On July 18, I celebrated thirty years as a licensed New York City tour guide. This long-standing—and long-fulfilling—career began entirely as a side hustle; Broadway was my dream when I moved to New York from Florida in 1993, spectacularly unprepared for life in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

“Have you thought about being a tour guide?” another actor asked as we waited for an audition. “Tour guiding is basically performing.... Sometimes improv.” All I needed to do was memorize 400 years of New York history, art and architecture to get my license. How hard could it be? Turns out it was hard, with questions on the NYC tour guide license exam that included “Who painted the Rose Window at St. John the Divine?” (Spoiler: not me.)

Somehow, I passed—with three points to spare. Licen

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