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.

Taylore Simone

By the Grace of God, I am able to earn a full-time living from my creative work as a model, an actress, and an entreprenher. Back in December 2020, I was laid off from my full-time corporate America job. I remember my pastor making a statement about being creative in crisis. It was then that I looked at being laid off as an opportunity to put all of my efforts and energy into my creative career and business. Read more>>

Kelley Williams

I have not been able to earn a full-time living from music. That is something that was surrounded by a lot of shame for me for quite some time.
I found peace in knowing the following:
1, I work very hard to have enough money to not only pay our bills, but also to be able to build the life we dream of.
And 2. I truly believe that we are all on our own timeline, no ones story is the same. Read More>>

Jacob Cureton

I am now just getting into a more stable income situation as far as earning from my creative work. It feels great, but it has been a tough couple of years. It’s a real grind and my schedule is all over the place. I wanted it though, and I enjoy every minute of pain because the reward is there. It’s totally worth it. Read more>>

Koko Taylor

Honestly I’ve been working since I was 15 yrs old, I’m 32 now. During Covid when I got furloughed I literally told myself you need to make a decision! If I am furloughed for more than 6 months it’s time to change careers nothings going up in my current field as a front office specialist to a physical therapy office. Even though it was Covid I was booking modeling gigs as a self rep model which I’ve been doing for almost ten years at the time and booked myself a magazine shoot in September for Vegas. Read more>>

Jonny Lucas

My journey with music started at a very early age. I remember being 10 years old and having an undeniable fascination with instruments and music, which quickly lead me to the idea that I wanted to pursue it as a career. I was a classically trained kid and I played in orchestras, choirs, and brass bands but the major game-changer for me was when my dad bought me an electric guitar for my 15th birthday. Read more>>

Mary Martin

Earning a full-time living from my career as a musician has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. I began performing one-off gigs in 2018, when I had the time and opportunity between work and life in general. I always wondered how other musicians were able to make a full-time job out of performing and releasing music, it just didn’t seem to be a feasible option for me. Read more>>

Phallon Perry.

When I entered college as an English major, many people doubted me. I often heard, “you speak English, why would you major in it?” or, “so you want to be an English teacher?” Honing in on my craft and perfecting my skills as a writer was an idea that seemed foreign to a lot of people. Nevertheless, I knew what I wanted to do and I took the necessary steps to accomplish it. Read more>>

Marin Rylee

Born and raised in Los Angeles I’ve grown up around the entertainment industry and have been auditioning for professional jobs since I was 16. Instead of going to college I toured as an assistant with the dance convention LA Dance Magic. The program consists of assisting dance classes, working behind the scenes during competition, set up and break down of the event and mentorship opportunities with the faculty and staff. It’s a hands on educational program. Read more>>

Carie Ferra.

Living on wages from being a singer isn’t easy.. in fact it’s a lot harder than I ever imagined. I remember when I moved to the Nashville area for a short amount of time I thought I really had something different to offfer.. and while they may be true, you are one of MANY fish in that big, wide open sea. EVERYONE wants to do what you want to do; it’s extremely competitive. I’m not able to say I make a living off of what I do, but being signed with an agent and getting jobs definitely helps. Read more>>

Sarah Martin

I believe it is important to specify that, at least in my case, making the commitment to go full time with music and getting to a place where I was earning a full time living with music, were two different things and it took a long time to find a healthy work balance for my life. Having said that, I always felt I made enough money, for the stage of life I was in, because I always lived below my means, and put money aside so that I had a nest egg if things were slow or I had the desire to make a shift. Read more>>

Tawny & Robert Darling & Chadwell

We have been able to earn a full-time living from our work. Well, sort of. Basically, we’re working toward a certain lifestyle, and if we’re not quite to that point, we alter our lifestyle to fit our current wages. We are still in the first full year of having our business open and we have exceeded our goals, which is pretty exciting. Read more>>

Aaryn Nutter

My short answer to this question would be absolutely, yes! Although my personal story shows the journey can be unexpected and more like a winding road at times. Read more>>

Martina Sestakova

I have had my company, RADOST (means ‘joy’ in Czech), for about 7 years now. I create a variety of products, which makes my days fun and interesting and allows for different sources of income. The beginnings were interesting: being self-employed is all about self-discipline and self-reliance. I have set goals and pursued them in small steps as not to feel overwhelmed. There are a lot of opportunities out there and it’s important to focus and get to know yourself as an artist and entrepreneur. Read more>>

Xiaoxing Zhao

I was able to work in audio full time for 3 years. I loved every second of it. I went to college for recording arts in Houston, TX at Mediatech Institute. After I graduated, I ended up working there as a studio tech. During that time my DJ career was taking off and I was playing at anime cons and various events around the state of Texas. 2 years into working as a studio tech I started teaching music business at Mediatech and working for Okratron5000 as a Talent Coordinator and Audio Engineer. Read more>>

Samantha Mccurdy

I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work through a few intentional goals and many many experiences I could have never predicted would come in handy towards giving me additional pushes towards financial stability. The journey has been long and when asked how I made it happen I immediately thought it’s still happening and happening all the time. ‘Happen’ seems like a solid term whereas I look at it as being able to change at any moment. Read more>>

Joe Bergamini

I have made a living playing, teaching and writing about the drums since I was out of college at 23 years old. I commuted to school and majored in architecture, since my parents wanted me to have the typical “something to fall back on.” During my college years, I studied and practiced, played in many bands, and learned the business. Luckily I had an amazing mentor, my teacher Dom Famularo. He showed me ways to build a teaching business and make money full time in music, while pursuing my playing career at the same time. Read more>>

Keia Johnson

I’ve been able to earn a full time living do what I love, music & the arts. It started when I came back from “American Idol” the first time (yes, I went to Hollywood twice). I realized there were more ways than just becoming a Superstar to be able to make a living performing in. I few years after that, I ended up being in a Cast on Steamboats and that work was challenging but it expanded my musical vocabulary in ways I never knew. Read more>>

Lily Hansen.

In my 14-year writing career, I have been able to earn a living from my art for only a few years – and never in a row. While I wish I had better news what is reassuring is that I am still in the minority in a positive way. I know so many writers and artists, all incredibly talented, who have either never made a dime from their work or have only done so in full-time jobs. Read more>>

Ilaamen Pelshaw

I always dreamed to be an artist, but being from Guatemala it was not an easy task to accomplish. I know things are changing in Latin America for artists and creative people, but before you needed to have a “real job” in order to make a living. So I studied Graphic Design in order to have a career. Little did I know that lots of the abilities learned as a graphic designer are the ones that help me a lot now that I am a full time artist/illustrator. One of the things that is important to mention is that the transition from designer to artist was not easy, and I had to be patient with my art and work for years before I start seeing any financial benefit. Read more>>

Ashleigh Long

It hasn’t always been easy and it’s definitely taken years to build the clientele base that I have now. However, I do feel I was able to build my business significantly faster than most for several reasons. I think the biggest one being that I put human connection before a dollar amount. I say this to so many of the people that I mentor, but it’s really been a big part of my business strategy. Money will follow you so long as your clients emotional needs are met first. Read more>>

Catherine Rivadeneyra

My name is Catherine Rivadeneyra and my journey started when I was editing the html for my myspace website page – remember those? From there I became fascinated with the fact that you could tell a story by creating a brand online. After learning these skills I had a few jobs in the service industry and then the legal industry before landing a job in the tech industry that would reignite my interest while at the same time giving me the skills I needed to turn a hobby into a career. Read more>>

Brandon Colby

I have been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work. This definitely took me a little bit of time, I guess you would call this the yes phase. Saying yes to every project that comes your way whether it piques your interest or not. Having to eat ramen or sometimes just not eat, truly made me feel the hunger of being a starving artist. This I believe was quintessential to my rapid growth and “hunger” to make my passion my career. Read more>>

Jodi Lynn Burton

I never imagined that I would be earning a full-time living as an artist. As a kid, I dreamed up about 100 other things I wanted to do with my life. While my family always told me that I would become an artist, the world around me told me there was no career in art. Eventually, I found a happy medium with photography. I studied it thinking that at least I could do something creative. Read more>>

Hunter Ditty

It took a very long time for me to be financially stable by just being creative and doing art. Art was always a side job while working a regular 9-5, but I always wanted more. It wasn’t until I really sat down and quit everything to solely focus on my craft and becoming the best artist that I can and once I did that things started falling into place. Read more>>

Hope Thomas.

I have been making pottery as a full-time career since 2009. It wasn’t until I decided to get really serious about setting some monthly goals that I was able to actually increase my sales enough to earn a full-time living consistently. Being a studio artist comes with great challenges, but along with every challenge comes great rewards. There are the challenges of running a business completely by myself. Read more>>

Nicki Heiner

The moment I would tell someone that I’m an Interior Designer, I would get 2 types of responses. Either “I love HGTV!” or “Oh my goodness, I need help decorating my house”. This used to make me sad that the career that I am so passionate about was typically reduced to being associated with a TV network or asking for help on picking out throw pillows. Don’t get me wrong, I love HGTV too! But what I do as an interior designer is a far throw from what is on the TV shows. Read more>>

Sasha Emiri

It’s funny you ask that. I think about this very question all the time. I know for a fact that I LOVE making content and doing creative shoots. It makes me feel alive and it’s so fun to try new shoot concepts. Read more>>

Reneze Lopez.

I have been earning a full-time living from being a creative for about 2 years now. I started my journey in June of 2020, just as a hobby with no true direction what I wanted to accomplish. During this time, I would post about our previous travels and I think people wanted to see something different than the chaos the world was in so I grew a following quite fast. Read more>>

Michael Wilson.

I have been able to make a full time living with photography. Starting out it was tough, I had moved from a larger market to Maine, and found it tough to get my foot in the door, all while learning the nuances of a different market. That was a decade ago and now I feel fortunate everyday that I get to do this for a living. Still the hardest part is selling new clients on your ability to make great work for them. Often times it can be a risk for clients to hire new talent and they are more likely to work with folks they have had positive experiences with in the past. Read more>>

Thea Engst

This is a lot, please feel free to cut it down! Read more>>

Samantha Pine

I have been able to earn a living working full-time selling my art for over 2 years but have been selling my art for over 10 years. I’ve always made art a priority. For about 8 years, on and off, I would work only part-time in the food industry. I would commit the rest of my week to creating different things like dream catchers, recycled leather bags, etc. until I took a silversmithing class and fell in love. I continued to create and got all the tools I needed to have a home studio. Read more>>

Jennifer Sengin

I have been able to make a full-time living with my creative work. I am so fortunate in this area – that I love both conducting and teaching! This has been a great way to carve out a path to turn my passion into a career. Read more>>

Brittany Maldonado

My journey to being a full-time artist has had it’s peaks and valleys. I have been an artist (dancer, actor, creator) since as far back as I can remember. My first love was the stage. Although my dream has always been to be a working artist, I have been financially independent since I was a teen, so chasing the creative life didn’t seem like a reality for me. After college I didn’t have the luxury of going on auditions every day, or staying home to create every day. I had to work. Read more>>