We recently connected with Craig Alexander and have shared our conversation below.

Craig, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

Growing up, I always wanted to be an artist. In school I was surrounded by some of the most talented and inspiring artists that had similar dreams.

We spend thousands of hours working on our art, in art class, during homework time, and even for fun.

A large part of our childhood was in the pursuit of the arts.

This all came crashing down when we graduated and “had to get a real job”.

I was absolutely appalled by the waste of talent and life, as I witnessed world class artists in their late teens, peel off the identity of “artist” and be mercilessly sucked into the corporate world.

One girl I used to sit next to, she was from Spain, could draw photo-realistic art from imagination, with no prep and she ended up working at a coffee shop, for minimum wage.

I decided at that point if I ever “made it” as an artist, i would turn around and dedicate my life to helping those who shared similar dreams.

In 2013, I sold my first canvas print of my photography to a total stranger. By the end of the year

I quit my job in interior and suffered through 6 years of ups and downs of failure and near bankruptcy as I travelled the country and the world trying to sell my own art.

There was cancer and tragic passing in my family and the years were tough, and I thought I would never make it. At age 25, I was tens of thousands of dollars in debt with very little hope of a bright future.

It wasn’t until 2019, at the very end of my rope, no longer able to work the 90+ hour weeks involved in being a touring photographer selling canvas prints of my photography in shows – that I finally broke through in Nashville, Tennessee.

By the end of that year I’d done $160,000 in art sales, in 2020, i did $305,000 and in 2021 i did $700,000, at which point I sold my 4 art galleries to a business partner and created my own educational program online teaching artists how to do what I had figured out.

As of this writing in mid 2023, I now have 2,500 students from 30 countries online, and they collectively make $500,000 / month in their own art sales consistently.

This number is constantly growing, and my life goal is to help 1 million artist out there quit their day jobs and be able to do art for living, if that’s what they wish to do.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

(see previous answer for background / back story)

I help photographers sell their art online and offline profitably.

My top students make $2000-$4000 / month.

In the group we have had $5000, $11,000 and even $14,000 art sales.

I teach a course as well as provide 10+ hours of personalized coaching to help artists become profitable sharing their artistic gifts with the world

Have you ever had to pivot?

In the Spring of 2020, I had just made a large investment in my brick and mortar art gallery, and basically emptied my bank account.

A week later, the world came grinding to a halt and all in-person commerce that wasn’t considered “essential” was forcibly shut down.

I had bills flying in, 4 roommates who had no income, and house rent as well as art gallery rent due almost immediately.

I felt helpless, like the world was crashing down all around and everything I’d spent 7 yers building would collapse on my head.

i decided to get resourceful and learn e-commerce. How to sell online.

I did, and this created a brand new life of freedom as an artist I’d never experienced before.

Within a year, from that point, I was able to sell my 4 art galleries and sell my art online exclsuviely and travel the world, no longer tied to one location to do business.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I think they will be huge, and absolutely change the world as we know it, they are still incredibly early.

The internet was invented in the 1970s, by the military, research labs and higher education institutions.

But it wasn’t until the mid 1990s that Amazon and others came along and revolutionized how we shop online.

I’m a huge believer in Blockchain and NFTs, but unless you’re in the top .01% of artists worldwide or have a huge following, I think it’s a little early.

I still make tens of thousands of dollars from my artwork printed on traditional materials like Paper, Canvas, Acrylic and Metal

Contact Info:

• Website: www.craigalexanderacademy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigalexanderphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CraigAlexanderPhotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEQKqNNRuI4uaaAsYZ82tmQ
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CraigAlexanderPhoto