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.

Cynthia Main

I do make a full time living at my creative business, Sunhouse Craft! I started this business as a side project: I learned to weave brooms a decade ago, just after I had left my job running a teaching wood shop in Chicago. I was always looking to tie my deep commitment to sustainability, or love for the planet with my fabricating/art life, so I left my job to learn coopering, or traditional barrel making at a paid internship, and took a broom making class on a lark, and it stuck. Read more>>

Michael Cushman

Yes, I have been working in photography full time since 2012-2013. I used to work at an orange juice manufacturing plant while I was going to college (I’m not going to name the college as they don’t have a good reputation. I have actually lost work saying I came from that school). I found out a few of the college classes could be substituted for internships. I started an internship at KSC Create (One Kreate, Creative Drive, Etc.) in Hollywood, Florida. Read more>>

Annie Leeth

Yes! I have been lucky enough to be able to work full-time creatively for the last few years. I started working after graduation as a studio engineer and session violinist at Chase Park Transduction, as well as a live sound engineer at a few venues around Athens. I had been building up small jobs over the course of my last year at college, so what started as a job or two slowly accumulated until it was enough for me to truly call myself a freelancer. From there, I worked as a house assistant engineer to Ben Allen at Maze Studios in Atlanta for a little over two years, during which I got to really hone in my engineering and production skills. Read more>>

Monica Walters

I became a full-time author in October of 2018. However, it wasn’t because I was making so much money. My husband and I took HUGE leaps of faith to make it happen. I quit my job without giving a notice, all because I received a one-book contract from an independent e-book publisher. The process of trying to get my name out to the masses was gruesome and extremely tedious. I vowed that I would do whatever I had to do to make it work, because I didn’t want to go back to working a traditional 9 to 5. Read more>>

Rob Ferro

It all started with a hobby, or call it a passion for cars, my father was the responsible for the love i have of cars. Around 13 years old i had a thing for all types of cars, specially modified ones, we are talking about the early 90s. This is where this story actually starts.
My dad has always been a car enthusiast with the knowledge of building unique autos. But i had another vision i loved the audio part of it. More into the bass , that thump kicking in your back. And the sensation was incredible. I said to myself i need to learn how to do that. Read more>>

Kelly Foulk

I do make a living through my creative work but there’s a bit of a catch…. I don’t make a full living just off of the art I make or the shoes I paint. I went to college and earned a BA in studio art, with a focus on painting and have been making, showing, and selling art since then. Although I have been consistently and actively making and showing my art, I also teach art, which is where my main income has come from for the majority of my adult life. Read more>>

Grace Davenport

I have so thankfully been able to sustain myself with the creative work I do both as a makeup artist and more recently creating content online. When I first began with makeup, one of my goals was to find ways to have a flexible schedule while still being able to enjoy the work I do and let my creativity flow. Being a makeup artist was one way to do that, but I knew I wanted to stretch beyond that profession and tap into the other parts of my creative brain. Read more>>

Elle Wood

Fortunately, I do earn a full-time living from my creative work. It wasn’t always like that, I worked several part time jobs while also doing photography. I was extremely lucky to have a paid internship through college with one my my greatest artistic role models, Liz Von Hoene. I can trace so many of my jobs through relationships I cultivated while in that internship. It was absolutely one of the best things I ever did for my career. After graduating college at The Art Institute of Atlanta, it was a bit of a wake up call to reality, honestly. Read more>>

Kittie Chamille

I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I have been singing all of my life. There literally is not a time that I can recall when music did not hold a place of priority for me. My first public performance was at five years old. I was singing a Whitney Houston song and vividly remember there was not one dry eye in the building after my performance. However, my professional career began with me singing background for a few independent artists from Atlanta in 2007. I worked to hone my gift and eventually, was referred to do background for some “celebrity” artists, like LeToya Luckett, the late Michael Henderson, and Glenn Jones. Read more>>

Camille Cameron

I am so thankful to earn a full-time living from my creative work. I have always been creative. Even as a young girl, I would draw and paint. I also participate in the musical arts. As I got older, I knew I wanted to make this my life’s work. I went to Brevard College on a volleyball scholarship. Volleyball was the vehicle, but art was my path. I completed Brevard the Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design with a minor in Photography. Read more>>

Nnamdi Okonkwo

Every good thing takes time. Earning a full time living with my art had been my goal from day one. It took some time to get there, more time that I had anticipated, but the learning along the way was priceless, and could not have been gained any other way. The pain though, I could do without, but like they say, the crown and thorns go together! Read more>>

Tolu Dada

I currently earn a full-time living from my creative work, this has come through years of developing my craft but also expanding my net work. One of the pluses of being a full-time artist/musician is that even when I’m not working on my own creative material I am constantly being booked to accompany fellow artists and to provide entertainment at events such as weddings, birthday parties, ceremonies etc. Read more>>

Alvaro Diaz-Rodriguez

Fortunately, yes; When I was young I had the support of my family, but as soon as I started to be in the professional environment I always had a job, either through Grants or through my work as an academic and sound artist. I think I have been very lucky, from the beginning I had very good teachers, and I focused on being in the contemporary art movement; Another important step is that I have had the opportunity to travel a lot with my work, that has been a trigger, since I have become known in other countries and most importantly, I have known other ways of seeing and listening to the world. Read more>>

Derek Ostovani

I have been a Magician for nearly 2 decades now, but I haven’t always been full-time. When I first discovered Magic, I was studying to become a Structural engineer and was attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. But my passion for Magic was so strong and out-did anything else at the time, I immediately knew it would be part of my life forever. So I practiced and performed my craft all through college and after graduating, I worked as an engineer but eventually I weened it off and I am proud to say I have become a successful full-time performer. Read more>>

Ora Fraze

Since 2019 I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work for Big Storm Brewing Co. as their head graphic designer. Working for a growing local business has given me the experience of designing everything from beer labels to car wraps and stadium displays. Granting the privilege to have my work seen by thousands of people on a daily basis. Read more>>

Azarya Samtani

Straight out of college I started working immediately, interning at CNN, Cartoon Network, and then getting a full-time job at a creative agency in Atlanta. After working for a year in Atlanta, I decided to move back to my home town Jakarta, Indonesia, and build my life there. I started by taking on freelance gigs here and there to begin earning in my home country. I knew well before moving to Jakarta that there was a particular person I wanted to be mentored by. Soon after interviewing for a job with her, she offered me the position of Art Director at a body skincare start-up company called Dew It. From day one I had a plan. Read more>>

Madame X

I recently received an opportunity to be able to go full time as a singer/songwriter which I’m grateful for. Prior, I was a full time bartender and picking up odd jobs and gigs. As well as being booked for singing gigs every now and then. In the beginning, I would reach out to vendors and begin sharing my catalog and telling them about myself and my music, as well as what I’m asking from them. One thing I learned was that, doing your research in the beginning about the venue and taking time to network and build relationships with people, will make it easier to get paid gigs. Read more>>

Kay Ray.

I came to Art later in life when I turned 50 and met my husband Brad Smith who has been an artist and muralist his entire life. We have a company called Tilt Vision Art that provides mural and fine art services to commercial and private customers alike.
I have used Art to help in my own healing journey and connect with other people on a similar path. Read more>>

Shai Mackk

A year ago I made the jump to become a full time model. It was definitely a leap of faith because in the modeling industry, it’s hard to really get the jobs you want if you’re working a regular job. Similar to 9-5’s, professional shoots happen during the week and sometimes you find out about them the day before so you wouldn’t have enough time to call off. When I initially made the jump, it was really hard for the first 3 months. Read more>>

Shane Faye

I feel like one of the lucky ones who not only was able to make a full-time living as a creative pretty quickly, but I can actually say that I have never made so much money before. Now, all that being said, it still has come with its challenges. Sure, I’ve never made this much money before, but I also still live in an expensive city (San Diego) and have a family to provide for with a single income, and have therefore still had to deal with the challenge of feeling like we’re living month to month. Read more>>

Evelyn Robaina

Yes, I have been able to earn a full time living as a dance artist, but it is hard. I believe as a dance artist, you are your own corporation, you’re the product and the one thing that they don’t teach you in a dance school is how to market yourself. I think a huge factor that has allowed me to make a living as a dance artist is being versatile and able to work in different realms within my industry. Being able to dance different styles as well as choreograph, has given me the opportunity to be bookable in multiple fields, such as television, music videos, corporate and private events, concerts, movies, coaching artists and teaching young dancers. Read more>>