Meet California-based Artist Christine Merriman
Christine Merriman is the artist behind the YouTube channel Christine in Action, where she shares faith-based music and videos. She’s based in Moreno Valley, California. In addition to her YouTube channel, you can follow Christine on Instagram and learn more on her website.
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION: Where are you from originally, and what brought you to your current city?
CHRISTINE MERRIMAN: I was born in Los Angeles, CA and my parents decided to buy a house in Moreno Valley, CA (which was not much at the time) when I was 3 years old and I have lived here ever since. My parents immigrated from the Philippines and provided the most comfortable life for me and my siblings. I wouldn't be who I am today without my parent's sacrifice and service to us. They financially supported me through art school and helped take care of my eldest son. I am forever grateful for everything they have done for me and my siblings. We, my parents and siblings, are super close and we always spend time together with the great-grandkids.
My husband and I bought our first home last year. Although my husband misses the Oxnard weather, we have no plans to move anywhere else and we just love our little neighborhood and the pickleball courts!
How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist?
I am a Catholic artist because it is part of my identity. God gave me certain creative and artistic gifts and I feel that I have a responsibility to use them. As a one-woman show, I rely on the grace of God to create. My personal mission is to help others “learn the Catholic faith through music.” The goal is to bring more souls closer to Christ and glorify God!
What is your daily spiritual practice?
Preparation for Death by St. Alphonsus Liguori is my favorite book, and it profoundly changed my spiritual life.
Currently, my daily spiritual practice consists of specific prayer times throughout the day. With a toddler in my hands and working from home, I believe in the importance of creating a routine and being intentional with my time. On my free time, I enjoy spiritual reading, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos on the faith.
In the morning I pray formal/traditional prayers in this order: morning offering, Act of Consecration to Mary, three Hail Marys, Act of Consecration to St. Joseph, Angel of God, and Glory Be (my songs helped me memorize the more difficult prayers). I have an alarm set everyday to pray the Three O'Clock Prayer, which has helped me focus on God throughout my workday. My husband got me doing the three Hail Mary's devotion every night.
To end my day, I like to have a more personal conversation with God in my own words. I believe it's important to have a balance of both formal and informal prayer, where it genuinely just comes from the heart.
How do you financially support yourself as an artist?
Working a 9-to-5 is tough for any artist. For me, it is truly counter-productive and I would thrive more on a salary-based job, so I focused on securing remote work this year. I transitioned into more flexible/hybrid work at the parish by moving from a First Communion Coordinator to the Bulletin Editor. I also got my foot in the door as a virtual administrative assistant.
I supplement my husband's income, so we are able to live comfortably since we just bought a house last year. I am happy to report that God has recently blessed us with an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to work remote full-time! This flexible schedule gives me the freedom I need to achieve my goals as an artist and future homeschooler.
As a working stay-at-home wife/mother, creating a routine/schedule helps me stay on track and be successful. If I need to really focus, I call my parents to help watch my toddler for a couple of hours. So grateful for their support.
I've been on YouTube for about three years, but it took me about two years to get "partnered" (where you make income off of video ads). I make a small income through YouTube every month, Patreon, and my store. I hope to start an LLC soon, but it’s a big step.
Reaching out to friends has been helpful for me. They might have the right information for a future gig/job! A friend of a friend invited me to the Facebook group, Catholic Virtual Assistants and Online Service Providers. I was able to get my foot in the door and land my first official Virtual Administrative Assistant job.
For a short while, my husband and I were reselling new items on eBay and OfferUp, which actually generated good income for us. Long story short, there are so many options to start creating multiple streams of income today!
How do you market your art and/or build a professional network as an artist?
Start with the people in your care. For me, it was the children/families in my faith formation program. They needed to learn and memorize the basic prayers, so I started making content for them, and the rest was history.
For the first year of being a self-proclaimed YouTuber, I was staying consistent and improving my content while being pregnant! I was batch recording and editing before my son was born. I wanted to give myself enough time to recover as well. It’s all about “working smarter and not harder.” I don’t have much time to record and create every day (as a full time working wife/mother), so I look at my schedule on a weekly basis and try to schedule in a day that is dedicated for my craft.
I have a few friends who are in the Catholic media world, and they’ve been giving me great advice. Joining Catholic Facebook groups and just asking friends has been a great starting point for me. It was one of my friends who connected me with the people at FORMED/Augustine Institute.
My family and friends have been supportive and spreading the word organically via word-of-mouth and sharing on social media. I get a lot of traffic on the YouTube algorithm and Google SEO. Since I don’t have a team to rely on, I am planning on focusing on marketing more and putting myself out there via articles and interviews like this one!