Do you ever wonder what life would have been like had you chosen a more standard path? Does everyone have these doubts sometimes? We wanted to find out and so we asked as many talented artists and creatives as we could and have shared highlights below.

Jeong Hur

As a full-time worker and night-time artist, I find myself immersed in two distinct worlds, each offering unique experiences. My full-time job provides the necessary financial stability to support my life, ensuring a sense of security for my mental well-being. However, while it has its moments of enjoyment, it can also be monotonous at times. Read more>>

Leah Diament

I am happy as an artist and a creative, but I also work a full time regular job. It’s a continuous experiment to find what works and I’ve been very lucky to find a balance that I enjoy between the type of work I do and the creative projects. This particular setup was not always my goal and took a lot of trial and error in both full time jobs and as an artist to find what I enjoy and what promotes the best life balance and atmosphere for creativity. I don’t believe there is any right way to go about being an artist fortunately, only what works for an individual. Read more>>

David Gashaw

Of course we’re happy as creatives. It’s who Daniel and David are. If we weren’t playing music, shows, promoting ourselves and the group, what else would we be doing? It gives us both a common thing to do, and a common goal to work towards. Read more>>

Reshma Anwar

I love being a creative. It defines me in anything I do. That doesn’t mean it is always easy but definitely worth experiencing. As artists we have the privilege to express freely and to put a mirror in front of the face of society and reflect the times we live in. That is an incredible privilege and responsibility. Read more>>

Alicia Cobb

I am genuinely happy as an artist. Deciding to become a full time creative has been one of the best decisions I ever made. Whenever I hear the term “regular job” it raises my eyebrows because I’m not sure what that means. I worked many jobs before pursuing my career as an artist. Having a job outside of the creative atmosphere doesn’t even cross my mind. I’m extremely blessed and busy creating and teaching art and I am grateful for that. I started working at the age of 14 and knew then that I was just in training to be my own boss one day. I am grateful for every job I held because each played a role in preparing me for a lot of what I do now. Read more>>

Dominique Christina

Happiness has always been a state of being I find elusive. That is not to say I don’t exist in joy. Because I do. Happiness to me feels situational. So as it relates specifically to my art and the development of it’, I would say because of the nature of my content, happiness isn’t the feeling I have. I don’t think happiness is the feeling attendees have signed when they experience me performing poetry. I bleed on stage. My poetry is confessional and autobiographical. It is replete with stories of abuse and childhood trauma. I show people the graves I crawled out of. I’m meant to do these things. I spent my entire childhood existing in shame., My art is my reclamation. I tell the truth with it. I don’t hide from the things that happened. I name them. I do it over and over again. I model what it looks like to be the hero of your own story. Read more>>

Evan Tortorelli

I’ve always been very happy to be an artist. Being able to bring all of my ideas into reality is unparalleled. It’s something I’ve known to have always been, and can’t imagine my life without being able to create. Read more>>

Mathieu Karsenti

Before I started my career as a film and TV composer back in 2010, I was working full-time and then part-time in regular office jobs. Being a creative person, I understood that these jobs were useful for paying the rent but I was very unhappy and creatively totally unfulfilled. True, swapping a stable life for a creative, artistic one is not easy but I couldn’t live with myself if didn’t at least try once in my life. So the instability of that creative path might turn you off but there comes a point when you simply don’t have a choice. It’s about what you would rather spend your day doing. And for me, that was making music and painting. In the pre-internet days, it was very hard in London to make any headway into the artistic world… not that it’s any easier now but at least now with social media you can promote yourself and reach more people easily. Read more>>

TIffany McKnight

Since I was a child, I’ve always had a love for creating through drawing, singing and theater. My parents gave me the confidence to believe that I could be anything and I knew that I always felt compelled to believe that this would be the path I’d pursue in life. Read more>>

Laelanie Larach

I’m happy being an artist because it gives me the option to share my creative side with everyone that likes my colorful paintings. At a young age I been painting with oils on thick canvas and at that moment, I knew that my destiny was always going to be related to the art industry and be a painter for my entire life. Is a fun journey because art is my passion and I just love to stay at my art studio painting, enjoying every minute of the process. Read more>>

Roderick Chambers

I’m SUPER happy and greatful to be a musician! Singing is something that always came natural to me. Like breathing or walking. I’ve definitely had a regular job before and I do NOT miss it one bit LOL!! Read more>>

Defacto Thezpian

I am happy because I am pursuing something that brings me great joy. Fills my heart to the brim being able to do it in it’s full capacity. Sure, the road is tough and long but that doesn’t take away from how music makes me feel. How it ignites and excites me at all times. How it pushes me to be better and greater. I could never get truly stop being a creative, because.. how can you stop being yourself ? Read more>>

Liam Tully

“Are you happy?” is a really interesting question that I think about a lot, because people can have such wildly different requirements for happiness. And the fact that one person can be just as happy in a regular 9-5 as a different person can be working as a creative–a lifestyle that’s inherently unstable, with no set hours, and no one to answer to but yourself–is proof of that. Read more>>

Michael Rung

I am exceedingly happy as an artist, regardless of the unique challenges that come along with trying to rely on photography to earn a living. Read more>>

Danni Xi

This is actually the question that I ask myself all the time: Am I truly content with where I am right now? After completing my education and delving into the professional creative industry for a year, my answer has become increasingly uncertain. Read more>>

Kasie Weinandt

I’m really happy as an artist and creative! I moved to California to open up the gates and be able to create more. Being an artist or creative is a lifestyle. Its not a 9 to 5 job. Your whole life revolves around doing what you love everyday and sharing that with other people. I feel fortunate to be able to get up and share that joy everyday, whether it’s cut, coloring,highlighting, and styling at Krimson hair studio in Burbank or goings-on set and working as a hair and makeup artist or being at home and sculpting Marvel next super heroe mask or traveling around California and appreciating all the beautiful things and views. Read more>>

Tina Honerkamp

Other than being a wife and mom, being a full-time artist has been the most fulfilling and rewarding part of my life. Growing up, I knew in my core that I was created for this, a life expressing the beauty I saw in life. However, I did not live in an atmosphere or environment that fostered that desire in me. It never went away even I pursued other work. It was always there, waiting for me to take a leap of faith. Challenging to say the least, there are days when I reflect on what it would be like to have a “regular” job and it sends dread to my heart. I pray it never comes to that and so I hustle and pivot. I’m humbled and honored to able to live my dream. Read more>>

Steven Bush

I believe that my professional career started around the age of 26. This was when I graduated Milwaukee Area Tech College with a degree in Animation, something that I did not want to do. I made the decision to move to Colorado, and go to Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design for Illustration. It was then, with a larger web of connections I began to do small shows and hanging my artwork at local coffee shops, aside from school and a full time job. Read more>>

Candice Kalb

I’ve been a nomad since I was 8 years old! My parents have always called me their Wild Child or their Little Fart in the Wind. Building a life around travel and creativity has always been the dream, but we are socialized to wait. “Just work hard now, so you can play when you retire” so my early 20’s I tried to put my head down and stick to the status quo: go to grad school, get a good job, house, etc. Read more>>

Andrea Orta

When I was completing my MFA in Acting, a teacher said to me don’t pursue this career unless there’s nothing else you can do. An actor himself, he explained how during a period where he wasn’t working much or landing gigs he sat down with a piece of paper and tried to write down any jobs he could do that weren’t acting. He jokingly retold that he came to the realisation that he wasn’t good at anything, so he’d have to make this path work. That teacher is still a successful working actor, and a part of many big named projects, so this story made me realise the truth in his anecdote. Read more>>

Dave Taylor

There’s an undoubtedly romanticized vision of frustrated artists seeking their muse that’s not much at all what it’s like to be a full-time professional creator. The writing version of this is “writer’s block” and if you talk to pro writers, you’ll find that almost none of them have this issue. Graphic artists fire up their digital tools and get to work. Potters throw their clay (onto the wheel, that is!) and even videographers just push REC and start talking about what’s happening. In that light, I love being a creative because I’m always bursting with ideas and can pursue as many of them as I desire in a given day. Does it maximize revenue? No, but at the end of your career journey are you going to measure success based on the money in the bank and the stuff in your driveway, or by the days, weeks, years of happiness you had doing fun and interesting things? For me, it’s unquestionably the latter option. Read more>>

Riley Judge

I have a full time job and I wonder sometimes how it would be to have to rely solely on my creative practice to support myself. I do my best to be happy as an artist. I think it’s hard sometimes when things like taxes come up. Read more>>

Giovanny Camarena

THE question. The question every actor asks themselves when they’ve submitted their 100th audition to no avail.
The question you ask yourself when you have a negative account balance.
Everyone always tells you the about the rejection, but part of you always has hope that maybe your story will be different. Maybe it will. There’s absolutely no way to tell. Speaking with a lot of my colleagues now, the frustration we feel from the constant rejection wears on us. It always presents itself in different ways. It tests the way you see yourself and the way you see the world. I’m sure the older I get, it’ll continue to test my commitment to my art. Read more>>

Tanja

This is something I discuss all the time with my friends who are also creatives. For me, I always knew this is what I wanted to do- I’ve been singing/writing since I was a little kid. So this career always felt like my calling and the thing I was meant to do. I did have a few jobs and internships before music was my full time career but I never felt satisfied. I would spend most of the time working while secretly writing down song lyrics or coming up with new ideas for songs. I think this idea of living your life the “right” way (9-5 job, finding a partner settling down, having kids) is so reinforced in society today that it’s hard for some people to see that there are multiple ways of living a life and being fulfilled. Some of my friends have “regular” jobs that they love and that lifestyle works for them and that’s great! Everyone deserves a chance to follow their passions and lead a life of happiness and fulfillment. And for me, that’s through my career in music. Read more>>

Binx

I love creating and am so proud to be an artist. It has taken a backseat as I expand my skills into UI and UX development and life is…well life! I never wonder about having a regular job, as I’ve been there and done that! I mostly wonder what it would be like to have my dream job and have been striving for it. Read more>>

Yuki Shundo

It’s totally different world, and I’m happy in different way in both. Being an artist is an exciting journey where you can express all your emotions through music, and being a creative allows me to visually manifest ideas, concepts as art, and give me the opportunity to visually communicate powerful messages with audiences. Read more>>

Anjana Olson

I have both an artistic and science background; I have a BFA with an emphasis in charcoal drawing, a Nutritional Science degree, a Microbiology minor, and a Spanish minor. Being challenged fuels my soul. After an internship at Kraft in their Microbiology department, I turned down a job offer because I knew that photography was my future. As much as I loved science, I loved the synergy of science and art that a profession in photography offered. Read more>>

Howard Ouyang

At this moment, we are happy about where we are as artists and creatives, despite having regular jobs that we need to commit and prioritize. Being an artist or a creative in general in this age is not easy financially – for both unestablished and established artists at least from our experience, and we in fact feel extremely fortunate and privileged that we have a steady stream of incomes to support our creative works, especially during the phase in our creative career where, like for many musicians, the path ahead for us is uncertain. The nature of our jobs allow us to apply what we learn from there to all aspects of running our band, from the creative side of things such as performance and production to marketing and management, which in turn allow us to scale our operation appropriately and advance our goal of eventually turning this into a full-time career. Read more>>

Joseph Fischer

I am very happy to be a creative person. I’ve always been a creative. I have a very strong imagination and having art to play out my mind’s ideas, has been a great experience for me. I would suggest to anyone with any creativity to get started on that creative path. Read more>>

Damian Kompel

I definitely wonder what it would be like to have a ‘regular’ job. In fact, the idea of treating music as a hobby is quite tempting in some ways, as it relieves the pressure that comes with making a living from it. But, at the end of the day, I simply enjoy my creative activity way too much to not pursue a career in it. So, to answer the question, I am happy to have the privilege of doing what I enjoy the most as my main occupation. I’m not sure if what makes me happy is solely the fact that I am creative; in reality, being creative is what also brings about feelings of anxiety, competitiveness, existential crisis, etc. Nevertheless, I genuinely enjoy the craft so much that I wouldn’t take the risk of stopping from doing it. Read more>>

Rikki Grant

As a creative, I am extremely happy with what I do. Being able to express and bring my artistic visions to life is a feeling I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. I love to push the boundaries of my imagination and create something unique and extraordinary. Read more>>