We think the world needs more artists, more creatives and more folks unwilling to spend their days as a cog in a giant corporate machine. We don’t necessarily dislike cogs or machines but we think the world clearly needs more artists and creatives and so we wanted to try to figure out how more artists can make it work financially since this is one of the major obstacles blocking so many artists and creatives from pursuing their art full time. So, we asked folks who have been able to make a full time living through their creative work, how they did it.

Adam Klein

[Stubborn Determination] After graduating from the Florida State Univ. College of Music, I had decided to stay in town with my then-girlfriend (now wife), rather than run off to Los Angeles to attempt my career out there. Even if I had moved out west, my job-situation would have been similar. Read more>>

Vic Carter.

I just took a big leap. I had left my job as a CDL driver, cashed out my 401k to buy my first camera and lens. I shot my first music video for $100 in December 2019 and felt like I could commit to it, develop my skills and make a living off of it. And that’s what I did. As I elevated my skills and caliber of clients, I raised my prices. Some major steps I had to overcome was people wanting the update skill/quality for the old price. Read more>>

Moshoodat Sanni

Earning a living as a full time creative has been a work in process I first went the creative path when I became a counter makeup artist for many brands, like mac benifit brow bar etc. i started having clients outside of the store for weddings special events etc to the point that I just took over my time. I realized I made more and worked less for my freelance business than at work. I also hated up selling products especially! Read more>>

Jon Pendergrass

Six years into my piercing career and my journey as a jeweler, I am able to say that I earn a full-time living from my creative work, but it wasn’t an overnight process. I started with a piercing apprenticeship where I made almost no money for a year and a half, while what little money I did earn was thrown into learning everything I could about piercing and how to begin making my own jewelry. Read more>>

Josh McCausland

It has and continues to be a grind day in and day out. Thankfully I am in a very comfortable place creatively these days. To where I was before to where I am now, things are night and day. I remember working a Photo Booth job in Nashville that paid 7.50 an hour after college. I remember driving an hour to pick up the booth, then driving to the event to set up the booth and post up during events. Doing that every day for about 6 months really burnt me out.  Read more>>

Cym Warkov

When I started my business I had another income stream and enough savings to live on for the first couple of years. I have been fortunate to avoid losing money in my business since its inception, but it was not profitable enough to support me until about 3 years in. Read more>>

Maggie Irelan – Holmes.

I started the idea of photography when I graduated high school 5 years ago. I was struggling to find something that interested me as a career. I never thought that I could be where I am today just by simply taking my talent for taking photos to the next level. A lot of people gasp at me when I tell them that I do not have a photography degree, nor have I ever taken a photography class. Read more>>

Nicole Wagner

Starting last year I was able to officially earn a living solely from my business, and this year I made over 6 figures in my first year 100% full time. It took a lot of time, and effort to get here, but I am so glad to have made it this far. I started with photography as a hobby at the age of 12, and then two years later, I had a friend tell me I should turn it into a business. So, at the age of 14, I worked towards having a successful business. Read more>>

Anjel Webster

After many years of trying to find my niche in this industry, I am finally at point where I am making a full time living doing what I love to do. The hardest part of it all is taking a leap of faith by walking away from your full time job to pursue your passion. It’s the scariest thing to do because it’s completely uncertain. I made a decision to invest in property at a young age and when I decided to sell it I knew that I would be able to support myself through this journey. Read more>>

Terrie Nesbitt.

I am greatful to be able to earn a full-time living from my creative work through shows, royalties, and merchandise. It wasn’t always this way. I worked a full time job until June 2018. I decided to get on the road and promote my music. Through promo shows, giveaways, and common hand shakes, I created a fan base. This in-turn started getting me bookings. Being an indendent artist, we look for a for an overnight success story, but even with those stories, the artist has put in some hard work somewhere. Read more>>

Cody Carpenter

Creative work for me is more than just work it’s a blessing I get to live everyday. I came a long way sense my first days as a videographer and a photographer. MY journey started when I was in high school designing shirts and posters for theatre. Middle of my senior year I picked up a camera and just started taking photos of just food that looked good before I ate it. As I got better at food photography I found myself in a place I was happy and that was behind the camera. I worked so hard through the rest of the year to up my craft to get into a really good school with a good media program. Read more>>

Kyra Coates.

I’m very fortunate to earn my living full-time as an artist. It is by no means an easy way to provide for my family. Any entrepreneurial venture is a roller coaster ride, but the field of fine arts seems to bump that ride up to feeling often like a rowboat in a tsunami. Read more>>

Susan Dickenson

I’ve always loved to write. I knew from an early age how to structure a story with a hook, hold, and release. It came so naturally for me that when it was time to declare my college major, my dad said “You already know how to write. Major in something you know nothing about, like business. You’ll make more money in business than journalism.” Read more>>

Danita Shari

In 2016 I started content creating as a lifestyle blogger to share my life through my blog danitashari.com, Along with my social media platforms. This helped me express my emotions through my work while sharing my ideas and true thoughts on the latest trends and products. Read more>>

Miriam Schulman

Ever since the fourth grade I wanted to be an artist, but didn’t believe I could make a living at it. Although I studied art history in college, I ended up taking the practical route, pursuing a career in finance. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I had a wake-up call and abandoned my lucrative hedge fund job on Wall Street to work on my art full-time. Read more>>

Elizabeth Hudy.

I began my creative work as a side hustle to keep me sane while pursuing a career in tax accounting. Not the most common mix, but it worked really well for me. It was a very slow and steady journey from getting an order or two a week, to now getting 10-20 every day some six years later. Getting fired from my tax accounting job during the pandemic was the best kick in the rear I could have ever asked for as I was just thrust into devoting all of my attention to my art. Read more>>

Aleisha D.

It all began in 2018, I was fresh out of college and decided to start a hobby selling handmade ceramics under the name Utility Objects. At the time I didn’t have the resources to rent a studio space or fire pottery so I invested in a potters wheel to make work and fired unfinished pots through social media arrangements. The work produced then was just for several charities, pop-up markets and mainly to practice more and figure out my style. A year after, I started a mentorship program at a local arts center, began teaching and quickly decided to take a risk to start my own business designing pottery fulltime. Read more>>

Kaitlin Nares

If you want to get something done, give it to two busy moms. The partners of Hagen | Nares PLLC are the next generation of law firm–young, modern, and female. We created this firm to give our clients the representation they deserve. Read more>>

Jennifer Charm

After doing stage and beauty makeup, I came to LA. After a number of years, I started working for the owner of a chain as aesthetic service/retail locations which were inside salons. Only one location was solely owned as a separate brick and mortar location. That was my main location.I was great at cosmetic sales and I had never set out to be an aesthetician, (much less a “business owner”.) I was a make up artist and was very happy in that role picking and choosing the jobs ranging from bridal make up through editorial, film and stage. Read more>>

CaShawn “Cookie” Cooksey-Sims

When I first started training it actually happened on accident. In 2014 I had a friend who signed me up for selling Herbalife products. I remember I made a post about selling Herbalife products and at the time I got more emails regarding me training people though I wasn’t a trainer, than about purchasing products (though that came later). I have an athletic background as I ran track from the age 9-16. Read more>>

Khadi A. Oluwatoyin

I decided to become sober in the fall of 2018. When I went online for guidance, I noticed that many pro-sober platforms did not cater to girls and women who looked like me or shared similar cultural and societal experiences. Read more>>

Frederica Crafts

The foundation of my business began to be laid nearly 10 years ago. It took several certification programs, one leading to the next, until I finally studied to become a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I always had a distant vision that I would like to support patients and clients on the path to wellness although the details of how that would exactly look were unclear. Read more>>

Katerina Gallus.

My medical career started in the Navy and although serving in the military was rewarding, I looked forward to the chance to create my own thing. For most doctors, starting a practice from scratch is daunting as we have little to no experience in the business world and business management is not part of medical school curriculum. When starting your own practice there are so many things to consider – from renting or building out the physical space, managing employees, inventory and accounting – the list goes on and on. Read more>>

Brittany Wiggins

2018 changes my life completely I lost my mom I was lost, confused, and hurt. My mom was backbone. I was only 28yrs old and a single mom of a beautiful baby girl I just I have to find a way to provide for us. I was currently working at Sentara been for 5yrs and going to school at NSU to become a Registered Nurse. The support from my mom helped me to further my education. Read more>>

Nicole Waller

For many years I was in the customer service and financial sector of the career world. I was the first female franchise owner of a national plumbing chain and did well with that for years until my divorce and it was sold. I then went on to work for other small businesses doing their bookkeeping and always felt that there was supposed to be more to my life than working for other people and building their businesses. Read more>>

Linda Goodwin-Nichols.

We moved to Kissimmee in 1972 and opened our real estate office in early 1973…timing was not the best ,as the day the office opened the market tanked in Osceola County. .It was tough the first year with no sales in 1973, interest rates were up and down, periods of low inventory , we had market booms and market crashes, along with gas crisis. Those experiences impressed upon us the need to be a stable resource for clients no matter what else is happening in the world Read more>>

Tiffiny Mahrer

It’s a dream being able to support myself solely with my art as a Tattoo Artist. None of it would be possible if it weren’t for my sister Sarah, who supported me through my apprenticeship by allowing to let me live rent free at her house in exchange for help around the house and with my little nephew. Because of that, I was able to focus on my learning completely and was able to get my full license in a decent amount of time. Knowing what I know now I don’t think I could have sped up the process or achieved it differently, I owe a great deal to my sister. Read more>>

Nancy Guberti.

The decision to start my practice was inspired and fueled by the burning passion for sharing the natural, functional medicine approaches used in healing my son. I started my practice because my son was ill, and I had gone to many doctors to find the root cause, yet they gave me no answers. I was working as a vice president at Goldman Sachs, a very stressful, demanding job that I loved, but the love for my son weighed more than my love for my career, so I threw myself into learning and educating myself to try to help my son. Read more>>