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.

Zac Tiessen

Upon completion of my education in guitar performance and sound engineering at Berklee College of Music, I immediately started my audio freelance career by advertising my mastering services on various online platforms. I remember the first album that I mastered, for which I charged only $40! It was a crazy realization for me coming from teaching guitar at a school of music: I CAN BE MY OWN BUSINESS. In 2017 I received a small business grant, and established ZT Music Studio. Over the years, I built up my client base and increased my rates, since I was getting up to twenty albums a month. I lost count of the amount of songs mastered once I got over a few thousand. This work benefited me in so many ways creatively, as I mastered a variety of genres. So many of the unknown bands I worked with from around the world were insanely talented and had very interesting experimental sounds. In the last few years I have niched down to specializing in mastering cinematic and soundtrack albums. Some have been billboard charting albums, BBC documentaries, and video game OSTs. In 2020 I expanded my business, officially launching my composing career in custom soundtrack music. Read more>>

Chloe Satern

The first time I had the idea to sew something was inspired by handmade dolls my grandmother had made for my mother when she was little, then passed down to me and my sister. These dolls with their embroidered faces and handmade clothes entertained us more than any toy, and we played with them longer than we knew was socially acceptable. I loved their character and one day I had my mom help me make a tiny pink doll with a red dress. While it would be a few years before my grandmother taught me to sew properly, and this project was never durable enough to actually play with, it opened so many creative windows. By the time I was in high school, my sewing skills improved enough that those windows became doors, and I entered our local craft fair with a dozen dolls I made and three times as many outfits. I sold my first doll half an hour in, and I was ecstatic. Not only did I have the thrill of getting handed money for something I made, but it was so fun to think about my doll becoming a child’s favorite toy, and for them to treasure it the way me and my sister had treasured our handmade dolls. I sold nine dolls that day, most with one or two outfits to go with it, and each sale had the same thrill. In the nature of our small town, I was sent two pictures of children enjoying my dolls in the next weeks. This expirience encouraged me to keep pursuing sewing; my craft had been validated as something that could make me money, but also enrich the lives of the people it touched. Read more>>

The Group Sensation

I didn’t think we’d make anything from our music at all online , like that wasn’t even in the picture. I always that we’d be ending up just selling merch and cd’s while performing. The 1.36 we made came as a surprise fr and I was excited fr and it came from a place that I thought we’d most likely never make money, that being Youtube. When I saw the change that’s when I knew we had something worthwhile in investing. Read more>>

Brandon Harrison

The first time I was ever paid for my work was actually very early into my content creator journey. I had maybe a little over 500 followers and had only been posting content for about 6 months. The company that reached out to me was ‘Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company’. At the time I didn’t believe it because I didn’t think companies paid creators at the level I was at. I also have never heard of them before, so I did my research and come to find out their products are sold at stores nationwide. I remember being so excited and grateful for the opportunity. We worked out a deal, I took photos for them, and then I was paid. I had a great experience with the company, it taught me a lot from an early start and it will always mean a lot to me because they were the first company that believed in me enough to pay me to create content for them. Also, their juices are 10/10. Read more>>

Chaz Sanders

The first dollar or paycheck I earned was from Abby Crabtree at the Cumberland County Playhouse, Summer 2007. It was for an internship for a production of Guys and Dolls – It was my first paid as a Actor. I had never had a named-paid-role in a show and I was over the moon. I was contracted to make a certain amount and Abby came by after rehearsal one afternoon and said how proud of me she was and ended up giving me $50 raise. It was beautiful to feel like I was good at my dream, you can say it was the push I needed to continue growing and auditioning for more and more things. Read more>>

Kelly Jo Gentilini

I’ve been making rock jewelry for so long it’s difficult to recall with certainty the first dollar I have ever earned from my craft. However, I would have to say it was the year I received my rock tumbler. I vividly remember in 4th grade I started wearing some of my necklaces to school. A couple of classmates took notice and asked if I could make them one. As a budding entrepreneur, I said yes for a dollar or two. I remember getting off the bus, running into the house to tell my mom and look through my tumbled material. At that time, I was just gluing the rocks to bail and adding a rope. Since the glue needed time to dry I had to start the process right away. The next day I proudly walked down the hall with my handful of freshly made necklaces and made the sale! Read more>>

Rachid Ra

I was 8 years old. My favourite uncle Amir and my father has both trained me to record in the studio-hearing myself, creating harmonies, singing in unison with my own voice, knowing how my voice should sound, learning what to ask for I order to exact the sound I needed. Because I was a natural and became swiftly skilled at it as I started at 6, recording my self on various devices before anyone took an interest, it wasn’t long before my dad and uncle noticed and developed me. My uncle Amir was the first to book me as a professional. His idea was to start me young and boom me in as many projects as possible( even if he paid me out of his own pocket) in order to teach me the value of money, my work, and tbe importance of a skill set. He also wanted me to start early so that by the time u was a teenage id be paid scale by the union. His plan worked. I would record for a minimum of 2 hours sometimes and make what most people generate as a monthly income ! Of course, I didn’t know or understand any of this at the time. Read more>>

Colin Lepper

When I was in highschool I made this amateur music video for an indie band I was into at the time called Okkervil River, as a way to explore claymation, which I’d just been introduced too. I put it up on Youtube where a singer from New Zealand named Renee Louise-Carafice must have seen it, and she reached out asking if I’d like to make an official music video for her. This was so exciting not only because it was my first dollar earned from making art, but it was also one of my first steps onto the internet in general, and to have a stranger from the other side of the globe reach out to me directly was incredibly cool and the epitome of what the internet was promised to be. So I set up a little animation stage using the ping pong table in my parents basement with a dslr my older sisters boyfriend lent me and shot my first professional animated video. I was either too young to understand or technology hadn’t quite come far enough to where large files or money could be transferred easily online… but for about $2000 (sent through snail mail in the form of 2 $1000 checks) I created this video, burned it on to a DVD, and mailed it to New Zealand. It all felt incredibly grown up. I was told it aired on TV in New Zealand too, which would have been amazing to see. Read more>>

Yowyow

The first time someone paid me for a piece was when I was living in London. A dear Venezuelan friend I met there liked one of my sketches. It’s worth mentioning that I had never made a painting, let alone worked with larger formats. He commissioned a couple of my designs in large format for payment. He saw my potential, and his words made me believe a little that I could do more things. I prepared about 12 pieces in that format using the same technique, and on my day off from the restaurant, I went to a well-known street called Camden Town in search of a place where I could sit and display my pieces. I had the idea that I would sell them all that day, and honestly, I wasn’t too far from reality. I sold 9 pieces. For my first sale in that place, I didn’t know how much to charge, so I decided to let the person choose how much to give me. From that moment on, that was my price for all that time. Read more>>

Pamela Mooney

The first time I sold a painting was an unexpectedly incredible experience. I painted some flower paintings and entered one of these works in a local juried show. It is always a thrill to have my work seen in group shows and I look forward to these opportunities to engage with the public and perhaps also sell my work. However, this painting did sell! When the gallery told me it sold I felt sort of breathless and disoriented. I had never considered how it would make me feel to actually sell my work and have it out in the world, outside my immediate environment. The buyer was unable to pick up the work at the gallery so I offered to drop it off for her at her home. Walking to my car with a painting that was now worth a lot of money was such a joy and thrill. And it made made me a bit nervous and precious with it as it was now worth more than I could afford to replace! I never expected selling my paintings would make me feel this way – the feeling of accomplishment and creative power to make something unique in the world that not only was visually engaging but also had a not insignificant monetary value. Read more>>

Anna Shipulina

It was incredibly exciting and encouraging to make my first ceramics sale! At the time, I was still learning the craft but already felt a strong desire to continue with ceramics, possibly even as a career. However, I doubted whether it was realistic and had no idea where to begin. That’s when my therapist suggested I post available pieces on my Instagram stories to generate interest and gather feedback. First, I had to quiet the impostor syndrome that raised questions like, ‘How can I sell my pottery after only two months of working with clay?’ Once I managed that, I went ahead and announced that my work was available for sale and posted it in my stories. Within 15 minutes, my first two vases were sold, and a few more pieces followed within 24 hours. My followers were my first clients, and I’m incredibly grateful for them! I only had a few hundred, but they knew my story and had watched my transformation from a homeschool mom to an artist. I felt over the moon with excitement and motivation to keep going. Read more>>