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.

Jonathan Specktor

Yes, I’ve been fortunate to earn a full-time living from my creative work, but it wasn’t like that from the start. My journey has been shaped by experimentation, passion, and a deep connection to music. In fact, it all began with music videos—specifically, creating videos for my own band. As a drummer, I’ve always had a unique approach to storytelling and editing, driven by rhythm and musicality. Those early projects gained exposure and even hit number one on MTV back when MTV was a cultural force. This visibility opened doors for us to further explore the world of music videos. Read more>>

John Wind

After being an English Major in college, I had the good fortune to win a two-year scholarship to London’s Slade School of Fine Art. I always knew I was an artist, though I wasn’t sure of my medium. In London I was a student by day and club kid by night, as into music and fashion as painting and sculpture. This was the early 1980’s–think Culture Club and the Thompson Twins. I also came out as a gay man at this time, and it all felt very interconnected. Read more>>

Poppy Kuroki

I was freelance editing for a while, then fell into ghostwriting completely by accident. I was editing someone’s book and gave her writing advice which she then promised to pass on to her ghostwriter. I decided to give it a go myself, and decided I’d be happy with one client a month. It soon snowballed, however, and I ended up with far more ghostwriting work than editing work. Read more>>

Tiffany Chow

Being a content creator/influencer started off as a side project during COVID (2022) when I was working from home and had extra time. From 2022-2023, I worked a full time job as a Strategy and Analytics Manager in ad tech, and did content creation on the side. I earned some extra money from brand deals but it wasn’t significant at all. In mid 2023, I was laid off from my full time job so content creation became my full time job. For the rest of 2023, I focused a lot more time and energy on content creation and was able to grow my following significantly on Tiktok. From there, I was able to get more brand deals (higher paying as well) and I also signed with a management agency. Read more>>

Maribel Romo

Yes, I’ve been in the beauty industry since 2009 and became independent in 2013. I now own a hair salon in Denton, TX. In the beginning, it was challenging to figure out my niche and determine where I wanted to grow as a hairstylist. Social media wasn’t as influential back then, so there weren’t as many sources of inspiration as there are today. Through it all, I prayed often and trusted God to guide me in my career. Read more>>

Elisabeth Russell

Preserving flowers is now my full-time job, but it wasn’t like that from day one. It took a lot of careful planning, tough decisions, and major life pivots to get here. My entire life I have had my eyes set on being an engineer. After graduating from Georgia Tech and working in environmental consulting, I realized the career path I had been chasing was not fulfilling me in the way I thought it would. I began preserving flowers as a creative side hobby, and that side hobby eventually grew into a business – Peachy Petals. For over a year, I balanced Peachy Petals alongside a demanding career as an environmental engineer. I worked nights and weekends pressing flowers, designing layouts, managing client communications, and marketing my business—all while holding a full-time job. It was not uncommon to find me awake and working in the studio until 4 am. It was exhausting, but I loved my creative work. The passion I have for creative work and the growth our business expereinced kept me going. Read more>>

Jennifer Stephens

I quickly turned my side hustle into a full swing career by building this website: https://www.bestlifewithjenn.com/. From there, life has taken off on a turbo speed. I strongly encourage each reader to get involved in Master Resell Rights. It is a rapid game changer. I love the community I joined. There are daily trainings, challenges, and a general emphasis on seeing others reach their goals. Read more>>

Harry “fullout” Weston

In college, I was blessed with scholarships, paid internships and opportunities for professional teaching and performance through Versa-Style Street Dance Company. After college, I expanded on these opportunities to continue getting myself paid enough to make a living as an emerging artist in my mid-20s. Everything changed when I was hired by The Flourish Foundation as a Site Coordinator for their teaching program, managing dance teachers at various school sites throughout Los Angeles. However, the organization operated in partnership with Versa-Style, so I was able to continue teaching and performing. Although this situation was unique, it continues today in the same format, where the bulk of my time is spent as an administrator (now as a Director of Fundraising for Versa-Style), but I still teach and perform to generate additional income. And that is what I would say to emerging artists: Read more>>

David Asbery

As a recording artist, I have never been able to earn a living wage from my creative work. This challenge inspired me to create and build Pedestal. I wanted to record an album but felt completely uninspired by the current streaming platforms, which homogenize music and offer poor compensation to artists. My attitude became, “What’s the point?” Pedestal was born out of a desire to expand the creative possibilities of an album and empower artists to build communities around their music. In short, being an artist in 2025 is a tough business. For the past 20+ years, artists have lacked both a product worth selling and the modern tools necessary to thrive in the digital landscape. Read more>>

Casey White

I have been lucky enough to pay the bills with my art, although in the 2020’s it is increasingly difficult for 2D artists to follow traditional paths towards a reliable income- we have to adapt and discover for ourselves means of revenue that work for us. Personally my freelance career always felt like I was a survivor lost at sea, jumping from raft to raft. I found work at different animation studios that paid well, and illustrated books for different authors, all the while posting online and making commissions monthly. When the social media boom hit after the pandemic, I started doing more and more commissions, and my only limitation was how much I posted online. Read more>>

Vicki Elder

I have always been creative but did this part time alongside various full time jobs. In 2012 I left a particularly stressful job that was not giving me the fulfilment I craved, it led me to set up my own shop – selling both my own work as well as other peoples. It allowed me to paint and create all day, whilst still running the shop. Whilst building up a following for the shop, mainly through word of mouth – but also through also doing markets and shows in the UK, I was also steadily growing my online presence via social media of my own work. One of the biggest milestones was getting featured in Country Living magazine in 2017, this gave me coverage across the UK as well as in other countries, and really boosted my online profile as a result. Read more>>

Geoff Munn

Being a freelance artist is like riding a roller coaster. There are highs a lows and twists and turns, and sometimes you feel like you’ve been thrown upside down. There are many times during my career that I have been able to make a full time living from my creative work. There are times where I’ve struggled. I have had full time jobs in the creative field, and I have had to hustle my way through other times. Being able to roll with the punches, and execute backup plans is a pretty big part of freelancing, or being a creative in general. Read more>>

Michael Jurick

Creativity has always been part of my DNA and I studied photography at Tulane University in New Orleans – a visually-rich city. After college, I was fortunate to start my career at the genesis of the internet revolution. I led teams to create some of the biggest websites at the time – Oscar.com, XM/Sirius Radio, McKinsey & Co. and many more. When I became a Dad, my creativity soared and I was seeking ways to make our time together extra special and I always had my camera on me to document it. Read more>>

Charvin Clark

Yes, I’ve been able to support myself by earning a full-living. It was a risky journey to take at the time. I was working as a maintenance man for about 10 years. Everyday I went to work unhappy because I felt like I was missing out on my passion. Every year I felt like my passion was slipping away from me. Finally one day I just up and quit my job. I decided to become an influencer and show my talent to world via skits. I was not easy at first because the paychecks were not consistent. But through determination I was able to succeed. Knowing what I know now, I would’ve took that leap of faith a long time ago. Follow your dreams. Read more>>

Jonah Babins

Yes! I’ve been able to earn a living performing magic and coaching magician business owners.. I think it comes in two faces. The first is making sure you offer something that people want. For me – I always performed magic as a kid, and people starting trying to hire me for events. Synagogues, family birthday parties, summer camps, company events and more. That’s when I knew it was possible to perform magic. For coaching I started offering my services for free, running a podcast teaching what I know, and then people started asking for help. Read more>>

Alice Mizrachi

Yes, I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work, and my journey has been quite enlightening. My foundation was built during my time at Parsons School of Design, where I deeply engaged with art history. I found inspiration in the lives of master artists throughout history, particularly noting that many of them had teaching roles. This realization led me to pursue a teaching artist position in New York City shortly after graduation. Read more>>

Jillian Riscoe

I’m a full time singer/songwriter/musician – been at it since elementary school! My first “real, paid gig” was when I was in 3rd grade for a short performance at a store grand opening. Music has always been my #1 but I worked some pretty terrible part time jobs during high school and my early 20’s – I had someone I worked with musically finally say “hey, if you’re unhappy with all of that, you can totally do this on your own,” & I think I’ve always known that – sometimes it just takes a boost of confidence, some encouragement and a bit of delusion to just do the thing! Being a creative full time has lots of ebbs & flows and can be amazing at times and really difficult at times – but I’d rather be doing something creative full time than anything else so I’m thankful for it all! Read more>>

Kelcee B

I have been blessed with the opportunity to go full time as a photographer within the first year of starting my business. Not every creative can say they’re able to go full time in a short timeframe after starting their business, and I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to say that. From day one it was not easy, I can promise you that. My days looked like spending 10 hours on the computer working on my website, blogs or social media, and going to new locations to take photos of my dream couples for free to build my portfolio. I used the drive I had then to build the business and artistic skills to where they are now. Read more>>

 

Latoya Fits Okuneye

I have been able to earn a full time living as a creative and that came from starting my business with the help of a full time job I did for a year- I was an au pair for private families this job helped me fund my personal projects, I was then able to start posting my work on Instagram/online, eventually the people who I needed to see it saw it and I started getting booked for more photography jobs – landing my first job with a major brand in 2021- NIKE. My biggest milestone was landing my first 5 figure jobs with a major brands. Read more>>

Carter Hodgkin

I have not earned a full time living as an artist. It comes and goes over the years. However I am thankful for the path I took as I developed skills necessary to make a living. And those skills became useful in my artwork. I’ve had many friends and aquaintances who made money and a living when they were young. Tastes change in the artworld and some of those friends were unprepared as to how to make a living when the market for their work disappeared. Read more>>

Nella Lush

Earning a full-time living from my creative work is something I’m deeply grateful for. It’s not just a career—it’s a reflection of who I am. My journey to this point has been shaped by persistence, growth, and a willingness to embrace the challenges that come with being an artist. For much of my life, I balanced other roles—as a wife and mother—before returning to the artist I’d always been. Building my career wasn’t a straight path, it was a process of sharing my work, connecting with others, and navigating the ever-present self-doubt that’s part of the creative life. That doubt hasn’t disappeared—it’s a companion that reminds me of the vulnerability and authenticity at the heart of my work. Read more>>

Zachary Rutter

Yes, I’ve been able to make a full-time living from my creative work, but it wasn’t an overnight success. It took years of persistence, strategic networking, and a willingness to adapt. When I first started, I was grinding—taking on commissions, live painting gigs, murals, and selling original work wherever I could. The journey was full of ups and downs, but I kept pushing, refining my craft, and building relationships that led to bigger opportunities. Read more>>

Elena Kapitonova

I never thought I’d become a makeup artist, but my passion for artistic professions led me to this career. Growing up, I was immersed in dramatic theaters, ballet, classical music, and music school (piano and violin). I also enjoyed drawing, but I wanted a “serious profession” like medicine or engineering. However, everything changed when I saw my best friend crying after a beauty salon visit. She was getting ready for prom, and I decided to redo her makeup. She was thrilled, and I realized I had a talent for it. This experience sparked my desire to become a makeup artist, and now it’s my full-time job. Read more>>

Brian Busch

I moved to LA 7 years ago with a focus on working in the entertainment industry. I didn’t know digital at the time as I had been a traditional painter since graduating from art school in the early 90’s, so the first few months was learning digital and putting a portfolio together, and with the help of people already in the industry, I was fortunate to start getting gigs fairly quickly. I used connections and places like Creative Circle and Craigslist to get many of my early jobs, things were starting to really work until the pandemic hit 2 years into my move. The next year was a bit rough, but at the end of 2020, the career took off almost overnight, I began getting work doing sketches for movie posters, storyboards for commercials and finished illustrations to be used for social media advertising. As a freelancer, you clearly wear all the hats, with that in mind, my early years may have been a bit easier had I been smarter about marketing myself. Read more>>

Jordan Allen

I have been able to make a full-time living from my creative work. In 2018, I was working as a part-time teller at a bank. My wife had just started working for herself in the fitness industry. Up to that point, my job had really worked with me on asking off for shows. But they started to crack down and I had to cancel shows left and right to go into work. I fell into a slight depression, and my wife noticed. One day she just said “Why don’t you quit? Working for myself has been the most freeing thing for me, and I want you to experience it too.” So, I set a financial goal for myself in the month of October and decided if I booked enough shows to hit that goal, I would quit. I worked my last day at the bank on September 28th, 2018 and haven’t looked back. Read more>>

Soar Zephy

Creating a source of income through the gaming industry took lots of patience and responsibility. I started earning money through Twitch streams at the age of 18 back in 2017. It began when I graduated High School. With years of gaming and finally getting a grasp on Twitch revenue, I remember receiving my first check, and immediately thinking this has to go into upgrading my PC parts. Not a single thought about spending it on materialistic stuff that never benefited me. I became obsessed with that for years and still to this day. I always made sure my investments and my career was taken care of. Read more>>

Jessie Kwak

I always knew I wanted to be a writer, and so from a young age I assumed I’d be a starving artist. I assumed I’d have a “real job” doing “real work,” while I toiled away on my Masterpiece. Even after I went to college and got an English lit degree, I didn’t know that people paid you to write! I was told that the career path for a writer was to get an MFA, then teach in an MFA program. Read more>>

Karissa Castillo

My photography business began as a side hustle while I worked full-time at my church, which was my primary source of income. I always dreamed of transitioning to photography full-time, but the timing never felt right. When I would pray about this decision, I always heard a “wait” from the Lord. It was never a “no” but a “wait.” In March 2024, the doors opened for me to take the leap and commit to pursuing my photography business full-time in 2025. Read more>>

Jamie Hoover

I have in effect made my living from music. That means wearing a lot of hats. I have mostly patterned myself after people like Todd Rundgren. When I was in high school there he was, a performer, a songwriter, and artist, a recording engineer, a record producer—all himself. When I saw this I said “I can do this!”. It turned out to be true. I started with a Teac 3340 analog tape deck, which allowed me to overdub! Read more>>

Teig Sadhana

Earning a full-time living from creative work can be really hard to make happen. It’s honestly a tremendous privilege I found myself in that position so quickly out of Conservatory. I graduated from the world renowned Professional Conservatory program at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City, and was fortunate enough to have several options of representation when I did. Read more>>