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.

Mariel Cornel

Living as a full-time creative is like living in survival mode all day, every day. There are days where I have no work or callbacks, which sounds like a dream, until rent is due. While teaching is consistent, it only is 9 months out of the year since our schedule revolves around the school year. Until then, it’s a bunch of one-off events, such as hosting my own classes or workshops at events, if I’m lucky. Read more>>

Caroline Rose

If I’m being honest, photography sort of found me more than I found it. I was working as a barista for about two years and hated having to drag myself to a part time coffee shop job that I got no fulfillment out of besides a minimum wage paycheck. I kept thinking, “there’s gotta be a better way to make money doing something more interesting than making coffee that’s creatively fulfilling, doesn’t make me work 8 hour shifts, and makes me enouch money to cover rent and groceries and student loans.” Read more>>

Blonde Vanity

I started performing in drag 8 years ago, frequenting my local gay bars to perform in “open stage” shows. Over the years, I’ve gradually improved my skills in dancing, lip sync, wig styling, jewelry, and costume creation, and I became booked across local venues more frequently as a result. Read more>>

Rachal Duggan

Yes, I have. After graduating from art school, I took full-time jobs to help me pay for life and my student loan debt. I also began freelancing as an illustrator. That work eventually grew over 10 years and balancing my 9 to 5 career and drawing career became pretty tedious. I never felt good enough to make it on my own without a full-time job. But then, in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic, I lost my job. Something like that had never happened to me. It as brutal. But it also felt like the best possible time to be thrown into working solely for myself. So I did and 3 years later, I’m still my boss. Read more>>

Shaakira Molisho

I’ve been fortunate enough to earn a full-time loving from my creative work for two years now. This all happened by accident. I’ve always created content for brands and photographed clients on the side for many years. When I was pregnant with my daughter in the middle of the pandemic, I had to make the decision to go back into a toxic work environment or take a chance on myself and pursue entrepreneurship. Read more>>

Lori Stead

I am currently a professional photographer and business owner, earning a full-time income from my creative work. However, my journey to this point was anything but straightforward. Initially, my career started in a completely different field – education. I graduated college with a degree in this field and began teaching middle school English, a role I thoroughly enjoyed. Photography, however, had always been a hobby of mine, a passion ignited in my college days and further fueled by my fondness for capturing moments and people. Read more>>

Ray(Yu) Zhou

In terms of commercial work, yes. And for the film industry, I’m working on it. After completing my undergraduate studies, I worked as a producer in a commercial production company in China. My major in brand strategy and management provided me with valuable knowledge about the commercial world. I successfully applied this knowledge to my role as a producer, Read more>>

Amanda Julina Gonzalez

The pandemic ended up being the catalyst for me to freelance fulltime. I graduated in December 2019 and my plan was to get a ‘safety net’ job. A library hired me and then lockdown happened, so I really had to scramble and a friend got me picked up as a cleanup artist for a commercial animation studio. That got me a few more gigs, which buffed my portfolio enough to get hired onto an indie film. Read more>>

Gary McAvoy

Few writers I’ve ever known say they write for money, and those who start out with that mindset might be considered ill-guided (or at least ill-informed), since the “average” self-published book sells around 250 books in its lifetime. Compare that with a traditionally published book selling around 3000 copies—in its lifetime—and you’re hardly looking at a self-sustaining career. Read more>>

Miranda Bryant

I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work in the performing arts industry, and it has been an incredible journey, especially since merging our entertainment businesses together with my husband, Branden. Working alongside Branden has been a dream come true for both of us. With his unique talents and my expertise, we realized that combining our businesses would not only strengthen our offerings but also create endless possibilities for growth and success. Read more>>

Shilo Niziolek

As an indie writer, I am nowhere near earning a full-time living from my creative work, and as long as I continue to write experimental creative nonfiction and poetry, the likelihood of that is incredibly unlikely. There are many problems in our current field, primarily the lack of funding and financial compensation for our work. This isn’t only true for doing the actual creative work, the writing, but is true from various perspectives throughout the field. Read more>>

Erik “ESH” Stevenson

When I started tattooing in ’91 it was considered a fringe or “outlaw” activity and I never intended to do it full time or to earn a living doing it. Obviously things have changed drastically since then, much for the better, with TV shows and internet coverage. Read more>>

Rachel Zemel

I have been able to make my creative work a full time-living. I was laid off in 2008 from a graphic design job working for another company. It actually was the best thing in making me push to go out on my own and have my own schedule. Owning your own business makes you more passionate about your work and keeps you hungry as this is your income to provide for your family. Read more>>

Byron Woods

Currently I am a graphic designer at a large grocery chain named Food Lion, previously was Senior Lead Designer for Circle K and I also have my own freelance design company named Creative Design Lab. Getting here has been a testimony, in college I became a large party promoter and was kicked out of school, while throwing parties I taught myself how to create flyers/ads/Video editing/Photography to help promote my events. Read more>>

Jimmy King

I began my journey into creative arts while I was in college. I had joined a band and we did pretty well, releasing a CD and touring around the eastern US. I also worked in college radio, producing and hosting a show. My degree was in Broadcasting and Cinematic Arts and three days after graduating I packed up a rental truck and moved to Hollywood, California. Read more>>

Jon Steinmeier

The short answer is yes. I’ve been a freelance musician and funny person since I graduated College in 2001. There’s going to be a theme to this story and it is…other people. There are many who have made paths for me and included me in their work and been great support. I got a degree in music composition and studied a lot of piano, drums/percussion, and even voice. I have been playing one instrument or another in bands since High School, and continue to do that today. Read more>

Cheyenne Challenger

I had a rough upbringing as a child, and truly thought my dreams were far too big to be achieved. I struggled for years with saving money and living paycheck to paycheck. I spent some time as a server and bartender, working somewhere around 60 hours a week just to keep my head afloat. I’ve always been a hard worker, no matter what the job title was. Testing a few different paths, and contemplating college many times, I just knew deep down I wanted to be a tattoo artist in the end. Read more>>

Duncan Ragsdale

I have been one lucky girl or as they say “I am not lucky, I am good”! My husband bought me a t-shirt that said that to remind me of how hard I have worked to get where I am. The last semester in college I need an internship. I was tired of the Graphic Design major that I had chosen and told my teacher “I can make anything… what else can I do?” He knew a special effects man in Nashville that was working on a movie. Read more>>

Stephanee Santamaria

When you are a full time creative person who works in the creative industry sometimes it’s kind of hard to be a freelance because it’s only you, looking for “jobs” but I think every person who does that is happy, because we don’t see this as a job, we see this as something that we love and we really work hard to be on top of everything and be different for everybody else, so it’s a big risk to so but it’s something that is worth it Read more>>

Ryan Brown

Choosing to pursue a career as an artist was, for me, a naive decision that I made with an extreme amount of ignorance, excitement and love. Originally I chose a university that was close to where I grew up, and where my friends were also attending. While there, I was told that I was at a top university that would help me develop professional skills and I believed that narrative. Upon graduation, however, it was clear to me that I had had very little exposure to solid foundational training in drawing and painting, nor had I received any guidance whatsoever on how to be a professional artist. Read more>>

Milciades Cantillo

I never thought I could live full-time from music. I only knew that the one thing I knew what to do in my life was music, so that’s where my journey began, despite my mother’s insistence on convincing me to pursue a stable profession. This was my first impulse, to prove to myself that I could fully dedicate myself to my craft. Immersing myself completely in the creative process allowed me to find my style, and of course, it was a process in which several of my musician friends also got involved and left their mark. Read more>>

Sarah Swank

Since I was very young I knew I loved art and that I wanted to pursue a career that involved art. Growing up I was told that you couldn’t make a living as an Artist. That most experienced Artists made about $30,o00 a year and had side jobs. Read more>>

Morgan Lester

For most of us in the entertainment industry, it can be really tough to feel financially stable year round. We’re hopping on and off jobs every few days during the busy times, then sitting through dry spells wondering if we’ll ever have another job again. A few key pillars are at play to achieve financial freedom in this field. Read more>>

Joseph Rubino

In the dynamic and ever-evolving realm of digital entertainment, I embarked on a quest to forge an unprecedented frontier that transcends the boundaries of video games and transmedia. Within the esteemed realm of NetEase Games, I have spearheaded the creation of a revolutionary division—a fully integrated, dynamic, and next-generation force in cinematic excellence and storytelling prowess. Read more>>

Mary Becquet

I still don’t earn all of my living from my creative work, but I haven’t given up trying. This year, in addition to writing and performing, I helped found a vocational school for standup comedy, improv and related arts! Our school is called the Comedy Arts Academy. We are powered by the super-app Vezbi, and plan to teach both remote and in-person classes using the platform for many aspects of the work. Among our instructors are former national touring headliners, members of famous improv troupes, and other working artists. Read more>>

Taylor Karabaich

I took the leap of faith by leaving the corporate design world to fully commit to Design Strength—my freelance graphic design business. I didn’t have a marketing strategy or a general business plan, but I did have a good network of past clients and business colleagues who showed so much support by spreading the word. Because of that network, the business supported my financial needs the first year, and continued to grow each year. And for those people, I am forever grateful! Read more>>

Chris Godfrey

There was a long period of time in my life, where I had left university to become a musician, but was still working a day job in construction to pay my bills. For years, I’d go to work, come home, and try and muster up enough energy to work on my music in the evening (which sometimes would prove to be quite difficult haha). As with many things in life, this became somewhat of an engrained habit in my mind. It just felt like it was how it “had to be” until I had a big record, Read more>>

Yasmen Hunter

I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work for a little under a year now. It wasn’t like this from day one, it did take a while to get here. I think one of the biggest obstacles was trying to find a starting point, I didn’t know where to look to get paid collaborations or where to get resources or support. When I first started trying to make a full-time income from content creation, I focused on building my portfolio with free collaborations and building brand relationships but when I shifted my focus more to having multiple streams of income aside from just paid collaborations with companies, Read more>>

Tyler Aug

I have actually been able to earn a living from video work! I spent a few years after college (while working a pharmacy delivery job) finding my experience with video through developing an associated style on a very healthy social media outlet. This process (of moonlighting) consisted of nearly 60+ weeks straight of producing, shooting, and editing a web series; with homemade (often trippy) experimental commercials for everything from local businesses, shows, and everything underground (and above) for the arts and culture scene in Rochester, Minnesota. Read more>>

Ethan Shun

Financial success as a creative is hard to come by for most burgeoning artists. Every artist deals with not being paid on time, less, or sometimes not at all. A full-time living from creative work is a goal every artist strives for because it gives you the freedom to create and time to experiment. Unfortunately, problems will always be part of the human condition, with one set being traded for another. Read more>>

Stephanie Falciano

Stephanie Falciano holds a BA from Hofstra University in dance and MA in School Counseling from Hofstra University. She gained a certificate in acting from the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in 1994. She has an Associate Degree in Fashion Merchandising received in 1989. She is a licensed teacher in the public school system, holding CTE certifications in Dance and Theatre. Read more>>

Desiree Redding

Yes, I am currently a full-time beauty influencer. I fell in love with hair and makeup as a little girl but never thought I could pursue it as a career. I’m 43 so I come from the era of you go to college, get a job, stay there and retire there. I graduated college back in 2001 with a degree in Criminal Justice and actually wanted to be a police officer or criminal investigator. That was until I found out how little money they get paid. Read more>>

Gui Bittencourt

I always felt different and somewhat misunderstood at the workplace, and I dare say, in life. Working for bosses, companies, and people that are just after profits rather than providing value, creating, and offering help, left me hollow. I couldn’t let that hollowness fill me up. Since I was in my first job, I already dreamed of being my own boss, an entrepreneur. Read more>>

Tristan Hallman

My career has not always been a full time freelance artist. I started this weird, fun journey when I was in high school. I got a cheap camera for Christmas, and at the time I was working retail. I started documenting everything around me – the people in my life, the places I was going, everything. At first it was a hobby that I wanted to share on social media – maybe just originally for the recognition as I was trying to figure myself out. Read more>>

Allison Cross

I have been able to earn a full time living ‘doing music’ by having different types of music services that I offer, and through increasing my price slowly over time. After I graduated from music school, I didn’t have a choice but to work whatever I could get. I did supplement my day job (doing music therapy sessions) with music performance, but the performance work was inconsistent and had a lot of unpaid hours (rehearsals, driving, meetings, etc) Read more>>