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.

Sarahca Peterson

The first time I was paid to perform poetry was a gig I got after my very first performance in Tampa Florida at Black on Black Rhymes. Michael Paragon was at the show and approached me in the parking lot and asked if he can book me to come and perform in Sarasota at his event. I was honored, surprised and even clues to the idea of poetry/spoken word being a career paths. Read more>>

JLove Calderon

I had been a Hip-Hop journalist and artivist for while – writing for all of the big magazines of the 90’s (The Source, Ego Trip, XXL, On The Go, Stress Magazine for all the OG’s reading this) and most of it was for the love. At the time I didn’t see writing as something that could pay the rent. My homegirl and fellow writer/ artivist Sofia Quintero actually interviewed me for a piece she did and we had such a good conversation over a delicious carne asada in Manhatten that she said ‘let me introduce you to my agent.’ Read more>>

Justin Zackery

It took me a while to take myself serious as an artist and to appreciate my talent. In college, I used to draw quick sketches of popular cartoon characters for other students for just $25.00. I do not remember taking any real commission jobs until I moved to Savannah in 2015. This is where I met my first consistent buyer. I was over at a friend Rion’s house one night, and cartoons and animations came up in our conversation. Read more>>

Katie m. Berggren

When I was early in high school, I began to turn my love of drawing people into a way to earn money for college. I created some fliers that advertised “Realistic Portraits” and had the little rip-off-able phone number tags and everything! Read more>>