being self-employed, because there ’ s a long ton of creativity, but I constantly wanted more than that .

It saved my life. I didn ’ metric ton know how I was doing to make a living, but I didn ’ thymine wish. For my sanity, I needed something to do that was creative and that I ’ d hopefully be estimable at .
How long ago did you listed your apartment on Airbnb?
This is the interesting separate. I had an Airbnb listing — one room — in my old Bed-Stuy apartment when I had my storehouse in Park Slope. It went in truth well, and I had a hard time finding a steady roommate. For one reason or another, normally commodity reasons, my roommates would get a promotion, a newly job, or married. I got sick of finding new roommates. It took a fortune of time and department of energy. When one of my roommates moved out, they asked if I tried Airbnb. I didn ’ thymine know what it was however .
As I was closing my store, I knew I needed a newly rate to work. At that time, I was going to channel my creative energy into making clothes, which I ’ five hundred done for years — I had a dress label for five years — and I needed a bigger distance to work. I rented a duplex house apartment in Bushwick with the estimate I ’ five hundred use the basement level as a work space and I ’ five hundred lease out the ground floor as an Airbnb. That would pay for itself .
At this time, there weren ’ t any regulations in locate on Airbnb. If you had ten Airbnb listings, it was ticket, but now, that ’ south illegal. I ’ megabyte legal. I only have one list, and actually live in the apartment I list within. It ’ s such a large apartment that I was able to break it up. immediately, I live in the basement ampere well. That was about two and a half years ago, that I established this particular Airbnb list, but I ’ ve been doing it for over three years nowadays.

Danielle Corcione is a freelance writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. Her cultivate has recently appeared on Vice, Salon, and more. Follow her on Twitter via @ decorcione .
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