We recently connected with Cess (Cesspooool) and have shared our conversation below.

Cess, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

I used to have a small business called Priscillaesque where I sold a lot of my first pieces of art. I’m super grateful for all the people and other creatives who supported my first business many years ago. I changed my name and started to do things that I resonated with more rather than what was selling. I lost a lot of “fans” and customers rebranding but it was for the best. I encourage all artists to dive into their own style. I used to be lumped into a category of “kawaii” and “stoner grrrl” and I just couldn’t take it anymore.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I consider myself just an artist in general. I do music, produce, edit videos, make merch, and more. Sometimes I find it hard to really categorize myself. I gravitate to whatever brings me joy.

As much as you’d like to just work on yourself and completely focus on your brand, sometimes it’s not the most lucrative. I’ve recently been making handmade merch for bands and brands including tees, beanies, stickers etc. If you’re interested in getting some merch made by me, find me on instagram!

I feel like more than ever this is a hard time for independent artists trying to make a living wage. With all the AI, and big fast fashion brands that steal from the little people, it’s really hard to make a dime. One thing that makes artists stronger is collabing together and supporting one another through sales and online support. Shoutout your fave artist every once in awhile!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I used to be all about my work. I used to have a day job and also my side business and also do odd jobs all over the place. I used to think that was something to brag about. “Yeah I work 2 jobs I’m a bad ass bitch!”.. but in reality I was exhausting all my power on things that didn’t make sense for my life.

It’s really difficult to maintain a living wage by yourself nowadays so I feel like it kind of gets embedded in your mind that the only thing you have to do is to grind with your time. That was once my goal. To work.

Rebranding and rediscovering myself was a major win for me. I realized most companies want to exploit you and don’t care if you’re doing good in life or if they help you get there. The only one who’s gonna take care of you is yourself so try to invest the most in you! I know this doesn’t work for everybody but it was something that I felt I really had to “learn”.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The money!!! (Haha sometimes). But honestly being able to pay for things because of your art or music is just the most amazing feeling. Like I didn’t have to get exploited to make this money :)

And when you’re not making money, at least it feels good to make something dope.

Contact Info:

• Website: Cesspooool.com
• Instagram: @cesspooool
• Twitter: @cesspooool
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@cesspooool
• Other: Contact Cesspooool for handmade merch for your brand, band, or company!

Image Credits
Self portraits by Cess Outfits shown are available at Cesspooool.com and Cesspooool on Depop