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I was in accounting before I become an artist.

Legit. The week before I became an artist, I was in a cubicle on the 10th floor of a skyscraper downtown wearing a suit - on track to be a CPA (a fancy accountant).

Spring 2020.

I was in my third year of business school with two part-time junior accounting jobs.

One was helping an electrical company with their books. The other was at a big auditing firm - which was the kind of role most aspiring accountants would murder for.

On paper, I had landed a golden ticket to a stable career.

But I hated my life.

Every day I sat in that cubicle it felt like reality was taunting me. Because I wasn’t an accountant. I was an artist roleplaying as one. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been telling stories, writing music, and drawing.

I can’t not create.

Still, I tried to be “normal” and “safe”.

Society insists art isn’t a real job, and many of us buy into it, convincing ourselves we aren’t allowed to make it our career. So I chose the safe path. The most ordinary path I could think of.

Accounting.

Then plot twist…

Covid.

Both accounting jobs sent me home. University shut down. My so-called safe plan collapsed with no clear return.

Now I was stuck at home with bills to pay and my main income sources gone - except one.

Art.

Back in 2016, I’d stumbled into freelance work by accident. For years I’d quietly kept one or two contracts a month. Nothing huge, but steady enough.

Thinking about those projects, I realized something: I had been making money as an artist for four years. Over 100 contracts. Thousands of dollars. Yet I still refused to see art as my real job. Instead, I studied accounting while literally paying bills with art.

Backwards, right?

Sitting in my room with my “safe” path gone, I had a moment of clarity. I already had the pieces I needed:

Suddenly the smartest move wasn’t waiting for accounting to come back.
It was being an artist - perhaps even my the sm”art”est move I could make. 😏

Looking back, the chaos of Covid was a blessing in disguise. With distractions stripped away, I finally let myself do art.

And what happened blew my mind.

Within months, I was landing enough clients to pay every bill - and more. I was making better money than both accounting jobs combined. During covid, no less.

While others feared for their careers, I was thriving. All of a sudden, I was a full-time artist. And I saw the truth: society - and I - had lied. Art was absolutely a real career.

The real safe play wasn’t accounting or any “stable” job. It was something deeper.

Working for yourself is the only surefire way to guarantee:

The only recession-proof career is becoming a business.

Because the safest choice is you.

Peace and Love,
Brosatsu