I only ever had interest in working in creative jobs. I am an artist, writer, and a slew of other creative things that require a lot of time and effort for virtually no money. Choosing a creative career field sounds really cool. I can’t tell you how many people say to me, upon finding out that I primarily work in animation, that they are so jealous and my job must be so fun. And tbh, most of the time it totally is. I definitely have a lot more fun than my friends who work in offices, or are doctors and have lives on the line every day. But there are a lot of things I didn’t expect when I became an artist/writer professionally, I wish I knew more going in.

Would it have changed anything for me? Not a chance, but that’s because the only thing I really like (besides my dog and margaritas) is art. I have to do it either way, so I might as well make a living from it. But if you’re ready to quit your 9-5 and pursue a creative job, here’s what you should know.

It’s The Worst Way To Make Money

Living in LA, I can’t tell you how many actors I’ve met who say things like, “Oh I can’t wait to be rich and famous, and ride in limos, and have mansions!” And it’s said totally un-ironically while they’re serving drinks at happy hour. Here’s the thing: yes, you can absolutely make money from the arts. I just found out Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe has a net worth of $45 mill, and his career was like, 10% writing/music and 90% f*cking everything up, according to The Dirt (could not recommend more btw, watch it immediately). There are many, many artists, musicians, actors, directors, writers, etc. living in mansions and making a ton of money. But that isn’t the reason to do it. It is unbelievably hard and soul-sucking to try to make money as a creative of any kind, and the chance of making mansion-level money is so difficult and unlikely. There are a million easier ways to make money if that’s what you want (I dunno, work in finance). Be an actor because you love acting and you love film or theater. If you’re after money and fame, you really just want to be a Kardashian. Also? I’m a huge believer that if you work hard and your work is good, money will come. But it’s not easy and not a guarantee.

You’ll Have To Work Harder

Speaking of working hard, except for your friend who’s a doctor, working in a creative field means you’ll probably work a lot harder than your friends do—and for a lot less. I regularly work nights and weekends, I don’t get vacation days, and I had to start forcing myself to take one day a week off work (which I don’t even get every week, tbh) because I developed such severe tendinitis in my drawing arm from overworking it. Meanwhile, most of my friends work regular jobs, get off work at 5 and go to happy hour, spend their weekends going out or watching Netflix, and they still make more money than I do. But creative jobs are “fun,” right?

You Won’t Get Job Perks

It is possible to get a steady job as a creative, depending on your field. I could work for an animation studio as a full-time employee instead of being freelance, for example. But most creative jobs, even in that case, are project-for-project. Meaning when your TV show (or whatever) ends, you will be unemployed. This causes issues with things like benefits, retirement plans, etc. I am completely self-employed, so not only do I pay out of pocket for benefits (which costs A LOT, BTW), my retirement plan is to just die. I also don’t get vacation, sick days, etc. If I can’t work, I don’t make money. And on top of that, you have to put a lot of money away just in case you get the flu and can’t work, so that you can still make your rent for the month.

You Will Be Unemployed

No matter how talented you are, in creative jobs, you will always have bouts of unemployment. In my experience it’s always feast or famine—I either have so much work I’m not sleeping, or I have no jobs to do, so I have to work super hard to line up more. For this reason, it’s crucial to save money when you do have an income. I remember being horrified when I interned at a big production studio and found out that even if I was a full-time employee doing my dream job, I should expect to be laid off every nine months. Projects just constantly end or fall through or get canceled. If you’re working in a creative field, it’s important to pick up as many side gigs as you can that earn income consistently.

It Does Kind Of Ruin It

When I was in high school, I woke up at 5am, did full hair and makeup every day, went to class from 7am-2pm, hung out with friends, did homework, and then worked on my art for hours. For fun. Now, my art is my work, and when I’m done working, the last thing I want to do is more art. So yeah, doing anything professionally ruins the fun of it. My job is really not fun when I’ve been awake for 36 hours to meet an insane deadline. The only thing I find fun then is sleeping. When you do it as your job, you have added stress you didn’t have when it was a hobby. The stakes are higher. That said, the rewards are higher too. There is nothing better than working on a project that you poured your heart and soul into and having it turn out amazing, and then watching your career move forward. It makes it all worth it.

Literally what I look like every day:

So should you look into creative jobs? Only if you love your art enough to pour blood, sweat, tears, and gallons of iced coffee into it. Otherwise, maybe you’d rather work a steady job and just play music for fun on the weekends–that’s totally acceptable too, and it doesn’t make you any less of an artist. It’s about figuring out what your optimal dream is for your art. For me, I don’t want to spend any time doing anything else. Also, I don’t have any other skills anyway. Hopefully this insight will help you figure it out! Let me know any other questions you have about creative jobs in the comments!

Images: Kevin Grieve / Unsplash; Giphy (5)

Brands really hopped on the feminism train this year after realizing that women 1) like to be treated like people and 2) like to buy shit. It’s insane that it’s taken them this long to suss that out, but like whatever, welcome to the club. We wear pink if we feel like it and are fighting for paid maternity leave.

But as you can imagine some brands aren’t quite nailing it as they work to lasso the elusive Gloria Steinem with an unlimited Amex credit card demo. Ultimately feminists just want equal pay and for our bosses to not whip their dicks out on our lunch breaks. Here’s what brands are giving us instead.

DORITOS

This week, Doritos gave women what they’ve never asked for: a less crunchy and mess chip. Honestly, the only reason you need those is so your roommate doesn’t hear you eating all of their chips and that sort of thievery knows no gender.

FEMALE COLONEL SANDERS

Huge news, fried chicken is now being served at Judy Chicago’s dinner table. KFC announced in a #feminismwin that Reba McEntire would be the first female Colonel Sanders. Unfortunately, what KFC doesn’t know is that the spokesperson for their chicken has never once influenced how much of it I will drunkenly eat.

BIC PENS FOR HER

A few years back Bic released pens for women, and thank god because we had been filling out those voting ballots since we got the right to vote with lipstick for 92 years!

BEER FOR WOMEN

A brewery in the Czech Republic unveiled a beer for women this past summer. What was getting me fucked up all those years before they released that? Was I just drunk off of my own rage against the patriarchy? Anyways, cheers to that bullshit!

EARPLUGS FOR GIRLS

I’m guessing that earplugs for women filter out all of the dirty words we aren’t supposed to hear like “instructions on how to ask your boss for a promotion.”

Heads up, you need to keep up with the news. It’s not cute anymore. That’s why we’ve created a 5x weekly newsletter called The ‘Sup that will explain all the news of the week in a hilarious af way. Because if we weren’t laughing, we’d be crying. Sign up for The ‘Sup now!

Wow, another great day to be a woman/alive. Doritos is making a new version of their product just for women, so it looks like the Women’s March worked. Wtf does this even mean? Tysm for asking. In an interview with Freakonomics, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi discussed the ways in which gender differences are influencing new developments for their products. She suggested that women don’t like when their chips crunch too loud, or when the flavoring gets on their fingers, because it’s not ladylike to lick your fingers in public or whatever. So basically Doritos is answering all of our prayers by making a chip that magically doesn’t crunch or get shit all over your fingers. Cool.

I mean, I guess it might be true that *some* women prefer not to crunch too loudly or to have to suck their fingers in front of creepy dudes in public, but if I were to take a guess on what *most* women want, I would land on equal pay, being treated as humans, and not being told how to fucking act all the time. Just a shot in the dark there.

I’ll also point out that eating loudly and indulging in the “finger-licking-good” culture are things women are told we *have* to avoid because of annoying gender norms. It’s not like we have a passion for not being noticed when we eat. Or speak. Or breathe. Or do literally anything. These chips are literally just reinforcing old norms and stereotypes that we are trying to deconstruct and break free from. It’s all backwards.

Freakonomics: What do you think it means to be a woman in today’s society?

Doritos: Mostly just having your period and not making any noise when you eat chips. Final answer.

Anyway, women took to Twitter to speak their minds on the issue, because at least they’re still letting us do that.

women: give us equal pay
the world: look, a KFC female colonel!
women: we said equal pay
the world: doritos won't crunch anymore!!!
women: EQUAL PA-
the world: have you tried "BIC PENS FOR HER"??

— Ali Vingiano (@alivingiano) February 5, 2018

What if Lady Doritos are just regular Doritos but when a woman buys a bag she only gets 77% of the chips a guy would.#LadyDoritos

— Geraldine (@everywhereist) February 6, 2018

The only quiet chips are stale chips. This Tuesday I’m voting #no on #ladychips

— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) February 6, 2018

Now, PepsiCo is saying that the “reporting on a specific type of Doritos product for women” is inaccurate, so it’s probs safe to say that these lady Doritos might not ever see the light of day due to the backlash. One step forward, twelve steps back, I suppose.

Still, I can’t wait to tell my future nieces about the long and strenuous fight for Lady Doritos. Whatever, I’m getting Cheetos.

Heads up, you need to keep up with the news. It’s not cute anymore. That’s why we’ve created a 5x weekly newsletter called The ‘Sup that will explain all the news of the week in a hilarious af way. Because if we weren’t laughing, we’d be crying. Sign up for The ‘Sup now!

Images: Giphy, Twitter