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.

Taina Rosio Olmedo

At the very beginning it was not easy!! I used to work 5 days a week in a Restaurant as a waitress, and I used to dedicate only one day to do what I really love, Doing Hairstyles !! When I decided to take the risk to be a full time hairdresser I was not having my best time , But God always was there, helping me!! It was on the Pandemic days when the Restaurant I used to work closed and I got no other income, I had to take the decision to start by my own , I had at this moment 3 years working as a hairdresser but because I didn’t do it all the time didn’t have too many clients! Read more>>

Jacob Harlin

Yes I started earning enough to pursue my career full time back in 2020 due to being a MN fiscal award winner for a grant which was able to help me really start creating full time and fully focusing all on the music and building my music company which led about a year later to me generating money from the company as a whole with sales from merchandise and music. From day one, no it was not like this at all I didn’t have support financially so I had to spend many hours of research just finding out about the creative grants and how to make sales and generate a income to survive Read more>>

Gricelda Torres

I been fortunate to make a full-time living from my small business. Making a decision to leave your regular full-time job for almost 15 years wasn’t an easy decision. I asked myself so many questions: Am I ready? Do I have what it takes to take off? Will I be able to make a living out this? There were so many worries and uncertainty that goes through your mind. But I’m here to tell you that everything is possible if you have your heart setup for success. From day one, I was ready and eager to start this journey and help my clients get the most beautiful memories they deserve. Read more>>

Electra B. Frederick

Being purposeful in the work we do is critical in life and as a creative. It’s so important to remember that as you move forward. As an artist and motivational speaker to many artists, I emphasize how imperative it is to be purposeful — whether that’s with your God-given talents and gifts or the decision to be a full-time artist. One should always make sure they have been called to do it and not just do it for the sake of going through the motions. Fulfillment is not in going through the motions. Fulfillment is in your true purpose. Read more>>

Mary Clare Kolbush

Starting a business by myself, during a global pandemic, with hardly any money to grow off of was certainly a challenging start to what I now call my successful business and a full-time creative career. If somebody would have told me that getting to where I am today was going to take as long as it did, I may not follow through. Looking back, I couldn’t imagine if I didn’t go through the journey I did; because it not only gave me a full-time career I’m obsessed with, but it taught me how to work harder than I ever could. Read more>>

Tiffani Taylor

I have been a full-time artist for 25+ years and the advice I now consistently give to other creatives, when I lecture, and, when I mentor, is this: “An artist is an artist. It is OK to have multiple streams of revenue and to have a job for health insurance and/or retirement. Whether you work a part-time job and create during the rest of the week, or, go through periods in your life where you are a full-time creative, or work full-time and create when you have the energy, an artist is an artist.” Read more>>

Cody Hanes

I love being an artist! My primary income comes from drawing for people. Fresh out of art school I had no idea how I was going to make ends meet, so I took a job as a caricature artist on the boardwalk. To be honest, I had never wanted to be a caricature artist in my life. When I was a kid, I would walk past them in the mall with no interest whatsover. So you could definitely say that, although I’ve always been an artist, I was never interested in caricatures as an art form before taking this job. Read more>>

Bryan Kenton

So just like every other creative affected by covid 19 I was left helpless. I had no other option but to make things work. Right after graduating December of 2019 What was I going to do next. It was simple I had a goal that I had to achieve. My life was all performing arts everything about it from being the star on the stage to The director and producer. I had worked in so many different fields but nothing stuck with me like performing arts. Read more>>

Jagan Cortez

How did I become a full time creative? I worked with anyone and everyone! Even if it was paid or not, I was just trying to meet more people. Turned out most of the free work led to more paid opportunity. Read more>>

Anthony Keaton

I learned about the importance of owning my own music catalogue masters and owning my publishing plus song placements in TV and Film Read more>>

Scott Endersby

I am able to earn a living from my creative work but, it has been over time and a process of learning and growing. Read more>>

Amanda Ashley

It’s been just over a decade since I’ve been pursuing my art and making an income as a full time creative. I graduated from Fredonia State University in Western, NY and moved to Rochester, NY with the intention to begin my adult life and to pursue a teaching career in Fine Arts. My first year of living in Rochester was difficult. I was raised 7.5 hours away from Rochester in Long Island, NY, and was experiencing difficulty adjusting to my new life. I felt lost and without purpose, and was wasting my days away waitressing and working at a tanning salon. Read more>>

Lash Allen

I’m a fourth generation hair artist, so you could essentially say I was raised in a hair salon. I started shampooing and blow drying for my mentors at the very young age of 10. It was just for fun at first, but then they realized I really enjoyed chatting with and helping people feel great. Once I finished high school I immediately got my cosmetology license. Egotistically so, I was pretty cocky about my skill set from watching and working at such a young age. I then became humbled shortly after.  Read more>>

Amanda Davis

Yes I am able to earn a full time living as a touring Front of House (FOH) Audio Engineer and it has been quite the journey! My musical journey started with me taking piano lessons as a kid, finding my voice and eventually going on to study voice at Roosevelt University. Once I graduated from Roosevelt, I knew being an opera singer wasn’t the path I wanted to take so I started searching. I had a friend who attended SAE ATL, so I got some insight from him and took a leap of faith and moved to ATL to attend SAE. Read more>>

Chynna Martinez

I actually have been able to make being an influencer a full-time job and honestly it has been the BEST decision I have ever made in my entire life. I have been a stay at home mom since 2018 (when I got pregnant with my son) and despite having a supportive spouse, I’ve always loved making my own money. With that being said, becoming an influencer happened accidentally. I had no intentions in becoming one nor did I ever think I’d be in this position but I truly believe everything happens for a reason. Here is the back story on how I became an influencer.  Read more>>

Rebecca de Araujo

I really never understood the whole ‘Starving Artist’ trope. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to do something with the arts. Although, what that particularly was did change from time to time, varying from teaching art, to graphic design, to animation, and finally, to illustration. Luckily, my parents have supported me my entire life, never doubting that I could be successful in my field. But of course, like any artist I’m sure, I have crossed paths with many people who questioned the confidence I carried within my field. Read more>>

Michelle Margiotta

I realized that I had a natural gifting to play guitar and piano at a young age. My grandmother was a professional singer and I admired her talent. Although she was offered a record company contract from RCA VICTOR, she decided to turn the offer down in order to be a full-time mother. I respected her choice and sacrifice. She and I always talked about music and we both had so much in common. Our love for beautiful melodies and the orchestra was a common discussion for us. Recognizing my hunger to learn as much about music as I could, I left my Italian family in New York to attend a Christian university in Cleveland, TN, Lee University. Read more>>

Pleasant Gehman

I’ve made a living as a full time creator since 1982. I was twenty-three at the time and newly divorced. I was working temp jobs in sterile offices and doing part-time stints in retail to make ends meet…and it was killing my soul. The turning point came for me when I was in a storeroom at a shop, putting tags on lingerie, and the girl I was working with started a conversation. “I heard you’re in a band…” she said. I answered yes. Read more>>

Andrew Binder

I’ve been working as a professional graphic designer and screen printer for nearly a decade. I began as a digital production designer for an agency that created advertising for grocery stores and retail chains. I realized very quickly that my position didn’t require a great deal of creativity, it was repeating the same design processes over and over and over. That led me to freelancing on the side doing artwork or merchandise designs for musicians, working with local businesses to creating marking materials and branding and I grew to love that sort of creative work. Read more>>

Charity Hamidullah

Since a child I knew that I was an artist but I was always told that art was a hobby and could have never been a career. From then, I aimed to be rebellious and rise above the stigma of a starving artist. At, 15 years old, I began my career as a tattoo apprentice/ artist at East Side Tattoo in Rochester, New York. I was afforded early on the opportunity to enter a truly abundant career path. Read more>>

Lexi Tyrrell

Making a full-time living from my creative work has been my greatest achievement. When I was first starting out, I had to do a lot of my work in exchange for credit rather than being paid in order to build up my portfolio and grow my network. I had the privilege of living rent-free with my mom for the first three years of my career, but I still worked multiple part-time jobs in order to pay my bills. My career as a makeup artist was my top priority and I made a lot of sacrifices; Read more>>

Chris Chamness

I’ve been a full-time musician now for 5 years. I graduated with a degree in Music, then spent the next 4 years playing and holding down part-time jobs like working in retail or being an Uber driver. I started getting more and more gigs to the point where I could stop doing anything else to supplement my income on the side. It’s definitely not always been easy the past 5 years, but I’ve slowly developed my career to where it is today. Read more>>

Jaylynn Nash

Ever since I was nine I have wanted to be a full time photographer. I have always been a very career driven person always looking for ways to learn, grow, and complete my goals. Realistically I knew I needed multiple jobs to get to a point where I can be fully remote, and full time photo. I taught myself photography at a very young age (learning on film), but then also taught myself graphic design at the age of twelve on a family trip through the Midwest (where I am from). Read more>>

Beyond Destiny

We currently all have day jobs, but we perform anywhere from 3-5 times per month. Our goal is to one day do our music full time. We all love creating and performing music. We all have been performing from a very young age. Read more>>

Rebecca L. Hargrove

I am blessed to be able to say that I am able to support myself as a full-time artist. When I graduated with my Master of Music in 2015, I had zero performance job opportunities at my disposal. By chance, I was introduced to an HR employee at a major record label and they were able to help me obtain a full-time job at the label. I spent 4.5 years there learning the business side of music. The label also supported all of my creative endeavors. If I ever had to audition or leave for performance/filming opportunities I always had a job to return to. I used to tell my parents that the day all of my gigs lined up I would be out of there! Read more>>

Lisa Murphy

I have idolized John Denver since I was 5 years old!! At age 10 I told myself that if John Denver could play a guitar than I can too!! I taught myself to play guitar and sang along to the John Denver album I had. This progressed into performing at Junior and Senior High school shows and than the Minnnesota State Fair talent contest at age 15. Just a few years later I performed for events, private parties, and did many local radio shows. I met my idol, John Denver, in 1978 and 1981. Read more>>

Adam Gnade

I earn a full-time living from writing, but it comes in peaks and valleys. Some days are very lean. Others are pretty incredible. I honestly have no idea how it all works or how to predict things. I just hustle constantly. Every day. It can be exhausting and some days (a lot of days) I think of quitting. I haven’t quit (and I won’t) because I love the work regardless and even on the hard days I feel like what I’m doing is a good thing. Read more>>

Brett Beasley

The facts: 2 year apprenticeship in production pottery (Palms Up Pottery in New Smyrna Beach, FL), interested by what the art field has to offer, I completed my BFA at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Still interested, I accomplished my MFA at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. After graduation, I began my career as a full time self-employed ceramic artist. For two years I paid all my bills directly from the sales of my artwork. For more experiences and social interactions, Read more>>

Lauren Lee

I have been able to make a living from this full-time, but not without a lot of sacrifices and pieceing things together. I think in popular culture there has become this romanticization of the artist’s struggle: the notion of the starving artist living in a shoddy apartment while having to work as a barista or bartender as their ‘actual’ job, making art on the side. Part of making a living as a creative person for me has been learning how to fit my skill set into a lot of different scenarios and taking some out-of-the-ordinary gigs. Read more>>

Sunshine James

After moving to Nashville three years ago I started working full time and paying my bills with music. It’s been a slow and steady path to get to where I’m at. I’ve been workin for a paycheck at some level since I was a kid and honestly never thought music could go beyond being a hobby. But after no matter how many times I tried a different path, I could never shake the itch to make music my full time life. I dropped out of college twice (I never finished a semester), Read more>>

Rob Floyd

Such a great question here – how to earn a living from your creative work? So I’d like to start at the point where you have to know “why” you are doing your creative expressions. Once you understand the “Why” the rest of your work can really take shape. For me, I became a bartender and loved making people feel good about themselves. I was able to work with some of the best chefs and mixologists in the world, always remembering my “Why.”  Read more>>