We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jackie Rivera a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jackie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

I was very into tactile lettering in college and my very first professional commission came when I was around 20-21 years old. I dreamed of working on cool campaigns like the artists I admired, so when a tableware brand called Cheeky hit me up to make some tactile artwork for them, I was ecstatic. I was very intimidated by this project because I was still in college and had never worked on any professional projects with an art director or creative team. Plus, tactile lettering required photographing it, and I was not a photographer. Needless to say, I was very nervous about taking this on but felt like I couldn’t say no to the opportunity.

Cheeky hired me to create four tactile lettering pieces for their campaign in partnership with Feeding America. The campaign’s focus was spreading awareness about hunger in America. I got to create four pieces highlighting hunger statistics using household pantry items like beans, lentils, salt, and oatmeal.

This project was a lot more demanding and tedious than I expected. I spent hours and hours sitting on the hard floor pushing salt and beans around to create the perfect composition. After that, getting the perfect shot and editing the final images on a tight deadline was the next challenge.

Thankfully, my wonderful professor let me use our photography studio and helped with the photography setup. He taught me so much about lighting, camera setup, and the best ways to photograph my work. All these years later, I’m so thankful for his help so I could take on this opportunity!

Even though I severely undercharged (a newbie mistake), it was an amazing learning experience and it gave me the confidence to tackle even bigger projects with bigger clients. I also can’t thank my mom enough for always being my biggest supporter and believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself. I can’t overstate how helpful it was to have people in my life who supported and believed in me in the early days of my career.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Ever since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be an artist in some capacity. I just didn’t know how to get there. I didn’t even know it was possible to be an illustrator or designer until I was finishing high school. I was actually thinking of being a nurse or dental hygienist, but it sounded terribly boring to me. It wasn’t until I was at a college fair that I met a graphic designer and I felt like I finally found what I was searching for.

Around that time, hand-lettering was starting to become super popular and I became obsessed. I saw so many artists I admired finding success following their passion for lettering and illustration, and it inspired me to try it out for myself. It felt scary to dream big, but I knew I wanted it badly enough to risk it.

Throughout college, I spent every spare moment working on my lettering skills and developing my style. I started posting my work on Instagram and people started to take interest. Art directors and creative teams started to contact me to create work for them, and even though I felt like a total imposter at times, I’m so glad I pushed through the discomfort and made work I’m still really proud of to this day.

Now that I’m several years in, I’ve had the opportunity to work on so many fun design, illustration, and animation projects with clients like Adobe, Target, Adidas, and more. I love using my bold, colorful work as a tool to talk about things that are important to me, such as my Mexican heritage, hobbies, and day-to-day inspiration.

Even though my career path has not been perfect, I am really proud of myself for saying yes to opportunities that scare me and pushing myself to be better. Sharing your work can feel vulnerable at times, but you’d be surprised how many incredible opportunities come from simply sharing your work online and getting it in front of the right people.

When I’m not making art, you can find me hanging out with my cat, tending to my growing plant collection, and playing my bass!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are many things I love about being an artist, but here are the top two that come to mind:

1) Honing your skills and seeing your hard work pay off. There are no shortcuts. You really do have to put in the time and effort and work to see improvement. It can take years to get your skills to match your taste, but it’s the best feeling in the world when you finally get there!

2) Connecting with other artists. Sharing our experiences, collaborating, and learning from each other has been so inspiring and truly helpful in my career. There is room for all of us to succeed. Making an effort to create genuine connections with people I admire has brought so much joy to my life. I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for other women artists who have lent me a helping hand.

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

I think for me, it’s not just about making a living as an artist, it is also a deep desire and commitment to living a creative life. There is so much negativity and sadness in the world, especially right now. I think it’s really beautiful that despite that, artists feel compelled to create.

Making art makes me happy; and whether it’s my job or not, I plan on doing it forever.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jackieriveraaa.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackieriveraaa/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQk9Zy8hTDQldd9Z58Xy6mw