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Sara Bareilles: Don't Give Up What You Love Because It Doesn't Pay

31 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, Sara Bareilles advises artists and writers to continue pursuing their creative passions while finding practical ways to cover living expenses, such as taking odd jobs. She shares her own experience of working as a waitress for years before her music could fully support her financially, emphasizing that abandoning what you love for financial security is unnecessary if you can balance both. She acknowledges that the decision is personal and may be challenging, but ultimately recommends a simple formula: do what you love, pay your bills, and keep doing what you love.

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Do you give people advice to have a backup plan or not to?
If, if you take out the prerequisite that you have to make a living from your art, then you get to just be an artist and everybody's gotta pay their bills. You gotta, like, I had odd jobs forever. Like, you know, I was a waitress for many years and then thankfully it sort of tipped over and I could actually pay my bills from music alone. But I just feel like if you're a writer and you love to write, why would you put that down? Why would you put down something that you love to do? I realize it's easier said than done maybe sometimes, and maybe there's too much pain in the trying to relate to a path that is not coming to fruition. Like if you're trying, I don't know how long, I think that's a really personal decision for people. But no, I just tell people, do what you love, pay your bills and do what you love. Seems like a happy life to me.