The world needs artists and creatives. Unfortunately, being needed doesn’t often easily translate into financial stability. The struggle is real for so many incredibly talented artists and creatives and so we think it’s important to hear from creatives who have made it work – there is so much to learn from the folks we’ve featured below.

Danniebelle Gunter

No, I haven’t always earned a full-time living from my creative work — and I think it’s important to be honest about that. When I launched Klir Online, it wasn’t some instant “quit-your-job and live off your passion” story. Read more>>

Laura Spriet Brown

Being a freelance creative sounds dreamy, but it is extremely hard work. To keep yourself financially supported whilst pursing your craft requires a strict dedication. I’ve been living in New York City for over 6 years as a freelance fashion stylist; styling celebrities to everyday people. Read more>>

Kristi Stice

I currently earn a full-time living from my music teaching business. I grew up in the Denver area, writing poetry and then recording little melodies that I would sing using the words from my poems starting when I was eight years-old. I began teaching myself to read music on the piano when I was eight-years-old by borrowing sheet music from a friend of mine who was taking lessons. Read more>>

Jenny Santa Maria

I have a unique origin story that really paved the way for the work I do now. As a child, I was often a tag-along for my mother, who lived with physical challenges. I always carried a tote with a few pencils and paper, and I’d spend time sketching or even making little drawings for her doctors. Read more>>

Rosi Amador

I began my entrepreneurial journey a few years after graduating from Bryn Mawr College and moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts—a vibrant city full of music, arts, and culture that I quickly fell in love with in the mid-1980s. Read more>>

Chloe Frydenlund

I am at a spot in my creative journey that I am now able to create a full time living for myself. About 5 years ago I started painting after a hiatus of not creating any art for several years because I had two small children and was mostly a stay at home mom. Read more>>

Nicola Harger

I’ve been making a full-time living from my creative work for the past decade, which is wild to say. It hasn’t always been easy, but I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to do so. Read more>>

Robert J. Lang

While I have been a passionate practitioner of origami for nearly sixty years—since age six—for most of that time I never considered trying to make it my full-time career. Instead, my full-time career was laser physics—first at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, then at Spectra Diode Laboratories, a company in Silicon Valley. Read more>>

Lauren Mantecon

have been able to make a full-time living from my creative work, I don’t believe there’s any way to speed up the process. Read more>>

Shane Fero

Yes!I began as an apprentice at age 15 while in high school and continued on through college, in which I paid for my living expenses as well as my college tuition. At twenty-four, I opened my gallery in Plattsburgh, NY with friend from college and he was my partner in stating the gallery. Read more>>