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.

Yani Nieto

Yes, I’ve been able to turn my creative passion into a full-time living, but it definitely wasn’t like that from day one. I started Majestic Balloons KY with very little, just a big dream, a lot of hustle, and the willingness to say “yes” and figure things out later. In the beginning, I worked long hours, along with a full time job I had for 4 years until I decided to quit and be full time to my business, reinvested every dollar back into the business, and focused on building strong relationships with clients. Read more>>

Andrew Gomez IV

I have been a full-time designer for the better part of seven years. I didn’t go full-time until we were in the thick of the pandemic. At that point, the whole world’s economy was eviscerated by the effects of the virus. Established industries were brought to their knees, and what was considered “steady” work was a ghost of its former self. Read more>>

Jeremy D’Agostino

it was difficult to get started. extremely. i began my apprenticeship at 18 years old in 2001 and had to work two full time jobs to support myself. I worked a coffee shop from 5am to 11am, then a sign shop doing vinyl wraps and installations from noon to 5ish, then the tattoo studio from 5 until 2 or 3 am. most nights i’d catch a few hours sleep on the couch at the tattoo shop then get up and do it all over again. after 5 months of this my apartment lease came up for renewal, i thought it was pointless to pay rent for a place i was never at. canceled my lease, put some things in storage and was “homeless” by choice for almost a year just trying to learn the craft and the trade. Read more>>

Ashley Kidder

I didn’t always know I was going to be a photographer. I had always enjoyed the medium as a hobby when I was in high school and college, but didn’t connect the dots that this could be a bonafide career.

My professional life began in 2009 with a teaching job, where I taught high school French for five years in a 5A school about 20 minutes north of Denver. During that time, my love of photography as a hobby began to flourish. I used my time off in the evenings, on the weekends, and in the summers to build my network and expand my craft. I did this each year I was in the classroom, which provided me financial support while I began to grow my business. Read more>>

Scott Indermaur

I’ve been in business for over 30 years and have earned a full-time living from my creative work the entire time. There have been plenty of ups and downs—slow economies affecting corporate budgets, collaborations that didn’t work out, and other life speed bumps—but I’ve always stayed persistent. Read more>>

Kate Burns

I am very lucky to have built a professional life as a full-time musician and choral specialist. For the first part of my musical career, I worked in public and private schools as choral director. I was able to use my undergraduate and graduate training to build programs at the middle and high school levels and teach thousands of students across the country. I wanted to be a music teacher from a young age and felt at home in the classroom. Once the pandemic hit, the day-to-day reality for a choir director changed dramatically. I was no longer singing in a room with a group of people, and the choral world was in great need of electronic resources like practice tracks for students to hear the music they were expected to sing at home. Read more>>

Josh Vuncanon

Being such a creative person my whole life with a brain that races 100mph it was always difficult to know which direction to go, but thankfully I was put in this position as GM of Whiskey Rose here in Raleigh NC. It’s been a major challenge as the nightlife business in Raleigh is very competitive and one idea seems to travel to each bar in a blink of an eye so its very difficult to stay creative and original, I’d like to say we have done a good job or staying different and changing ideas up to stay apart from the competition. It’s a forever changing obstacle. Read more>>

Islam Balbaa

I am currently living my dream—making a full-time living from my creative work in New York City—but the journey to get here was far from overnight.

My career began in Canada, where I started acting in short films and community theatre. Realizing the need to create my own opportunities, I founded Balmour Productions, a film and theatre company dedicated to producing high-quality, original work. Under this banner, I produced and directed 12 short films, all of which were accepted into multiple film festivals, and staged three full-scale theatrical productions that sold out and toured across Canada. Read more>>

Travis Bowlin

I have been able to make a living being creative for the last ten years. Taking chances and any opportunity that comes your way is very important. Finding people who have your best interest in mind who want to help be apart of your goals. Learning everything you can, when people offer wisdom you should listen. I try to focus on more than just one revenue stream within the scope of music/art.. I play music with instruments so I make instruments to play music. If you paint don’t just sell a canvas sell a shirt with your art on it too. If you’re a great live sound-man maybe you should be a studio engineer too. You should also collaborate with anyone who is serious and be open minded creativity is subjective. Believe in what you do and work on your sales pitch… Read more>>

Jillian Blanc

I definitely didn’t set out thinking photography would be my career, it kind of snuck up on me in the best way. I grew up with a camera in my hand because of my dad and his love for documenting life & loved ones. I went to school for graphic and web design fully expecting that’s how I’d make a living. In 2016 I bought my first DSLR so I could take better photos while traveling, and I started casually shooting my friends for Instagram. Suddenly people were reaching out asking me to take their photos, which felt so wild. Read more>>

Tajana Dedic Starovic

At this point in my life, as being a woman in a smaller town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in early 30s, I have finally managed to do something that every creative person dreams of – to live just from my creative work 😊 That was my goal for a long time, but of course that haven’t been always possible. I have started with exploring photography and videography very early, when I started high school, and it was a good way for me to make some big steps as being devoted to something other than school, to create my own space and time to invest in such a hobby, to make contacts and express my feeling and thoughts. Turned out that all those skills have been very helpful in my latter work. Read more>>