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.

Iyanna James-Stephenson

After pursuing a pre law track for eight years throughout high school and college, I decided to take a break. I planned on taking my LSAT, scoring high, and getting into Harvard Law School, but I did not have any desire to do it following undergrad. I felt burnt out and uninterested in yet another intense three years so soon. Instead, I decided to apply for teaching positions nearing the ending of my senior year. I applied for Chungdahm Institute that placed educators in either South Korea or China. Read more>>

Redin Winter

I am so thankful that the first revenue I earned from painting taught me an important lesson about value. It was the end of 2018. After twenty years of sporadic private painting sessions, I had recently decided to call myself a professional visual artist and release my art to the world. I honestly had no idea what I was doing in terms of the business side of the art world. I had done some research on pricing and that was about it. I put a painting on eBay as I had read somewhere that some artists find an audience in these types of online platforms. Read more>>

Cameron Bailey

The first time I saw actual profit from my music was back in 2020. It was for my song, “Through It All” which is a very personal song for me. I didn’t know how the world would receive it but I was putting my heart and emotions on that track. It received around 17,000 streams which equated to $18. That sounds horrendous but for the decade plus I’ve been doing music, it was a glimmer of hope. I do not make music with money as my priority, but as a basis to tell my story to the world. If anything, it was satisfying to see that I connected with real people from around the world. Read more>>

Kimberly Lent

Vintage has always been my passion! My house is adorned with vintage furniture, I shop for vintage clothing, and vintage jewelry is all I want to wear. I would scour the markets and buy re-purposed, vintage pieces from vendors, wishing I were creative like them, In 2013, I was laid off from my job as a High School Counselor in Philadelphia. I was heartbroken. It was the first time I felt that I had no purpose. Read more>>