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.

Niality Kay

I have been dropping music for a while now, I released my own single (which was also produced by me) on all platforms my Freshman year of Highschool, and it took off from there. Through trial and tribulation I was able to find my sound, and build a small fan base in my hometown Dallas, Tx. When I transferred to University of Houston from Howard University I knew I wanted to continue to build my music career and put myself out there. I knew that I already had the music, the music visuals, the gimmick, and the overall look of a successful music artist but I still struggled with performing. Read more>>

Treelife_Tr3

My first dollar made as a creative motivated me even more to go harder,at the time my feature price was $100. I honestly didn’t feel it was necessary to charge for verses until a friend if mine said I should. I just didn’t feel like I have done enough work and reputable enough to charge anyone. But he made it make sense . And the key in my opinion to make sure someone feels that spending money with you is worth it ,is to give it your all and treat the project as if you would your own. So I went into the booth spit my bars and the client loved it. The song was used as a theme song for a radio station for a year. Read more>>

Jennifer D. Corley

I was a junior in college, and I was taking my second class in playwriting. I loved my professor, Franklin Ashley — he had been my English 101 professor when I was a freshman, and he’d told me he was going to be starting up a playwriting class and he wanted me to be in it. So playwriting I led to playwriting II, and in that class he encouraged me to submit to a publication that was accepting monologues. A book called More Monologues for Women, by Women, edited by Tori Haring-Smith for Heinemann Press. She was a professional dramaturg and playwright, and professor of theatre at Brown University, where the book (plus its first edition) would be used as a textbook. Read more>>

Sky Welkin

I first earned money from my artwork at a mother’s day fair in Portsmouth, VA back in 2013. I had a tent set up with a couple of slat grid stands to adhere my prints and original illustrations to in an effort to set up a gallery. This lady and her husband came by my tent with their baby in a stroller and she stood in front of me and stared at my work. She practically started right past me, not saying “Hey, how are you?” until about 30 seconds after stopping. After a brief conversation about my art and being a student at Old Dominion University at the time, she asked, “How much for that one?” Read more>>

James Bohling

After many years of experimenting with painting, I would occasionally hang something in my home that I thought wasn’t too embarrassing for people to see. I enjoyed the process and loved taking classes but never thought I would sell a piece or ever be able to make a living as an artist. As it happened, when I was around 50 years old, one of my good friends was an accomplished artist and noticed one of my paintings hanging in the living room. After showing her a few more pieces she suggested that I join her in her booth at one of the premier art festivals in town, the Art Students League’s Summer Art Market. It was going to be her last art fest as she was moving on to several art galleries. Read more>>

Rhian Bristol

I earned my first dollar as a musician when I was 16 years old. It was actually $75.00 and set my music in a new direction. I had performed at an open mic at Tower 13 in Cardiff by the Sea. I was so nervous I almost didn’t go through with it. I just sat on the stool watching everyone, afraid to put my name on the list. I felt so out of my element; what was I doing there and what was I thinking? Ultimately, I slid off the stool and added my name to the signup sheet. Read more>> 

Mecca Mitchell, MBA

I get a lot of my support from family and even people I barley know or just met. And even thought I get LOTS of love from my family, the trend among artists in general seems to be that we seem to have to beg our friends and family to support us while strangers and people outside of our circle or local community are watching and supporting with no problem. Read more>>

Kid Breeze

When I first started taking producing seriously I was a part of a production duo called “The Shipmates”back in 2013 with my frat brother Matcy P. At the time, I was 6 months fresh out of school and didn’t really have much of a clue how I wanted to pursue music at a higher level and not have to work dead end jobs to fund it. I spent some time hustling in the streets and after a few months I decided to move in with Matcy P, and pursue music full time. Read more>>

Josie Adams

This is such a memorable moment for me as it is for anyone with dreams of working as a creative. I’m not even sure they know this, but Hawthorne Supply Co emailed me asking to license my work for fabric as my family was going through the loss of my aunt. It was such a strange juxtaposition of feelings – happiness that my work had finally been seen and was wanted mingled with sadness. Reading that email felt so uplifting. Read more>>

Deke Anderson

I owned my own Gym in Reno, Nevada and had begun local Acting. I had just signed with a modeling agent in Reno. They sent me on an audition for a movie which was originally called “Double Down”…go figure, it was filming in Reno!!! It was 1979 or 1980. The casting director, April Webster (very well known, cast all of JJ Abrams projects, and has been in the business for decades – she is also a wonderful person) cast me in a role to throw none other than Kevin Costner off the Mogal Bridge on the Truckee River. Read more>>

CHE$$ NOT CHECKERS

The first time I ever received physical cash for this writing and rapping was when I did a show in Abilene, TX with a group I was thoroughly a part of at the time called CUTTHROAT EMCEES’. The first time I ever made profit from streams was from my debut album ‘I Won’t Lo$e Me’, submitting via CDBaby for distribution. I was doing it for so long hand-to-hand, selling cd’s and trying to figure it all out. The digital distribution changed the game and emphasis for me and a lot of my comrades. Read more>>