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.

Joe Uzzo

I’ll never forget that email I received at the very end of 2019 confirming that one of my songs (“Dynamite” by New Sheriffs) would be used in the Showtime series Shameless. It was the first time I would have my music in a hit series, and a show that I was actually a huge fan of. The feeling was so intense that I cried tears of joy, then immediately puked. My wife thought I was having some sort of a nervous breakdown. Read more>>

Andrea Clark-Meier

My very first dollar earned as a creative was doing background on the film Wild, Wild West back in 1999. My dad Jim Clark was working in the movie running the trains as a train coordinator and he had a part in it as a train conductor. He asked me if I’d be interested in working background in the movie as a saloon girl and I said, sure why not! It was exciting to work alongside my dad and see the making of a film come to life in front and behind the camera! Read more>>

Csaba Simon

My very first band was called Gordius, we played metal music, mostly covering Hungarian metal bands as well as Metallica, I was playing the drums in that one. We were rather limited in our musical skills – to say the least – but we enjoyed what we were doing and many people actually came to our shows thanks to the tight and supportive metal community of my hometown, Pecs in Hungary. Read more>>

Naveen AKA sleepy

I’ll always remember the feeling of making my first dollar as a creative. In 2015 I started playing around with my limited knowledge of Photoshop to make some song artwork and concert flyers for my musician friends. After word about my designs got around, that eventually got me to my first sale: $20 for an album cover. Read more>>

Nova Nordstrom

My first gig was a lot of fun, and is something that’s stuck with me throughout my creative career! When I was a teenager, I was asked to make film posters to decorate for upcoming movie premiers at my local theater. I scored a job there after that opportunity, where I built a collection of posters that became a focus in my dissertation. I include poster design in my creative work now, making posters for short films and for events with The Deviant Group (a production company I started with my friend, Deviant Donna). Read more>>

Nikola Delic

My journey into earning as an artist had a unique beginning. I was working as a cook in a franchise restaurant that already had its resident artist. However, when they were gearing up to open a new location and their regular artist was unavailable, I couldn’t resist stepping in. Despite being met with laughter initially, given my role as a cook, I was determined to prove my artistic determination. Read more>>

Erin Tracy

My first dollar was actually eighteen dollars and I earned it as a MerPony (half-mermaid, half-pony) in the first showing of an experimental dance-theatre work at a performance series in Brooklyn. I was cast in the piece while I was still an undergraduate student at New York University’s Experimental Theatre Wing. Read more>>