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.

Lydia Ryals

After my daughter was born during the early covid-19 lockdown days, I struggled with postpartum depression and anxiety. The weight of protecting my family was a lot, but the added concern for a brand new baby while sitting cooped up in our home with two under two was quite the combination. My husband encouraged me to explore a new hobby as an outlet in such a stressful season. Read more>>

Cayla Zeek

I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work for about 5 years now. I’ve been juggling multiple jobs for as long as I can remember wether it was feeding cats, teaching painting classes, working as a sales associate etc. While I had other jobs, I was always creating my art on the side and putting it out in the public eye through art markets, galleries, bars, restaurants or setting up in front of businesses. Read more>>

Wyly Bigger

In the past couple of years, I’ve gotten to a point where I’m able to support myself solely on music. I still work a part-time job for some supplemental income and for something to do during the day, but music is bringing in the majority of my income. It took a while to get to that point though. I started performing publicly in high school, but it was just the occasional restaurant gig that felt more like a novelty than a profession. Read more>>

Michael Hall

My journey as a professional artist started over 30 years ago when I had my first show, prior to which I spent three years of steadily learning my craft and prior to that achieving a BA in Fine Arts. At my first show I sold seven paintings and from that day forward I have paid all of my bills, travel expenses, show expenses, etc. through the sales of my artworks. Read more>>

Leon Nikoo

At an early age, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. Around the age of 13, my friend and I had to do internships in our local town. He went to a car garage, and I went to a golf club to work in their kitchen. My friend took some spray paint home, and when we met in the evening, we decided to graffiti on the streets. Read more>>

Stacie Ehasz

When I started my business, it really began as a hobby. I was a hobby photographer just having fun taking pictures. I have always loved taking pictures. During lockdown in 2020, I decided to really invest in education and courses to better my craft and have photography become a side business for me. I practiced a lot and took growing my craft very seriously. In 2021, my full time job underwent a lot of changes. Read more>>

DAWN HEUMANN

I suppose you could say my journey was one that started at birth. My mother and father were filmmakers and often brought me along with them. My dad filmed and edited them, and my mother produced and wroth the films. My young years were often spent trying to be quiet on set as to not mess-up the sound being recorded. Read more>>

Erin McManness Rodda

Yes! I currently have worked full-time as a professional illustrator for almost a decade. My brand, Paper Raven Co., was founded in 2015, after I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with my Masters in Illustration, and after working several industry jobs as an Art Director/Product Designer, etc. I left the traditional workplace to pursue Paper Raven Co. Read more>>

Courtney Horrigan

I would love to say it was an easy ride to get to where I am today, but that wouldn’t be the truth. I was told in college that I would never make it as a graphic designer. It broke my heart to switch from a Design degree to traditional Advertising. I spent countless nights questioning my worth and my ability. It took me a year to come to my senses, find my backbone, and truly go after what I wanted. Read more>>

Sonia Mendez

It took several years to start earning revenue from my blog. Before that, I was working for other food websites developing recipes. That in itself, helped me build my following on social media. Countless hours and dedication is what it takes. It’s not going to happen overnight. Now with the popularity and trend of quick videos, it seems like blogs are taking a second seat. Being more knowledgeable about how social media worked would have helped me in the beginning. I am still learning. Read more>>

Amanda Shields

I have been a full time professional photographer now for five years! It was not always that way- I actually worked full time as a receptionist in a hospital for six years while building my business on the side for most of that time. I think it was a great way to earn extra money doing something I loved but not having to put all of the pressure on it right away. However, I do think I could’ve made the leap to full time a little sooner than I did. Making the decision to go into freelance work full time is scary! There are a lot of factors that go into that decision (income, retirement, health insurance, etc) that I had to figure out on my own. Read more>>

Dustin Saylor

For 14 years I have been able to work as a Full Time Musician. I have been able to make this happen by getting hired as entertainment for Wineries, Casinos, High-end Resorts, Corporate events and Private Events. What caused me to decide to jump All in? It was 2009 and I just tried out for American Idol, I was not given a golden ticket. That experience though made me question how committed I was to music. Read more>>

René Romero Schuler

From the moment I decided to be a working artist, I made it my mission to always be working. I started by calling businesses from the yellow pages and asking if they would like any art for their offices or lobbies. Things had a slow start, but that quickly blossomed into a career that more than paid the bills. There were a few slower periods which brought on some worry, but I am just so tenacious that I continued to pursue opportunities that fulfilled my creative spirit, and brought in some income. Read more>>

Cyrille Conan

I’m still pinching myself that I’m working as a self employed artist. It’s been a long time coming and a lot of work, but worth it all. After graduating with a BFA in Painting from the Hartford Art School at University of Hartford, I moved to Boston. I had a friend that was already living and working there. He had graduated from the same art school a few years prior and was working for Boston Magazine at the time. He had a friend that wqs working for a high end custom picture framer called A Street Frames here in Boston. He gave me his number. Read more>>

Maryanne Moodie

Yes! I was a teacher for 10 years and feeling burn out. After feeling like teaching was such a girt, I didn’t have any more in the tank. I decided that getting pregnant was an easy out (little was I to know!). In Australia, teachers got about 4 months maternity leave and I took it at half pay and so spread it across 8 months. Read more>>

Angelle

I actually have a full-time job and that’s how I’m able to find my creative work which is my music one of the things I wish I had done was focus a little bit more on my creative side. I guess you might see the business aspect of my music that’s what I’m actually doing right now. Read more>>

Juanjose Rangel

When I first started getting paid partnerships, I was in awe about being able to do what I used to do for fun and get paid for it. However, It was a new industry, and I didn’t fully understand how much work it would take for it to become my sole income. I remember I still had to get other jobs to sustain producing the content (traveling and fashion) I wanted to create. I battled with eating disorders and depression for many years without anyone knowing since I wanted to continue being inspirational without realizing that when you are not real, you burn yourself and you are not really influencing people the right way. Read more>>

Katie Cowden

I’ve been a full time artist for almost 10 years now, but the first couple of years I had some sort of part time creative gig to help boost my income. I thought I could jump right into having a major presence on Etsy, but it turns out I don’t really enjoy online sales. Once I developed amazing wholesale relationships with some of my favorite local businesses, Read more>>

Autumn Heseman

Jumping in to Being a Full Time Furniture Refinisher/DIY’er and creative coach/influencer was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I am a certified Speech-Language Pathologist with a Masters in Science, and a Bachelors in Audiology and Speech Pathology. Read more>>

Shauna Garrett

I am very blessed to say, I am earning a living as a full-time filmmaker in Los Angeles as a gaffer, electrician/set lighting technician, and director. It took several years for me to get to this point. I thank God and the friends I have made along the way for the ability to be in this city and consistently working in-and-out of season. Read more>>

Dennis Corolina

Yup! I’ve been working in sync, music for ads, films, and TV, full-time for close to a decade now. The short story is that I made a lot of mistakes and even more bad music but there were a lot of people along the way that helped me get better. Haha. As far as sync goes, at first I started out by composing / producing music for reality TV and sports programming. Read more>>

Kevin Sullivan

One major thing I believe in when it comes to starting a business and making sure it’s successful, is using your source of income to fund your business & your lifestyle. By that I mean having a full or part-time job so that paying the bills is taken care of… While also using that money to fund part of the business or to even have that sense of security knowing that you can put time into your business without feeling like you need to find money elsewhere. Read more>>

Pierre Johnson

People ask me all the time “do you have another job too?”. I’m very thankful for having a talent that I was able to turn into a full time career and make a good living off of. The beginning was hard. Really hard. It’s hard to build clients when you just start, and on top of that I wasn’t really that good back then. The biggest thing was staying dedicated. I was leaving a lifestyle that I didn’t want to go back to. I had chosen to live at a lower quality of life, eliminating everything and everyone that could possibly cost me this chance that I had to make honest money from my craft. Read more>>

Julie Grumberg

While I have not been able to earn full-time income from my art, its something that I started pursuing seriously about 3 years ago and slowly moving to that goal. I have to manage my time with my other entrepreneurships and the business I manage with my husband. Read more>>

Kerri Herlihy

Before I was able to independently earn a full-time living as a professional makeup artist, I was lucky enough to land a job with MAC cosmetics back in 1998. This was at the height of their popularity, and a full-time position with them was a dream come true. I was around 23 years old and knew the first day on the job that this was my calling. Read more>>

Assétou Xango

I have been a full-time poet for over 6 years and I have never made more money than when I started making money from my art. If you are thinking of taking that leap of becoming a full-time artist I have a few pieces of advice: 1. DO IT WHILE YOUR SCARED: There is no perfect time to do it but there are better times. If you are one of those people who likes security, Read more>>

Tara Flannery

Although it’s been a 12-year journey, my business now earns the same revenue as my husband makes in salary at his job. We have a fun competition each year to see who can out-earn the other. I’m now beating him which feels great as a women-owned small business! I now have a goal to double revenue over the next three years. Read more>>

Terry Durham

My name is Terry Durham Jr and I’m from Goldsboro, NC. I currently reside in Fayetteville, NC. My interest in art began in middle school and became a hobby in high school. In 2009, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, with concentrations in Painting and Drawing, from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Personally, I have found my work to be therapeutic and hopefully for my viewers and patron’s as well. Read more>>