I Quit My Day Job! Inaugural Interview with Erin Keane

It is with great pleasure and a triumph of overwhelming responses to my Call Out for those who have successfully quit the 'day job' (and are now making a living, and living to make their dreams) that I begin my second blog  series, 'I Quit My Day Job!'

For those who know me, 'Don't Quit You Day Job' is my least favorite negative 'come back' remark to a shared dream. That phrase is a killer, and designed to keep those of us who CAN (and WILL) in our places making a 'living' doing what everyone else does - working a 9 - 5'er in some corporate format.

Understand that I am not a hater for those who work in the corporate arena and enjoy it. This isn't about hating that work world. It's about those who feel trapped 'making a living' doing a 'job' every day that feels like a prison sentence.

Well, I'm not going to stand for it any longer. I promise to actively seek out those who have been paroled from their Day Jobs, and are now living and working their passions. This blog series is designed to give you an inside look at how my guest blog writers went from 'Day Job' to 'Dream Job.' And you know what?

YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

I am honored to introduce to you with great pleasure my first guest writer, Erin Keane. I connected with Erin through a site called imalaterbloomer.com, and felt compelled to track her down. Take it away, Erin...

Erin Keane – Artistry Studio – encaustic on wood, handbound books, visual journal

“Every day when you wake up, ask yourself, 'What do I really, really, really want?' You have to say really, really, really, otherwise you won't believe it."

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Erin Keane

It started with a meltdown (in front of my parents and in the middle of my favorite restaurant, complete with heave-sobbing and booger-bubbling and profuse-upper-lip-sweating). I knew something had to drastically change.

I had been a middle school art teacher for twelve years. Teaching is fulfilling in many ways, of course, and I loved being surrounded by art and creativity and the exuberance of young kids… but it is also extremely demanding on your physical, mental, and emotional energies. During this time, I was also living with Chronic Active Epstein Barr Virus (or as my friend nicknamed it, “Chronic Arctic Einstein Butt”). In a nutshell, the mononucleosis virus is chronically active in my body, never going into remission, causing a constant source of fatigue and poor immunity. After years of becoming sick in the fall and staying sick until summer break, I decided to take a leap of faith and pave a gentle career path for myself—following my passions the whole way.

I knew what I really, really, really wanted. How did I make it happen?

I started by taking a calculated risk. I did not leave my day job immediately. During the next school year, I saved every single spare penny and spent every single spare moment creating art. Then I approached my school district about taking one year of unpaid personal leave based on my medical condition, which they granted with full support and understanding. During that year of personal leave, my main priorities were to heal through rest and taking good care of myself and to absorb and produce as much art as possible. I continued to save every spare penny.



Meanwhile, I started putting down the paver stones for this new career path. Because I’d saved up enough pennies to live without a salary for this year, it was not necessary for me to generate income from art—and frankly, generating sufficient income from my art (at that point) would have been very difficult because I lacked business experience and was relatively unknown in the art community beyond my school district.

To increase my experience and get my work out there, I did several things right away. First, I set up a series of internships with three local bookbinders to learn skills in making new journals and restoring old books, all the while gleaning valuable information about owning a creative business. I juried into an art gallery cooperative in my town and built up my inventory as well as my connections. I set up a website, a blog, and an Etsy shop to reach a larger audience.

At the end of my personal leave, I decided to continue down this new career path. My health, although better, will always be something I have to manage carefully. And I’m way too addicted to actually creating art (which I never had time to do as a middle school teacher) and I still share my passions with other people through teaching-like situations.

It’s not easy to support myself without a day job. I live very, very, very frugally. I’ve tightened my spending to the absolute bare bones and often work well above a 40-hour work week. I piece together income from gallery sales, custom orders, and a rare Etsy sale (my shop is admittedly sparse), plus contract work from my intern mentors. I’ve set up long-term and short-term goals and I work towards them diligently. Thankfully I have a strong left brain to complement my right brain, so the business end is coming along nicely! I’ve branched out into other galleries and retail spaces and have additional plans in the works for increasing sales, developing new products, and marketing my work. One of my major goals this year is to set up a home studio that also functions as a teaching studio… (I really, really, really want!).

I strongly believe that I will eventually thrive (and not just “survive”) in my artistic career. The short-term sacrifices will simply make the long-term successes even sweeter. Mentally and emotionally I keep my passions in the forefront of my mind. I wear a handmade ring on my right ring finger to symbolize my commitment to the artistic life. I have conversations with my soul through my visual journal, where much of my imagery reinforces my deepest wishes.

“Quit your day job” -- I highly recommend it. If you cannot do so immediately, make a plan to do so in the near future. Allow something to be your impetus. Embrace a different lifestyle to make it work. Participate in your own life! You will energize yourself and those around you.

I would love to connect more with you! It’s fun meeting people online (tee hee) so please come chat with me on my blog or shoot me an email. I have free giveaways and special deals for my blog members, so sign up through "Google Friend Connect" on my right sidebar (hey, just gave away a sweet set of star origami books!). I also love making things for people, so check out my blank books and encaustics on wood—I’m happy to custom make something just for you.

my blog: www.art-is-try-artistry.blogspot.com

my website: www.art-is-try-studio.com

my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/ArtistryStudio

Click here for My email

* p.s. two books that have totally inspired me and guided me: “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron and “The Creative Entrepreneur” by Lisa Sonora Beam

**If you know / or are someone who left their day job to pursue a full time creative business, and would like to be featured on my blog, please contact me: alisasteadyart@gmail.com***