We were lucky to catch up with Jessie Kwak recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you 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?

I always knew I wanted to be a writer, and so from a young age I assumed I’d be a starving artist. I assumed I’d have a “real job” doing “real work,” while I toiled away on my Masterpiece.

Even after I went to college and got an English lit degree, I didn’t know that people paid you to write! I was told that the career path for a writer was to get an MFA, then teach in an MFA program.

I didn’t have any interest in that, though, so I set out to explore the world, waiting tables and scribbling away in my free time. One day, I was talking to a regular at the bar I was working at about how I was thinking about looking for a job that actually used my college degree. She asked if I’d ever considered becoming a copywriter.

A copywriter? I had very little idea what she was talking about.

This regular, Kim, talked me through reworking my resume and writing cover letters, and with her coaching I landed my first full-time copywriting gig. I loved the work — I was getting paid to write and be creative! But the full-time hours were frustrating, and didn’t leave any time for my passion of writing fiction. Eventually I went freelance, and I’ve never looked back.

Over the past 11 years of freelancing full time, I’ve slowly shifted my balance of work to take on more fulfilling, higher-paying work that leaves me more time to write fiction. It’s been a hard journey, but incredibly rewarding.

Jessie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I write books for myself, and for other people.

Under my own name, you can find my science fiction and nonfiction for creative folks — including a book called From Chaos to Creativity, about productivity for people with creative brains. I also write thrillers under the name J.L. Kwak — the first in that new series will be out later this year.

For clients, I ghostwrite business books aimed at an entrepreneurial audience. I’ve written lots of other things over the years as a copywriter, but ghostwriting is a sweet spot for me. I love working with my authors, and I enjoy being able to fall into another person’s voice, and help them articulate their vision in a book.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Our society makes it tough to be self-employed. For starters, you’re paying double the amount of taxes than when you’re a W2 employee! Healthcare is at least slightly more achievable for self-employed creatives than it was when I was starting out (thanks, Obama!) but it still adds up to a huge additional burden for artists and creatives who want to go full time.

I would love to see society reward people for creating their own jobs, rather than creating a system that pressures them into taking W2 employment just to survive.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One book I go back to again and again is The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. I’ve upleveled many times in my career as a writer, and every time it’s been by concentrating on my core skills and passions, and cutting away the things that are a distraction from that. The One Thing by Gary Keller is another fantastic book exploring this idea.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jessiekwak.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwakjessie
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/jessiekwak
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/jessiekwak
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kwakjessie

Image Credits

Robert Kittilson, Jessie Kwak, Andrea Rangel