On the outside, Houston looks like a bloated and sprawling southern-fried town being propped up by petrol and NASA and being run on fast food. For the people that live here (including me), this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The most famous mural in the city that is covered with them reads “Houston is Inspired, Hip, Funky” – but this isn’t exactly genuine either. Although we are new and future-facing and innovative, Houston isn’t glamorous. Houston, to me, is a sum of all of its parts. It’s culture is derived from the booming construction industry, the altruism of one of the biggest medical centers in the world, the unbelievably diverse cuisines, and most importantly the brilliant, gritty, wonderfully nice people that inhabit this growing metropolis.

QuiGig was built to celebrate both industry and diversity, bringing a platform where anyone willing to work hard has a chance to show their skills and get paid for it. The gig economy is a place that reflects the altruistic and hardworking nature of Houston, but doesn’t currently celebrate diversity. As opposed to traditional, word-of-mouth advertising, your online profile matters as much as your work, meaning freelancers are being judged on factors not important to the work that they can do. QuiGig is breaking this trend, forcing people to be judged on one quality alone – how well they can complete the job.

Launching QuiGig in Houston was simple happenstance, as the entire team has lived, worked, and studied here for years. Houston is our home, and we get the privilege of cherishing what makes it special each day. We are lucky we get the opportunity to add to such a wonderfully unique city. We are working hard, just as all of you other Houstonians are, to give back to this city all that it has given us, and help our neighbors find more gigs, make more money, and gain the experience they either want or need.

Luckily for us, Houston is the perfect city for our platform. Of all of the places in the United States where the gig economy is flourishing, Houston is towards the top of the list (thanks Uber and Lyft). Because of our friendly, hardworking, and accepting attitudes, Houstonians trust other Houstonians. We will begin service in Houston in just a couple of weeks, and we hope that you use our platform to better yourself, better your community, and get to know your neighbors and fellow Houstonians a bit better.