We were lucky to catch up with Khloe Katz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Khloe 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?
Being able to earn a living from just my creative work has been quite the journey. I have been a drag entertainer going on 14 years, and only in the past couple years have I been able to make a living wage from just my creative work. Starting out, I would often just be excited to be invited and only work for tips or drink tickets or even for free. I remember the first time I made over $100 at a show I thought I was Jeff Bezos, I was astounded and grateful that my art could make me money! After making over a minimal amount at shows consistently, I thought that this might actually be a viable job, but certainly not a career. Here is the first step every creative out there should take, decide you want to do it and know you are worthy. Once you admit to yourself that you want it and that you are worthy of it, then the path will start to be shown to you. Once I accepted that I was worthy, I started to think that this wasn’t just a job and that it could actually be a career. The biggest lesson or tip I wish I would have known sooner is to produce and have ownership of as much of your work as you can. I think knowing that would have fast tracked me into making more career moves centered around my art and making it profitable.
Khloe, 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?
Khloe Katz is a full time Drag Entertainer with over 14 years of industry experience. A transplant from Nebraska to Colorado, Khloe has developed her unique hosting style into numerous shows in multiple cities. Known for raunchy humor and quick wit, she is as funny as she is fierce. Hosting and producing over 15 different shows throughout the years has led Khloe to highlight the youth of LGBTIA + community. Currently focusing on All-Ages friendly shows has become a passion for her; because seeing queer representation at all ages reminds us all that everyone is valid and love is love.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think for a lot of creatives, a common misconception is that this is just a job or a phase for us. When in actuality, it is our life being poured into everything we do. Not to discredit “regular” or “9 to 5” type jobs, they are valid and serve people’s passion for sure, but with creatives every single thing we do is our life on stage or in our art. Every thing we go through we put into our creative work. If we are having a bad day or a good day, we put that in our work and people are able to see more of us and understand our work better. It is not just a job, for a lot of us this is our truest passion of life.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I knew to talk to other entertainers about numbers more. Whether that be sales, tips, booking fees, or whatever; we have this societal thing about not to talk about numbers, and salaries, and pay. When in reality that should be the first thing we talk about and discuss. If we all know what are numbers are, we can all increase them together!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: KhloeKatz
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTsUH0aa9uJUxB7w3pVMW3A
Image Credits
Garret Spradlin