Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erica Lambart. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Erica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
There is always a way to earn a living from creativity… it just might not always be the path you expect or for the pay. As an artist with a college degree companies are all to eager to hire unpaid interns or to pay just above minimum wage in our capitalistic society. Being creative and learning how & when to pivot your creative drive can help to develop a career, but with in creative fields it often is a lateral pay move for different creative experiences & all too often creative types burn out from working full time artistic jobs for companies.
The way I have been able to sustain a career & my overall happiness is by working for myself & also working part time at an art center doing their social media. This part time position gave me the comfort that my bills would get paid, and then I was given the freedom to grow and build my own company. It has allowed for a bit of financial stability but also didn’t suck my creativity out of me as other full time creative positions have done in the past.
As the popularity of my company grew, my time was definitely spread thinner, and new pivots were on the horizon. The biggest advice I can give to any creative is this, learn to monetize every skill you have. Learn to set your financial value high & learn to tell people “no” if they under value your worth. Learn social media & turn your brand into a brand.
Erica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started the company Which Crafters, or Pick Which Craft as most people know it from social media, as a delightfully Baltimore centric and outspoken clothing, craft, and accessories brand with all of the product being mostly made by me, Erica.
Everything I make is black & white and with strong graphic messages. After all, if the subject is black and white… shouldn’t the product be too? I stand by the belief that we all should be as upfront and vocal about who we are, and sometimes, if we can’t say it, a bag or a graphic tee can do it for us. Seriously, I can’t even say how many, “I came, I saw, I made it awkward” shirts I’ve sold to folks who are going home for the holidays, and it makes me super proud to be the one supplying folks with the clothing and accessories to troll their family members.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
As a society, we openly need a guaranteed minimum income so that it’s not just the wealthy with inherited wealth who can start their own companies. As we saw during the start of the pandemic once people were at home more, working less, and had their baseline needs financially met, people became more creative & there was a sharp incline in small businesses being formed.
If that’s to grand of a suggestion, people need to shop small, supporting vendors and artists at markets and festivals is huge. Not haggling with artist and vendors at events & just paying what they marked their product as, is huge. Following artists on social media & liking/sharing their posts helps too.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is simple. Be so unequivocally you, that other people feel comfortable being themselves around you too.
Contact Info:
- Website: PickWhichCraft.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/PickWhichCraft
- Facebook: Facebook.com/PickWhichCraft