The world needs artists and creatives. Unfortunately, being needed doesn’t often easily translate into financial stability. The struggle is real for so many incredibly talented artists and creatives and so we think it’s important to hear from creatives who have made it work – there is so much to learn from the folks we’ve featured below.

Sarah Whittemore

It has absolutely been a journey along the way, but being able to earn a full-time income as a freelance performer is possible. For most people, including me, overnight success rarely happens. Rather, a steady dedication to your craft, paired with determination, grit, and of course natural talent paves the way towards a fruitful reality. Many years of multiple part-time gigs, along with non-arts jobs like retail and waiting tables, led to my current scenario. You have to be willing to trust the process. First and foremost, be kind, be professional, be on time, and follow through in your work. Guiding principles will help the seeds you plant grow, becoming the great harvest you seek. Consistency is key. Read more>>

Anneliese Lawton

I started writing from my desk at my previous corporate job during lunch. I’d wolf back lunch while furiously typing between bites. My fiance and I were planning our wedding, and without having said our vows, people were already asking us when we were going to have a baby. Having been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome at age 21, we knew conceiving may not be an easy path. So, those questions hurt. Read more>>

Rebecca Day

I’ve been a full-time entrepreneur since about 2011. I always knew I wanted to be a musician so as soon as I got a college degree, I dove right in to the creative arts full time. Running a business is hard enough, pair that with a creative aspect like music or writing and it becomes particularly tricky. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. But it’s something I must do, not just something I want to do. Read more>>

 

Hella Yella

I have been very blessed to be able to earn a full time living from my creative work. My journey started on the campus of Huston-Tillotson Univ. From day one I was able to earn a living from DJing while living a very low budget college lifestyle. A few years into DJing I came to the realization that people would follow me to different venues and a real lack for Hip-Hop nightlife in Austin, TX so I made the decision to start curating my own events, Read more>>

Gabrielle Rene

Scaling my personal social media channels has given me the ability to showcase my work in live time. Creating a digital portfolio for brands and other creators alike to reference. If I had known that power before starting this process, I would have focused less on presenting a formal portfolio and letting my personality and own platforms speak for themselves. They have the true ability to attract the right kind of clientele. Read more>>

Chris Abell

Without taking risks, it is hard to achieve real reward. Many of those on the outside do not see the hard work and dedication it takes to build a successful business: late nights, endless days, & time away just to try and make your dream a reality. For me, it all started at around 13 years old. My father owned his own successful landscaping business & I wanted to follow in his shoes as being my business owner one day. I have always loved electronics and music, playing my parent’s records and CDs, felt DJing was a perfect fit. Read more>>

Bruna Roman

Yes, after working on my business as a side job for three months, I was able to build my clientele and quit my 9-5 job as a Dental Chair-side/surgical assistant and go full-time social media manager. This change happened after working as a Dental Chair-side/surgical assistant for six years, which was my passion for all those years; I loved everything about that career. Still, I was ready for a change, and the pandemic made it easier for me to start exploring different options. Read more>>

TDO Von-T

Von-T name has growing very fast he has gained U.S. national attention based off his quality of work and his new single opening many doors! Von-T linked up with 2-time Grammy winning artist Timothy Bloom to create this masterpiece, that has gone viral placing him at #11 on the charts and rapidly spreading across social media and streaming platforms. Read more>>

Kerollin Francois

Yes I have been able to earn a full time living from my creative but I wouldn’t say it was like that from day one. When I began djing it started as a hobby so I started off charging the split I used to get from shadowing my first DJ mentor DJ Olympus. When I started djing on my own I taught myself gig to gig and as I got better I raised my prices. I soon saw the value that I brought to events and parties and I realized that my hobby turned career could make much more in the corporate arena where the money resides. Read more>>

Chris Jones

Earning full time living for my creativity is my current journey within this world of art/talent. I’ve been applying myself to every and anything in the creative field to sharpen my skill within my crafts while also seeing what I can benefit off of financial to help grow my small business. Read more>>

AJ Vallejo

I’ve been a performer most all my life since i first began my career as an entertainer at the age of 15. My band Vallejo comprised of my brothers signed to Epic/Sony in 2000 and enjoyed a solid run of tours, radio hits & albums for the better part of 5 years. After parting with Sony my brothers and I launched the Vallejo Music Group and went on to sign many Texas & regional acts as well as release albums of our own to great indie success. We are now all music producers & directors and still perform live as it will always be our first love Read more>>

Christopher Paul Stevens

I once read that luck was being prepared when an opportunity presents itself. I have been lucky to earn a full-time living from my work but it has not been easy. I quit my full-time corporate job in 2018 to start my own business as a studio artist/fine arts painter. I had some savings in place from recent sales and commissions and I relied on that for a while to cover costs and bills. Then the pandemic hit and everything changed. I knew I had to adapt to this new environment and the only way to connect with people was through social media. Read more>>

Brian Patrick Flynn

Interior design was, like, NEVER supposed to be part of the equation. I’m a huge independent film fan, and I planned on becoming either a cinematic art director or a live action film director, and I even went to film school in South Florida {for film & TV} to chase that passion and turn it into a career. To pay tuition circa 2001-2003, I would grab curbside furniture neighbors were throwing out, watch Bob Vila on TV and learn how to strip and refinish wood, then sell all the transformed pieces at month yard sales. Read more>>

Christian Harvey

As a freelance musician, I am not totally sure where, or who, my next paycheck will come from. I may get contracted to play with a local symphony needing a musician to sub in the orchestra, or with a small ensemble for a wedding and reception. I can speak for all freelance artists when I say that the “freelance” part of our work is the most terrifying; will we go one week or one month in between work? However, what I can assure you to be factual is that it WILL get easier to make opportunities to earn an income. Read more>>

Zoë Burr

Being in an industry like mine means it’s super crucial to have some form of “hustle.” For me I was able to create a living within 6 months of being a full-time hairstylist because I utilized social media interaction + content, word of mouth, referrals, and business cards. I attribute a lot of my success to the fact that I joined an apprenticeship program from the very beginning. I made a little above minimum wage + some tips which was really difficult to live on, but because of the knowledge and experience I gained & once I was more secure in my skills I was able to build quickly because the few clients I had could feel that. Read more>>

Zvestly Plantin

I have not yet gotten to the point where I would say I am earning a full-time living from being a content creator. However, a big portion of my income does come from there. I didn’t realize how much money I could really make until February of 2022. I started taking things more seriously back in September of 2021. I was working full time at the time and enrolled in grad school full time as well. I had to take a step back from work as school became more demanding. However, I was only able to do so because I knew I had my content creator income to rely on. Read more>>

Sam Warshaw

I have earned a living as a full time musician my entire adult working life. When I started working in high school I realized very quickly that I would never thrive in a 9-5 type of job. In addition I realized if I didn’t truly care about what I was doing, my motivation was non-existent. On the flip side, I knew I wanted to be a full time musician from about the age of 16. Pitting those two thoughts and experiences against each other made me realize I had to figure out a way no matter what to make music my full time career. Read more>>

Travis Roig

If I hadn’t had extremely patient and accommodating parents (also very understanding and loving incoming Chilean in-laws) and/or a wife who wasn’t in the showbusiness herself, then my life would probably look a lot different than it does today. I’d have to be much more reliant on those around me. But I was able to live long enough at my folks’ to save enough money so when the time came to get a place, I was able to afford one (taking on the worst loan ever given to any human). Read more>>

Marissa Neola

Wooooo, ok this is a question I get asked a lot by my students and parents. Wondering how did I manage to make a living and not go to college. Thankfully both my parents instilled in me from birth that financial stability is key to an easy adulthood. When I moved out at the fresh age of 18, I thankfully already had a job at one dance studio. Now once the bills started rolling in, I knew I needed more income. I started working 4 days a week at dance studios, and one day a weekend doing choreography. Read more>>

Lauren Fisher

I already have a full-time career but I am also a full-time content creator. Over the last 2 years, I have been able to earn a full-time income from it. I started blogging in 2016 but didn’t start content creating until 2020 while I was home alone in Chicago during the lockdown. Once I saw that it was moving in a good direction, I decided to take my content creation career more seriously. I got a agency, I plan out content, I work with several photographer, I pitch brands and more. Day one, I just started posting content and reviews and being more consistent. Read more>>

Vanessa Berger

I have always had a dream of being a model and working with brands around the world. During most of my early 20’s I had been hired to model for bikini and clothes brands on their campaigns. Until one day, it hit me : why not create my own brand? with this in mind and not much capital to start and run a company , me and my husband Csar had to learn how to do every step of the business. Read more>>

Courtney Krueger

I’d say it took me a good 4-5 years to finally hit full-time in my business. The first 1-2 years were definitely the hardest and were a rude awakening for me because I didn’t realize how long it would actually take and how hard it would be. You see a lot of “successful” people having online businesses but you don’t know what truly goes on behind the scenes. I lived paycheck to paycheck and used credit cards for anything else for quite awhile wondering when it was finally going to take off. Read more>>

Hal Whiteside

I have been a full time actor for about 10 years. After a business degree in college I spent 25yrs in logistics before becoming an actor. I was burnt out career wise and decided to take a step back and take some time away and pursue something different. I had always wanted to act and decided to start doing extra and background work just to get on set and see if I liked it. I loved being on set and just learning the process of filmmaking. I soon found a great coach, Richard Hempton with In Our Image Productions, who I’m still training with today. I began taking classes, going to workshops, Read more>>

Emily Hromi

I have been earning a full-time living from creative work since mid-2019. Prior to that I had been working full-time at a non-profit museum since 2014 and was ready to make a change. I was fortunate to have success from the start, but there were definitely some steps taken to first get to that starting point. Throughout my museum employment I maintained a small number of freelance medical illustration clients here and there, mostly connections from prior jobs or from college. Read more>>

Janelle Abigail

I have been a full time photographer since 2021. And I will say I have been blessed, super blessed. I am still currently a full time student trying to make a passion into my dream career. Actually, I am walking in it currently in an answered prayer and further than one can be. I have always known to myself that I would have a career in the arts. Everything I do stem from creativity that is around and within me. I would always be told that it is not something achievable, and to get a real job. In school, I got a job to accommodate regular living, but it never sustained, because it wasn’t me. Read more>>

Dj ReRe

After getting laid off multiple times throughout the year and not making enough off the one job to pay the bills, I hopped on a cruise as a DJ and fell in love with the lifestyle and the freedom to create. It was scary, but I was extremely frustrated with my current career so I jumped in and never looked back. Read more>>

Lorenis Jordan

Le Petit Balloons started as a Hobby. In first time I was doing the birthday party for my youngest daughter, 1 and half years ago. I really loved make the party and I started to find any company to take trainings about balloons. I was working like truck driver in a recognized company 12 hours in the day and I decided start with my own company in balloons. I took a lot of classes, to many trinings to get the best tecniques to create art with balloons, this is the best way to offer to the customers the best memories for their celebrations. Read more>>

Gouri Karmakar

I have been a full time musician for almost 30 years now and depend on it full time as well. I started with playing concerts all around the world- USA, Europe, India etc. I established my name in the percussion industry, Finally I started teaching and established my school in 2008. It has been a long road, with lots of ups and downs. I am from a small town in India and started from scratch. It has been a long journey since then. Moving all around the world, interacting with people from different backgrounds, cultures was exciting but also challenging at times. Read more>>

Laura Thomas

I am proud to say I earn a living as a full time artist. For me, I do various forms of art to make a living. I have been a tattoo artist for over 16 years, a professional chalk artist for over 11 years, I also do commissioned paintings for clients, designs for businesses, and have a chalk stencil business called I Chalk Arted. Read more>>

Jasun Jabbar

Earning a full time living from my artistry has been a journey. I started doing background and extra work to jump start my career. I also took 7+ years of acting classes. At 12 years old I booked my first professional acting job on Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. It was a great experience especially for a first time on set. Fast forward years later to doing shows like Atlanta, Black Lightning, and BMF I’ve learned a great deal from every show I’ve done. I wouldn’t say there’s anything that I could have done to speed up my process as everything is God’s timing. Read more>>

Caro Nilsson

Starting on this journey of being a full-time artist has been terrifying and full of joy the entire time. I think the biggest part of making it work is waking up every day, even if you are full of doubt, and continuing anyway. A big part of my art practice’s success, I think, is that I have remained authentic and true to myself even when I was full of fear. I have learned that the ‘starving artist’ stereotype is only as true as you believe it to be. I have found an abundant niche that exists for me- the act of comparing to another artists’ path is entirely futile because the path is made by walking forth. Every artists’ way will be unique to them, and the freedom from comparison is incredibly beautiful to me. Read more>>

Manon Halliburton

I have been a performer for over 20 years and have primarily worked in theatre as well as photography – specifically actor headshots. I majored in acting in both undergrad and grad school and lived in New York City for several years before returning to my home roots in Kansas City Missouri. The milestones along the way were primarily patience and fortitude. To be in the acting game, you must be a long distance runner as there are times you will not be working on a show so you have to stay creative to keep your tools sharp. Read more>>

Annie Kines

Being able to earn a full-time living from my work has been such a pinch-me situation. However, it has not happened over night, and still leaves plenty of room for growth. I started this business when I was much younger as a hobby; something that was fun to do when I needed a break from school or work. I gradually got more focused on jewelry design as a business about five years ago when I was struggling with some health issues and not able to work full-time in my previous career field. Read more>>

Stephanie Craig

I began pursuing my photography business full time about 8 years ago when the family that I was nannying for decided to move to another state. I had graduated from photography school two years prior but was working part time to build my business and figure out how to make a living doing what I loved most. I certainly wasn’t prepared to take the leap into full time when I did, and if this family hadn’t decided to move, I might have continued doing it part time for several more years. Read more>>

Kayla Watkins

I have been fortunate to make a full-time living from my marketing services since I started my business in 2018, but not without some sacrifices and carefully chosen steps. While I did end of making a full-time living at the end of the year, my husband and I did spend the first 8 months of 2018 living with my mom to make sure I could provide the right amount of income consistently that we needed to afford living expenses. Those first 8 months I was taking odd social media jobs outside of Pinterest as well as beginning to create my Pinterest marketing services and was much more apt to work with whatever clients I could find. Read more>>

Gwendolyn Blake

Being a Body Piercer is the most fun, exciting job I have ever had! I have always had some type of clerical/management position. Although I am good at that, it just wasn’t fulfilling. At times I would have to remind myself I had bills to pay and had to go to work. When Covid-19 hit, I was an operations manager for a local residential cleaning company. I was laid off and out of work for over a year. Read more>>

Quantal Langford

Yes I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from creative work. The journey, however, has been a slow process to that. Day one when I first started my business, I was fortunate to have done some work for a few clients that I would work with from my regular day job. So I at least started with somebody to work with. When I went full-time with my creative profession, I sent an email to everyone that I’ve done work with in the past and currently, told them them the situation and established business from there. Read more>>

North Woodall

To earn enough money from music, so that you can do it full-time, takes a lot of work. The biggest factors are that you have to network every chance you get. Unlike when I started off back in the 1960’s, we have lots of tools that can be used for inspiring and upcoming artists. This ranges from social media to online radio stations and beyond. And the best part about these 21st century tools is that you don’t need to have a large budget or be sponsored by a label in order to benefit from them. Read more>>