We recently connected with Emily Hromi and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

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. Because of this I still had a tenuous link to the medical illustration industry, and was also getting a taste here and there of what it could be like to be self-employed. I was unhappy at my job, and freelancing on the side made me realize what I actually wanted to do for a living instead.

Starting in late 2018, I began revamping my medical illustration portfolio and my online presence, so potential clients could see that I was serious and somewhat established in my creative practice (even though realistically I’d been pretty much out of the game for four years!). I also started reaching out to all of my former clients, colleagues, collaborators, and professors, letting them know that I was making this career change and that I was available if they were ever in need of my services. Additionally, I began seeking out clients in more direct ways by sending out cold emails and advertising myself on freelancer platforms, and in mid-2019 I landed a pretty big long-term contract that allowed me to quit my job and pursue full-time self employment.

From realizing I wanted to make a career change to finally being able to make that change ultimately took about ten months. The biggest difficulty I endured during that time was the fact that I still had a full-time job, so establishing my freelancing career had to happen after-hours on my own time. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had been kinder to myself. It’s easy to fall into pits of self-doubt when taking a big employment risk while also being miserable at the job that is keeping you alive. If I could have somehow known that my efforts would soon pay off, I would have given myself more grace during the process.

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?

The primary service I offer is freelance medical illustration and design. I initially got into the medical illustration industry because it’s what I studied in college; I was fortunate to attend the Cleveland Institute of Art, which is one of only a handful of schools that offer medical/scientific illustration as an undergraduate major. As a freelance medical illustrator, I work with clients all across the healthcare industry to help them convey their scientific topics clearly through visuals. Science is complicated, and explaining it visually helps people understand it better.

That said, my business has a lot of other facets to it as well. I also provide non-medical illustration and design services, public art, general creative services, sometimes I sub-contract for other artists; additionally, I sell prints of my illustrations, some original artwork, stickers, cards, and other merchandise. Since I started freelancing full-time, I have just really loved being able to participate in such a wide variety of artistic opportunities, all of which fall under the general umbrella of my business.

While I love the freedom that comes with being self-employed and the excuse to be indulgently creative, the thing I enjoy most about all of the different things I do and provide is helping other people bring their ideas to life. Whether it’s a medical illustration client, somebody looking for a logo design, or somebody commissioning a drawing, I get to be the person who takes their ideas and transforms them into something visible.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

The current state of work and of society feels pretty fragile at the moment, for creatives and non-creatives alike. But I think more “non-creatives” actually are creative at their core, most people just aren’t afforded the time to dedicate to joy and to artistry because so many folks are focused on simply surviving.

I’m a huge proponent of universal basic income. Most people fundamentally want to work and to contribute to society, and we can more effectively do that when our needs are met. Instead of spending each waking moment suffering through multiple jobs for not enough pay, I imagine a society where people perform jobs that they actually want to do while also having the capacity for things they enjoy.

The best thing that society can do to support artists and creatives is to provide an environment in which people can realize their potential to become artists and creatives by having their basic needs met.

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

Earlier in my career I was always anxious and apologetic when pricing jobs. I always assumed clients would be upset or try to bring the price down, so to avoid that conflict I would often quote lower than what I should have actually been charging. I’m sure a lot of that was wrapped up in the imposter phenomenon, and as the years pass I’ve been getting a lot better at being straightforward about what my services cost. Negotiations sometimes still need to happen, but they are based on the client’s actual needs rather than my fear of asking for what I’m worth.

Contact Info:

• Website: studiohromi.com
• Instagram: @studiohromi
• Facebook: facebook.com/studiohromi
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/emilyhromi
• Twitter: @studiohromi
• Other: Online shop: studiohromi.square.site

Image Credits
Rachel Britton Photo and Studio Hromi LLC