Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, I always worked for companies. However, there was never the "996" shit, you see, these days. I generally did about 50 hours per week. Sometimes more; sometimes, less. Sometimes, if the extracurricular stuff also benefitted my day job, I could get the company to help out, there.
How did you manage to write off for your expenses for tax purposes? I thought this was not possible for regular employees in the US (your profile says you're in the New York). I'd love to be able to do this.
It’s been awhile, so I can’t remember exactly how it worked (I’ve used an accountant for the last 30 years or so), but I was able to argue that it went to benefit my day job (which it actually did), and I mixed in a lot of stuff that directly benefited my day job (like taking my team out for a holiday dinner, on my personal expense, as the company didn’t do that kind of thing).
I wouldn’t do it without a decent accountant. In my experience, they always paid for themselves.