Balancing creative work with a 9-to-5 is hard.
That’s why most people don’t do it. According to Eve Arnold’s newsletter, most people with dreams outside their 9-to-5 end up either daydreaming about their passions on the weekends, or quitting their 9-to-5 entirely with no plan.
But how do you exist in the in-between?
How do you create sustainably while working a 9-to-5?
Introducing Chelsea
Chelsea Chan, a Malaysian singer, songwriter and producer best known by the artist name JAIE, has found a way to sustainably balance creative work with her 9-to-5.
Chelsea boasts more than 100k monthly listeners and 15 million Spotify plays. She writes, produces, and performs at shows and festivals—including opening for Kodaline and being on the Good Vibes Festival lineup amongst the likes of The Strokes, The 1975 and Daniel Caesar.
Amazingly, Chelsea does all of this while working a 9-to-5 as a web developer.
I first discovered Chelsea through her track ‘better days’ from her December EP in 2017. I instantly fell in love with the song’s layered sound. Listening to the lush vocals felt like floating on a cloud or an endless ocean. The acoustic guitar grooves were soothing like a long nap after an exhausting day.
Before Chelsea started releasing her own music, she started with SoundCloud covers. She would post them purely for fun, just for friends to hear. During college, she branched out to posting original music, and in her sophomore year, she finally released music on Spotify.
Balancing Engineering with Music at Cornell
Chelsea released music while studying at Cornell’s College of Engineering. She majored in ‘Information Science Systems and Technology’ (ISST), a major she chose after realizing that computer science and electrical engineering would limit her ability to balance her creative and technical side.
While she was at Cornell, Chelsea’s music started to gain traction. Her songs were racking up Spotify streams, attracting the attention of media such as Red Bull Music and Bandwagon Asia. Once people in the music industry started reaching out to her, Chelsea started to seriously consider pursuing music as a career.
What should I do after graduation? Should I get a “real job” in engineering? Or, should I move to NYC and struggle as an artist?
As college graduation loomed, these questions became more urgent.
Chelsea decided to pursue her music career.
Post-grad life: Moving to NYC and the Pandemic
After graduating from Cornell, Chelsea moved to NYC to pursue music full-time. During this period, she performed many live shows. Her first show was at The Delancey in May 2020, a rooftop, lounge, and premier nightclub. Another spot she performed at was The Bowery Electric, a dance club and popular hangout spot in East Village.
During this period, Chelsea found herself very stressed. She felt exhausted from playing a lot of shows, and was consumed with finding out how to make music a full-time thing. This pressure of turning music into a full-time profession also created a different pressure when trying to write and release songs that she enjoyed, making it harder for her to enjoy the process.
Then, COVID happened.
Chelsea was forced to move back to Malaysia.
For almost two years, Chelsea wasn’t inspired to make music. Looking back, she said it took her time to come to terms with the fact that her life in NYC and her life now were going to look very different. Feeling that she needed something to do and out of responsibility, Chelsea started a job as a web developer.
During this time, Chelsea also took a break from music. Instead, she focused on her wellbeing. She was okay with not creating. Eventually, in a healthier state of mind, she noticed herself feeling inspired. Chelsea was reminded of how she felt when she first started making music, when it was something she did purely for herself.
Realizing that She Doesn’t Need to Do Music Full-Time
To her surprise, Chelsea realized that working her day job wasn’t so bad. She realized that she can do both her job and music at the same time, and be okay. She was initially afraid of burning out from doing two things at once.
Instead, Chelsea shifts her perspective. She tells herself that she’ll do as much as she can with music, and won’t push to make it her main income. She realizes that she doesn’t need to do it full time or try to hit numbers. She makes sure she feels good during the process.
As a result, things become easier to manage and she doesn’t feel as stressed. Not having to worry about music as her main income also takes pressure off marketing and promoting, and things she sounded less excited about, like how to promote on TikTok.
Balancing Music with a 9-to-5
Today, Chelsea is both a music artist and web developer. She produces, performs, and works on her own projects along with her 9-to-5. This past month, she had five shows. She notes that the nature of her day job makes it easier to work on her music.
For example, performances are on the weekends, so Chelsea doesn’t have to take time off. Her job is also hybrid, so she doesn’t need to commute all the time. Her bandmates have day jobs too, so they are able to find time to rehearse during weeknights.
In general, she finds her schedule and level of busyness to be always changing. Since shows don’t happen all the time, performances are unpredictable. During the past four months, Chelsea has been busy with performances and rehearsals. During other periods, her web development job has been really busy. But right now, Chelsea doesn’t have too much going on.
Chelsea tells me that right now she is ready to reset. She is intentionally not scheduling too many commitments. She performs on a weekend here and there, but only if she has the time. She tells me “I try to make sure it’s not constantly busy, otherwise I’ll just burn out.”
Avoiding Burnout
Chelsea emphasizes the importance of knowing yourself, knowing your limits, and knowing your time. For example, if she has a lot of work this week, she won’t schedule other commitments. Instead, she gives herself time to recuperate. She accepts that she won’t be able to create or make music that week, and she’s totally okay with that.
Chelsea has also been doing yoga for many years, and has found it extremely helpful. She tries to do it every day. Yoga helps her listen to herself, and tap into her body.
Chelsea believes in taking time to relax so you can feel good and inspired again. In her own life, she cannot work on music if she doesn’t have enough time and energy.
In particular, as a performer, being burnt out makes her unable to perform and feel good on stage. Keeping herself in a healthy state is one of the best things she can do for herself as an artist.
Music is a Natural Part of Her
At the end of the interview, I ask Chelsea what motivates her to keep making music when she technically doesn’t need it to earn a living.
She is silent for a while.
“I think…” she says, “…it’s just a part of me.”
Chelsea pauses. “How do I explain it? It’s like… I don’t really know… It’s just something I have to do. There’s nothing really pushing me, it’s just a part of my life. It’s the most natural thing to me,” she tells me.
There’s no pretentiousness in her voice. It’s simple and matter-of-fact. For some reason, it leaves me dumbstruck. I had been expecting something logical and explainable, not something so simple, natural, and effortless.
But somehow, Chelsea’s answer makes complete sense. In my life, I’ve struggled with similar questions of whether to pursue music or engineering. I started writing songs in middle school, releasing them in ninth grade, and after some success, I seriously considered pursuing it as a career.
For a while, I was obsessed with turning music into a full-time thing. I became so obsessed that I forgot about why I started in the first place.
I can still remember the day I wrote my first song. I was coming home from school on a particularly emotional day, strumming chords on my guitar. I never set out to be a “songwriter”, but simply expressed myself and stumbled upon it in the process.
Takeaways from Chelsea’s Journey
Similar to how Chelsea follows her natural desire to create music, there are countless examples of her following and trusting what feels natural.
Chelsea started with SoundCloud covers just for fun. She chose a less intense major to balance her creative and technical side. She gave herself a break after COVID and having to leave NYC.
She shifted her perspective from doing music full-time to doing as much as she can. She balances both careers by adjusting to cycles of busyness. She gives herself time to rest.
Reflecting on Chelsea’s choices, I notice that many of them are contrary to what we have been taught: that our work only has worth if we can turn it to a full-time job, that we should push until we burnout and not let ourselves rest, that it is impossible to do two careers at once.
Chelsea has proven that those beliefs are simply false.
You can do two things at once, without burning out. You can let yourself rest, without falling behind. You can create art or music or whatever it is, without needing it to be your main source of income.
As Chelsea talked about her journey, I resonated with the pressure she felt to make music full-time, and her rediscovery of music as a form of natural self-expression. I’ve been taking a break from music for the past year because it stopped feeling fun. Instead, I’ve been focused on studying computer science, recruiting for tech, and other interests.
But while I enjoy my major, I’m still anxious and questioning my career path like many college students. What about other things I enjoy? What about the popular notion to “follow your passion” and “do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life”?
After talking to Chelsea, I could feel the pressure of those questions being lifted off my shoulders. I could feel the dots connecting in my brain, and how burnout, balance, and trusting what feels natural all felt connected. New ways of approaching my career choices were planted like seeds in my mind.
After our call, I felt inspired to pick up my guitar and start writing again. This time, it wasn’t because I wanted to make a career out of it—but just because I felt like it.