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.

Ali Dola

Yes, I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work, but it was definitely a journey to get there. After graduating from Holland College, I began working as a video editor, where I gained invaluable experience collaborating with over 25 agents at Century21 Colonial Realty on Prince Edward Island (PEI). After a 3 month Internship there, I am now currently working with Royal LePage in PEI, Canada. Read more>>

Eva Shelley

Yea I have been able to make a living off making my work as an artist- though I was told by someone not to put all my eggs in one basket! And I did put all my eggs in one basket- I found a cozy spot to make some income and forgot to continue to network and look for more outlets to sell my work so when hiccups happen it makes it harder to bounce back! The key is to network and always look for more work. Read more>>

Evelyn Wedner

Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

My mom is my life’s inspiration and the most influential person in my life. My father was born in 1907 Poland and my mom 1923 Algeria. My brother and I are first generation Americans! Read more>>

Jah Born

Yes – I have been able to earn a full time living from my creative work.
It was not like that on day one. I started off making beats in the early 90’s. it was a hobby back then..

Ive earned a living from consulting, licensing beats, streaming, sync, collaborations, music education, and royalties..

Build relationships & Cultivate them. that is a great way to start earning money as a creative. spend alot of time growing your brand. making contacts, and investing time and money. Read more>>

Aalisha Jaisinghani

Most full-time creatives are working multiple jobs. In my case, I have three separate sources of income. My main focus is my film scoring and personal music career, and those avenues can pay decently when pursued strategically, but they sadly don’t cover the bills. Secondly, I work as a private contractor for a to-your-home music lessons company; I teach piano lessons to kids all around Manhattan. Living in a rent-controlled apartment that falls in the middle of my students’ locations was certainly fortuitous — unfortunately, luck is always a factor. My third source of income is my part-time Adjunct Faculty position with Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, or RMCAD. I created and developed their new Intro to Film Scoring class, and I teach a couple of their remote music courses, from Music Theory to Composition to the Film Scoring class I created. Read more>>

Charisma Davis

Making a full-time living from my creative work has been an incredible journey full of surprises, hard lessons, and rewarding milestones. But let’s get one thing straight—it wasn’t like that from day one. When I first started modeling on my own, I was hustling hard, doing whatever I could to build a portfolio and get my name out there. That meant saying yes to unpaid gigs, networking at events, and figuring out how to market myself. Read more>>

Sweet Pickles

I have been a drag performer for almost seven years, and about a year and a half after making my debut, it became my full-time job. My job before I chose to make drag my career was a touring actor doing children’s theater. I’ve never truly worked in a traditional job setting. I was always dedicated to earning my living through performance one way or another. Once I figured out that there was more money to be made through drag, plus more schedule flexibility and creative freedom, I pivoted from being a full-time actor to a full-time drag queen. It helped that I was just out of college at this time, and my cost of living was extremely low. As long as I was making just enough money in drag to cover my rent, I was happy. Read more>>

Beni Kempf

I have been able to earn a full time living off of Graphic Design for a few years now. It started in my freshman year of high school, where I started to work with a few small artists from Cleveland. Where I made a little bit of money from each cover I made. Then as I began to create connections with different artists and managers, I was able to work with more and more artists from not only Cleveland but in different cites like Chicago, New York and more. This led to me being able to increase my prices to the point where I was able to quit my full time job to pursue Graphic Design. One of my major setbacks were working with artists who did not respect my work and tried to scam me but one of my milestones were being able to see my artwork in Time Square. Read more>>

Ninfa Pacheco

I am currently a part time tattoo artist / commissioned painter. I run a small business as a single mom.
I started around 7 years when my daughter was born. As a child raised by a single mom I knew I wanted a career that allowed me to be 100% present. The first 2 years I was struggling, I didn’t have loyal clientele. I had new clientele but no actual relationships were being made and so they came and went. Throughout the years I’ve realized I’m not for everyone and that’s okay. There’s a artist for everyone. Read more>>

Will Hatcher

My name is ESCAPEHATCH and I’m a DJ. In today’s world, there are many industries where it is exceedingly difficult to make a living doing just one thing. It often seems that the people at the very top, executives, directors, owners, founders, superstars, are the only ones making a substantial living with one job. I have four distinct jobs in different industries (seven if you separate acting, modeling and stunt work) and even with a busy schedule and lots of responsibilities, I still lack financial stability. Fortunately, I have never been very motivated by money or things. Ideologically, the core guiding principles in my life are creating purpose, continuing to grow and living an interesting life. Read more>>

Florencia Nadborny

Fortunately, nowadays I am able to make a living from art, thanks to a lot of hard work, effort, and sacrifice. The journey hasn’t always been linear. Since I started my learning process, as with anything creative that one wants to pursue, there were many obstacles—some of them coming from within me. Insecurities or the vulnerability of sharing something as personal as art, which I believe comes from a very deep place, often made me feel exposed. Read more>>

Tina Marie Murray

I made a living full-time from creative work from 2000 to 2015 and then it started to ebb and flow and I’ve come to understand it is always a hustle with every turn of the calendar to a new year and a new economy. I’ve had regular clients for five years at a time. steady and solid clients for 15 years at a stretch, though they changed most years. So, not always having the same clients means I have to actively find leads every year based on new and existing business relationships. I’ve had many years of “winning the voice over lottery”, as they say, with jobs that paid highly and supported making a living from creative work. I have experienced being a brand ambassador, voice of a brand, the voice of a campaign and spokesperson for a campaign. And I’ve worked solely for an organization in the education field. Read more>>