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.

Kenneth Schalk

To me, the most important part of turning my creative/artistic skills into full time work is engaging the client’s needs without any personal bias. It’s fun to make art for our own challenge or pleasure but in the service industry, our talents and skills are a tool for someone else’s needs. Read more>>

Brandon & Meredith White & Meyer

Brandon: I think making a living from music or any creative field comes down to expanding the horizons of what it is that you do. I’m a songwriter and performer, but a big part of an artist’s life is doing new things that need to be done. Read more>>

Matthew Schultz

Well, my name is Matthew Dean Schultz, I go by Dean Schultz. I’ve been pursuing my art career for most of my life. My career choice stems from a family of artist that encouraged me as a child to be an artist. Read more>>

Whitney Finuf

Yes, I have been making a good living full time freelancing for four years now. I opened my business and started taking clients in 2016, however it was more of a side hustle until 2020. Read more>>

Nesrin Danan

I always feel so lucky and grateful to have fallen into the creative path that I did – I’ve never really had another job! I started photography in high school, where I learned more technical aspects of digital and film. Read more>>

Tim Philpott

I’ve been a full time self employed musician going on 17 years now, and while it can be tough sometimes I throughly enjoy the variety of styles of music I get to play as well as the interesting people I meet – and being my own boss ! Read more>>

Christine Peters

I am living as a full time artist and have been for over 10 years. I never thought that would be my reality, but my life opened up to it and I’m so grateful. Read more>>

Carlos Adriano

From a very young age I felt attracted to show business and it was clear to me that my life would take place on stage. Fortunately, my family always supports me in my artistic path. Read more>>

Abigail Lague

Becoming a full-time commercial photographer is by far the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. When I first started out, I was doing shoots for $50 while spending $15,000 on expensive equipment. Read more>>

Elise Daly Parker

Hmmmm, lots of good questions. Yes, I’ve been able to earn a full-time and sometimes parttime living from my creative work and it has certainly been a journey! Read more>>

Christie Hart

As a Single Mom that started this as a Side hustle while going through a divorce as a supplemental income to try to rebuild my life I never at that time had a single thought of this becoming a full time gig. Read more>>

Samantha Tribble

Since 2019 I have been able to make a full-time living as a professional photographer. My husband and I have owned the business since 2017 but, in the beginning, we worked other jobs at the same time. Read more>>

Amanda Hoffman

My journey to full-time creative work has been kind of a slow one, or at least at times it has felt slow to me. I did photography as a hobby and then a side hustle for close to 10 years before making the leap to full time. Read more>>

Terrance Thomas

My art comes in the form of community engagement. I work at schools, business events, sporting events, and most community events around Dallas. My journey was not easy. Read more>>

Ashley Bergeron

Earning a living from my creative work was never in my radar. I just didn’t think it was fully possible. I grew up in a very low socioeconomic status which meant that I knew the risks and everything I was doing was to get myself into a stable income, to rewrite my trajectory. Read more>>

Michael Lotenero

I went to school for graphic design, because I thought that would be the best way to earn a living in the visual arts. I wanted to be a full time fine artist right out of the gate, but I just couldn’t see how to make that happen. Read more>>

Denny Smith

This is a tricky one to talk about, because I do several different things to pay my bills, and I’m not sure they all technically qualify as “creative work”. Music has provided me with an income for most of my adult life, but not always as a result of writing, recording, or performing it. Read more>>

Atticus Roness

I am very proud and fortunate to be able to say that I am able to make my living on my creative endeavors, albeit not comfortably. but that’s the whole point of being a creative; to push yourself beyond what’s comfortable. Read more>>

Lori Miller

I started with paint parties in April 2018. A friend from childhood had just recently opened a brewery and asked if I’d like to host a paint ‘night” at her brewery – I had never been to or wanted to go to a paint party at that time. Read more>>

Lara Miklasevics

I have been fortunate to earn full-time living as a Food Stylist. I am 15+ years into my career and have never considered walking away or felt the need to supplement my income. Read more>>

Brooklynn Migura

To start off, I never in a million years thought I would be taking my passion into a full time “job.” I quote that only because it doesn’t feel like a job to me. Read more>>

Trapstar Vinc3

My goal is to make is big with this music for real. If I’m being honest music always been like a therapy for me in the past and still is sometimes but for the most part I honestly don’t even do this for me nomore… its more about the family and the guys now. Read more>>

Kely Pinheiro

Earning a full-time living from music is a challenging journey filled with highs and lows. For over a decade, I’ve pursued this path, encountering numerous obstacles along the way. Read more>>

Elizabeth Lui

I have been a full time working artist since 1979. After a life threatening car accident at that time, it was a life changing experience that made it clear to me that I would fully commit to my artistic and creative life. Read more>>

King Street Sax

My Journey from the Streets to the Stage** In the vibrant pulse of the DMV area, amidst the cacophony of urban life, I discovered my voice through the sweet melodies of the saxophone. Read more>>

Catchfire

Currently, we are all working to support ourselves while in the process of building up our business and our following. What drives us to get to that point is our passion about bringing people together with our music. Read more>>

Brannon McLeod

Personally, I found myself slowly getting to the point of being able to support myself with a music career over a course of many difficult years. Read more>>

Chelsea Miller

Being a creative and doing it full-time has been one of the most rewarding yet challenging paths to go down. I am very fortunate to say that I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work, however, I’d be lying if I said it was easy or that I’m not constantly still doubting myself and my art. Read more>>

Heather Pecorella

For 12 years, Heather Pecorella has been teaching dance, bringing her expertise to studios in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York. A proud graduate from LaGuardia High School and a former New York Jets Flight Crew Cheerleader, Heather’s passion for dance shines through in everything she does. Read more>>

Laura Macy

I feel really lucky that I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from creative work since I was 21. I started my business as a professional pianist when I was 16: playing for live events such as weddings and birthday parties, and teaching private piano lessons to family friends. Read more>>

Susy PilgrimWaters

I was drawing from the time I could first hold a pencil. I was quite driven passionate AND practical -no illusions about having a job as a creative. Read more>>

Matthew Robinson

I have recently been able to get by as a full-time creative, and that came from really a lot of planning and being forced into a sink or swim situation. Read more>>

Antonio Clark

I have been able to earn a living from the beginning. It wasn’t the easiest from day one, that’s for sure. The biggest thing was expanding my view of the type of art that I put there, and advertise. Read more>>

Meganne Stepka

I am a working independent musician. It has never been easy to earn a full time income from my creative work, so over the years I’ve had service jobs that supplemented my income. Read more>>

Diego Duarte Gomes

When you fully rely on your art to pay all of your bills, and put food on the table, as your sole source of income, failure is not an option. Booking ahead, and handling it yourself are both imperative, in my circumstance. Read more>>

Jaydin Geer

I have not been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work! Read more>>

Betty Shin Binon

I started my creative journey back in the beginning of 2017 with the intention of making food and photography my career. I treated it as a business and invested time and money into creating a website and small studio space from home. Read more>>

Kav Molavi

Just doing whatever I could in music. Promoting, under study to other djs, old school flyers. Music store. Throwing parties and really getting a team around you Read more>>

Ana A. Cavazos

Hi, I am not earning a full-time living from the creative work; however, the speaking engagements associated with or relevant to my book topics are bringing in a good amount of pay. Read more>>

Samantha Hayn

My journey to full time artistry starts off by taking a huge leap of faith, and filled with tons of fear. Back in 2017 I had enough of working my 9-5 and also juggling my side business and being a mom and mentally I just couldn’t handle my boss at that time. Read more>>

Dylan Andresen

Tattooing to pay the bills and having a good time while doing it!!! Read more>>

Brandon Clahassey

I am a songwriter in the tv/film/sync space. Basically what that means is that I make music that is used commercially. This can be music that is in a commercial, promo/ad, Netflix series, video game, or movie trailer. Read more>>

Clark Whittington

I was born into art, music and barbering. Working with my hands was the only thing I could do. However, I fully enjoyed bagging groceries and stocking shelves at Winn-Dixie in high school. Read more>>