From Hobby to Profit: How to Make Money While Doing What You Love
“You won’t make money with your hobby!” they said.
That’s a line of words people from my neighborhood always echoed to their children. Including some people from my big family, they think that hobby is just for fun, no need to be serious, you’ll never make money from it.
Well, I almost believed in it.
But that was a long time ago.
This is a story about a boy who become a happy man
I love to draw anything since toddler. I remember when i was young, with my stolen crayon from my brother’s school bag, I drew my old room wall with a bold stroke, leaving a long-lasting scratch showing how talented I was. It never stopped there, half of my school notebook also became my art gallery.
Yes, I do love drawing. It was a great days until high school. But then, you started to realize how this life works.
And it sucks!
My parents, my teachers, my neighbors, even most of my friends always told me that if I continue to pursue my dream, I would never get a proper job to make a better life.
I was like drowning in that situation. Making me leave my hobby, to be more focused just on my study in college, I also did some boring jobs even though I was not really happy. I did that because people around me always prompted me that those paths were the only way to make a better future.
Until I met someone who introduce me to the new world. It was a rainy day in the afternoon. We have had an appointment. I was going to buy his used console and we agreed to meet at his home. We met, we chatted, until he asked me what I did for living. Then I told him my story, and so did he.
I asked him how he able to get all he fancy stuffs he had. He was a Graphic Designer back then. All he did just drawing on a screen, sometimes on a piece of paper. At that time, I thought that a graphic designer only worked in an offset printing and didn’t have enough money to enjoy life.
But then he introduce me to freelancing world. He told me how flexible his work was, how he had a lot of time spent for his family, how he could learn many new things while doing his job, and one thing that I remember until now is he never considered his job as a job. He just did his hobby, and got paid.
My mind was blown away. He taught me that hobby can also turn into profit if I take it seriously, more importantly I can make an income while doing something that I love.
From that day I started to draw again. I did many sketches on paper, learnt how to draw in digital, and tried to sell my artworks.
At first, it was hard. I was opposed by people around me, especially my family. I told them not to worry, and I told them that if I couldn’t make it, I will back to my old boring job.
After six months, finally I got my first design project. I got a client from South Korea. Well, I didn’t really know how they found me. This korean dude didn’t even speak english, he could only speak a little bit Bahasa but that didn’t help at all. We obliged to communicate using our gestures and body language.
The project was a big success, so they extend my contract for the next three years. I also got a team to help me handle all the hassle.
But there is another problem. Since I didn’t have any experience working in a team before. I couldn’t manage them well, then we decided to separate, while I still chose to keep finishing the project. After all those things, I promise to myself that I won’t let those things happen again.
Not long after that, I continue my adventure by joining another startup, at that time all I wanted to do was learning how design process worked and collaborate with other people. There I ended up learning about UI Design. Which become tipping point of my life, landing me many UI design projects involving many startups and enterprises.
My dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you.
Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness.
Let it kill you and let it devour your remains.
For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover.
~ Falsely yours”Charles Bukowski
Editor: Angga Pradikta
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