From blacksmith to baseball coach to an R.E.M. tribute band, senior congressional staffers are putting their nonpolitical talents to work off Capitol Hill

Bell, 42, didn't start out as a musician. He was a football player in high school and college who didn't learn the upright bass until 15 years ago, just before he got married.

His then-fiancée, now his wife, is a vocalist who also plays the autoharp and was in a band.

"I went to her shows and was inspired by her and thought I could learn — and I did. And we started a band together," he said.

It started out as a rock band, but Bell told Insider he fell in love with bluegrass music after going to the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas. When he and his wife got to Washington, DC, they made friends at local bluegrass jams and put together a five-piece band with a mandolin, banjo, and guitar. They also sometimes play with a drummer.

Their band, Tornado Rose, plays about once a month at DC-area breweries and bars.

"It was a lot of fun at first to be able to play in a band, and I have been working on becoming a better musician ever since," Bell said.

Bell's day job is chief of staff to Rep. Ron Estes, a Republican of Kansas who won his seat during a special election when Mike Pompeo went to lead the CIA as part of the Trump administration.

Bell earns a little money on the side from his band, but he mostly does it because it's enjoyable, he said. His personal-financial disclosure filed with the US House showed he earned $400 in 2020.

"There was a joke during the pandemic that thousands of shows were canceled for musicians and hundreds of dollars were lost," he said.

During the pandemic, while many people stayed home following lockdown orders, Bell played music even more, taking virtual bass lessons, and even learning the guitar.

He said playing an instrument was a "great outlet" that allowed him to "just focus on what is in front of me and being in the moment."

Bell often plays music with his wife for an hour after work or plays the guitar in his office during late nights on the Hill. He recommends others who want to take up an instrument put whatever time they can into it, even if it's just 15 minutes some days.

He is also in a group called Musicians on Call, for which he goes to veterans' and children's hospitals to play for people receiving medical care.

"I believe there is a healing power of music," he said.

While the rest of the country was up in arms about masking and social distancing, Bishop, a Senate GOP staffer, was busy taking shots — placebos, it turned out.

But that's what scientists conducting the phase III clinical trial of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine needed last summer: selfless volunteers and actionable data.

"I did it — not for the money — but simply because someone had to do it," Bishop, who pocketed $750 for rolling up his sleeve in August 2020, said.

The communications director for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Insider his foray into vaccine trials was born mostly out of frustration.

"I had grown impatient waiting on the world to get back to normal," he said. "I knew our hospitals, doctors, and other medical professionals were struggling and being overwhelmed. This was something I could do to help."

Bishop said he completed the trial, only to discover that he'd been in the control group. But participating in the program earned him preferential treatment once the preliminary rollout began. As luck would have it, even that was too late.

"I actually had COVID in January, just after the vaccine was released," Bishop said.

He added that his was an asymptomatic case and that getting sick didn't weaken his resolve one bit.

"I donated convalescent plasma (COVID antibodies) as well after recovery," Bishop said of his contributions to beating back the pandemic.

Greco, 34, has been coaching girls baseball since 2017. The team, DC Force, is the only girls baseball program in the region for girls 18 and younger. They practice for two hours every Sunday and travel nationally to compete in tournaments.

Greco told Insider that she coached to create a safe environment for girls who desperately want to compete with their female peers but are constantly told baseball is a "boy's sport."

"At different times in my life, someone told me I couldn't do something, that I wouldn't be better at a sport or that I couldn't get the job I wanted," she said. "These girls get told all the time they don't belong on the baseball team."

Without teams like DC Force, girls who love baseball otherwise have to play on coed teams or switch to softball.

Greco, who is originally from St. Louis, has been playing on the field since her tee-ball days. She started playing softball at 8 and continued with the sport through college. She told Insider that while she had a blast playing softball, she probably would have played baseball instead if there had been the opportunity.

"That's all these girls are asking for is the opportunity," she said. "They want to play with their peers in the same way counterpart males want to do."

Greco also pitches and plays shortstop on the Virginia Fury, which is part of the Eastern Women's Baseball Conference. The EWBC is the longest-standing women's baseball league in the nation.

On the Hill, Greco works as a financial administrator for the US House, managing finances and personnel for 10 Democratic members. The responsibilities include maintaining a budget for members, processing reimbursements, managing office credit cards, overseeing inventory, and handling the internship program.

According to her financial disclosure from 2020, the coaching job pays $6,000.

She said being a coach and an athlete taught her that people have different ways of being a leader, whether it be through giving people the room to excel or leading by example.

"You don't have to be the loudest person in the room to lead," she said.

It also taught her that "failure isn't everything," that people can fail at school, at work, or at bat on the field but that they can continue to fail and get better.

"Failure isn't a defining moment for you always," she said. "It might be at that time, but it's not the end of your story."

For more than 32 years, Hermann has played the cello. He has also mastered how to play the electric cello, electric bass, and keyboard. He's performed with a funk band and two cover bands.

Hermann is a Democratic congressional staffer on the House Armed Services Committee. He serves as a professional staff member on the Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems Subcommittee.

But outside Capitol Hill, he is also a member of the Pan American Symphony Orchestra and a principal cellist for the Avanti Orchestra, which is affiliated with the Friday Morning Music Club. He got paid $450 for his music in 2020, according to his financial disclosure.

Since 2011, he has been playing with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, which Hermann said happened by "accident."

"I reached out blindly to ask for an audition and got asked to show up to a rehearsal. That's when I realized it was a tango orchestra, not classical," he said. "And I both absolutely loved the music and had no idea how to play it properly. I've been fortunate enough to be with them ever since."

Hermann grew up as a classical musician and received a bachelor's degree in music performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He told Insider he primarily moved to Washington to chase a job as music librarian at the Kennedy Center but it didn't work out.

What he enjoys most about performing is the people he works with — and being immersed in the world of tango.

"We have been fortunate enough to play with Latin Grammy winners, Tony winners, an EGOT winner, and a huge spectrum of amazing artists, and the orchestra itself was just nominated for the Latin Grammy for best tango album for its latest album," he said.

Hoehner said the most enjoyable part about teaching kids how to ski at the Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania was interacting with families from different backgrounds and experiences.

"We have a lot of international families, especially from Europe, involved in the program," he said. "They bring a very different perspective to what the sport is about, and it's kind of a fun way to have just a little bit of a break from the DC chaos."

Hoehner began to ski when he was 8 years old and continued to ski competitively in high school before joining a ski club at the University of Virginia. After he graduated from college and moved to Washington to begin working, he wanted to find a way to still be involved in the sport.

"I just really was excited to do something where I could keep my skills current but also kind of give back to the next generation of racers," he said.

He works as a policy director for the House Oversight and Reform Committee under Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the ranking member. He has made nearly $1,300 from his side hustle, according to a financial-disclosure form.

Hoehner treks two hours to and from the ski resort on the weekends when the sport is in season. He has been coaching kids for more than 11 years and enjoys teaching children from ages 12 to 14 the most.

Rountree is the chief of staff for Rep. Donald McEachin, a Democrat of Virginia. In her free time, she sells homemade jewelry and other coastal-themed items that she makes primarily with sea glass and shells she finds in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Rountree started her side business with her best friend amid the pandemic. Flexible hours from working at home and spending time at her mother's house in North Carolina made it easier for her to go to the beach and collect sea glass.

"I have always thought sea-glass jewelry was beautiful but rarely my style. I wanted to create something a little different than what is already on the market," she said.

Rountree began working for McEachin in 2016, when he was running for office. She said working on her business and collecting sea glass allowed her to "use another part of my brain that I typically do not get to use working in Congress."

"It is nice to have a creative and fun outlet to escape the stress that comes with a job in politics," she added.

She and her business partner have made about $1,000 from their business, Rountree said.

"I love my full-time job and don't plan on leaving that. The Etsy shop is just for fun," she added.

On Capitol Hill, Ringel works for Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican of Alaska, and travels to the Last Frontier several times a year for work.

Until recently, Ringel used to spend many at-home hours in the woodshop of his garage making puzzles in the shapes of dragons, orcas, frogs, seahorses — you name it.

He told Insider he created his puzzle business over 15 years ago after his son told him that he wanted a "fish puzzle." Ringel looked online, but his son didn't like any of the options that popped up. Ringel's son drew a picture of a fish and asked him to make a puzzle of it in his woodshop.

"I had a scroll saw and old piece of pine, and I made it and he loved it," he said. His son asked him to make a race car next, then a lamb, lion, and camel.

People they knew seemed to like them, too. They made more suggestions for puzzles, so he started making more and more of them. Then, he started selling puzzles regularly at street fairs in Alexandria, Virginia. Ringel and his wife called the business "MyDaddyPuzzles" because his son used to call him "my daddy" instead of just "daddy."

When Ringel started the business, he had two sons. He now has three. Often, his sons would be with him in the workshop. Ringel, 47, estimated that he cut, sanded, and painted 3,000 to 4,000 puzzles.

"I saw children grow up as they came through the booth and talked about how they enjoyed it," he said.

He told Insider that early on in the business, he was making between $7,000 to $15,000 a year on the puzzles. In the past five years, he said he would do only one event a year, which brought in less than $2,000.

"It was never a huge moneymaker, mostly a labor of love," he said.

As time passed and the demands of the business became increasingly time-consuming, he wanted to spend less time in the woodshop and more time with his sons, who were heavily involved in athletics.

"When it got to the point where I was missing a football game or scout campout because I was at a puzzle event, I had to refocus and remember what was important," he said.

He made his last puzzle right before the coronavirus pandemic and has now retired from the business.

"I don't regret setting it down at all," he said. "The time that I spent with my kids is priceless. No amount of success can make up for it."