We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erin Caballero. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erin below.

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

The “What do you want to be when you grow up” question was always an easy one for me. I was steadfast in my journey to pursue a career in the arts. Drawing and Painting have always been my strongest areas and I was always eager to use new materials and learn new techniques. I knew that it would be a competitive and hard journey, but if I had to work for the rest of my life it would be doing something I enjoyed.

I majored in Illustration at the University of the Arts. I love storytelling, picture making, and character design so I chose Illustration. My university also had a great Illustration program, so it seemed the perfect choice. The idea of going to a university to learn something of my choosing was so exciting to me. I did well freshman year because it was mostly fundamental training. However when I started my Illustration courses, I realized that I had an artist identity crisis.

This identity crisis haunted me my junior and senior year. Apparently everyone was supposed to have a “personal style” in order to be successful. I panicked because I was always more interested in mastering my craft. I had no idea what set me apart from other artists. I had a very feminine style naturally and it was very different from my peers. Naturally, I spiraled and tried experimenting with everything under the sun in my search to find myself. This was a chaotic time, but it was so important because it taught me to (for lack of something more inventive to say) “be yourself”.

After that moment, I relaxed into this newfound style. I was making art that challenged me and made me happy. Then one day in senior year, one of my professors made an offhand comment about illustration as a career. He said “Well I hope you guys all like the idea of sitting in a basement alone painting because that’s what this life is.” I realize he was half joking, but that struck me. I am a very social person and I like stability. So at the end of senior year, I realized freelance illustration would probably make me incredibly anxious and lonely. I like being surrounded by other creatives. It’s so fun and you learn so much from others.

After graduation, I redid my entire portfolio and aggressively applied to any creative jobs I saw. I was living in Philadelphia at this time. Thankfully all that hard work paid off because I was called in for an interview for a print studio called Printfresh. Three interviews later, I got the job as a print designer. I knew nothing about this industry. I didn’t even know you could have a career making artwork for prints in fashion. However, I had the artistic skills and the confidence to learn and work hard. My managers taught me the rest.

That’s how I fell into the fashion industry and I have been here ever since. After three years at that company, I was a tad burnout and ready for a change of scenery. I decided it was time to move to New York. This time I wanted to work directly for the fashion designers. After applying to a few companies, I accepted a job with American Eagle outfitters. I loved that company. They have a great work culture, I made friends, and I was still able to be creative. It was a fun job, I loved learning about the fashion industry, and it was perfect for my first years in New York. I met so many creatives in New York. A few illustration jobs became available through friends/ social gatherings. It really is all about who you know.

After 5 years, I started to get complacent. I still wanted to learn, grow and potentially be more involved in the conceptual/ management side of design. So I took a risk and left a very comfortable job in search of something more challenging. I accepted a job at a fashion group that housed multiple brands in the summer of 2019.

Shortly after that, the pandemic hit. I was laid off and like most people scared about the future. While I was unemployed I realized how lucky I was to have been able to support myself through my creative work with minimal stress. I was very determined to get another job. I threw myself into producing more art, applying for jobs, updating my resume, learning how to create video content for instagram, and oil painting. Ever the optimist, I tried to look at this situation as a chance for a fresh start. However, a couple of months later, I was hired back. I was so relieved to not have to stress about money, that all other artistic aspirations went to the wayside.

My company had gone through a merger. There were a lot of changes and many people were let go. Luckily this time I was able to keep my job. I have been there for 5 years and with patience, hard work, and good communication with my creative director, I was able to transition more into a concept design/ art director position.

What I learned in more recent years that has helped me tremendously is to “care less”. I used to get so stressed, anxious, and upset about so many problems that came up in my career. I lost sight of why I chose a creative career path to begin with which is to live a happier life. I read the book “The Subtle Art of not Giving. F*uck” by Mark Manson and that really gave me a new perspective.

I wish I was more knowledgeable about the business side of the art world before beginning my career. Other than that, I think everything else I experienced was necessary to get to where I am today.

Erin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an Illustrator, Print Designer, and Creative Director. I explained how I got into my industry in the previous question.

Side Hustle Project:
For the past couple of years I have been working diligently as the Creative Director of an upcoming App. The App will launch in the next coming months. I’m not sure how much I should say because I’m not sure when this will be published but this is the premise:

This will be a gifting application that delivers fine art through the postal service by incorporating QR code technology; giving the recipient a luxury experience of receiving original collectible artwork, optional gift card, and an embedded video of a memory from the sender to have and cherish forever.

A lot of my spare time has been dedicated to making artwork for this app, filming video content for marketing, and searching for artists to work with in the future.

My Day job:
I am a Print Director for a fashion group. I am responsible for trend / color research, creating the color and print concept for a few brands, art direction, and creating original artworks to be printed on fabrics. I think what sets me apart is the fact that I can come up with the entire concept, collaborate with my team on fabric and color choices, and then I can hand paint the artwork necessary for printing. I am most proud of my mood boards. It’s my favorite part of the job and it’s exciting trying to come up with new ideas each season. Frustrating at times, but when it comes together, it’s very exciting.

I am also very proud of the evolution of my artwork. I am exploring more abstract artwork techniques and simplistic imagery. It feels more mature, and more me.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Goals are so important. My goal for so long was just to stay afloat. Once I moved to New York I lost sight of making new goals. I felt slightly unhappy and complacent for a long time. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was and then I realized I should always be making new goals for my life. Life is more fullfilling when there is a mission to work towards. So every so often I make it a point to set small goals for myself. S

My broad goal is: To stay humble, be happy, create art I can be proud of and live a balanced life. Work life balance is extremely important to me and the moment my creative work takes over my time and energy negatively, is the moment to rethink my priorities.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Well when I started my creative journey, there wasn’t instagram. That would have been extremely helpful.

I wish I had sought out help on the business side of the fine art/ illustration world. I was so clueless about simple things like how much money I should have been getting paid. How to manage my finances in general would have been extremely helpful. It sounds so silly to say but I know a lot of creatives that have said the same thing.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @erin_caballero_

Image Credits

I took all of these photos myself.