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.

Bailey McVicker

This past year I was in my first ever art gallery in my hometown. The gallery was also brand new, so I was fortunate enough to be one of the first artist in there, On our opening day, we had a big show with artists, music, food, drinks, etc. It was so exciting, but of course I was nervous. Since I am still new, I still have another job working in a local restaurant. One of my coworkers, who I consider my “work dad”, showed up at our opening day event! I have known him for 5 years, since I started working in the restaurant and since I talked about wanting to be an artist. He was so proud of me that he cried! Read more>>

Charlie Waters

The first actual paper currency, I earned other than brands, sending us stuff to promote was when I received an email from a PR/advertising agency out of New York, City, Weber Shandwick, and at first I was super skeptical because I thought it was spam. But, upon reading the email a few times over I did a search on the company itself and realized it was a big deal, Read more>>

Rachael Speirs

The first time I showed art was about 11-12 years ago. I had been accepted to the Queen West Art Crawl in Toronto and I had never shown my artwork before. The show was an outdoor art fair and within 30 minutes of setting up my booth I had sold several pieces. I was in shock and decided there must be something to this. I have pursued my art career since then, whether its shifted from full time to part-time and back again, it has remained constant. Read more>>

MANOELA WUNDER

I remember my very first gig as a musician. I was in college and my friend recommended me to an orchestra in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Up until that point I had only played in my college orchestra, so the experience of going out of town and performing in a professional ensemble with musicians from all over the country was truly eye-opening. Read more>>