From Mike:

Any suggestions for that transition from "underpaid-indie" artist to "it's-my-day-job" regular? It's been about 20 years and the roles are great, the people are wonderful, but the pay to live on is scarce. Especially when bandwidth is low these 2025 days. Looking to shift from the extra job mentality to focusing solely on the artistic work (whether acting, writing, composing or producing). Thanks!

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Dear Mike,

One of the best pieces of advice I received moving to NYC: it’ll take 5 years for people to start to know you, it will take 10 years to build a reputation. And I have found this to be completely true and a good reminder when I sometimes feel like my wallet is not equaling the amount of labor I put into my career. We are growing a reputation, we are nurturing a community of collaborators, and that does take time and oftentimes it can feel hard to see your growth. But when you zoom out on your 20 years in the business, I am sure you’ll  see that you are in a very different place than where you started, and that is something to celebrate and own! Your perspective on what you have already achieved is important as you move towards being completely financially dependent on your artistic career. Trusting that you deserve that life and that you are on your path will bring momentum towards making that a reality.

How does this look practically? I think it’s important to build in steps on multiple fronts. How are you sustaining yourself financially in order to have the freedom to do what you want artistically? If you have to have a side hustle, is it a job that is expanding your skillsets to increase your ability to be a day job regular? Or is it a side hustle that is giving you access to a mentor or apprenticeship that can help you get to that career? I don’t think you can go from underpaid to regular overnight, it’s building towards that over the years strategically. There is also a point where you have to start saying no to the projects that are underpaid, and only saying yes to the hell yes (whatever that means for you career wise or financially). When you stay true to what your criteria is for being on a project instead of compromising, you are signalling to the universe what your worth is and what you are willing to get paid for. 

Yours in manifesting the day job regular,

Fefu

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