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.

Kevin Fisher

I am now able to earn a full time living writing and recording songs, but it didn’t happen quickly. I graduated Pomona College as an English major and found a job that most English majors find – waiting tables. I did that for 10 years, along with other assorted day jobs, while I wrote songs and put bands together. One of the bands, Naked To The World, toured through Nashville, Tennessee, and it was because of that tour that I got my first publishing deal, which meant that somebody was paying me to write songs, something I’ve been doing for free – and sometimes at a cost. I’ve written for a number of publishing companies since. Read more>>

Mark Anthony Williams

Earning a living as an actor is to this day the most difficult thing I ever accomplished. It took 25 plus years to arrive at the point where I didn’t need a job to survive. I’ve never considered my work as an actor as a job because of the joy I get from it. After college I worked in a group home, mainly for boys who had a tough childhood and they were in and out of juvenile facilities. Then in 1995 I moved to California to pursue my dreams as an actor. I didn’t realize it would take years to master, lots of ups and downs, lots of being broke and emotionally broken. Then I hit year 20 and I was still struggling but felt I was in too deep and had dedicated 2 decades to this, I could not find it in me to walk away. Read more>>

LAURIE Hein

Yes, I was able to make a full-time living from my artwork starting at ground zero. I had no choice because I needed to provide for my family without skills other than my artistic talent. I first started teaching again, something I hadn’t done since my 2nd child, and joined Amway to build the dream of being self-employed, Read more>>

Gabra Zackman

My god it took a while! I’ve earned a full time living from creative work for nearly 20 years, but previous to that it was a lot of catering and waiting tables (and a stint doing makeup too) in between acting gigs. I so luckily had the door to audiobook work opened to me by the great narrator Jonathan Davis after we did a production of Taming of the Shrew together in Atlanta in the early 2000s. I have such a fateful memory of that time! I had gotten to the point waiting tables and catering that I just couldn’t do it anymore. I remember being in a tuxedo holding the silverware for French Service (what a nightmare that was), and it felt to me like the room stopped moving while I had a conversation with God. Read more>>

SETALEKI MANU

Hollywood is always fluctuating, market wise. The creative arts is probably the most inconsistent profession there is, which explains why 90% of actors maintain another career/job while pursuing the craft. For me, there was maybe about 2yrs where I was booking consistently enough to be able to make a viable living, and take care of my family. Besides that, i learned that until i make 6-7 figures on big projects, then i should always maintain another job as consistent income. There was actually one instance where, after I landed my first national commercial, I ended up with a buyout check for over maybe 50k, I thought I made it, quit my job and all. And didn’t book ANYTHING for the next 9 months haha. If there’s any advice I have, keep your day job, until the income from your creative career is consistent. Read more>>

Kristi Pickel

I have been full time with photography as my main income for about three years now. I initially started out doing photography on the side of my full time job and the dream was to be able to make this my full time income. I moved to Florida and actually was going to just put down the camera altogether, no more photo shoots. I was also burnt out in my corporate job and needed a change so I quit my job to take classes to learn how to code. Through conversations with others in the community I was encouraged to try photography in Florida. I had a friend visiting from another state and asked if I would take their family photos on the beach. That lit my fire and I decided to pursue photography (while still doing my coding classes). It took off and things went really well. Read more>>

Metal Priestess

I have been creating art since I was a child, but in high school I started earning some money from it! I entered an art show called “Celebrating Diversity” my freshman year and won 1st place, which had a $300 grand prize! That was my 1st time going to an art ceremony for my art. Read more>>

Lori Mills

After a successful career in medicine, I went to art school at age 50 to pursue what I knew was my calling for decades but that I hadn’t fulfilled. At a younger age I’d gotten a science degree from UCLA and an MBA – I’d been too fearful to put all my eggs in a creative basket – doing what I really wanted to do and making art, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to support myself. Read more>>

Phillip Vigil

I have been able to earn a living from my creative works, but not a full-time. Life has been full of many challenges up and down not only from my personal life but from my professional creative life as well. I have been Writing Songs and Performing for 30 years and have seen all sides of the music industry. During dry spells from performing and gigging, I was a mobile DJ to keep investment growth possible. I also produced rap and hip hop artists in the communities i lived in. I took video production classes at UNM to enhance my capabilities to expand my abilities and products to offer. Every cent earned from the music went right back into the music. Read more>>

Vishnu Vaka

No, I have not yet reached a point to earn full-time living from my creative work. I quit my job two years ago when Russell Peters took me on the road to open for him in 7 countries through out Asia. At the time, I was working at Bank of America, as a contractor at BOFA, you can only work 18 months consequetively after which you have to take 3 months off. At the time when Russell gave me the offer, my contract was already extended to 22 months. So when I asked my boss if I could take a month off. He said, instead how about we expire your contract now and I could come back after three months if I wanted to. Read more>>

John Boak

I always wanted to be an artist. I drew from childhood. While in college my first major was english. Later I declared for fine art. But I also learned the basics of graphic design for print and offset print production working for the Yale Literary Magazine. In those first years after graduation my experience with a few short-lived paycheck jobs encouraged me to go out on my own. I had stopped wandering and was living in Colorado. In a ski town I learned how to cultivate clients for graphic design. I went from being a construction laborer to becoming a design entrepreneur. Read more>>

Christopher Chwee

Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Read more>>

Mahnoor Nasir Khan

Yes, I’ve been able to earn a full-time living from my creative work, but it didn’t happen overnight. My journey into photography began from a personal, intuitive place—using imagery to explore emotion, memory, and silence. For years, it was something deeply private, and I never imagined it would grow into a sustainable career. Read more>>

Bridget Cooper

Moving to New York at 18, my initial focus was fashion. I was passionate about showcasing New Zealand designers through nightclub fashion shows and collaborations, including one with Jimmy Choo. However, life took an unexpected turn at 23 when I became pregnant. Returning to New Zealand for the birth of my daughter, I faced a challenging situation as my partner decided to move to London. Read more>>

The Warman Trio

With our job we get to travel around the South East and go to the most amazing places, and meet the best people at conferences, theme parks, city events, corporate functions, etc.
The #1 way we’ve been able to do this is through Gods grace, guidance, and provision this whole time, He’s always with us when things are riding high, and when things are rough… (like Covid year). Read more>>

Jamie Richards

Although we aren’t making any money from Only Slightly Opinionated Podcast, the journey itself has been especially rewarding. When we began this endeavor, we had no preconceived notions that our little podcast would become a hit. We went into this just hoping we would find a loyal listening base. Our followers have continued to grow as we have fine-tuned our format and we are thrilled that anyone is listening at all. We have contemplated spending money in an effort to amplify our presence but hold steadfast in our pledge to grow the podcast organically. Because we live very far apart, our mission was to set aside some time every couple of weeks to make each other laugh, catch up, and talk about what we’ve been watching. If we look at in that light, we feel extremely successful. Broke…but successful. Read more>>

Wendy Marquis

I began my art studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, majoring in graphic design and studio art. I then continued at the University of Arizona, where I earned my BFA. After graduating, I went straight to work for a graphic design studio in Boston—a huge learning experience. I watched a top designer in action and learned some tough, often intimidating lessons. But it was my full-time career, and I soaked up everything I could. Read more>>

Brandon Minga

This is a great question and it has a bit of a long answer, so I’ll try to keep it short. Keep in mind this is NOT the how-to end-all be-all answer, your journey is yours, and mine is relative but not the same. Read more>>

Lucy Clare Spooner

I have indeed been making a living from painting since the beginning, though this has changed over the years. I have several income streams within the umbrella of painting: I accept commissions for custom work; make paintings that I’m simply inspired to paint (“studio paintings”) and market them to sell online or at art fairs; offer live drawing for private and corporate events; teach workshops; etc. Having several streams helps me hit the income that I’m aiming to hit without putting all my eggs in one basket. Read more>>

Scumbag Fred

Over the years, the dollars have fluctuated with the amount I’ve have earned. But as of the last 6 years I’ve been able to atleast pay the rent and feed myself from music. Saving is very tedious and hard at times but it’s a very fulfilling thing to survive off music knowing you going nowhere but up. Read more>>

Ladislav Hanka

Yes, I do earn a living at this and fine art is by no means a simple calling from a financial standpoint. You must cast a broad net and indeed have something to say and then care deeply enough to stay with it for decades and the bar has, historically seen, been set pretty high. A certain degree of humility is appropriate while just doing the lonely studio work over the long haul and thus readying one’s self to accept opportunity when it shows its glowing face in your life. I wasn’t too proud to design beer bottle labels for a local microbrewery, which at the time was small and had no real name recognition to speak of but, it did well eventually. Read more>>

Tiffany Filimon

Yes, I’ve been fortunate to earn a full-time living from my creative work as a luxury makeup artist. But it absolutely didn’t happen overnight. When I first started, I was living in a new state where I knew no one. I had no local support system or referrals and had to build everything from the ground up — from networking and pricing my services to learning how to market myself in a completely different market. Read more>>