An artist I know recently commented on Twitter about how she’s never sure how to respond when people remark that she’s lucky to be doing what she loves because the reality is that she’s worked really hard to get there. I’m paraphrasing her considerably, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t read my blog, but all the same, I understand where she’s coming from. The notion that those of us who have succeeded in comics, film, fiction, music, professional sports or any other career that many others aspire to have found success through luck alone is false. No one scratches off a lotto ticket to reveal three matching “acting career” stamps. That’s not how it works.

However, to deny that luck plays a part in it is equally false. At the risk of minimalizing the importance of hard work in any career, particularly one in entertainment, I’d suggest that to look only at work and determination as the keys to a successful career may be to miss the point. Frankly, there are a lot of hard workers out there in every line of work. My very first job was stocking pharmacy shelves at my local Walmart, and in my life, I have never seen harder workers than some of the people who helped maintain that store. And as someone who’s also worked full time writing copy for a dental marketing company, I can attest that I worked just as hard at scripting the ads, e-blasts, trade articles and other marketing material that I was responsible for as I do at editing, writing, developing or pitching comics. Success in any career is rarely achieved without a lot of hard work, whether we’re talking retail, foodservice, sales, teaching…or drawing or writing comics. Hard work is not what sets those people working so-called desirable jobs apart from those people toiling away in retail or punching a clock in a warehouse.

So what is?

Well, it’s not one single thing. Freedom plays a big part of it. I worked with a very talented artist when I was editing at Tokyopop who was forced to take on a full-time retail job right at the time I managed to get him approved to draw an original graphic novel series scripted by two of the most well-known names in comic books today. You couldn’t choose a better first project if you’re a fledgling comic book artist, but unfortunately, his living situation dictated that he bring home a certain amount of money per month, and our advance didn’t cover it. And while we tried working around his day job, it simply took up too much time for him to produce pages at a decent pace. I had no choice but to replace him with someone else.

Freedom to work toward your desired career is a luxury that not everyone has. Neither is talent. I love what I do for a living, but if I’m to be completely honest with you (and am I ever anything but?), as a child and teenager, I wanted a career in music. However, my sense of rhythm is pathetic and my ability to write and think lyrically is atrocious. I’m not saying these aren’t skills I could have developed over time, but they didn’t come naturally to me and it likely would’ve taken me years of study and practice to develop them. Yes, this is where that hard work comes in, and I’m a firm believer that no career is unobtainable for anyone—but there are certainly some people out there who are going to have a much easier time obtaining it. Realizing this and realizing that I had true talents in other areas, I decided it would be better for me to pursue another career. I could’ve easily made the other choice, but I’ll tell yah, if I’d had any musical talent whatsoever, there wouldn’t have been any decision to make at all. Talent certainly isn’t everything…but it helps.

It also helps if you’re not hurting for money. While not every actor, musician, artist, writer or athlete is formally trained, many of them are and colleges—particularly art schools—aren’t cheap. Yes, many qualify for scholarships, but for those who don’t, you either need deep pockets, parents with deep pockets, or a steel stomach when it comes to racking up debt. Combine that with the cost of starting a career. Musicians have instruments to invest in. Artists have art supplies. Actors have head shots and agents. Not to mention the cost of going to auditions, attending conventions to meet with editors, renting a van to go on tour… Any business has startup costs, and those of us fortunate enough to be working in entertainment are essentially running our own businesses.

There’s more we could go into. When you really think of it, there are probably thousands of contributing factors. But getting even these three to line up in your favor is a challenge. Not everyone has the freedom to pursue a more challenging career path, the talent to help you stand out and move forward in your career and the opportunity and capital necessary to get you off to a great start. We have a word for those people out there who do—lucky.