We’ve seen way too many talented creatives quit because they couldn’t make it work financially. No doubt, the financial challenges of pursuing a creative or artistic career are daunting, but we felt there wasn’t enough discussion around how to make it work. So, we connected with artists and creatives who’ve been able to earn a full time living from their creative work and asked them to share their stories with our readers.

Doug Tompos

When I was starting out in New York, it was a point of pride among young actors to not have to wait tables or do anything to earn a living that wasn’t acting, and I was lucky enough to do that for 10 years. I wasn’t living well, mind you, but between jobs, I could get by on unemployment until the next Broadway or Regional theatre job came along. Once I got to L.A. where TV and Film employment was for much briefer periods – a few days on this show, a week on that movie – it wasn’t possible anymore. Read more>> 

Danny Meza

Since I was a young boy, I knew I wanted to be artist when I grow up. That was it for me. There was no other option. Then when high school graduation came, I wasn’t sure on what type of job I could have making art. Which medium and genre was my favorite? I didn’t have one. So, I then studied graphic design. Read more>>

Mian Le

I actually started my creative business by accident. I was trying to find cool pieces for my apartment when decorating and really wanted a burger coaster for drinks in my living room. None of the ones online were what I was looking for so I decided to buy some air dry clay and create my own. I finished the piece and loved how it turned out. Read more>>

Paul Roustan

I’ve been a body painter for 18 years now. I’m always motivated by curiosity and driven to push the boundaries of the art form and less about financial gain. I tend to obsess and dive in regardless of the thoughts of people around me. That is to say, most people weren’t very encouraging regarding my path. But I carried on blazing a trail of my own. Read more>>

Carla Roda

When I came to Los Angeles I had one goal, to be able to earn a full time living doing what I love most which is editing. I spend the first years working hard doing projects at a low rate to be able to get myself known and make contacts a long the way. I was working long hours on multiple projects to get as much experience as possible. Read more>>

Justin Shaifer

I remember when I first moved to New York City to build Fascinate full time in 2017. I planned to work part-time for another media company. Unfortunately, I made the rookie mistake of quitting my job, moving to New York and moving into an apartment before I had a signed contract from them. Read more>>

Nel Santiago

I’ve run my business on and off for close to 25 years. Even if paired up with a fulltime job to supplement income, I’ve always focused on nurturing the professional relationships I’ve had with clients and looking for ways to gain new business. I’ve been fortunate to earn a full-time living from creative work one way or another my whole career. Read more>>

Kenneth Dixon

I’ve been working for myself since 2016 after I quit my full-time job working as a writer. It’s been a journey being able to provide for myself from my creative endeavors but it’s been worth all of the highs and lows. After working for a company where I felt unappreciated and undervalued I decided to quit and take some time off traveling. Read more>>

Pamela Sheyne

I have been earning a living as a singer and songwriter for around 40 years now. I am a New Zealand native who moved to London in the 80’s to be closer to my brother and sister. I started working in the travel industry as a secretary in London and discovered office work was not for me. I had always enjoyed singing so applied to a hotel band advertisement in a music paper and landed a job singing 6 nights a week in a covers band.. Read more>>

Preston Craig

I guess it depends on which aspect of my creative life one is referring. As for my painting, no, I haven’t been able to earn a living from that. However, I do have a degree in graphic design and illustration and that has served me well. Even though I’m only freelancing now, at one time in the not too distant past, I was working full time as a graphic designer and illustrator. Read more>>

Bryan & Jeff Lamar & Coulter

We have been fully reliant on our creative work to earn our living for several years now but it was a long road to be sure. We started our business roughly 11 years ago and for the first 9 of those we had to have other jobs to make it work. When we first started the Studio, we reinvested every cent we made into acquiring new and better gear, learning tools to up our skills, and eventually rent on our first location. Read more>>

Joseph Trask

Earning a full-time living from my creative work has been an incredible journey, one that I had only dreamed of for years. I persevered through countless challenges while working jobs at major theme parks. During those years, I sold a few prints here and there, with the occasional painting every two years. Read more>>

David L. Rivera

Yes, I’ve been making a full-time living from my creative work since 2013. Being able to get to that point took about 3 years worth working as an assistant and internships, but what really allowed me to do that was creating a portfolio of my work on my own. My own money, my own equipment, my own effort. Read more>>

Mark Murphy

I am indeed able to earn a full time living. However, it’s not always as comfortable as some people might like. Working for renaissance festivals comes with enough pay to live on, and if you’re smart, enough pay to have some fun with, but there isn’t much room for error. It’s important to be smart with your money in order to live on what is essentially two days’ pay every week. Read more>>

Young Ick Cha

I am a firm believer that the notion of a “starving artist” is a myth. Yes, it is part of the process with any journey of entrepreneurship across all industries. However, the starving artist is not the end result, but rather a part of the process leading to a goal. This notion was created by artists ourselves from self-sabotaging our self-worth and capabilties. It can sound corny or cheesy, but it speaks a lot truth when we say, “we become what we believe.” Read more>>

Damian Joseph Quinn

I think redefining the phrase “earning a living” can better shape how we see the whole game as artists: we are already alive. More than most, even. There’s no living to earn. Read more>>

Jonny Zeller

I’ve been fortunate enough to make a full-time living doing what I love most: telling stories through the camera. But it’s been far from a straightforward journey. Read more>>

Wil Fuller

Earning a full time living doing what I love making music was a process. At times it felt impossible to be honest. After college I got a job at a insurance company calling clients about their policies. It was a good job with good pay and benefits but I definitely was being pulled in a different direction career wise so I wasn’t happy. Read more>>

Leigh Rubin

Meaningful Project: Read more>>

Joe Marlett

Yes, I have been an independent music producer/mixing engineer since 1999. Read more>>

Austin Hare

I have been blessed to be able to say I have earned a living doing what I love. Ever since I turned 18 and moved from Cleveland, OH to Los Angeles, CA I haven’t ever had a “basic” job outside of the creative industry, and no it wasn’t always easy, shit its still not easy, but doing what you love and putting all of your passion into an idea, theres no way the universal will not start to give you mini hints that you are going in the right direction, and the more I look back onto my life and I see all of the small $50, $150, $300 small projects I did, just to get by as a small town kid living in the big city, those are the projects that mean the most to me. Read more>>

Adam Calfee

“Full-time living” is maybe a misnomer, or at least it’s all relative. When we started out we worked full time on a music video project, 4 of us, for 4 months, for just over 5k. It was enough to afford the rent and spaghetti dinners, but we did it to build our brand and our demo reel. Read more>>

Malia Miglino

I think there comes a time in every creative life when one has to take a chance; for me, that was stepping away from my survival job which happened to be working as an MUA for film & television to pursue my career as a historian, travel blogger, and TV host. It is a really difficult thing to take a chance on yourself but I feel as though so many people came out of the pandemic with their own epiphanies as to what they wanted from life and as the whole world collectively watched how short life is, more and more people stopped putting off chasing their dreams and just finally did it. Read more>>

Trae Rojo

The end game for me has always been to be able to make music for a living. Everything else will come later naturally. Being able to spend 24 hours a day on music would allow me to create the best music possible. Read more>>

Jutt Huffman

First of all, thank you for the opportunity to share my story. The easy answer is: yes, I have been making a full-time living all by playing music for the past twelve years. It all began when I was thirteen years old. It initially began as a hobby and I quickly learned how much I loved playing the guitar. Read more>>

Sierra Hawkins

I am so grateful I get to do what I love and make a full-time living from my creative work. I get to act in major motion pictures and TV projects. I get to write and record music and help listeners process their emotions and feel good about who they are, and now I also love to help others through my business on how to create the life of their dreams just like I was able to do! Read more>>