From Starbucks to a $2M Art Business: Why It's Never Too Late to Pursue an Art Career

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self that the dream was going to happen. That the art career I longed for — the one that felt impossible from where I was standing — was actually going to become real.

There was a time when the dream to have an art career felt like exactly that: a dream. Not a plan. Not a path. Just something I held quietly and wasn't sure I'd ever get to reach for.

Where I Started: A Starbucks Barista with a Dream She Couldn't Let Go

I started working at Starbucks my senior year of high school and stayed with the company until I eventually became a store manager. Those years were genuinely good — I was grateful to have stable work during the recession of 2008, grateful to be building something, grateful for the community of people I worked with. But the dream I'd carried since I was a little girl — of drawing and illustrating and creating beauty with my art supplies — it just wouldn't go away.

I put the dream on hold while my husband finished his graduate school program. We had our first baby two years after we were married. It seemed unlikely that my career would ever include art. I was okay with that, for a while.

But I didn't feel like myself without it. Art wasn't just something I wanted to do — it was something I needed to do to feel fully like me.

The Turning Point: Discovering Etsy, Art Licensing, and Wholesale

Thankfully, I discovered Etsy. And then art licensing. And then wholesaling my products to stores. One thing led to another the way those things do when you finally give yourself permission to start.

I bet on myself. I started making room in my life to create again. My family believed in me and held space for me to invest in myself — and that mattered more than I can say. None of it happened all at once, and none of it happened easily. But it happened.

What Starbucks Stacie Could Never Have Imagined

Eighteen-year-old me, in the green apron, driving past a little building on Carley Street every day on the way to work — she could never have imagined a future where she ran her own illustration company. Where she worked side by side with her sister. Where that little building on Carley Street would eventually become her own studio.

The gap between who I was and who I became didn't happen because of a lucky break or perfect timing. It happened because I kept showing up for the dream, even when I didn't know exactly how to get there. Gingiber, which now generates $2M+ annually and has products in 1,400+ stores, started with sharpie doodles on manila envelopes. The beginning doesn't have to look like the destination.

Your Story Isn't Written Yet

The world feels hopeless at times. It gets the best of me on many days. But when I look back at the gift that time has given me — the chance to see that our stories aren't written yet, that our dreams can manifest in ways we couldn't imagine — I find the strength to keep going.

Your dreams matter. They're not a distraction from your real life. They might be the most important clue you have about what your real life is supposed to look like.

Here's to planting seeds that eventually sprout and grow. Here's to roots that go deep. And here's to you, creative friend — wherever you are in your journey, whatever you're carrying, and whatever dream you haven't given up on yet. The best is yet to come.

If you're at the beginning of figuring out what an art career could look like for you, The Artist's Side Hustle is the book I wish I'd had when I was figuring it out. It's the honest, practical guide to building real income from your art — not someday, but starting now.

Frequently Asked Questions About Building an Art Career

Is it too late to start an art career if you're already in a different profession?

No — and Stacie Bloomfield's own story is the proof. She worked as a Starbucks store manager before building Gingiber into a $2M+ art licensing business. The path to an art career doesn't require quitting your current job immediately — it requires making space to create, betting on yourself in small ways, and building momentum over time. Many of the artists Stacie has taught through Leverage Your Art started while working full-time in entirely different fields.

How do you start an art business when you don't have much time?

Start in the margins. Stacie started doodling while her daughter napped, then put those doodles on Etsy. The first version of your art business doesn't need to be full-time — it needs to be real. Consistent small actions taken over time compound into something significant. The key is starting, not starting perfectly.

What is the first step toward turning your art into a career?

Start by creating work you're proud of, and share it — online, at markets, anywhere people can see it. Then study how artists you admire are making money from their work, and start learning those paths. Art licensing, Etsy, wholesale, and print-on-demand are all viable starting points. The Artist's Side Hustle by Stacie Bloomfield is a great introduction to understanding the landscape and deciding where your energy belongs.

About Stacie Bloomfield

Stacie Bloomfield is the founder of Gingiber, a surface pattern design and art licensing brand she built from her dining room table into a multimillion-dollar business with products in 1,400+ brick-and-mortar stores. She has earned $500K+ through art licensing and has taught 5,000+ artists how to build real income from their work.

She is the author of The Artist's Side Hustle (Hay House), a Moda fabric designer, and the host of the Art + Audience podcast. Her programs — including Side Hustle Society, Leverage Your Art, and the Art Licensing Pitch Playbook — help artists at every stage turn their creativity into consistent income.