By BOTWC Staff
A 15-year-old made $10,000 selling her digital art as NFTs, The Advocate reports.
Mya Parker first got interested in investments a couple of years ago when her grandfather took her to buy gold and gifted her stocks as a reward for getting good grades. Since then, Candace Temple, Mya’s mother, said her daughter has been fascinated with them, rushing home every day to check on her shares. Last September, an ACL tear forced Mya to stop participating in sports. While looking for a way to pass the time, Mya decided to take her love for art and turn it into an investment.
A former member of the talented art program in elementary, Mya decided to use the iPad her mother gifted her to begin making digital art, really just focusing on honing in on her skills and having fun.
“My art comes from two ways. Sometimes I have an experience, and I create something from that experience. And sometimes, I doodle when I’m bored,” Mya explained.
She was then able to take her art and turn them into NFTs, selling her drawings on various crypto marketplaces and making more than $10,000 so far. Mya says she’s just turning a down time into a good time, finding a new way to transfer her energy since she can’t play sports right now.
“I would never [have] had the time to do all this before I got hurt. It’s allowed me to create a living. Well, not quite a living,” she said.
Some of the Louisiana teen’s art is even listed on the OpenSea market for as much as $140,000, her mother saying that while the NFTs are big risks, it’s teaching her daughter a lot about the rewards of putting yourself out there.
“She’s been able to learn about the economy, learn about finance and it’s allowed her to use her gifts. Getting involved in investing and NFTs has also allowed Mya to take risks at an early age… which is good because people are leery about taking risks as they get older,” said Temple.
Mya now joins a league of teens taking to the crypto world to profit off of their work, including 12-year-old Nyla Hayes who has made upwards of $4 million from her art, and 15-year-old teen prodigy Tyler Gordon who just recently released his first NFT. Mya hopes that her story inspires others to just do things they’re good at and do something different.
“The key is to do a lot of different things when you are young and see what you are good at doing. It doesn’t matter what you are as long as your heart is good. You’ll find out what you are good at,” said Mya.
