If you’ve ever had an artistic dream, chances are you’ve met some Debby downers who have discouraged you along the way. “In this modern-day of social media and online forums, all you see are posts and articles that are negative.” Author Edward Schooley stated in an article for Guitar Thrills Magazine.

“Most of the time, they are baseless claims. Unfortunately, they criticize and discourage without caring whom they discredit.” It’s also more than likely that some of you have struggled (or are currently struggling) to get a job as a creative artist. What if someone told you that you can still follow your passion and make a profitable living off it as well?

One person made it happen, and her name is Kelsey Rodriguez. Kelsey Rodriguez is a content creator in which her YouTube channel is the same as her name, but she’s also a professional oil painter who built her art career on YouTube, and is now currently making profitable money off her passion for art. This is her story. First, Kelsey explains her origins in how she got into wanting to make art for a living.

Originally, she went to college as a political science major and was heavily involved in international affairs and security studies. She also tried to do internships during the summer of 2020, but the COVID-19 outbreak happened and like everyone else. Kelsey had to put her plans on hold and had no idea what the future would hold.

Something else happened that summer in 2020, and it opened the door for her to pursue a passion that’s close to her heart. “Basically, that first Covid summer, like no one knew how long this was gonna last, and I had always been interested in art as kind of,” Kelsey explained in an interview for Passionfruit. “Like a relaxing thing for me. It’d always been like an amazing hobby. And I decided to start my channel because of that.”

Kelsey took on her passion for art as a potential backup plan and was inspired by a YouTuber named Catherine Manning to create her YouTube channel in a way that’s unique for her. Second, when Kelsey’s YouTube channel took off, it didn’t take long for her platform to blossom. During the interview, Kelsey was asked about what made her channel grow and what made her stand out from other art creators. “I think it’s absolutely the business content,” Kelsey stated.

“There is no one quite in the community who is as focused on business content as I am, who has built up a massive library of advice videos for MAR for artists surrounding business and marketing. And I think that’s really where I’ve been able to stand out in ways that I think.” She also explained that when she saw how other people weren’t making the same content as herself, she took advantage of the gap the best way she could.

Thirdly, Kelsey was asked how YouTube helped her as an artist and as a businesswoman. “I mean, it’s helped me take my, my channel and my art full-time for one. I mean, that was a, that was a huge thing for me.” Kelsey stated. “I was a college student. I didn’t come from a lot of money as a kid. And just being able to take my art full-time, being able to be a full-time creator, that was, that was life-changing.”

She also explained that being able to spend the day making art, making products, and helping people is something she’s incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to do. Then Kelsey was asked about how her income streams started developing along the way. She replied, saying that when she began posting her work online in May of 2020, it took her a year and a half for her work to get monetized in November of 2021.

“I was making basically nothing,” Kelsey stated. “I was working as a freelance virtual assistant and a video editor at that time and just trying to like, kind of make ends meet.” She also explained that once her work started getting monetized, she started making approximately $100 dollars a month for the first two months, and when her YouTube channel took off, she started making $1500-$4000 dollars a month from AdSense.

Kelsey was then asked if she’s ever struggled with creative burnout and how to prevent creative burnout. She replied, saying that because of how stable her art business is, she can afford to take time off, and it won’t affect her negatively. “I think right now my business is such that if I took a month off, that would be basically fine,” Kelsey explained. “Um, because my income, so my income streams are so passive, and because I have such a wide. Variety of content in my library. It.

Really means that I can take a break without having to worry about it.” She also explained that whenever she does feel creative burnout, she gives herself that break and comes back feeling more inspired than ever. Finally, Kelsey was asked about what business advice she wished more artists knew that would help them grow. She replied, saying that there are misconceptions that artists have wherein they think you can’t use social media and be authentically themselves, so Kelsey advises artists to make social media part of their creative practice.

They can make videos of their art. “I think of my content sometimes as an extension of my art, and I think that’s a much better approach to social media,” Kelsey stated. “And I think that oftentimes artists view creating content as, again, a chore. But really, if you’re smart about it, you can create content.” In conclusion, if you desire to be anything that makes you truly happy, sometimes you must be your own boss and make your dreams come true.