Monetizing Your Passion: When a Hobby Should Stay a Hobby

Heather Kennedy
Mar 3
2 min read

Can you think back to one of your favorite gifts as a child?

What image pops up first? What memories come rushing in with that image?

For me, it was a box of crayons. Not the standard 16-pack everyone else had. This baby had 64 unique colors ready to create a masterpiece — with the built-in sharpener!

While this was a relatively affluent home and I had plenty of toys and gadgets—including the classic 80's Atari, those honestly were afterthoughts. This box right here was what my dreams were made of.

What we value points to our identity.

My memories of painting rocks and coloring page after page in my jumbo coloring book pegged me as an artist from toddlerhood.

But as I developed and gained other interests, art took a back seat — as childhood passions often do.

It resurfaced shortly after Kelly and I were married. We had decided that if he could provide, my primary role would be motherhood. So art became a hobby… when I had time.

Before the kids came, I found the time and accepted a part-time job painting model canvases for needlepoint projects. That reignited something. Later, as our family grew, Kelly saved so I could take classes in Classical Academic Oil Painting while he and our parents helped with the kids.

I was good at it, and when people started asking for commissions and for me to be in shows, I gradually began to capitalize on my talent. And that was great...until it wasn't.

What started as joy slowly became expectation.

Deadlines. Deliverables. Revenue goals.

Baby number three arrived, and the juggle got real. I was still making time for art — but something had shifted. I felt overwhelmed. Other priorities were getting shelved. The thing that once energized me was now draining me.

A moment of clarity came when Kelly suggested I consider letting my painting become a hobby again instead of a side-hustle.

A hobby.

There's nothing wrong with that.

No expected revenue means no chains. It felt like a burden was lifted. I finished the commission I had already accepted and then closed the door on HJ Kennedy Fine Art.

And I have no regrets.

I still get occasional requests for a commision or calls for submissions, but I decline.

Quickly,

politely,

finitely.

Because I discovered that monetizing this passion depleted the passion. Thankfully, that doens't happen wih ALL my passions (and goodness knows I have a few.)

So now, Sunday is painting day. I always have a bigger project I'm working on but when time is short I have these cute little fridge magnets I can do in a half hour and I give them away for fun. Giving actually reinforces the passion, how cool is that?