Hourly America

Watch the trailer:

Hourly America is a documentary that follows my journey in work, from a job I hated to experimenting with 50 different hourly jobs all over America.

As featured in: 

What is Hourly America About?

Backstory of Hourly America

Hi, I’m Heath.

Two years ago, I graduated from college and started my first job in software sales. It took me all of nine months to realize that I hated sales. I hated sitting behind a screen all day. I missed talking to people. I wanted to do something more meaningful with my life… but I had no idea what.

Enter wife.

On May 24th, 2014 I married this amazing girl.

Secretly, we had been scheming up a plan to quit our (boring) jobs and go see America. Our goal was to travel to all 50 states for our honeymoon. Along the way, we wanted to do something purposeful, something that gave meaning to our travels.

So with the help of a mentor, I came up with the idea to work a different job in all 50 states. 

I loved the idea of exploring different kinds of jobs across America and interviewing people about their work.

I was okay with the fact that I might go and try out 50 new jobs… and hate all of them. Because I knew in the process I would learn about myself, about work, and be that much closer to doing something I love.

Enter Film

Through a cold email, I found an online hourly job board called Snagajob and told them about Hourly America. Snagajob offered to help me find half of my jobs, plus they agreed sponsor our gas bill while we traveled (RV’s drink a lot of gas… woohoo, someone to help pay the bills).

Our sponsor challenged us to do more than just blog about our trip and offered to lend their extra film equipment to us so we could turn Hourly America into a documentary. We would own all the rights and it would be 100% our own project.

Having virtually zero film experience, both Alyssa and I said, “Heck yes!”

Then, one after another, Alyssa and I would show up for different jobs.

I worked each job for one day and interviewed my coworkers about what they liked and didn’t like about their jobs, how they found meaning in their work, regrets they had about their career (if they were older), or what they aspired to do in their career (if they were younger).

There were a few stories in particular that left us feeling inspired or moved… those are the stories we’ll share with you in Hourly America.

Like Bryce, the 60-year-old maintenance worker at the Portland Art Museum who was kicked out of school in 2nd grade.

The school told his parents that he was mentally retarded and best suited for “tending to livestock.” Researchers would quickly find out that he wasn’t stupid at all, but very intelligent. He just got some of his numbers and letters confused. He ended up becoming one of the first case studies for dyslexia in America. Now at the Portland Art Museum, he’s known as the go-to guy when you have a problem that needs fixing.

Or, like Alneesah from White Castle in New Jersey.

After I would interview my coworkers, I would always ask them if there was anything else they wanted to say. Without exception, every one would say no. They had nothing else to say. Everyone except Alneesah… who said, “I do have something else to say.” She told me how working in fast food, people treat her like she’s “less than” and “doesn’t want anything more out of life.” She told me she resented that stigma. It was wrong. She that that “some of us do want something more out of life.”

Or Blake, who works on an apple orchard in Vermont.