Earning that first dollar is incredibly special and a moment many never forget. We asked some very talented creatives from the community to tell u s the story of the first dollar they earned from their creative works.
Darby Schultz .
The first paycheck I earned as an artist was in high school. I was 14 years old and a church paid me to sing at a funeral. I had sung at church my whole life but this was the first time I had been compensated for it! I remember looking at that check and thinking, “that’s a lot of money for one song!” It wasn’t that much but I was young and excited at this new possibility. That was when I learned there’s a ton of talented musicians who make a living playing in churches. That lit a fire inside me because maybe I could too! Read more>>
Jessica Alfaro.
I signed up for my first craft show in a small town outside of Amarillo, TX. The butterflies in my stomach were unreal. I truly did not know what to expect and I knew I needed to kick it into high gear and create enough for a 10×10 booth. After many sleepless nights and going back and forth about me being ready to show my products to complete strangers, I told myself “no backing out now Jess you already signed up and have waited a long time for this moment!” I knew I needed to take this leap. Read more>>
Kevin Reinoso.
The first time I ever earned money from a club was when I had my first club gig at Heart Nightclub in Downtown Miami. I was 17 years old, and my cousin Orestes was a promoter at the moment at the same club. He got me a gig and i remember i was so excited but also so nervous because it would be the first club i ever played, I was downloading music and organizing playslists for days, I figured out how to connect my laptop to the CDJs which at the moment i did not even know how to in the first place, lots of tutorials just to be sure and then the day came. Read more>>
Alexander Gonzalez
It was during the 1st year of the pandemic, late 2020. I began in my home working on large canvas with no real plan to sell any of my work, I just wanted to create. I was always drawing as a kid but now as an adult I felt I didn’t have the subject matter, voice, or confidence to express a clear thought on canvas. I, like many people at that time felt stuck with no light at the end of the tunnel. I had a strong urge to be creative again and whimsical without regard of “is this good?” or “how can I make this better?” Read more>>
Matt Ramsey
At 34, I have sold quite a bit of work to collectors and first time buyers as well. However, it took me almost 20 years to get to this point. I made my first paycheck from my art at 17 years old. I had been contacted by a third party on behalf of a man named Ronnie who owned a pool toy company named ‘Red Triangle’. Apparently through a roundabout way they had heard I was a local graffiti artist. Read more>>
Joel Guerrier.
So the first time i generated revenue as a creative was when i started my clothing line. My first release did way better than expected. It took me forever to create my logo along with my first design. When it finally came to life, I hit the the streets along with social medial, 100 miles and running lol. My first few sales were from an add i put out in the form of a commercial. A good friend of mine is a well known videographer, so we worked together to create the best promotional video ever recorded. Read more>>
Beth Banger
Wow, this is something that I honestly have not thought about in a long time so thinking about it at this moment is very humbling and grounding for me. So in 2019 I released an EP called Self and this was one of my first professional bodies of work as a rapper/singer. I began to pick up a small buzz from friends and associates on social media. And during this time I also began working on my next and first album, Don’t Leave me a Voicemail which was set to release in February of 2020. Read more>>
Itzel Munoz
I remember one day i told my self i was going to step out of my comfort zone and try something that i felt was calling my name, something that i been wanting to try out but just needed a little push. I went out to the store and bought a few items i needed to wire wrap a crystal, i made a few and i was so surprised on how perfect it turned out & of course i posted it on my socials to show off what i had created. Read more>>
Amy Steinberg
My first dollar I sold Back in 2002 I started doing art because my therapist suggested it. I walked into a small local art store and asked if they had paste like when I was in kindergarten. The guy chuckled and was nice enough to show me different glue options, a few paint brushes and I picked a couple liquitex acrylics. After that I cut magazines, melted crayons and glued stuff to just about any surface I could. Read more>>
Sue Riger.
I have learned not to dislike small beginnings. After delving into the print on demand world a few years ago, I had invested time and money into creating quality high resolution digital images of my work. After submissions and signing with an agent, my first royalty check was $14.50 Read more>>
Alexandra Sloan.
I was 7 months pregnant with my second child and was going to Texas A&M University Kingsville (online) for graphics design. While in school my sister asks if I can make her a logo for the business she was starting. It took me two days to finish her logo in those two days I truly fell in love with designing. I charge her $10 but she instead she paid $25 for it. That simple text-based design made me fall in love with creating something from nothing. Read more>>
AARON WILLIAMS
My first paycheck from working as a creative came from the menswear brand John Varvatos. I was green. I had never worked on a commercial endeavor before. I was so nervous and scared and definitely suffered from imposter syndrome. It was probably one of the worst shoots I have ever done, which makes me really sad, considering it was my first big chance to do something cool. I totally blew it. I rented a Canon 1D, which I had never used before, and I was shooting tethered into CaptureOne Pro, which I had never used before. Read more>>
Tommy Erickson
The first dollar I ever earned playing music was in Bay City, MI (Home of Madonna!). There was a venue at the time called Salem Rock and the event was a concert thrown by the legendary Bryan Hampton. Bryan, who along with his wife Julie, always put on all ages concerts that gave kids a chance to cut their teeth and have a positive experience within the music scene. Great times! Read more>>