Do you remember the moment you realized what you wanted to do professionally? Was it magic? Was it scary? We wanted to hear from some of the most talented artists and creatives in the community and so we asked them to tell us the story of the moment when they knew they were going to pursue a creative career path.

Brittany Galloway

I think in a way I always knew I would end up doing something relating to art. Even from a very young age (2-3 y/o) I would make little drawings and color on EVERYTHING. I’ve always gravitated towards art. It was the one subject in school I actually looked forward to, and it wasn’t until college that I really started to believe I could make my passions a full-time gig. Read more>>

Angie Herberg

I was always a creative child, messing with everything from drawing and painting to macrame and shrinky dinks. But it wasn’t until college that I realized I wasn’t on the right career path. I had chosen Business marketing as my major, it seemed like a good choice at the time and would make my parents happy. Read more>>

Yi-Fan Chen

My creative path began at a very young age, but it wasn’t until the first time I heard my art song being rehearsed by my musician friends at senior high school that I realized being able to become a composer is such a blessing. I was so fascinated and moved when hearing the music I conceived days and nights that eventually came to life. Read more>>

Daniel Mehaffey

That exact moment has been a gradual discovery for myself. When I was young, I always had a love for clothing and sneakers, but it wasn’t until I was in my mid-to-late twenties that I began to look at fashion as a potential career. I had no background or schooling in fashion design, so it felt incredibly difficult to even comprehend starting my own label or how I would even make money doing it. Read more>>

Deejay Loveless

As a little kid, maybe 10 or 11 years old, I fell in love with music. From digging into my Dads old vinyl records to the days when MTV was actually ALL music videos and FM radio was how kids learned about the newest hottest music. I started playing music instruments in middle school and high school and eventually started DJ after I graduated high school. Read more>>

Dónal Rafferty

I worked in the technology industry for a decade before deciding to pursue music professionally. Working in the corporate world, despite progressing and growing professionally as an individual, I began to feel the cyclical nature of the industry I was operating in. Read more>>

Raquel Alexandre

I have loved singing ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a rockstar, I just never thought that it was something that was ever actually possible. Until a family member heard me sing and pushed me to take that leap and try it out for real. Thats when I started taking vocal lessons, meeting people in the industry and just getting a better understanding how the music industry worked, made me realize that I could actually do this as a professional career path. Read more>>

Louie Martin

I had always been creative growing up. I can remember stapling together printer paper to make mini storybooks or making clay figures or paintings. My Grandmother definitely planted the seed for my passion for art. She put a paintbrush in my hand from the second I could hold one and some of my fondest memories growing up are doing paintings in her kitchen. Read more>>

Isiah Hall

I can’t say when I first knew I wanted to be a poet but I remember when I first discovered the power of words. I was in sixth grade and was tasked to come up with poem about Black History Month. I wrote a poem about Rosa Parks. My teachers were pleasantly surprised with the words I chose and decided to have me recite my poem in front of the entire school at an assembly that was held. Read more>>

Christie Lauture

I knew I wanted to be an artist ever since I was 6 years old. I actually have this old journal I had from that age where I wrote that I wanted to be an artist when I grow up and from there my love for art continued to flourish. Towards the end of high school, I started to get more serious about art and decided to get a degree in digital and studio art. Read more>>

Dalton Turner

The first instance that I can remember that made me want to start on my film making journey was in middle school. I was staying at a friend’s house for the weekend and his dad (Doug) was competing in a film competition. The whole process piqued my interest so I began asking him questions about everything, and he basically took me under his wing and mentored me on the whole process. Read more>>

Anna Jekel

I had a meandering path to becoming a painter. My childhood was filled with creativity, with papier-mâché, clay beads, or sewing projects filling weekends. After high school I developed an interest in photography and found a job at a small photography studio taking portraits. Read more>>

Caroline Ellis

I first knew that I wanted to create art for more than my personal enjoyment during my freshman year of college. At the time, I lived in a small dorm room with two friends. The three of us were eager to fill the small empty wall space that we had with ‘cool art.’ I remember struggling to find any art prints or posters that fitted my very particular taste and vision. Read more>>

Sabrina Culver

As a child whenever all of my friends wanted to build a fort or a tree house I always wanted to build a dressing room out of blocks and adapt short stories from books and create plays that I would then enlist my friends and family members to join in the cast. Read more>>

Ashleigh Sharmaine

I immediately wanted to pursue my artistic career when I saw all the support and inquiries I received from posting my artwork on social media. Social media has played a big part in my success, so I wanted to do this professionally. Read more>>

Seta Injeyan

I was twelve years old and at sixth grade, when for the first time ever I got introduced to painting and drawing materials. As I took a brush and started painting on a watercolor paper, my teacher, looking over my shoulder, announced to the class that I was going to be an artist. Read more>>

Marie (RIE) Thomas

Art never felt like a possible life or career… it was playtime. I did have an aunt and uncle at the time who worked in the creative field. In digital arts like special effects and creative game software, just to name a couple things they did. Read more>>

Humo Maya

I knew it all my life. I always knew I wanted to create art all the time and be abundant with it, and not give my time to something else or a job that wouldn’t fill me creatively or spiritually just in exchange for money. So I started working on my art all the time and started manifesting getting paid for creating art for others. Read more>>

Julius Ross

I’ve been writing music since I was 9, but when I turned 20 I got enough money to pay for a ticket to a J Cole concert while he was on tour. It was like a birds eye view because he started singing a song I was trying to learn for 2 weeks of his and I knew word for word when he was singing and then and there I said, “yeah I gotta be on that stage.” Read more>>

Breahna Whitehair

I’ve always had an artistic desire. Creating, whether it be with paints, collage, pottery, welding, wood etc. has always brought me joy. I come from a creative family with a low risk attitude. That being said, I never really thought pottery was an option for me, what with the start up costs, space for equipment and so on. Read more>>

Sine

Id say I always had a sort of passion or natural draw to music and the construction of putting it altogether. I was always surrounded by music growing up, mainly by my father. He would listen to a lot of different styles of music. So kind of naturally I started writing poems and raps but unfortunately I didn’t really have the support for it and was more focused on sports. Read more>>

Kay Rediers

I started dancing as a student at Redford High School in Detroit. Dance was considered a physical education credit, so I tried it. I loved the authentic nature of this art form. I loved how I could express myself through movement and music. I had a wonderful teacher, Ms. Jewett who encouraged me to be my best. She even let me teach a class or two! Read more>>

Cristy Reynoso

All throughout my life I’ve always been drawn to the arts in one way or another. When I was little, around the age of 7, I would watch novelas with my mom and I would pretend I was in a starring role. I would act the dialogue word for word and sing the theme songs. Read more>>

Sal G.

I was about 18 or so when I felt that I could take rapping serious. I was skipping class to smoke and freestyle with the homies like everyday. That led to writing in notebooks and crafting songs. It wasn’t long until I fell in love with the artform. Read more>>

Chris Justice

I knew at a pretty young age that I wanted to pursue a career in music. It all started when my grandfather pulled an electric guitar and a small amplifier out of his attic. He plugged it all in and let me have at it. I was hooked instantly. I was also interested in drums, and my mom said, “Absolutely not, they are too loud!” Read more>>