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.

Justus King

In the wee early morning hours of March 17, 2018, I drove to a quaint AirBnB cabin in the forests of Evergreen, Colorado. After parking, I walked up to the wooden AirBnB where I met the director, photographer, and assistants of the photoshoot I was modeling for that day. The photoshoot was to get generic stock photos of friends hanging out at a cabin. When signing into the photoshoot, I was asked what my rate was. Here was where I made the rookiest of rookie mistakes. Read more>>

Erik The Terror Big 7

Erik first began to make real money from his music once he began engineering not only himself but other artist for studio time & producing. Once his hit self engineered single “Her House” went viral & received over 2.7million streams. His other songs like “aVlone” & recent single ‘Missed Call” has ten of thousands of steams. Read more>>

Genesis Juarez

My very first dollar I ever earned would have had to been when I was 11 years old. I had only been acting for about a year at this point when my agent said that I had in person audition for this pharmaceutical company called Adbvie. I remember they sent me a very dramatic monologue that I had to do and that the turnover would be the next day. When I got to the studio where the auditions where being held there where so many kids. Read more>>

Carolina Delleva

When my work started to be recognized, it was a pleasant surprise. My friends suggested that I participate in craft fairs in alternative cultural spaces, and I was curious to see if I would sell anything or not. My first sales were actually made to my friends, and then I started gaining an audience through social media. Being from São Paulo, Read more>>

Chana Torres

Straight to business I see. Let’s dive right in! My first of many paid posts was for $200 in 2021. This amazing women owned clothing brand reached out to me directly and expressed I aligned with their mission and they appreciated the content I created for my personal brand. This specific brand offered to send me a PR box, a paid commission percentage, and to pay for my content per post. I’m still partnered with this brand to this day. Read more>>

Ana King

As I’m sure you can imagine, I have been getting my hands on crafts essentially for my entire life. In elementary school, when Duck Tape was a huge craze, I honed the practice of making Duck Tape wallets for myself, my family, and my friends. I would sell each wallet for about $5-10 and use my earnings to by more patterns and colors. That was even when I made my first business card! Read more>>

Kolbie Bartholomew

I remember the first nickel I earned as a creative. At seven years old, my best friend, Amy, and I worked really hard coloring pictures. We used our best colors and stayed inside all the lines. Perhaps I wasn’t talented enough to draw the images myself, but I had fun and thought they turned out really nice. So nice that maybe someone would like to buy one to decorate with. So Amy and I took to the streets on her banana-seat bike and knocked on neighbors’ doors. Read more>>

Jarvis Blake

My first dollar earned as a creative was when I sold my first book as a ghostwriter. I been writing for a while and finally started looking for projects with people to submit their work when they couldn’t. Oftentimes people have stories they want to publish but rarely have the time. So I offered to write their book for $1 per page. It wasn’t a good idea at first because the book ended up being a best seller and I only made $244 dollars off of months of time. I’d say it was a blessing and a curse. Read more>>

Pen Wallace

The very first dollar I can remember earning from my craft was back in 2018. I got commissioned to make a logo for a coworker’s friend. It didn’t go well to say the least, but I learned a lot from the experience for sure. I was upset because I had offered what was asked of me. They were not pleased, and I took it on the chin. The individual made my coworker pay me instead rather than even face me. What I was paid wasn’t even what we agreed on and I got less than half. But it was a great lesson for me I’ll never forget. Read more>>

Kai FaKtor

When I was 16, I joined a nonprofit organization that allowed me to share my music with the community. I performed at different events without expecting to get paid. But at the last show, someone surprised me with an envelope. Inside was $200 and a letter that said, “Keep Going.” That unexpected gift meant so much to me. It showed that someone believed in my music and wanted to support me. It gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams full-time. Read more>>

Asha Miller

I was just 11 when I sent in my first poem to be published by a magazine. I was a young immigrant girl, filled with the dreams of her ancestors and her own dreams as well. My dreams of becoming a writer began as far back as I can remember. I have journals filled with awful rhyming poems, a few good ones, meaningful thoughts about life and my faith in God, and odes to the boy who happened to catch my eye at the moment! Read more>>

Eddie Jemison

The first dollar I earned was from the 2016 Warner Bros. Feature Film – Batman VS Superman starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill! I was 29 years young at the time and one of my Agencies, Real Style Talent was responsible for securing my very first paid booking, with many more to follow suit in the near future. Read more>>

Kid Mix

In high school, my friend David came to my house to spend the night. He noticed I had two turntables, a mixer and giant speakers in my bedroom. He asked, “Do you DJ?” I explained that I loved hip-hop and break dancing. One thing led to another, my father was a musician as a hobby, so I had this equipment, but I never really did anything outside of my bedroom. Read more>>

OH.Tae

The first dollar I ever earned as a creative was in January of 2020 from BMI music. I had performed across many open mics and showcases prior to the pandemic in my hometown of San Antonio starting in March of 2019. I had only earned $2.72 (1 song performed at an open mic that quarter), but from there it was in the $100’s every quarter after that. In doing so, each performance helped me to develop my individual stage presence, and then added on other streams to supplement my income as a creative. Read more>>

Madelyn Howard

I started doing craft fairs selling my work, my first event was a Christmas event in NY. I remember selling my first piece of jewelry, and people commenting how unique of a piece it was. My favorite jewelry pieces to make is with shed skin from my ball python Lulu. She’s been a constant source of encouragement and inspiration for me, so it means a lot that she can be incorporated into my work, and that other people appreciate it as much as I do. Read more>>

Mariah Leggett

When I was in high school, I really enjoyed doing pencil portraits of family members and friends and would occasionally get someone to request a portrait. After finishing school though, I stopped doing art for a while, 5-6 years actually. And it was when I was on maternity leave with my youngest daughter (now 5), that I was feeling called to start painting. I felt like I was basically starting over as a creative, and I wasn’t at all comfortable sharing my art. But I made the decision to start an art Instagram around a year later, which was in 2018. Read more>>