We recently connected with Macy Ruggiero and have shared our conversation below.
Macy, 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?
Earning a full-time living as an artist/creative is not easy! You’re always hustling and working your tail off to get the next project going, but you can channel that challenge into something exciting. My biggest word of advice to anyone trying to do full time creative work is to BE VERSATILE and willing to think outside the box! My friends have humorously given me the nickname “the side quest queen” because, up until now, I’ve always had a myriad of oddball jobs to make ends meet. However, all of those jobs were arts based! Teaching dance, teaching voice, modeling for businesses and brands, acting in music videos and stage musicals, joining an event band, gigging with other artists, voiceover and session work, I could go on and on! In addition to versatility, something that all of these have in common is COLLABORATION! When we artists collaborate with each other, everyone wins. Our work reaches more people, and connections are formed that lead to more opportunities. There’s no guaranteed timeline for success with these things like there is in other fields. Success also looks different for everyone. Every artist has their own individual, unique goals and aspirations. Yet, none of us can make it alone. I think that’s the beauty of this field. It makes it less scary. It’s something I think everyone should tap into more. Release the idea of the speed of the process and instead enjoy and be fully present and explorative of the process. From ideas, come ideas!
Macy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a singer, dancer, and actor from Nashville, TN! I’ve been performing since I was 5 years old, and never stopped! Growing up in Music City, USA was a wonderful privilege for a young artist who wanted to do this with her life. I’ve been lucky to work in creative fields all my life. Not everyone gets that opportunity. Today I perform professionally on stage in bands, live theater, and film. I’m a professional dance and voice instructor as well as a certified Reiki practitioner. My versatility sets me apart. While performing is my bread and butter, I’ve always had an interest in every facet of the arts. The costumes, production design, directing, writing, you name it! It’s okay to have your main thing you enjoy and work towards but I believe dabbling in a little bit of everything not only opens your eyes to appreciate all the intricate parts of the arts, it also allows you to explore other parts of your creative spirit that you might not have known exist! Being multi-faceted makes you valuable to others, but it also gives you an increased sense of confidence in yourself! I never want to miss out on anything, I want to experience it all. I’m a quick learner, and I’m open minded to new ideas and concepts. I love storytelling and conveying the human experience through art. I never stop learning, and I work hard to be the best at everything I do to deliver something meaningful and impactful.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Society has to start viewing artistic fields as “real jobs” and give creatives the respect they deserve as working professionals. Entertainment is a business like any other. But because the arts encapsulates a wide variety of work, it’s often hard to effectively categorize people and understand their struggles and needs through data and statistics. Too often people fall through the cracks from a lack of advocacy and support. A celebrity in the arts lives a far different experience than a violin teacher and that teacher lives a far different experience than a ballet dancer, or a photographer or a painter, etc. If someone doesn’t see your field as a “real job,” this leaves people vulnerable to mistreatment, labor law violations, health and safety issues, lack of resources, and just downright disrespect. If you hire an artist, pay them fairly. Respect their time. Advocate for their health and safety. Share their content and follow their social media. Refer them to those looking for their services. Treat them with the same respect you would any other professional. You would never ask a doctor to perform open heart surgery for free, so don’t ask artists to do their work for free!
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.
Most non-creatives have somewhat of a clear cut path to achieve their goal for their career (go to college, get this degree, get this job, work your way up, etc.) They don’t understand that with this field there is no guarantee for anything. You have to constantly be working on your craft and build yourself up. People always ask me how I handle being so busy or how I handle having a different schedule every week depending on the gig, project, oddball job, etc. but when you have a dream that you want more than anything else you’ll stop at nothing to get it even if it means lots of uncertainty, weird hours, and exhaustion. What they don’t get is the alternative is also hard. While it might provide needed financial stability, having a non-creative job when your dream is to be creative can be soul crushing to your spirit. It limits your time too. We have to weigh the pros and cons to everything. Choose your hard. There’s no “right way” to do it. That’s up to every individual person. But for me, it keeps my soul alive to know that despite the hardship, at least every job I have is based in something artistic! Stay positive and share your journey with others so that they can better understand!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.macyruggiero.com/
- Instagram: @macyruggiero
Image Credits
Jaime Sillas
Randy Dorman
East Coast Entertainment