The creative industries represent a combined $29.2 billion in revenue in Georgia, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, encompassing not only visual and performing arts, but also advertising, architecture, design, software, video games, publishing, and of course, music, TV, radio, and film.

All told, it represents 4.2 percent of the state’s total gross state product. But does that translate into opportunity? Can you really make a living producing art? And how does an artist monetize their work without compromising their vision and craft?

While there’s no magic potion for turning a dream into a reality (much less a reality that pays the bills), there are some words of wisdom worth heeding from those who’ve paved the way.

Bet on Yourself

Bill and Shannen Oyster were well-prepared for an economic crisis when Covid-19 struck in March 2020. Twelve years earlier they sat across from an attorney, ready to sign a loan on a workshop and guesthouse for their handcrafted bamboo fly rod business. And then Lehman Brothers fell. “Are you sure you want to do this?” the attorney asked.

“Go big or go home,” Bill said, before he and Shannen—husband and wife and 50-50 owners of Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods—signed the agreement. The Oysters laugh about that moment today, but serious financial difficulty ensued. They responded by doubling down on themselves—and working even harder. Bill, an avid fly fisherman who grew up in Wyoming and graduated from the University of Georgia, began crafting bamboo rods in 1994 using a technique popularized in the northeastern United States in the 1840s. He was already traveling the country to teach tying and casting at fly fishing shows. Eventually he brought along his rods.

Anglers took note of his craftsmanship, and in 2000, an Atlanta Journal Constitution story introduced a wide audience to his wares. “I woke up Sunday morning to a whole bunch of messages on the answering machine,” Bill says. “It was all these people wanting to buy rods from me.” There’s been a waiting list for Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods ever since.

Bill treasured the art but was far from making a living from it. Shannen understood that for the business to flourish and sustain their growing family, they needed to diversify and expand their reach. So Bill started custom engraving the reel hardware. Then he led rod-making workshops. When e-commerce emerged, the Oysters were quick to adopt it.

Bill quit his day job in 1998. Shannen worked double duty selling real estate and managing the company’s finances and marketing until 2006, when she joined full-time and they lived on what they made from the rods, “which was nothing at that point,” Shannen says. That vulnerability compels most people to quit, but the Oysters pushed on. The fishing industry demanded inexpensive products made quickly from manmade materials, but the Oysters never veered from their labor-intensive, high-end rods. “We’ve always bet on ourselves,” Shannen says. “But you have got to expect to grind it out and fail constantly. And you’ve got to leave those failures behind fast.”

Bill still obsesses over the craft. Shannen still obsesses over the numbers. The Oysters took a hit on the building they financed in 2008 but stayed afloat, and in 2011, built Oyster Bamboo Fly Rods’ current home: a 6,000-square-foot store and workshop topped by two floors of guest rooms in downtown Blue Ridge, Bill’s favorite place to fish.

They receive a lot of calls from craftspeople asking for business advice. Their response is always the same: “Make it your only source of income,” Shannen says. “If you’re serious about doing it, you can’t be afraid to invest in yourself.”