We asked some insanely talented artists, creatives and makers to tell us about when they know they were going to pursue a creative career.

Davyhon Canada

In a way I sort of always wanted to pursue music professionally. But the moment I would say my music career started professionally was my first opportunity to travel to Australia to play drums. At that moment I felt like I arrived. Read more>>

Tennille Griffith

I kinda figured I wasn’t academic growing up. I was always always into the arts. I could never sit for too long in regular classes at school , my attention span just wouldn’t allow. It wasn’t like that in a creative class tho, they always got my full attention. That’s how I knew I was gonna be in the creative field at some point. Read more>>

Jalen Parham

I’ve always loved film. I used to watch the same movies over & over it would drive my parents crazy. But it wasn’t until my junior of high school when I took an Audio/Video Tech class my junior year in high school, that reignited my passion. This class was different than others as I had the most freedom. My teacher would give us a prompt and a camera, and we would run around the school filming small projects and we would then review them as a class. Read more>>

DeVanté Givens

After I graduated college and COVID was still rampant, I was unemployed for at least 4 months. Of course there was some panic, being a recent graduate, I knew I was not going to get into the field I originally wanted to be in, due to everything shutting down. Thankfully at the time, my first commission came with a ton of work to do for them. This would be characters for short film and manga, merchandise or just promotion, anything to help pay for my cost of living. Read more>>

Camila Alter

I wanted to pursue a creative path when I was 15. I was in secondary and I realized I wanted to be a graphic designer. That was my goal and now, as a proffesional, I love my carreer. Read more>>

Ben Davis

I grew up around movies. My parents graduated high school in the early 80s and are big fans of all the classic 80s blockbusters: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, the John Hughes films, and Eddie Murphy comedies etc. So, I often joke that I grew up on 80s blockbusters through the 90s. My mom’s dad (papa) and dad’s mom (Gaga) both loved the movies they grew up on from the 60s, 50s, and 40s. Read more>>

7ven

Wow, I love this question! I would say when I was actually nine years old. I was at this crossroad at such a young age that initiated a long life path for me. It was either music or art. Something told me to choose art. And for that first moment I was given an assignment. It went from me feeling like I didn’t know what to do, to fully embodying the project challenge presented to me. Read more>>

Allen Plone

When I first was chosen to do work for hire and I found it could be as rewarding as creating my own art films and my writing, I decided to drop teaching and just do creative work for the rest of my life. I was 27 years old. Read more>>

Yuka Yu

I first realized I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic path professionally when I was in high school. I attended an all-girls high school in Taipei, Taiwan and our education system emphasized molding us into well-rounded and renaissance individuals. The most compelling subjects for me were ancient Chinese literature and Western history. Read more>>

Kyle Leung

I was dissatisfied with the media landscape regarding the lack of Asian representation in the West. I felt like I was constantly searching for any media that would highlight Asian voices but it would often fall short in terms of representing the full Asian experience in the West. I didn’t want other Asians in the diaspora especially those in their childhood/teenage years to feel like this and also have to live through their formative years not having Asian stories from the diaspora to inspire and motivate them to live their best lives. Read more>>

Jerwaun Suddun

So this is a deep one. I genuinely feel and know that God put krump in my heart at the young age of 14 & 15, 16 to save me. Then years later I asked for clarity on what my calling was and now I’m doing all kinds of things with krump and in krump. So I really didn’t actually know if I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally, I just knew I loved the dance art form and the higher power lead the way. Read more>>

Tamar Samplonius

I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic path professionally. As a child, when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my consistent answer was “something creative!” While I didn’t have a clear idea of exactly what that meant at the time, creativity was always at the core of my dreams. Read more>>

Rob Fairbanks

When I was growing up, my grandfather and I would watch reruns of Three Stooges and Luarel & Hardy. I remember asking why they’re in black and white, I thought there was no color in the world back then? He would laugh and say no they’re filmed back in the day before there was color television. I loved sitting there laughing at the shows and thinking to myself how did the know that would be funny? That’s when I fell in love with comedy. Read more>>

Xayvier Haughton

I always had an interest in art, but I got serious about my practice at the age of 21. When I enrolled in the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts, this signal for me a paradigm shift. I felt like I was exposed to an alternate reality “Art”. And coming out of the inner city community of Spanish Town Jamaica, Art was just a fantasy, a dream never to be realized. I saw for the first time the potential of community, I was a painter but my friend where musicians, dancers, actors. Read more>>

Hannah Janell

I first realized that using my hands to create earrings was more than a talent to me, but a craft that allowed me to express myself and my individuality. I enjoyed keeping up with shorter hair cuts, and a way to bring out my facial features. I always bought earrings, but they weren’t as special to me as I wanted them to be. I fell in love with clay earrings when I made my first pair and never took them off. I was receiving a multitude of compliments. I took this opportunity to create a pair for friends and family, and expanded to peers in the community! Read more>>

Shanell Goring

I first realized I wanted to pursue my therapeutic art company was when I during a community event that art is necessary outlet in our community. I began doing public events only and there was something that just clicked and said I need to make this a business. Read more>>

Nate Hicks

The year was 2016. I’d been singing for about 5 years as this point and had recently begun writing. On one of my frequent visits home from college, I found myself in a makeshift studio, recording original lyrics over a beat from youtube that really spoke to me at the time. Days later I released my first single “Pieces” via Facebook, Youtube, and Soundcloud and the response was so overwhelmingly positive, encouraging me to do more. Read more>>

Brady C. Smart

When I was a child, I was always intrigued by music in different cultures and enlightened by the feeling it gave me. The sensation of meaningfulness I got when I first started performing on stage, helped me to determine that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. Read more>>

Austin Wilson

I wrote my first song when I was six years old. I have been in love with the impact music can have on mood, scenery, and memory ever since. Read more>>

Juan Ramirez, Jr.

Some of my earliest childhood memories center on me drawing, using a full page as a single panel – basically storyboarding before I knew it was storyboarding. I would cast among my toys and also select who the camera crew was going to be and stage pretend film shoots – even playing some music in the background from the stereo, to go along with the scenes. Read more>>

Candace Urquiza

I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was around 16 and getting acquainted with the internet more. My mom got me Paint Shop Pro X, its like Photoshop but cheaper. It changed how easy it was able to make art and then post it online. From a very young age, art has been the one thing I could say I’m good at. and I have a passion for. I possess a very limited number of skills but being creative is one, so why not? Read more>>

VALERIE KOSNEVICH

Since high school years I was always engaged in dance activities, competitions and dance camps. Back then it has been considered a hobby, but I felt a deeper connection to dance than just an after school activity. While moving to another country I had to stop dancing for a few months, but I was always looking out for dance opportunities. Any studio and group I danced with were great, but something felt being left aside. While dancing with the modern dance ensemble my dance teacher Janna told me that I should consider auditioning for the Jerusalem Dance Academy. Read more>>

Sean “Shiz” R

My first initial path for connecting my professional experience was through wardrobe design and makeup for film from my business in the arts “Sickwise”. I knew i wanted to pursue it more when i realized my skillset was growing, and I saw ways behind the scenes to hustle and connect myself with the right people. Back in the early 2000s, you could get on a set with just being talented and having alot of promo pics. Read more>>

Tianxiao Chen

My connection with films carries a strong sense of nostalgia, reminiscent of an era when most people, much like myself, began their journey with movies through bootleg VHS tapes. During those idle moments, I found myself captivated by the screen, unknowingly developing an initial fascination with cinema. Read more>>

Allan Winkler

I am not even sure what this means, as I’m not sure that I am a professional anything! All I know is that I was raised to make art and make music, and that is what I have been do for my whole life. I mostly support myself by doing other things. But making art has been a way for me to survive emotionally and spiritually and mentally, and by keeping busy in that way, it’s kept me focused, & kept me out of trouble. Creating art is exciting, it’s fun to do… Read more>>