Everyday, somewhere, there is an aspiring artist or creative daydreaming about pursing their creative career full time. Everyday, there are countless creatives thinking about whether to pursue their passion more seriously and so we wanted to hear from folks who’ve made the leap. We asked them to reflect on if they wish they had started sooner or if they feel they would have been better off if they had waited a bit longer.

John Palen

I started pursuing acting in 2018, in my early 30s. Prior to that, I’d never considered a creative, artistic career, never even so much as participated in drama club – I was taught to find your classic “good job”, and any artistic tendenies were left firmly as hobbies. For a long time I stuck to that plan, despite being consistently unsatisfied by it. I mostly bounced around technical, physical jobs, as a ranch hand, arborist, electrician, and military mechanic, just to name a few. Read more>>

Loryn Jackson

I don’t like wishful thinking, but reflection is necessary in personal development. That being said, I know if I had started my career sooner, I would have learned so much more about the industry and would have a much better advantage and be taken more seriously. However, if I did start sooner, I don’t think I would have the intimate life experiences that I do now. I mean, hindsight is 20-20, but I think there are some qualities I had to learn first to be a better humanist. Read more>>

Ashley Mills Monaghan

There was a time in my early twenties where I really wanted to pursue my music. I wanted to be the next Taylor Swift. I knew how to write songs; I had been doing so since I was 16. But I knew early on I didn’t have the full package. No record label would ever sign me. I didn’t have the skills. I didn’t have the look. I didn’t have the business sense. I didn’t have the cool clothes; I couldn’t pull off the musician hat. Read more>>

Truth Chiles

That question is quite a conundrum. I say that because my creative career began early in life, but I didn’t recognize the extent of my abilities until later. Being a successful creative requires a dedicated entrepreneurial mindset and an unwavering belief in your gift. For me, identifying the ‘why’ behind the gift became the motivation needed to pursue music head-on. Read more>>

Charlie McCord

While I’ve been writing and recording music at home since I was a young teen, I never made it a priority to commit to music as much as I have recently. Like many creatives and artists, I created ways to hold myself back with procrastination and a lack of self confidence in my art. In short, I wish I would have invested my working energy of my 20’s into getting my music heard by the right people and had made connections that would bring me to a higher level of success than I reached at that time. Read more>>

Larry Carter

A lifelong doodler, I had always desired to turn drawings into paintings, with no idea how to start. In 2010, at age 45, I purchased a small oil painting of a western mountain scene at an estate sale. After a couple of week of looking at it, I decided I could try to make something similar. I purchased a beginner’s oil paint kit and a small 8×10″ canvas and went to work. It turned out well and I entered it in a local show. I was shocked to win 1st place! The paint was not even dry yet. Read more>>

Max Pearce

If you start later you bring more maturity and experience to your work, but if you start earlier you have more time to hone your craft. There is so much out of our control when it comes to timing. I started in earnest in 2013 when I was twenty-two. I’m glad I’ve been able to hone my craft since then. Read more>>

Erika Marks

If you asked me this question when I was a younger actor, I would have, of course, said “EARLIER! SOONER THE BETTER!”. I’m sure most young creatives feel this way, like time is not on our side. Early in my career, late teens /early 20s, I always was thinking how lucky child actors were, getting their resume bult up young, years of training from an early age, and having connections I would sell my left arm for before they’ve finished growing. Read more>>

Monroe Banuelos

I most definitely wish I would have started my creative career sooner. Having all of those restraints made it harder for me to find my true creative expression, I felt lost and it sucked because I knew my potential. Now that I have given myself more freedom to embark on all of my creative interests, it all just comes naturally now. Which in my opinion is the greatest blessing of having a creative career, the healing that comes with it. Read more>>

Hanna Jaeun

I wish I had started my creative career sooner. Life is too short. I wish I had taken formal painting classes or studied under an artist. It would have saved me a lot of painstaking time figuring things out on my own. My biggest regret is not switching majors in college. Read more>>

Zaria Russell

A part of me wishes I had started my art journey sooner throughout my teenage years, my path would have been a bit different in many ways. For example, if I had honed in on my creativity during my childhood or teens, I could have been enrolled in a performing arts school. I believe that may have opened my mind early on and perhaps a few more opportunities. Read more>>

Lia Fetterhoff

Yes, I wish I had started my creative career sooner, but I’m also glad I didn’t. Experience has brought in perspectives that I wouldn’t have appreciated otherwise. Read more>>

Christina Chow

I definitely wish I started creating content earlier. I feel like when Instagram was first becoming a platform where people could share their creativity and turn it into a career, it was a lot easier to find an audience and grow because there weren’t as many people in the industry. Now it is a lot more saturated, so I have found that it is a little harder to make myself stand out and create unique content. Read more>>

Mary Jane

I do often wish I learned how to make music earlier, mostly because I did attempt to get started with music 3 different occasions in my life but wasn’t ready to focus and to fully dedicate the hours like I have now. When I was 17 I made my first ever song with my best friend. Unfortunately he passed away, taking his passwords with him and any access to the beautiful song we wrote, forever stuck in his computer.. Read more>>

Michelle Dahl

Always. I don’t know a single artist who thought “man I wish I stayed in that cubicle a little longer!” But to be quite honest, it happened when it needed to for me. I knew I wanted to be an artist when I graduated high school, but I let other people’s thoughts and fears guide me, and to be honest – I was your typical 18–20 year-old know-it-all! I wasn’t teachable because of this massive chip on my shoulder and inflated ego of being the big artsy fish in a little pond. Read more>>

Pynk Roze

I believe that everyone’s story is different, and life takes us through what we need to experience so that we can develop into who we truly are. I feel like I’ve always known I was a creator at heart, but having the courage to express my creativity has been the biggest hurdle in my journey as an artist and creator. I am learning to embrace every milestone, and not compare myself to anyone else and where I think I should be. Read more>>

Rob Hill

Growing up I didn’t have anyone I could turn to for guidance in the art world. I was very creative at a young age and I started expressing myself through fashion. I was designing and painting tee’s, pants, shoes, hoodies, you name it. I didn’t know it then, but that was when I first started my art journey. Read more>>

Bridget Papino

As the founder of We Are Jersey and a real estate agent, I believe that the timing of my creative career has been just right. It’s often said that things happen when they are supposed to, and I truly believe that. Both my creative journey with We Are Jersey and my career in real estate have their unique paths and have unfolded organically. Read more>>

Nick Hardaway

My creative career has and continues to place me where I am supposed to be at the right place and time. When I first decided I wanted to tap into the world of blogging I was unaware of how many other creative categories/labels fell underneath the word “blogger”. As I started to tap into my gifts and plant the seeds for what success looked like for me I discovered that I was more than just a blogger but rather a model, stylist, lifestyle blogger, content creator and now years later… a producer. Read more>>

Lexi Athina Waldman

I took my first photo class in high school just for fun and didn’t think much of it. I was always creative and knew I was going to do something within the creative industry but didn’t really know what. I loved the beauty industry and began taking product photos which gained some attention from beauty companies. I then decided to major in photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. Read more>>

Kasey Voss

I wish I would have found my passion for creating a beautiful space by doing events or balloons for events earlier on in my life so that I would be able to enjoy it longer. Read more>>

Mike Wicks

I do wish I had followed my passion of shooting when I was in college. I know my path would have been so much different today. My life is good and I make a decent living but I know I would have been a staff photographer at either Nat Geo or one of the other nature magazines for sure. Read more>>

Rebekah Molander

Well I definitely don’t wish I started later! That’s actually a hard question. I want to say yes, I wish I had really pursued Art as a career sooner, yes, I wish I had believed in myself sooner. Read more>>

Jernē

I definitely have my moments where I think “dang, if I’d started earlier I’d be much further” but I realized I didn’t know the things I know now then. The experiences, the people, the mistakes up to this point have made me who I am and given me the confidence in myself I didn’t once have. Read more>>

James Von Boldt

I never strayed from the creative path, but I do wish I had accepted my fate as an artist instead of a gun for hire much sooner even if I am grateful for what it gave me. Nobody is ever perfectly ready to take a big risk and therefore everybody is ready enough. Read more>>

Sun Alarcon

Me being the over analyzing Virgo that I am, I often find myself looking back and asking that question, “do I wish I had started this all sooner? Could I have pursued modeling at a younger age?” In the most honest way I can be, I do say yes. Read more>>

Stacy Lee

Absolutely! Being an artist is such a journey and a process. I’ve always played around with as much artist media that I could get my hands on. However, I feel like I did waste time by putting off business and marketing classes. I should have been a Marketing Major in college! Read more>>

Lauri Novak

I wish I would have pursued photography specifically as a career much sooner than I did. But, I went the expected route, college and a ‘real’ job. While most of the jobs I did have included some type of creativity, graphic design, marketing, and even some photography at times they were still in the cubicle world and I don’t think I ever really felt that I was in the right place. Read more>>

Greg Stoner

Absolutely wished i would have started my welding career right out of highschool. Read more>>

Dani Macher

In the classical music world specifically, I’ve always felt an extreme pressure to get the most done in the shortest amount of time. I think there’s an idea in classical music that younger people have more advantages in learning and are better musicians because if it. Personally, I didn’t start playing viola until I was 14 years old, which is considered extremely late. Read more>>

Kristina Palmer

Sooner! I was raised in a time when you were taught that you go to college, you get a good job, you buy a house, you save for retirement, etc. and for most of my adult life I really bought into the whole corporate, first one in, last one to leave,sell your soul, hustle culture. It wasn’t until being laid off during covid that I really reevaluated how I was living my life. Read more>>

Katie Carrillo

I decided in my last year of high school to get a BA in Theatre for Costume Design, and after attending one year of graduate school, I quit and played with my craft until I settled on Illustration. I often wonder if I would be further along or happier with my Illustration career if I’d started earlier. I often see people who took as many art classes in high school as possible and got BFAs at conservatory programs, and I’m envious of their skill at such young ages. Read more>>

Jo Corso

I wish I had the confidence when I was younger to get onstage on my own and play whatever made me happy. I was very insecure with myself when I started writing. I did not want people seeing it until I was sure I loved what I was doing. The thoughts on how to make my performance bulletproof were what prevented me from getting on stage in the first place. Read more>>

Brenna Mosser

I am 32, and really only started my professional dance career when I was 27. I had studied intensively in Europe for the first 6 years after high school because I was really interested in the ideas and people I was learning from. It was a lot though, and I got burnt out. Read more>>

Suzie Zeldin

In many ways, I wish I had started my creative career sooner, but I also believe that it couldn’t have happened sooner. Growing up as the oldest child of Russian immigrants, I heard the words “doctor, lawyer, pharmacist” more times than I can count. My parents wanted me to have a prestigious career with predictable (and high) compensation; music was not on the menu. Read more>>

Jessica Sanders

No. I believe things worth doing and having take time. I was 23 when I decided I wanted to be an artist, and 26 before I figured out what my medium was. I started graduate school in 2017 after most of a decade floundering in college, at the time I felt like I had wasted so much time and was behind, but in hind sight I’m really thankful for all that time I had to grow, mature, and learn. We are made from our experiences, and its impossible to make compelling and interesting art with experience. Read more>>

Jason Thomas

There are times where I think it would have been great to start earlier. Growing up, it would be fair to say that I didn’t have much confidence in my ability, so although I have had an interest in music, be it singing, guitar, or just listening, the idea that I could pursue music as a career just never seemed like something that could be real for me. Read more>>