We were lucky to catch up with Juan Camillo Garza recently and have shared our conversation below.

Juan Camillo, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

My first creative ambition was to write poetry full-time. And I pushed for it — I tried doing that exclusively, tried pushing everything else to the side, but it just wasn’t sustainable for me. One morning, I received an acceptance letter in the mail from a respected journal I’d been aggressively submitting to for years and it was attached to a check for twenty dollars. Twenty dollars. Barely enough for the night’s meal. As someone who didn’t come from means, this was a personal awakening.

Today, I make the majority of my money doing creative consulting, copywriting, work for brands, and other miscellaneous writing. If it has words, I can do it. I still actively write and publish poetry, the only difference is this one thing: I no longer measure my worth by whether or not it’s the only thing keeping my lights on. My passion doesn’t need to be for profit. Its value exists outside of money. And perhaps it’s even better that way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Juan Camillo Garza — input money and words come out. That’s the hustle, friends. I’m a writer. Copywriting, writing writing, poetry writing — whatever. Let’s write a speach together. Let’s sell the moon to a beach. Let’s convince Elvis to come back for dinner. Let’s sell saltwater to a freshwater fish. Let’s make an uptight nun dance. Let’s make a stoic let out a happy cry. Let’s write a play about you writing to me to write to you. Let’s write an instagram caption that, not to brag, even the burning bush couldn’t get right. Whatever. Let’s do it.

There is a string of words for every occasion and also to pave the way for any occasion. Sometimes the occasion is a poem, sometimes the ocassion is to pay my bills. Whatever.

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

Not being covered in dust when I come home.

Being creative for a living is one of the greatest luxuries a person could hope for. I’ve spent nights buried under a hard hat, working construction on ladders; I’ve spent mornings standing ankle-deep in water in winter, pressure-washing concrete in earshot of racist owners in the South; I’ve bled for money. I’ve done all of these things but, most importantly, I didn’t have to do them my entire life.

The most rewarding part of being a paid creative (the distinction because all humans are creative) is having worked highly physical jobs enough to have an honest appreciation of creative labor.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

To refine myself into a stronger, more empathetic being. To be an usher for meaning in the world. To laugh at myself daily. To lob stones at power structures. To bring love where there is none. To stay alive. To honor my family. To be a voice for those who cannot speak. To pay my bills because, frankly, sometimes that’s enough.

Creativity is a purifying force. I can’t have goals for it — I can only hope that I’m good enough for its goals for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.juancamillogarza.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juancamillogarza/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Juancamillogarza/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juantwothreefour/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuanCamilloGarz