We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Garvin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, 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?

Being a full-time artist has been one of my goals for as long as I can remember. For years I worked a full-time job and worked on my creative outlets on the side as much as possible. This was fulfilling, and equally exhausting! I remember at one point hearing a friend tell me I was essentially working 3 jobs and going to school all at once when I was expressing my burnout and wondering why I wasn’t moving further along.

I started to calculate what it may truly take to go full-time in my work, and for awhile it felt very out of reach for me. I was fearful of the what if’s and of making sure I could pay my bills.

Last December I was fired from my full-time job as a Marketing Director a week before Christmas with no previous notice. It stung, I had to walk through all of the thoughts and feelings of not being “good enough” even though I was giving my all. It wasn’t good timing for me, it wasn’t ideal, I wasn’t ready on paper. But I knew that I was either going to do the scary thing or regret it forever. I started pursuing and working on my creative offerings and I’ve now been successfully on my own for almost six months, all my bills are covered and I’m not only bringing in more income than I was at my previous job, I’m so much happier, have more energy and creative freedom, and am able to really dive into what I’ve wanted to build long-term.

Lauren, 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?

My name’s Lauren!

I’m a artist of many crafts, and the Founder & Director of Doe Creative.

While I grew up a very creative kid who always had my hand in a few different messes, I got my start as a creative professional through photography by working on my own and for wedding photographers throughout high school. Upon graduation, I realized I needed one place to house all of the creative endeavors I wanted to pursue. I was told by so many people that I couldn’t do multiple things, I needed to choose one and stick to it. Boy were they wrong! In a sense, Doe was born there.

Through my college experience my vision for what Doe should be grew into building a world where other artists have the opportunity early on to learn that their passions can become realistic and sustainable careers.

Since then, we’ve grown in several directions. We have a recurring newspaper called The Daily Doe that features artists of all outlets, a podcast called Say What You Mean which serves as a resource to learn and discuss creative communication as a creator. We are in the process of working on building up our online store offerings this year, as well as adding to our artist resources in some major ways we can’t talk about just yet :)

As an artist, I’ve continued to grow my photo and visual work, and have added a few more practices to my arsenal including voice acting and writing! Last year I designed, shot, and directed my first calendar. There’s another one on its way along with some super exciting projects including a potential book and apparel pieces you’ll hopefully see in our online store later this year.

I hope you follow our story along with us.

xx, Laur

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The Flinch by Julien Smith is a book I try to read once every year. This book is short and super easy to read, and it continues to change my life on a major scale. The Flinch is the reason why I have “gone for it” in many business situations, and it always pays off.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

As a creative person, you can’t not create. It’s more than what you do, it’s so tightly woven into who you are.

I’m of the school of thought that creative work can be learned, and strengthened like a muscle. But if you are born a creative thinker, placing yourself in a non-creative role or even a role that drains your creativity is much more detrimental than it simply being a less than ideal fit.

Your imagination must be fed the same way your brain and body need to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.doecreative.co
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/doecreativeco
• Other: www.patreon.com/doecreativeco https://open.spotify.com/show/0KdbPsZVa1G60bj9XwU4Ep?si=meFRYSHXTby8wShzTgoeXA

Image Credits
Olivia Bastone, Kayla Surico, Dom Potter