Balancing Two Jobs and Taking The Leap

Welcome, or welcome back to Co-work with Cherii! I’ll be keeping this newsletter shorter than usual. My commission queue has not slowed down this month and I’m preparing for a nearly month-long trip to Japan! Today’s newsletter will solely be covering my freelancing journey, because I want to finally catch up to the present time!

If you’re new, I have been sprinkling segments of my “comprehensive career recap”, in all my newsletters, detailing my journey towards becoming a full time VGEN freelance artist. In my previous issues which can be found here, I’ve discussed my on and off unemployment, the decision to draw for YouTubers, and my first few months being on VGEN’s platform. So far up to January 2025, I managed to hit a peak of $800 dollars for my top month. Far from full time, but a glimmer of hope for the future! 

Before we move on, I’d like to add a quick note about currency. All of my earnings I discuss are referred to in NZD (the New Zealand Dollar.) If I earn a thousand, that equates to just under $600 USD. With that out of the way…

The end of January 2025 saw me return to the office for 3 days a week for the next 16 weeks. That would leave me with theoretically) 2 days a week for commissions. Since clients weren’t coming in droves, I thought this would work out pretty well. I can cover my rent, bills and food from my main job, and have enough commissions on top to cover the empty days! 

With only two days a week, I could take in 1-2 commissions a week at most. But the longer I stayed on VGEN, the more services and portfolio pieces I could post, the higher my reach grew on VGEN’s home page, and suddenly a lot more eyes were seeing my work. I was constantly finding myself working overtime in evenings and on weekends to stay on top of things. Suddenly, any semblance of work life balance that I’d worked for years to achieve went out the window.

But I loved it!

For one, I loved working with all my clients. Drawing youtube thumbnails, assets and PNGtubers came so easily to me and it was fulfilling to help indie creators get set up with their online ventures. 

For another, it felt great to be in a hustling phase. After my Graphic Novel released a few years back, I spent a good couple of years slowing down and healing (physically and mentally.) But now Cherii was back in full force, baby! 

Over those four months I was splitting my time, I hit a peak of $2300 dollars for a month of commission earnings. Which, holy shit, was far above my previous record. If I got that from splitting my time, what could achieve with my full time?

Well, I was about to find out. Because those 16 weeks of part time guaranteed income ran out, and I was about to return once again to funemployment and get the chance to fully see what was possible. 

The difference between this break in June 2025 and my last break in December 2024 was like night and day. After months of build-up, the reins were let go and I was able to have my first full-time month as a freelancer. My queue didn’t grow immediately, but I suddenly had a lot more time to experience a normal, balanced schedule. Now I could return to starting work at 9, ending at 5, and weekends were once again weekends.  

However, that didn’t stop the freak-outs. Every so often, the panic would set in. “It’s been 5 days since a commission came in. What if one never came in again?” And the next day I’d get 3 requests.

It was a slow start to the month, but by the end of it I cracked a monumental 3.4K in commission revenue. I finally had the proof and confidence that this is a viable source of full-time income! Not only that, but it meant that I could work from home with my boyfriend in our favourite suburb near the water, our days filled with sunny walks and neighborhood cats to pat! 

There was only one issue: I had a 50-week work contract coming up in a few weeks. I was torn between the safety net of a guaranteed good income and the freedom I had working for myself. And with only a month of solid freelance earnings under my belt, it was hard to know if it was just a fluke or something more. I had to make a decision fast, faster than I would have liked. If I waited longer,  I would be pulling out too late, leaving my team high and dry with no time to train a replacement. 

So with the encouragement from those around me, I decided to take the chance on freelancing. I went into my office for the last time to let my coworkers know I wouldn’t be returning for the next contract! They were so kind and supportive, and I felt good knowing my spot would be given to a fresh face who probably would have been more passionate than I was. 

I know freelancing can be a grueling career that leaves a lot of artists with no money and a mountain of burnout, but I was ready to take that risk. I felt like I was in a good enough financial situation going in, saving every penny outside of my barest of budgets. I knew I could also raise my prices as I go, and switch up styles and service types at any time to keep things fresh. 

While I’ve been lucky enough to always work in the artist field, I have gone through many phases of what I wanted my career to look like. I went from an animator in 2017, to a part-time graphic novel author and artist in 2019, to also a background artist for over six years, and now in July of 2025, I was officially a full-time commission artist.

Will things stay consistent? Did I make the right choice? What happened between July and November of 2025? Find out next time in…. My December issue, probably!!

As for now, I am heading off to Japan for the first time for 24 whole days! That means I’ve had to close all services and hustle my butt off to get everything completed before I leave. I should have everything open again on the 8th of December, so keep an eye out!

And as a treat for reading and patiently waiting, here is my 10% off discount code for December! Simply write WELCOME BACK it in the “Anything else you want to add” Section when you make your next request on VGEN!

I hope you have a wonderful month. Keep creating and inspiring! <3 

See ya.