Meet the artist whose side hustle earns her up to $267,000 a year

Domonique Brown works remotely from home as a marketing manager but also runs a side hustle which brings in up to $267,000 per year. The contemporary pop artist based in California said she has been drawing since preschool. According to her, she had always wanted to draw but she never had an idea how she would be able to transmit that to adult life.

In high school, she wanted to be a graphic designer and work in advertising or marketing. She went on to get an associate degree in graphic design, a degree in public relations and a master’s in marketing. The pandemic, although devastating to so many business owners due to job and revenue losses, gave her the ability to pursue her art career. Being at home due to restrictions urged her to start her own business, in addition to her five-to-nine job.

“I was able to open my own online store and put all of my art prints up. it’s kind of a dream come true, because I am able to be an artist. But I still do like the fact that I did my education in marketing. Me having a nine-to-five allows me to still practice what I went to school for, she told Framebridge. 

She started DomoINK in 2020. The name was inspired by her early beginnings as the only Black girl in her class and her father going out of his way to find a store that had images of Black families on greetings cards, and how her parents would purchase Black art prints from dealers because nearby retailers did not have them, according to CNBC.

Brown’s work features largely prominent historical figures and according to her, it was her way of educating people about the contributions of Blacks in all spheres of life. “I’ve had a lot of customers write to me and say ‘I hung up my Basquiat on the wall’ and people didn’t even know who Basquiat was,” said Brown, who makes her drawing creations with crayons and markers. 

“I feel like my art is creating dialogue in the world. As time goes, a lot of historical [figures like] Martin Luther King are kind of being forgotten or being pushed aside. Recently for my job, we did a mural of Martin Luther King and someone thought it was Will Smith. Really weird. I know who they are because it’s my culture, but I don’t know if people outside of it know these people,” the 28-year-old told Framebridge. Brown has since collaborated with Target, Disney, and the L.A. Lakers.