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.

Andrea Alessandrini

Nothing in life is certain, but one thing I know for sure, is to never give up. In college, I studied retail entrepreneurship in hopes of becoming a stylist or a buyer in the fashion industry; however, that’s not how my life turned out. I started an Instagram account solely for fashion and styling; this turned into my career, and not in the way I thought it would. Creating this account made me realize that I truly enjoyed the creative side of social media, and now I am happy to say that I earn a full-time living from my creative work, whether it be from the agency that I work at now or from my freelance clients. Read more>>

Sophia Yeh

I feel very fortunate that I’m able to have a creative career and be able to do it full-time. It wasn’t always this way though. Before I got to where I am, I struggled. I was working a few jobs at a time to even make this viable. In the beginning, I was working as a server and in retail—two of the hardest jobs in terms of mental and emotional fortitude. Customers can be quite cruel and often you are looked down on for your position. At the height of craziness, I would my retail job at the beginning of the week (mon-wed) and any free time I got I would do my cosplay work which included me going over to my partner’s house to work (wed night- Friday morning) and he lived 45-60 minutes away so it was a lot of driving. Read more>>

Crystal Tamar

I thank God everyday that I am NOW able to earn a full-time living from my creative work.I’ve performed to and created music simultaneously with school/work since I was 9 years old.I was able to transition to doing music full time in 2008 when I was working at a jewelry store (what?) and cheering professionally for the Houston Texans.Before walking in that door everyday I’d pray one specific prayer… “Lord please help me to start doing what I love to do everyday for a living!” No joke. On March 7, 2008 I received a phone call, AT WORK, from a childhood friend that I used to sing with, asking if I’d be willing to fly to Atlanta asap to audition for T-Pain’s girl group and eventually sign a recording contract with Atlantic Records. Read more>>

Dax Parra

Yes, I have and it’s been the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Coming out of the pandemic in February of 2021, one of my best friends, Juan Collazo, and started talking about his wedding business. He’s been a full time wedding DJ for the last 8 years and the pandemic created a backlog of weddings and made it difficult to schedule new ones. I shadowed him on a couple of his weddings, even helping out with operating his Photo Booth, and I fell in love with the whole process. I had a very comfortable 6 figure corporate career so I knew I would have to go all in on this if I was going to be successful. May 21, 2021 was the last day in my old career and I’ve been a full time wedding and events DJ ever since. Read more>>

FELIX SIERRA

I currently am living off of all different avenues and incomes I have that stem from my creative works. I always had a 9-5 job as everyone, because it’s the only way we’ve known to make money, use our hands and follow directions. I had a great job that paid me very well and I loved! But I wanted to do something that is not just for me. I wanted to keep perusing my passion of music and helping others, and go 100% on this life mission. When I made this decision, I already had a demand for our services so I calculated that in as I embarked in the entertainment industry and left my previous industry. Read more>>

Jennet Ingle

I have been earning a full time living from the oboe ever since the early 2000’s, by which I mean that for over twenty years I have not done ANY work that was not oboe-related. But to be clear, I have a PORTFOLIO CAREER, not a full time JOB. I perform with a part time orchestra and freelance in multiple others, I adjunct at various colleges, I have a reed business that I started for walking-around money and grew into a six figure business, I run group coaching programs for adult oboists and I also offer business coaching for musicians. Read more>>

Derrick Utsey

At one point I was able to be a full time DJ. These days I have a full time job but I am able to balance it with running my content creation business. One thing I learned from going fulltime in the past was that there would be highs and lows and you need to be prepared for the lows. My biggest mistake when going full time was relying on one big client. I got too comfortable and once that client disappeared the business began to suffer. I now understand the importance of having many skills and service offerings in order to create multiple streams of income. Read more>>

Jay and Riki Rivera

Yes, we have been able to earn a full-time living from our work as muralists. In late 2017 we were just doing some canvas work for fun when a friend of ours mentioned a gym that wanted a mural done. We had no clue how to charge for murals so we met with the owner and just gave a ballpark figure. This number was insanely low and looking back now we pretty paid the owner to paint his mural. That business was located on a very busy street and the owner of a carpet store next door asked us to repaint his letters. From there we went across the street to a grocery store and painted three walls of their business. While painting the grocery store we had multiple cars pulling over asking for our info. That grocery store project led to the owner of two massive gyms in the area. Read more>>

Summer Hughes

For the first time in my life, all my forms of income come from creative work. Whether teaching art to kids, giving ceramic lessons, selling paintings, or designing weddings, it is all through using my creative expertise. I have always been an interdisciplinary person. I am easily bored if I am only working on one job or working on one piece of art or with one medium. I need a multitude of avenues for my inspiration to filter through. Read more>>

Idania Hernandez

Today I can make a living from music through my weekly performances in different restaurants and events around the entire metroplex. This has been the result of my work for 6 years. Making myself known and giving my best in each presentation. Thus creating an audience that knows me and values ​​my talent. Thanks to all of this I was able to create my own music company in June 2021. Perhaps if I had been communicative and exposed my work more, the path to getting to know me would have been faster and I would have obtained results in less time. Read more>>

Boone Sasser

I am so thankful to call this my full time job! I started sewing Kawaii themed plushies that I thought my 19m old daughter would like. Created a website using square space and an Instagram account and the rest is history. I sold my first batch of plushies in May of 2021. I made sure to be consistent in my restock schedule, prices, and the quality of my plushie. To treat this new passion like a real job, early mornings & lunch breaks… the whole shabang. I am always improving on shipping techniques as well as my style. I always strive for improvements. Read more>>

Alexis Diller

I’m happy and grateful to be self-employed full-time for almost 7 years now. With a natural love for photography and design, I was doing freelance with these services even when I worked corporate jobs out of and after college. It was a nice way to earn extra money, but I didn’t necessarily have a goal to be self-employed when I started my marketing career. I really started to reflect on what I wanted to do when I left my job of 5 years as a marketing manager. Did I want to go back to corporate? Or, did I want to try things on my own? My network, family, and friends that knew I did freelance really helped me with making connections and creating work opportunities. Read more>>

Rodolfo Zuniga

Yes I have and I never take it for granted. In such a competitive industry, and with the world in constant economical crisis, I have been lucky to have found great opportunities to be a part of. I moved to the U.S. in 1999 from my hometown of San José, Costa Rica. I had very few expectations and about 4 months of living expenses saved. However, it was a liberating feeling to the attitude of: “what is the worst that could happen?” , and approach life that way. Somehow, with the help of mentors, family and friends I was able to stay in the U.S. earn degrees and eventually get paid for making music. Every step of the way has exceeded my expectations and it is good to remind myself of that. Read more>>