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.

Hannah Atallah

I didn’t originally intend to pursue art as a career. I had been drawing and making digital art and sharing it with friends in a small capacity. They encouraged me to set up an Instagram account to share it and I started to share the work there. A stranger in NYC who had been following my account connected with one of the designs and asked if they could buy it as a print. It was unexpected and that early support changed how I viewed the work and encouraged me to create more. Read more>>

Jane Purnell

I was around 5 years old the first time I earned money for my artwork. It’s a pretty cute story. My mother, Robin Purnell, was a gifted painter. Whenever she sold a painting, the gallerist would stick a red dot on the painting’s exhibit label. Seeing people pay for my mother’s work made me believe that people would pay for mine, too. One night, while my mom was hosting an artistic gathering, I created my own little gallery in the corner of our living room. I squeezed myself and my drawings between an armchair and VHS storage cabinet, draped a scarf over the chair and cabinet to imitate a roof, and stored my money in a plastic makeup box. I was selling my drawings for $1 a piece. Read more>>

Sierrah Tann

Yes! The first dollar you earn is always exciting and gives you the boost you need to set the tone for your journey. It all began in the very beginning of my Makeup Career as far back as 2016-2017, the height of Makeup Trends took on a new era where social media became a direct platform for individuals like me to express themselves through the form of art. During this time creating makeup tutorials was the most trending entity of social media in order to gain exposure, be recognized and or reap the benefits of creating a network amongst beauty brands that could potentially land you a position of generating revenue or financially profiting for your skill set (like getting signed as a brand ambassador for a beauty brand or being front cover Vogue Lol). All the dreams I envisioned lied ahead of me. Read more>>

Rodrick Howard

The first dollar I earned as a creative was from a project I did for a close friend in high school. He worked on a ranch, and knew a client who wanted a picture created of a dairy cow. My friend commissioned me to create a dry pastel portrait of a brown dairy cow on a large black piece of pastel card. I was so satisfied with the piece and the fifty dollars I earned from it. To this day, my mother talks about the cow drawing and how she wanted to keep it for herself. Read more>>