In 2012, Nora Curl, now 51, had been living in New York for about a decade and was active in the world of antiques.
But she realized she had to return to her native Pennsylvania to care for her mother, who suffers from a rare congenital disease. “I returned to northwestern Pennsylvania and asked myself, ‘How can I make a living in the world of fine art antiques?’” she says.
She started an antique valuation website and sold items on eBay. Then, in September 2012, she saw an opening on the job board Jobrapido for an online antiques appraisal position that she could work from home. “I didn’t hesitate to apply,” she says, and a few weeks later she received an email saying she had been approved as a new antiques expert on the advice site JustAnswer.
JustAnswer offers experts on a range of topics including lawyers, electricians and veterinarians. Users pay a registration fee as well as a monthly fee and have access to all the experts on the site. You can ask a question and get answers on JustAnswer or speak to an expert on the phone at any time of the day.
Curl has been working on the site full-time since 2012, bringing in more than $124,000 last year alone.
Here’s how she built her career on the site and what advice she has for anyone looking to achieve similar success.
Curl studied communications from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania and began her career as a restaurant manager. After moving to LA to work in the restaurant industry and work with the Hollywood elite, she landed a job as an assistant to film producer Elie Samaha. But it wasn’t the job of her dreams.
“I never had any desire to be part of the Hollywood rat race,” she says. “On weekends I would go with friends to auction houses, museums, junk shops and just go treasure hunting.” And she often knew what was on display. “I’d say, ‘Oh my God, that’s a Tiffany vase or that’s a piece of Steuben glass.'” And she was surprised to find that her friends weren’t all that knowledgeable.
“Since I was a kid, my parents were weekend warriors, going to auctions and antique stores,” she says. She realized that she had acquired some knowledge in this area and that she perhaps even had a knack for it.
“So I gave up Hollywood.”
Curl attended Christie’s Auction House Postgraduate Program in 2001, where she studied Connoisseur of Fine and Decorative Arts. She completed her studies in 2002.
She then held a number of jobs in and around the antiques world, working in magazines, warehouse and gallery space. The latter let them deal with “original”. [paintings] “That was Norman Rockwell,” she says. She eventually worked for artist Nelson Shanks, famous for painting icons like Princess Diana and Ronald Reagan. She particularly liked this job.
He had “the third-best collection of late Renaissance and early Baroque works in private hands in America,” she says. “And that was part of my specialty. So I ended up becoming his assistant, taking care of his exhibition contracts and working with his models.”
She worked for him until 2012.
JustAnswer came at exactly the right time. But even as she set about working on the website, she did so with skepticism.
The experts on the site have professional experience in their field and have been vetted by a third party, confirming that they have the proper “education, qualifications and licenses,” according to the site. Some answer questions full-time, others only on the side. According to Sidehusl.com, they earn $2 to $20 per answer, depending on their expertise and status on the site (users can rate them).
“It’s very self-directed and self-directed,” she says. “You just have to find your way.” She started answering people’s questions about her paintings, Hummel figurines and vases. Within a few days, “I made almost $1,000,” she says. “And I’m like, is this real?”
In fact, she was paid the following month.
For a time, she worked about eight hours a day and earned between $5,000 and $8,000 a month. “During the Corona lockdowns, I was on the road nonstop, 14, 16 hours a day,” she says. In 2021, she earned an average of $12,600 per month.
She now works around eight hours a day again.
“My peak hours are about 4 p.m. to midnight,” she says, answering user questions via the website or over the phone. This works for their customers, who are based all over the world. “At night when I work, a lot of requests come from Australia and New Zealand,” she says. “There’s a lot of people from Britain tomorrow.”
Many people want to know if they can sell their pottery, sterling silver pieces, etc. She often recommends selling online. “Ebay is really an excellent platform to sell,” she says, adding that there is “24/7 international presence.”
As advice for others wanting to try their luck at JustAnswer: “Don’t quit your job,” she says.
“Take some time to participate in the platform. See if it really works for you.”
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