NewsU.S. and the World

Actions

Woman says she makes $22,000 a month on this art side hustle

She told CNBC that she now works less than 2 hours a day on her business.
Orange Co. California
Posted at 8:41 PM, Dec 14, 2022
and last updated 2022-12-14 22:41:03-05

Orange County, California resident Dominique Brown told CNBC that after putting in 80-hour work weeks for multiple employers she was able to increase her salary with her art "side hustle," which she said now brings in around $22,000 per month.

Brown started DomoINK as a way to supplement her income after she quit one of her jobs. She started by creating original artwork using just crayons and markers and now translates that work into digital designs that she is able to print on consumer items like socks and cases tech devices.

She sells her products on various sites including Etsy and with retailstore websites like Target and Home Goods.

She said growing up she always looked for more representation for Black families in products like greeting cards, and says that is part of what inspired her to create the artwork and products that she sells.

She says she works weekdays during the day in a full time job as a marketing manager and then when she logs off then its on to her artwork.

Brown says she works about 10 hours each week on her art business, including on weekends.

Brown says that she was told that art was a career where one had to know someone to break into it, but she has found that to not be entirely true in the age of the internet.

She uses crayon, markers and other ink mediums to create her art. To translate that into the digital world she uses programs like illustrator, and she has a special printer that she can print that into analogue form.

Brown believes she will make less this year as people who once worked remote, now go back into an office and put less emphasis on decorating their homes, she said.