Is it natural to wonder what life would have been like had you chosen a different path? Is it common? We asked many artists and creatives from all over the country if they’ve ever wondered about whether they should have pursued a more standard career path to see what we could learn from their stories.

MIguel Antonio

Each path we choose in our lives presents its own unique challenges and struggles. Pursuing music on my own terms has been a journey of choosing the struggles I want instead of having them handed to me by someone else. I’ve had a tumultuous relationship with music. I’ve quit the journey several times. I would become overwhelmed, throw in the towel, and decide to simply go after money and stability. Read more>>

Sarah Yawney

My journey as an artist goes in reverse order of what most would think– I had a full time job as a display artist for 10 years and wanted to take a leap into being my own boss and running my own business. I wanted to bet on myself for once and see where that would take me. It was the most rewarding leap but also the most terrifying! I loved my years working as a display artist for Anthropologie but I knew that there was something tugging at my heart to explore and take a chance on. Read more>>

Nile Williams

I really believe I’m happiest as an creative because no matter who copied me or steal ideas I can keep making another better idea than the last. Creatives are constantly in this cycle of not believing themselves then knowing they got the whole world in their hands and it’s ok! Read more>>

Sean M.

Yes, I’m happier being a creative. It gives me the opportunity to be myself and create a space for people who are voiceless due having fears or not knowing what they want to do. Being a creative can sometimes be very challenging because now a days people just go viral just by talking. Not having meaningful conversations that can make a difference in somebody life, it’s like the same conversations over and over. Relationships, toxic memes, and trends gets our culture going but we need to change the trajectory of these conversations. Read more>>

Natalie Stepanian

“If you do what you enjoy, you will never work a day in your life”. A very well respected and beloved professor taught me this quote in high school. I had heard it from time to time but never really took a moment to truly understand what she meant. It was not until I entered college when I realized that I was studying the best possible major for myself. I found that I would actively be excited to go to class, start on my projects, and present my work. I felt motivated waking up everyday and found that I would immerse myself into my work and leave the real world behind for a bit. Read more>>

Johnny Wayne

Happiness as an artist comes in waves, with extreme highs and intense lows. My favorite part about being an artist is bringing a song to life from scratch and seeing the way it touches my fans. That’s what keeps me going. There’s no better feeling than performing my music and watching my fans sing along. The downside is, once the show is over and the venue clears out, my first thought is, “Okay, what’s next?” My mind immediately goes to, “where can I perform next?”, “how am I going to get all of the same people to come again, plus more?”, “how can I improve?”, “what can I do differently next time to keep the fans engaged?”. Read more>>

Kyla Hawkins

I love being an artist. Often times I go back and forth between relying on a job and strictly creating art. One thing I cant deny is that I was put here on earth to create beautiful art and inspire. Its so fulfilling when I create an authentic piece and it resonates with people. The emotions that my work evokes in others and myself is worth way more than a biweekly paycheck in my eyes. Art speaks to the spirit of humanity. Its rare that you can make such connections in a fast moving corporate environment. 2020 was a year that changed so many lives including my own. Read more>>

Miracle Bennett

This is actually a funny question. This is one of many things I am constantly thinking about. I am currently working two jobs along side completing my last year of undergrad at Spelman College while also pursing my career goals and dreams. I get in these moments where I feel as though school and work are standing in my way and sometimes even holding me back. But, then I sit back, talk to god and pray with the understanding that everything happens within time and everything I am going through is molding me into the person I am meant to become. Read more>>

Tara Aversa

Any job/career has its ups and downs but, I am much happier as a mural artist than I was as a hairstylist. I did love doing hair but this was always a dream that I didn’t know could come true. At times when everything gets stressful in my career, I’ll then think about how much easier life was to just leave work at the door and be able to disconnect when I got home. You have to really want it to make a living at what I do and even on my worst day, I would still choose this path instead of a normal job. Being a mural artist really fulfills me. Read more>>

Justin (TheMillennial)

What’s crazy about that question is that, I’ve tried my best to balance both the past four years. I’ve had 2 part-time jobs and a consulting gig. All of that combined with trying to manage creating good content and a social life became a lot and I just needed a change. It all started about a year or two ago. I though I had everything I had aspired to get in the past 3 years prior, My own apartment in Buckhead, My small business was starting to thrive, I had built up some modest subscribers on YouTube, had consistent incomes. Read more>>

Eva Cassel

During lockdown, I “quit music”. Staying home all day every day was really starting to wear on me, I felt so isolated and hopeless. I find so much joy in performing, watching live music, and in my social interactions. I suddenly had way more time to sit on my phone and compare myself to everyone who I felt was more successful than me. I went down a dark rabbit hole and decided it was too hard to keep trying to make music. So I quit. Read more>>

Jamison Bennett

I would have to say where i am in life right now , i am truly happy with being a artist and a creative , now it has not always been that way but i had to do a lot of soul searching , & i think every so often when things do not look like they adding up i do wonder about having a regular job , but then my brain is flooded with previous jobs that i have held in the past that really didnt allow me to be myself or even be able to spend time with my loved ones the way i wanted too , Read more>>

Jon Marzette

As a creative, sometimes I find myself more mentally and spiritually taxed at the end of a long day more than I feel like someone with a “regular” job may have. I know everyone’s careers are unique and have their own sets of challenges and specific moments, but there’s something very personal about creative work that may come at a price that is not like other jobs. Read more>>

Lauren Kitch

I started out having a “regular job” as an Occupational Therapist. While that job was rewarding I wanted the flexibility of creating my own work schedule so I could stay home and raise my daughter. Overall extremely happy being an artist and thankful for the extra time I’m able to spend with my family. Read more>>

Dylan Jakobsen

Being an artist/creative, especially when you are doing it for a living, goes hand in hand the venerability of wearing your heart on your sleeve. I have always been passionate about music since starting at a young age, but especially in todays day & age with social media, it can take a serious mental toll. With the highest of highs there is also the lowest of lows. I think it’s in those times of negativity not only myself, but most people can tend to ask themselves what it would be like to work a regular job. Read more>>

Daniel Thompson

One thing about me, since the age that I was able to work, is that I wanted to. The problem that I frequently ran into as a teenage and young adult, was that if I didn’t feel passionately about what I was doing, it was very difficult for me to feel valuable as a employee. I knew the difference between how much my work was valued between a 9-5 at a desk, and how valuable it was with a camera in my hand. Once I realized that I would accomplish a great deal more putting my energy into my passion, being filmmaking and photography, I knew that I had to run quickly towards that. Read more>>

Robert Watkins

I genuinely feel happier being an artist, being able to truly able to express myself the best way I know how. As an enterprising and self-employed musician, business owner, and entrepreneur, I do find the road to success to be steep, with quite a few bumps (and some bruises). but I know in the end, it will all be worth it. While I (at the time) may have been making more money working a regular job, I couldn’t continue to ignore the dreading feeling I would have on a day where I would have to go into work. Earning a living is supposed to have some element of fun and excitement to it…, right? So why do I not feel that on my regular job? Read more>>

Emily K. Bailey

Living as a dancer is an intensely isolating job. It is all-consuming in time, energy, and emotion. Your entire being becomes your tool to go into work every day with, and your job is to refine that tool and “fix” what is wrong. Dancers in this day and age aren’t paid living wages. Many dancers, including myself, have to find work outside of our 9-6pm daily rehearsal schedule to survive on even just the bare basics. It’s incredibly difficult, if not impossible at times, to manage such a demanding life without draining yourself entirely. You have to figure out what you are willing to sacrifice.  Read more>>

April Cooper

I’ve always wanted to be an artist. When selling and making Art I’ve seen that I aspire a new generation into being a creative. That will always bring me happiness. Anytime I think about when I held a different job, I reflect on how incredibly unhappy I was. Years ago I was working a customer service job. It was a dark and depressing time for me, I had a full time position and no time to create even as a hobby. That’s when I realized that Art was a coping skill for me. Anytime in my life that I stopped creating, life became dreadful. So I made a change, I started to create art, and started to share this online with friends and family. Read more>>

Alex Park

I am incredibly lucky and grateful that I am a musician. I have talked to a variety of people who have different careers outside of the arts who are successful with what they do and what’s nice about their life is they have stability in their schedule and income. Most artists do not have that stability and I have sometimes looked at their life with envy. However, many of those people have told me that they look at my life with envy since I get to pursue what I enjoy doing. I used to respond saying it’s not easy at all and it’s still hard work. Read more>>

Cairo Douglas

I am extremely happy that God continues to provide for me while being able to do things that I love and fulfill me with my time. It’s a level of freedom that most people don’t get to experience. I love it for me, especially with 2 small children. I’ve actually worked several regular jobs in the past & I always knew it just wasn’t for me. Read more>>

India Starke

An artist or creative? Well, I believe that both are simultaneously intertwined. It’s a grey area perhaps. But, I don’t think that you can be an artist without being creative. Artists and creatives both possess varied levels of talent. Both have the skills to conceptualize original/unoriginal ideas that they may even use to revamp styles that have already been done. Read more>>

Kate Barattini

Just before the pandemic I thought it would be nice to supplement my income by selling a bit of insurance. A few weeks before I was to take my exam for the sales license everything shut down. I remember thinking, “well, I guess this is the wrong direction for me and my career.” I had been slowly working on an ongoing series of paintings called “Animal Shred” and somehow during the pandemic folks really started to buy art. It was a boost in confidence and I realized that in order to make money as a creative all you have to do is keep working. Read more>>

Candace Abdul-Raheem

At this time, it’s 50/50. I’m happier as an artist /creative at the same time, I would like more for myself, more and bigger opportunities, to the point where I am my own brand, I get paid and booked for being me, that’s where I would like to me. I’m currently juggling my entertainment job along with my regular job, been doing both for almost two years. Holding down both jobs isn’t for the weak. I’m following my dreams at the same time, making sure I can support myself as far as my finances, and investing into myself. Read more>>

Chloe Kehm

I actually have a full-time, regular job. I love making my art and I am able to make money off of it but I need my day job to actually afford the cost of living. At the beginning of 2020 I was still working part-time at my job, I had just graduated college with my fine art degree the previous spring and had worked a temp job at a library that allowed me a lot more creative freedom that I loved. It was only a temp position though and when it was over I went back to my previous part-time job. Read more>>

Jasmine Cogan

I do not know if I have a solidified answer on whether or not I’m happier as an artist. I think it’s difficult to truly understand the range of which I can be happy as a creative while in school. I do not often think about if I would rather have a non-creative job, because I have been in the position of working full time, non-creatively, while being well compensated. I’d say I was feeling just as I am now: simply existing while not necessarily happy, nor unhappy. Read more>>

Violeta Rotstein

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pick a career specifically because of how much happier I felt I’d be if I followed my passion. Though it can be complex taking something you love so much and turning into a career. I definitely had several years at the start of my career where I tried out several “regular” jobs while my freelance work was small to none. Read more>>

Andrew Pahmiyer

Many times as a person in the creative field its easy to find yourself questioning wether or not what you’re doing is right. During my second year as a student at a school of art I was seriously wondering if I would be able to truly make a career off my artistic abilities. I had an in depth personal conversation with a professor about switching to a major that would make me more money and just doing illustration on the side. Long story short, he had told me that there can be no such thing as a plan A and a plan B in a creative field. Read more>>

Randall Phillips

Trick question – Trick answer! I’m totally happy as a creative! I wouldn’t have it any other way. On top of performing, I also have a full time job as a creative in tech. When I first started my performance career I was working in the service industry as a restaurant manager/waiter/barista/pastry chef by day (yes I did all those things at once for a small restaurant on Capitol Hill) and danced in cabaret shows in the Pike Place Market by night. Read more>>

James Hatzell

Right after I finished all my classes at the American Academy of Art in the Spring of 1976, I looked for a job to make some money after having none the last 3 years. I found work laying track for the Illinois Central Railroad on the south side of Chicago. I was there April through September. After that I headed to eastern Colorado to work on my uncle’s cattle ranch. I worked all day, every day as a cowboy & ranch hand. At night I sketched and painted. I tried to absorb as much of the experience as I could. That’s how Charlie Russell got started in Montana a century earlier. It didn’t hit me at the time, but I think an artist needs to have life experience in order to tell proper stories with your talent. Read more>>