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.

Andy Nevala

I have been fortunate enough to earn a living in the creative arts through performing, teaching, and arranging music for over 30 years. The choices I have made in my career path follow a similar track in the different phases of my career. The first step, and most important, was to connect with a teacher that is doing what you want to do. I put myself in that position by attending college; that’s not the only way, though, as others have moved to a new location to study with a specific teacher, or live in a different area (New York city for example), but for me the college route was the best choice. I also knew if I wanted a job in the Arts that included retirement and healthcare, I had to do what was required to be in the position to be competitive for a university teaching job, and that was a University Education. Read more>>

Lexi Brandfon

It was my penchant for designing memorable, responsive spaces that organically led to founding my firm. Following the 2015 renovation of my own home, I was repeatedly asked by friends to recreate the same feel in their homes. By late 2019, I was taking clients in a formal capacity, propelled by word of mouth about my ability to elevate not only the aesthetic of a home, but the way you live there. Read more>>

Sarah Hartley

My journey to full-time living from my creative work has been a long time in the making. Nearly ten years ago I had the idea to start my own magazine filled with stories from women that we don’t often hear about – miscarriage and infertility, mental health, body image, etc. At the time, I was a new mom and I was working full-time but I started the magazine on the side. Over the next four years I worked this nearly full-time side hobby alongside my other work responsibilities and the magazine grew, shipping all around the world and telling thousands of stories. Read more>>

Moy R. Marco

The beginnings are always difficult, especially when you’re trying to build a career as a comic book artist. Anyone would think that once you get your first commission, everything else falls into place, but that’s not the case: you soon realize that you have to keep pushing forward with the same determination as the first time. I got my first professional project at the age of 23, and from then until I was about 26, the jobs were very irregular. Just as things were starting to improve, the pandemic hit, complicating everything even further. Read more>>

Bj Suter

I recorded my first album in 2001 while still in High School. I’ve lived through the tape, CD, iTunes, and now the streaming era of music. Clearly without major money behind your project, you are not making real money off music. I took a 10 year break from recording in 2010 and started my DJ business with my wife in 2012. We’ve grew our business tremendously in 5 years. Now we’ve celebrated 12 years of business and over 600 events. My wife was able to leave her job to home school our son. Honestly the biggest blessing has been word of mouth! We have built an incredible reputation with other venues that push up to their clients. I decided to jump back into music in 2020 releasing my first Christian Rap album and I’ve released an album every year since. We stepped out on faith and took my experience in the music industry and created our business. Those 2 factors helped us turn it into the success that it is. Read more>>

Mariana Gómez

Before graduating from university, while presenting my thesis project, one of Colombia’s most prominent art collectors contacted me wanting to purchase my entire art project. Being so young and achieving such a significant sale without an established career as an artist was a tremendous accomplishment. This experience showed me that making a living from art was possible – I just had to try. I decided to pursue a dual path: creating my artistic work while simultaneously working in various art-related companies including galleries, fairs, universities, and non profits. I successfully managed both roles for some time, which gave me the foundation to learn about art sales, management, exhibitions, curation, and working with artists. Read more>>

Paul Jack

I have been earning a full time living as a professional tattoo artist for the past sixteen years. My journey went from an apprentice, working long hours and not earning anything to fully funding my lifestyle. In the beginning it was tough but the sacrifice paid off eventually. Read more>>

Pam Karlson

Drawing and creating art my entire childhood and adolescence, I always knew I wanted to pursuit art professionally as a career. After graduating high school, I attended American Academy of Art in Chicago, focusing on illustration and watercolor painting. Graduating with a degree in Illustration, I entered the professional world as a graphic designer and illustrator, working on-staff for various studios and agencies. Over the next 12-15 years, I worked my way up to art director and creative director. Ultimately, I decided I wanted more autonomy and control over the number of hours my staff positions demanded of me as well as the freedom to carve out more time to paint. Thus, I went freelance. Best choice I ever made. I was able to create more balance between my commercial art career and practicing my love of watercolor landscape painting. Read more>>

Madison Orange

Because I have found many avenues of my expression, when I combine them all I some how am able to make all my bills every month. I’m still trying to get to the point where I have extra or a savings but the fact I can pay my bills just as an artist , I’m grateful. I’ve made it happen because if I do multiple creative things, it all adds up at the end of the month sort of thing. Being focussed and clear headed is the only way I feel this can be accomplished. Read more>>

Geovana Pimentel

It’s not a surprise that it is a struggle to earn a full-time living from art. When I first started, back in 2017, I had an idea in mind that it would be tough, but oh boy, was it worse than I was expecting! Even though humans cannot live without art consumption, there is a tendency to believe that artists are not actually “working”, and that if they love what they’re doing it is just a hobby. However, the reality is that it takes so much to be an artist! I studied film for several years, from 2017 until 2021 and in 2023-2024. Only after moving to a different country – specifically to the city that is know as the entertainment capital of the world – was I able to actually work and make a full-time living. And that was only 2 months ago! I started my first full-time job as a videographer at an advertisement production company in October, exactly 7 years after starting film school. When I think about how lucky I was that it “only” took 7 years and that some people go their entire lives having to maintain a day job because they can’t live off of their art, it gives me chills. This shouldn’t be the standard. Read more>>

Jp Gurnett

I’m proud to be one of three full-time staff members at BFF Omaha, a non-profit arts organization in the Benson Creative District of Omaha, NE. Our mission is to build community through arts engagement, and since January 2020, I’ve served as the Communications and Creative Director. Before transitioning into this role, I spent nearly a decade as an elementary school teacher. It was a rewarding career, but as I grew, I began to realize that I had a deep desire to pursue a more creative path. Discovering Benson First Friday (BFF) was a turning point for me. What began as a monthly art walk quickly became a vibrant hub for Omaha’s creative community, and I found myself immersing in the artistic energy of the area. Read more>>

Kyna Lee

For the first time this year I have been able to earn a full time living from acting and modelling alone, and thats thanks to my team and signing with agents in different states. I didn’t know I could fully rely on a freelance form of income, as I always had a side business or side hustle in the past. I’m now represented as a “local hire” in LA, Hawaii, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Texas and Australia. I think this opened up and became possible since the pandemic when everything turned to self tapes. This now allows all auditions to be filmed in the comfort of your own home, and your callbacks via zoom and you then fly to different states for the bookings. Read more>>

Reza Rezvi

This is a pretty loaded question! Short answer: Yes I am earning a full time living from my creative work Long answer: *Grab some popcorn* As with most great things, Kaze (or at the time, “Heymaker”) was born out of COVID. Pre-COVID (2020), I had been a Marketing Director across various industries in “Corporate America.” Despite a high income, I was mostly miserable and knew I wouldn’t be happy until I was working for myself. I had always juggled entrepreneurship with a full-time job, but the final push came when I was laid off unexpectedly with just a week’s notice, and then again by my next employer the Monday before Thanksgiving after being reassured I was “safe.” Read more>>

Brian Adamczyk

I have had the pleasure and good fortune of earning a full-time living as an artist and educator since 2005. Initially, I graduated college in Philadelphia with a degree in Saxophone performance, but had also been actively studying clarinet and flute. This enabled me to take on a more wide-ranging array of performance work, in a number of different settings and venues. Additionally, I was offered a part time teaching job while still being a student in college, and realized I had a deep love, and ability, as a teacher. Almost simultaneous with my budding performance career at the time, I quickly began adding part time teaching loads, and opened my own woodwind studio shortly there after that I proceeded to run for almost 20 years. One of the most formative teaching experiences I held for many years was within the Community Scholars Program at Temple University. Read more>>

Angeliqua Mcnair

I’m incredibly fortunate to say that in 2024, I’ve been able to turn We Are AM Agency into my full-time income. It’s been a rewarding and challenging journey, and I’m grateful for how far we’ve come. When I first launched the agency, I had a clear vision—one that I had planned and manifested. There have definitely been hurdles along the way, such as navigating situations where clients have experienced delays in payments or have struggled to meet financial commitments. While cash flow management can be challenging, it’s part of the entrepreneurial process, and I’ve learned to balance the setbacks with the wins. Through it all, I’ve stayed focused on my goals and maintained a daily practice of gratitude. Read more>>

Ramsey Qubein

I started with an internship at a travel media company. They brought me in to write about airports and aviation, one of my areas of expertise. That led to becoming involved on some of their hotel projects and writing hotel reviews for travel advisors. As I learned more about travel journalism and met interesting people along the way, my business began to grow beyond just hotel reviews, but also executive interviews and trend stories. It really is a people business. Networking is key, and treating people the way you want to be treated is a must. Read more>>

Madison Dunn

Yes, I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work, but it certainly wasn’t that way from day one. My journey into making a living as a photographer has been shaped by perseverance, continual learning, and the strong work ethic I grew up with on a rural farm. Those early experiences taught me the value of hard work and how to earn your way. Nothing was handed to me, and I understood from a young age that if you truly want something, you have to be willing to put in the effort to make it happen. Read more>>

 

 

 

Daniel Ramirez

No, It Wasn’t Like That from Day One It’s incredibly difficult to earn a stable living from creative work, especially in the beginning. When you’re just starting out, it often feels like you have to say yes to underpaid jobs, work long hours, and hustle constantly just to get by. Many creatives, including myself, struggle to make ends meet even after gaining some experience. It can be discouraging and exhausting, to the point where I’ve seriously considered quitting and finding a more stable job. But deep down, I know that wouldn’t feel right for me—it’s the passion that keeps me going. Read more>>