Earning that first dollar is incredibly special and a moment many never forget. We asked some very talented creatives from the community to tell u s the story of the first dollar they earned from their creative works.

Molly Wireman

I started doing pottery at the age of eight, and fell in love with it immediately. It had just been a passion of mine until I sold my first vase and realized that this might be a career option. I played lacrosse at the time, and a mom of a teammate of mine bought a vase. She gave me a check and wrote a kind thank you note, and I kept that little card on my dresser for years. Read more>>

OLIVIA FOX

This is different for each of us, but thinking back to more of our beginnings, it had never really been about the money. We started this band as a group who loves and is dedicated to making good music that’s relatable, catchy, and has depth. When we first starting gigging, we had no idea where this journey in music would take us and so when we started booking gigs that actually paid, it felt like such a wild accomplishment and such an honor to feel like people wanted to hear our music! Read more>>

Natalia Fuentes

The realization that I can make money doing what I love is still surreal. Right out of college, I wrote and edited a lot of Tik Tok content for a company in the world of books. I could not believe I was feeding myself by doing what so many times has been labeled by my elders as my generation’s biggest flaw. Gen Z has become synonymous with the worst parts of social media. If only we looked at the surge of creativity it has simultaneously produced….. Read more>>

Chisom Kingston

As a creative I heavily believe in reinvesting in yourself and your craft. the first dollar I earned as a creative was used to buy more supplies for my brand. Although it is a very special feeling to finally be rewarded for the hours of hard work you have put into your craft, investing in yourself is still very critical. Read more>>

Mercedes Ng

“Am I ever going to make it as an artist?” That’s the question I have asked myself daily since I was in college. The answer had always been, “Maybe someday.” This worry plagued me for a long time. I graduated from university in December 2020 and have been trying to grow and expose my artwork through social media. In 2021, I made tons and tons of paintings. For fun as well as for future shows, hoping somebody would start buying my work. But at that point, there was very little success. Read more>>

Harlyn Steele

The first dollar I ever made as a creative was my first international juried competition. I entered an oil pastel negative space painting entitled Bloom. I did not think in a million years that I,an artist beginning a new career late in the age game, would ever even place. But, I ended up winning the best in show and won five hundred dollars. It was one of the most proud moments of my life. Additionally, it has given me the motivation and confidence to go out every day in the studio to paint and to continue to move my career ahead. Read more>>

Carmelita Ceja

The first dollar I earned as a creative almost didn’t happen and it seems kind of cliche but it’s really true. It was just before the new year in 2021 around late November and I had received an email that was very suspicious and I say that because it was so dry in a sense. It stated it was coming from a big headquarters (I signed an NDA at the time so lets say it rhymes with Feta) and that to further discuss with me details they would need me to sign and NDA. Read more>>

Susan Hensel

Sometime, between the ages of 14 and 16, I hung my drawings at a city-square clothesline art fair in Ithaca, NY. Yes! An actual clothesline! It was the norm more than 50 years ago! As a teenager I ordered books from Dover and a cool, now forgotten, wholesaler of used books who sent a newspaper tabloid catalog monthly. I had ordered the Dover guide to anatomy for artists and a photobook of nude poses for artists. Read more>>

Arkansawblk

I remember so vividly, it was 2018 around the December holiday season and the event was focused on supporting small businesses and local creatives in Baltimore, MD. When I walked into the room, I saw others setting up their booths, folks ranging from selling clothes, drinks, food, hair products, and then there was me, selling my mixed media collage paintings. Read more>>

Karen Hain

The first dollar I earned selling macrame was at a big event in Detroit called Dally in the Alley. It was a dream come true to take part in something I’d attended since childhood. But when I started getting set up, I realized how unorganized my booth looked compared to the professional artists around me. Mine looked like a garage sale stand, and I was embarrassed. Read more>>

Peter Clark

I sold my first piece of art in 2009 when I was a freshman at the Savannah College of Art and Design. It was a digitally collaged hummingbird made from subwoofers and paint splatters, inspired by the name of an electronic music artist known as Bassnectar. I shared it with him via myspace and his team asked if they could purchase it for the upcoming Timestretch album cover. Read more>>

Michelle MaliZaki

It wasn’t even actual money! But the first thing I earned as a creative person was 6 coupons for Cup Noodles. It was in 2016. I wrote a song called Nap Time! by nap8sta. I recorded the song and made a music video, in which I ate a Cup Noodle. I contacted Nisshin, the manufacture for Cup Noodles about my video with a YouTube link, then they sent me those coupons. It was the first ever payment for anything I’ve done other than regular work, and I should still have those coupons somewhere. They are all expired long ago, but it still means a lot to me. Read more>>

Sarah Coppola

I don’t actually remember my very first dollar! My mom is a full-time potter, so I grew up in her pottery studio. I started making my work to sell when I was probably about 5 years old and would have a little basket of my little pieces at my mom’s shows. I’d clink things together to get people’s attention and sell things like pizzas, snowmen, and ponds for quarters. Read more>>

Mikayla Vaughn

I attended an art show where I submitted a photo of a bridge I took in New York City’s Central Park. The show liked my piece so much that they let it hang on a wall in the gallery for a month. I was so excited I must have gone by nearly everyday to see it. One day when I went by the gallery, the piece was gone! When I asked the gallery where it went, they said someone had come by earlier that day and bought it. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with buyers in person and talk about the stories behind the pictures and the creative process. Read more>>

Juliet Gilden

My mother was an artist and she and my father owned an art gallery together for over 45 years. A great deal of my childhood was spent in their gallery and making drawings, collages and paintings. My mother always had these great small books on hand that were filled with samples of the latest wallpapers – it was the 1970’s. Read more>>