Pursuing a creative or artistic career can certainly be fulfilling, but it’s far from certain. Over the years, we’ve heard about the struggles from thousands of artists and creatives – it’s incredibly challenging and it can be tempting to wonder – what if you hadn’t pursued this path. We asked artists and creatives from across the community if they’ve every had those doubts themselves.

Jeremy Wilson

I worked in restuarants for the better part of 20 years, 10 years of which was bartending. It was fun, I learned a lot about talking with all kinds of people, it funded my time in the studio and was flexible. However, this is the closest I’ve been to a “regular job”…I have always worked towards being a full time artist and I cannot imagine doing anything else. Read more>>

Wesley Lima De Amorim

Being able to make a living through art is undeniably a privilege, and I won’t take it for granted. Art, in its various forms, constantly takes me to different places, both physically and emotionally, that I wouldn’t reach otherwise. Sometimes, it leads me to places where I can view the world from a perspective that combines past, present, and future times, and it’s truly magical. Read more>>

Elisa Lupu

Absolutely, I find immense joy and fulfillment in being an artist or creative. The freedom to express myself through my work is truly a gift. While there are moments of uncertainty, I wouldn’t trade this creative journey for anything. It allows me to explore my passion and connect with others in a unique way. So, even though the idea of a “regular job” crosses my mind from time to time, I ultimately cherish the path I’m on. Read more>>

Kbeautty

Doing what I do definitely outs a smile on my face. Making other people say and bringing people together because of my videos is the best part of creating content. And I’m so deep into the game I believe God wants me to continue my faith because although it gets hard, I haven’t worked a job since 2019 Read more>>

April Peng

What I didn’t realise until pursing this career is that: doing that you love can sometimes mean you love what you love less. Or at least, what once was your escape from stress, has now become the source of your stress. Still, I’d rather pursue this than anything else in the world, but it’s important to find other outlets. At the end of the day, a job is just a job, you still have to live life. Read more>>

Gregory Harpe

Being a creative is one of my greatest joys – It is my freedom from also having to work my regular job. It offers me an outlet outside of my 9-5 that I can control and steer in whatever direction I see fit and will soon become my “regular job” as long as I keep the mission at the forefront of my mind and continue to be consistent and motivated. Read more>>

Katie Cone

As an artist, I have wrestled with this question quite a bit: am I happy? Obviously no job is perfect, and being an artist can come with many stressors: unpredictable income, after-work hours, seeing little to no results from what I do. But I’ve realized not to place my happiness in other people or in my career. Read more>>

Adolfo & Cat

Yes and no. I think all artists, dancers, creatives, etc. go through this. Especially now with social media, sometimes as dancers it feels we are in a fish bowl. As everyone sees you, it brings about criticism. But we think that’s where the beauty lies in art, it truly needs to be subjective. I think social media has positive and negative outcomes around art remaining subjective. Read more>>

Phillip Risby

I am very happy that I have been blessed to have the talent to pursue this thing called art. I can also tell you that there is never a time that I have said I would rather pursue another occupation. This being because I had already retired from my work life when I started my new career in art. Read more>>

JESSICA ELDREDGE

I am definitely happy being a creative but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish I had a regular 9-5 job sometimes. With everything I think there are pros and cons and the pros to being a creative is that I fully have freedom with hair or florals to create something that i want to express. I think I do wonder what a regular job would look like when i think about paid vacations, weekends off, or even certain holidays off. In my fields, I don’t have any of those usually so it’d be nice to have a more set schedule. Read more>>

Synthia Looper

I’m extraordinarily happy as an artist. Yes, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to have a regular job, however I love being my own boss and I take my creative career very seriously. Read more>>

Chuck Kovacic

When we deny that which is within us, unhappiness is often the result. If I hadn’t been a creative artist any path to pursue a meaningful and complete life would have been extremely limited. I have had jobs that required no creativity whatsoever: a janitor, carwash attendant, truck driver, ship deck hand, flag man on a construction crew. Read more>>

Vicky Sasouvong

SO happy! It fuels my soul and brings me so much peace. I don’t know, I can’t explain it. Creating for me has always been something that genuinely makes me so happy! As a young girl attending modeling classes, it truly gave me the confidence and comfort I needed to be behind the camera but now that I’m able to showcase it in my own way it really takes it on another level that I’ve just grown to love and appreciate more and makes me want to continue to create all on my terms and in my own way. Read more>>

Brittney Bertier

Being a creative is the best possible thing to be – when one is creating. When one finds oneself in a period of time where the constraints of life (responsibilities, circumstances, events, illness, or simply a lack of of inspiration) impede one’s ability to properly create, it is brutal. Once the flow of creativity is stopped, we become backed up; stuck, immovable. Read more>>

Cassis Brown

I love being an artist more than anything, I love being able to use my art and creativity to express myself in different ways, but just like with anything, there are ups and downs to being a creative. I do have a regular job, and having the energy to both regularly work and create for my own personal pleasure is difficult to balance. Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated. I have to remind myself that I’m still an artist, even when I’m not creating. But I love art more than anything. Read more>>

Michael D. Bowers

I am absolutely happy as an artist and creative. I’m a highly creative person and my artistry is an outlet to express that creativity. Working in corporate America since I was sixteen has afforded me with some stability, and allows me the bandwidth to freely and actively engage in the creative aspects of my music. I guess you can say that I live in and experience the best of both worlds! Read more>>

Bella and Lee Crump and Parada

We both thrive as artists and creatives. We are both people who really connect with performing live. Having the opportunity to reach people through music is something we both couldn’t live without. It’s a really special gift – And we both feel so lucky to have space as creatives to make and share. Read more>>

Jenna Homen

I love working as a sign painter, and I say that having had “regular jobs” in the past, so no wondering here. I worked a 9-to-5 for most of my 20s. Like most things in this life, there are pros and cons to each path, but I much prefer working for myself as an artist and freelancer. It’s definitely the harder road, but the autonomy I have in doing something creatively fulfilling, challenging, and useful for the community has done wonders for my overall life happiness. Read more>>

Pierre De Reeder

Sure I am. This odd and irregular path is all I’ve ever known. And from the perspective of looking at it and not knowing where it would/will lead, a stare-down that continues to this day, it’s the only one I would have wanted to walk down. It snakes, it winds, it is difficult to predict. I suppose I like living on instinct, hopefully some informed instinct, and take the turns and runs that come along. Read more>>

Carly Tatiana Pandža

YES! I think it’s important to mention that I put in the effort to be happy. Happiness is not always the default. Life happens. Obstacles come up. Circumstances. But I’ve always prided myself in being someone who focuses on who I’m being in those circumstances. You can’t control what happens to you but you have all the say in who you’re going to be about it. All the challenges I’ve had have made me grow; and learn to surrender, trust, and let go. Read more>>

David Haack

What better way to kick this off than to tackle an existential question facing a whole lot of us working creatives right now, huh?! The current landscape is… bleak. But the hope is that things are always darkest before the dawn, right? Read more>>

Serena Kashmir

Being a creative is not easy. Especially if you intend to make a living out of it. I’ve had mentor after mentor explain the difficulty of making a living in the “business”, but I also thought that if I just stuck it out, kept studying, and put myself out there, things would fall into place with patience. Read more>>

Jesus Trujillo

As of right now I’m happy doing what I’m doing as artist. It’s an interesting life and I get to meet all sorts of people and see all kinds of cool artwork. Hell, I’m slowly starting to get to touch some of the artwork as I pick up side gigs as an art handler too. Though I do sometimes wonder how life would be doing at a boring dead-end job but then I realize that that’s not the life for me. Read more>>

Christian Cintron

Coming from a family of immigrants I did everything the “right way” I went to Vassar, and chased a corporate job but something was grossly out of alignment. I wasn’t happy and something kept pulling me away. I’d much rather explore battling corrupt capitalism and create a career where I can thrive than make small talk in the break room or listen to Shelia from HR prattle on about her weekend on company time. Read more>>

Curtis Chase

This is a great question. Interesting enough, I recently had a call with two close friends from high school and they live more traditional lives. One owns a home in Iowa and is married, while the other works as a Mechanical Engineer in San Francisco. They both make great salaries and right now, I’m pretty much paycheck to paycheck living in LA. Read more>>

Mario Diaz

My job is to play and have fun. To facilitate connection and to spread queer joy. I could not imagine a more satisfying path than the one I’m on. The fact that the queer events that I produce fulfill my own personal social needs and my own creative urges as well is the cherry on the cake. When I am at one of my parties looking out onto a sea of gorgeous creatures dancing, laughing, showing off and enjoying their lives it gives me great pride. Read more>>

Leslie Antonoff

It’s so interesting that this question is being asked because for the past year I’ve been asking myself this a lot. In 2021, I had a full slate of television projects that I was working on with HGTV, HBO Max, and Food Network and it seemed as if everything was finally starting to fall into place. However as they got underway I quickly realized that perhaps it wasn’t the way things should be going. By the end of the year I was burnt out, overwhelmed, and truthfully really unhappy. Read more>>

Ross Murakami

I’m extremely happy as an artist. Right now, I’d even say I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Prior to moving to LA in 2022, I was working as a concierge for five and a half years at a prestigious private country club in Indian Wells, CA. Read more>>

Andrew Scheidemann

I have been an artist all my life, since i was in middle school acting was everything to me, however coming from a country like colombia, there was nkt persuing of your dreams, your family push you to become something that will give you money, stability and a good life, so either you become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer and eventually thats what i did i went to college and graduated with two major degrees for biomedial engineer and industrial engineer, after that for years i have the desire 9 to 5 job, but inside of me i knew i wanted more, i knew i wasn’t happy, i knew my life couldn’t be just a tie and an office doing things i just don’t care for at all. Read more>> 

Sarah Beran

I love creating worlds and stories and discovering the characters that go along with them. There is something almost magical about a well-told story–symbols on a page that translate into adventure and romance and all the wonderful things in between, which then can be shared with just about anyone. But to be completely honest, I don’t have to wonder what it would be like to have a “regular” job, because I do! Read more>>