June 10, 2021

Buyer & Seller Corner: Meet Byron

Elhadji Mare

Elhadji is a Creative Content Strategist & Writer @ StockX

We often get fed only one side of the selling game, but one size doesn’t fit all. For StockX Day, we highlight three unique stories from sellers to learn how selling has impacted their lives, their personal endeavors, and how StockX has helped them reach their goals.

We often get fed only one side of the selling game, but one size doesn’t fit all. For StockX Day, we highlight three unique stories from sellers to learn how selling has impacted their lives, their personal endeavors, and how StockX has helped them reach their goals.

For Byron, who has been using StockX since 2016, selling was a way to provide for himself and his family, without living in fear. Check out his interview below where he talks about temporarily stepping away from his RN job in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, to sell on StockX as a safer form of income.

Can you give a few details on what were some of your responsibilities in your nursing job?

During the pandemic, every healthcare professional was faced with the same challenge of providing care for their patients, as well as trying to keep their families safe at home. That part of the story is like any other health care professional. Where mine became more unique is that I financed myself by stepping away from the hospital with my sales on StockX. 

Initially, the hospital that I was working at as a travel nurse was able to separate people who had high-risk individuals at their homes: elderly individuals, pregnant individuals, etc. We were being separated from the COVID patients just to keep our home life a bit safer. But when I was working, there was an influx of cases and it just became overwhelming for me during my girlfriend’s pregnancy. She developed a couple of complications and that was something I was very aware of, so I decided to step away. I was just trying to keep my girlfriend safe. And like I said, selling those shoes was a means of financial support for me in that tough time and I don’t regret it at all. Selling was just lifesaving and that’s not even being facetious or exaggerating. 

What made it easy for you to make that switch?

So I’ve been collecting for maybe 20 years since I was maybe 14-15, and before StockX, I’ve had a few bad experiences as far as buyers saying they didn’t receive the item, buyers disputing the items, things like that. And with StockX, the mechanisms you guys have in place makes it more seamless and less risky to sell items. Just print out the slip and ship the shoes off. I pretty much have no worries at all.

What was it like to leave nursing behind?

It was a bit bittersweet just because I knew they still had individuals there that couldn’t step away from the hospital because of financial obligations while also keeping their loved ones at home safe. I had pregnant coworkers who were still working in the hospital. I had coworkers whose girlfriends were also pregnant at home. So to step away from the hospital was definitely bittersweet, but at the same time, I had to prioritize my family. I mean this is my first child, this is our first child together, so for a first-time father maybe those parental instincts just kind of kicked in. I was like “I gotta keep this baby girl safe,” so I did what I had to do. But it was definitely bittersweet stepping away from the field I enjoy. I love nursing, I didn’t shy away from the floor when COVID first started. I was on the floor, I was in the trenches.

What’s it been like to be able to spend more time with your family?

I’m a first-time father so this time is invaluable to me. Experiencing these first moments with my daughter have been absolutely incredible. I can’t imagine being at work, honestly. Missing these first little winks, cries, crawls, everything, so it’s been invaluable. And it helps support my girlfriend and my baby.

I was able to go visit my mom. We were able to visit my girlfriend’s parents in New Orleans. If I was in the hospital I definitely would be tied up with COVID, so that definitely helped to be able to let our parents meet their grandchild for the first time. That definitely was a treat.

Have you gone back to the hospital?

I haven’t gone back to work yet, I’m currently in the process of finishing my vaccination, so once I get my second dose I’ll be back in the hospital. My girlfriend’s gonna stay home a little bit longer, she’s a pharmacist. But once I get vaccinated I’ll feel more comfortable to get back in the workspace. Right now I’m still at home, still selling stuff on StockX. 

But, you will go back?

Definitely. It’s almost like a firefighter, you know, you see the fire and most people run away, but the firefighters run to it – I feel the same way about nursing. And that’s kinda how it was with COVID, everybody was in uproar panicking. And I was too, to an extent, but I train for this, you know? We have the proper protection at the facilities I work at. I’m definitely going to get back into it, it’s what I was training for, I went to school for, and I know that I definitely helped save and changed countless people’s lives during the initial spike of the pandemic.