Earning that first dollar is incredibly special and a moment many never forget. We asked some very talented creatives from the community to tell us the story of the first dollar they earned from their creative works.
Ellodee Carpenter
Flashback to 2005 before I had any interest in being an actress, I found myself in one of those right place right time situations.
I was 6 years old and the little sister in a family of actors. Accustom to the hustle, a typical day consisted of going to school, getting picked up in the green Ford Explorer Read more>>
Pierce St. Rose
The first sale I ever made as a visual artist occurred on Etsy. A small abstract piece I made based on the song “Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst” by Kendrick Lamar. The buyer left a lengthy review detailing how much the song means to them and how the painting represents all those emotions so vividly. It was an incredible first experience having a total stranger be so affected by a piece of mine, Read more>>
Destiny Aparicio
My first dollar as a creative began in the summer of 2023, after having an artist’s block for a few years. I decided to let my imagination run wild and allowed myself to create art without overthinking its meaning. I gathered my art supplies and bought some new ones I was excited to use. I put on my music and began to create. And just like that, my artist’s block was gone. I created art pieces that were utterly mine and made out of my mind! I felt so euphoric. Read more>>
Alexander Saint Von
I was incredibly lucky. I’ve always been told as a model/actor you never book your first audition. Thankfully that was not the case for me. I got chosen to model for Meta (Instagram and Facebook). My first day on set was amazing. They rented out a roller-rink and went for a semi 80’s theme. It was so much being photographed playing air hockey, skating, eating popcorn and having fun in the parking lot. It was with 5 other models and the goal of the shoot was to have fun and show real moments of joy. I felt like I was on top of the world, and especially as a teenager getting that validation from such a huge company felt euphoric. Read more>>
Rajas Nikumbh
So I started my personal brand on Instagram 3 years back and I only had this motive of sharing the value and knowledge that I had in digital niche, also I knew while doing this I’m gonna learn lot of new things and ultimately it’ll make me become a better learner and also a good explainer or knowledge sharer. But, honestly in the beginning there was no such expectation or rather intention of getting it monetised or earn money through it, the only purpose was to share knowledge and let the world apart from my own city or my own contacts know more about my digital expertise and that’s how I started it. Read more>>
Audrey Babl
Starting out in makeup can be really hard because it begins with a long road of unpaid work until you finally break through and can starting making money from it. I was quite lucky to get hired at a local salon back home in Wisconsin at just 16 years old. I started out making $20/hr which was more than I had made at any job I had before that. I think this opportunity played a huge role in me deciding to move out to LA to make a career of doing makeup. I was shown at quite a young age that I could make money doing what I loved, if I worked hard enough. I think that even though my work as a makeup artist does not fully support me financially right now, I am still lucky to get paid to do something I love. Read more>>
Bernard Galane
My parents allowed me and my brother to take music classes at a very young age, around 4 or 5 years old. My brother started on drums right away, and I joined him a couple years of recorder and piano studies. We got very lucky and ended up in a successful Latin Pop Rock band called the “Kids on the Drums and the Session Brothers” which was basically a group of young drummers supported by a professional adult rhythm section. After winning the famous Europe wide “Pop O Drom” band contest the band took and landed a record deal with BMG Ariola. We started playing all over Europe, even opened big stadium shows for major artists like Brian Adams, Chesney Hawks and Extreme. We also appeared on major TV Hit Parade Shows and landed a hit in the Central European charts. So we were basically born into music and were pretty much seasoned professionals at only 12 years old. I remember how proud I was after getting paid fpr the shows and collectiong royalties for out Radio Airplay. It was a magical time and I knew exactly that I wanted to be a professional drummer. Read more>>
Georgia Menides
26, back at home, living with my parents in Worcester, MA due to many exuberant and admittedly inconsiderate youthful mistakes and burned bridges. My mom, always the wise advice giver suggested I intern at the local public access station, and build a new network of contracts and references., and start my career over. Read more>>