We were lucky to catch up with John Sullivan recently and have shared our conversation below.

John, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I returned home from my last season of independent professional baseball in Colorado. I started playing the guitar when I was 22 as I was still chasing my dream of playing baseball and used it to make some side cash during the 2 seasons I played after college. I would play a regular gig at a local bar in Trinidad colorado whenever I had down time during the season and thats when I began to realize it was something I wanted to continue to do when I got back home to NC, but I knew it would take time and effort to build up confidence and experience to support myself full time. For 4 years I worked a regular 9-5 while also playing on the weekends. I quickly realized that 9-5 wasn’t where I wanted to be, so I began to put even more effort into practicing and performing whenever I could. Eventually I decided to take the leap from the monetary comfort and routine of the dayjob to the unknown of full time artistic pursuit. It was immediately rewarding as far as work/life balance, led to big opportunities like an appearance on The Voice, and eventually became lucrative; all glory to Jesus.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a father of 3 beautiful children and husband to an incredible wife. I am a follower of Christ. I am a musician and I use my craft to glorify the Lord in worship, provide for my family, bring joy to others, entertain and challenge myself, and just keep life in general more interesting and colorful. The freedom that being a full-time musician brings is exhilarating, liberating, and a bit scary all at the same time. Work/life balance is incredible because I can be with my kids all day long, raising them and playing with them and then when bedtime rolls around for them I head out to perform. My wife stays at home so the amount of time we all have together is such a blessing. My focus is first and foremost to serve the Lord and be obedient because I trust Him and know He provides. Everything else all kind of just falls in line behind that. My career has become my ministry, using music to reach people in places that most wouldn’t think as places to speak the truth of Christ in. Truth is, most people in the bars and other places I play at have a lot of past “church hurt” and pain and scars that they actually want to talk about and pray about, and the healing I’ve witnessed in these places has been incredible. I am thankful that God has put me in a position to use my talent to glorify His name and reach people who have real issues and are seeking truth, but don’t know where to start a walk with Christ.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the freedom that it brings with everything else in life. Having the ability to build my own schedule based on how much I want or need to earn and balancing that with trips and other things with my family without having to stress about getting vacation days approved or denied has been a blessing. Being my own boss and moving at my own pace, building my brand to my own liking, making connections with people, choosing the direction I want to move on a daily basis, the list goes on and on. Being creative is a massive part of the human experience and I think it’s unfortunate that most of the world doesn’t experience that for themselves. Being a full time musician has given me more time to be a father, a husband, servant of the community, a servant of the Lord…etc. No matter what it is that you are doing on the side, if you enjoy it more than your 9-5 and you’re making decent money from it, but more importantly you have a vision for it and can feel the potential but are holding back for whatever reason, I would encourage you to jump. Pray on it, make sure whatever it is glorifies the Lord, and when you jump, watch what He does through it not only for your life but for the lives of those around you.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

The best way to ruin a “plan A” is to have a “plan B”. Be confident in what you set out to do, no matter what it is. We can talk ourselves out of anything we want to, so kick those excuses to the curb and take a leap! Don’t worry about the things you tend to lean on as reasons to not pursue your own dreams. You can always buy your own insurance. You can always open your own Roth IRA and 401k. You won’t need a retirement package if you’re doing something you enjoy and aren’t looking forward to retiring from. My point is, life really isn’t as hard as we think it is. Making a living shouldn’t be a stressful endeavor, especially if it takes up the majority of our life. The stress just isn’t worth it. You can always get another job. Find something you’re good at and enjoy and make it happen. Pursue God first and let Him lead you. Matthew 6:33.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.johnsullimusic.com
• Instagram: @john_sullivan_music
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnSulliMusic/