Are artists born or made? To help answer this question, we asked some of the most artistic folks we know to tell us about how they knew they were going to pursue an artistic or creative path. We’ve shared highlights below.

Corey Stone

During middle school and high school i knew i wanted to play the saxophone but i never knew to what extent. Once i got to college i knew that performing professionally is what i wanted to do! After hearing other saxophonist while in wind ensemble, jazz band, and marching band, i realized all the different colors a saxophone could make and also how a crowd reacts to hearing the expressive sounds of the instrument. Read more>>

Shari Lynette Carpenter

Even as a little kid, growing up in Washington DC, I knew I was a writer. First I thought I might be a poet but then I thought I was going to be a novelist. I had heard somewhere that Toni Morrison got up at 5am every day to write her first novel before she went to her day job and I imagined myself doing the same thing. Read more>>

AP Tobler

I knew that I wanted to be a musician from the second I first sat down at a drum kit, at the age of 8. I had been searching for some sort of activity or hobby, and wanted to do some sort of martial art. My mother had vetoed this idea as she didn’t want me getting injured, and suggested that I try an instrument. Read more>>

S. Frasher

I have always had a heart for writing. When I was a little kid, I would take my moms laptop after she went to bed and write stories, and once they were done I would print them off and take them to school so my friend could read them. Read more>>

Beatrice Onions

I was in a dorm room in Wellington, New Zealand, studying English Literature and I was miserable. I had an hour of homework a week, so I spent my time dodging parties and dreaming of this alternate reality where a much more vibrant and courageous version of myself went to drama school overseas. Read more>>

Tatiana Samano

I’ve always loved watching movies. At 14, after seeing how they made Iron Man, I grabbed my dad’s camcorder and started making movies with all the neighborhood kids. When I turned 16 I entered into a high school video contest, this time I borrowed my aunts camera, and submitted a PSA. Read more>>

Loredana Daroczi

Firstly, thank you for having me. This has to be my favourite question. It all happened when I went on a summer camp organised by the school. I was around 16 years old. During that summer camp, we had a lot of sports activities and games, and one day we had an acting game. Read more>>

Kimberly Korn

I was born in NYC and grew up in a home surrounded by the arts. My dad is a musician and my mom is an artist. We eventually moved to the Philly area. When I was 2 years old my parents took me to see the the Pennsylvania Ballet’s Nutcracker. Read more>>

Kris Dani

I had the great fortune of being raised in an incredibly creative and supportive environment. My family lived down the street from the expansive Terry Hershey Park in Houston, TX. I spent my childhood exploring the local wildlife and being serenaded by my dad’s cello playing and my grandpa’s “tickling of the ivories.” Read more>>

Miranda Xu

I have always had a strong interest in music. At the age of 4 my parents brought me to an instrument store and asked me to pick an instrument as my birthday gift, and that was how I started to learn the piano. Read more>>

Destiny X

Like most creatives; or maybe all children, I knew I wanted to pursue art when I was old enough to see how unhappy the adults around me seemed. Being a sensitive kid, taking in the world around you, you kind of internalize the things you see. The more I saw, the more confused I was. Read more>>

Crissy London

Growing up I never thought that I would be able to do anything creative as a career. I grew up in a household that valued grades and traditional job roles that would give me some sense of stability such as doctor, lawyer, professor, etc. Read more>>

Sarab Sahni

I embarked on my creative journey with photography at the age of 12. Through photography, I started creating series of photographs that evolved into storytelling. This path eventually led me to the world of moving images, and it took six more years for me to finally discover filmmaking. Read more>>

Tara Millamena

In my early twenties, I knew I wanted a career in a creative field. Many people think creative jobs aren’t real or that artists always struggle, but I didn’t let that stop me. As I grew older, I ignored those doubts. I saw successful creative people and knew I could be like them. Read more>>

Michelle Barillaro

Fall 2017- my daughter was a rising senior in high school so I finally had time and the space to create again after many years of focus on being mom and working full time as an architect/ contractor. Read more>>

Tim McFarlane

I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally when I was in high school. When I was in the 11th grade, I was able to take the upper level art class and that pretty much started it all. I was a kid who did a lot of creative things, like randomly drawing, coloring and later trying to copy the art in comic books. Read more>>

Kent Burkhardsmeier

In 2012 after nearly 30 years of a successful career in the corporate world, I noticed a loss of spark at work. I was not sure why, so I began reevaluating my career opportunities. During this time, my creative/artistic passion for landscape photography manifested. I developed an action plan to shift into this new career. Read more>>

Jasmine Davis

When I was in high school, I sang for the first time in Sex Ed class… believe it or not. After that day, everyone wanted to hear me sing. I became a soloist in my high school concert choir and I performed at every assembly. Even though I had people who loved hearing me sing, I had a lot of haters who said I couldn’t sing and unfortunately I developed stage fright. Read more>>

Lone MALEFHO

I am a jewelry influencer. it all began when I was growing up in a very strict Christian household. We attended the seventh day Adventist church which did not allow any kind of jewelry or piercings. This was very hard for me because I loved jewelry and it was always a passion of mine to have the best jewelry collection and to have piercings. Read more>>

Mina Ferrante

Growing up, I was used to strangers exclaiming when first introduced, “I know your grandma!” before they went on about what an incredible artist and person she was. In her time, she was well known as one of the first female artists in Vietnam to had a gallery and support her family by painting and drawing. Read more>>

Rose The Goat

I knew I wanted to be a musician at an early age. I have a love for music and instruments. I play the piano and I’m a singer, I love everything about music. I feel like music is literally an expression and my daily life. Read more>>

Tari Robinson

I’ve wanted to pursue a creative path since the age of six years old, when I first started writing little plays and songs. I vividly remember being in a show wagon with my siblings and cousins, rehearsing music and dance performances for a live audience. Read more>>

Stephen Edwards

I was a third year pre med student in 1976 in California.. I couldn’t believe the amount of information they wanted you to learn in a very short time. I was given one elective course in 4 years of study. Finals came around that year. The pressure was intense. Read more>>

Mars Luna

In another lifetime and universe ago, around the earth year of 2016, one of my best friends from high school passed away from cancer. When we graduated I promised her that I was going to put out a record someday, and it never happened while she was alive. Read more>>

Hailey Ezzell

I have always been interested in music in one way or another. I mean, when I was growing up, my mom says I taught myself how to read using the lyrics from “Phantom of the Opera”. I was surrounded by a constant stream of music: Read more>>

Markanthony Roman-Acevedo

At first, it started with not liking music. A pure hatred for radioplay, and anything not Eminem or LINKIN PARK. I remember getting my first USB MP3 player from my dad when I was about 8 years old. It was a little incentive that came along with his new Toshiba computer he had just bought. Read more>>

Dina Cruz

I’ve always wanted to pursue performing of some sort professionally. I remember being Clara, a sugar plum fairy and a part of the chorus of the same Christamas recital of the Nutcracker in second grade. As an adult acting and modeling was always a “good gig” for extra cash when my corporate job allowed time for it. Read more>>

Alexis Alarcon

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue this path I’m on, was when I was in High School. I remember watching a “Genius Deconstructed” video about the Producer Nick Mira. At that time, he was producing for the late rapper Juice WRLD and he talked about how whenever he got out of school, he would listen to the song he produced being played by the students in their cars. Read more>>

Bibi Sanchez

I’m from Coatzacoalcos, a tiny town in southern Mexico, in Veracruz State. There weren’t any big productions or professional performing arts classes there. I used to dance and loved it, but I had no idea about the world of Musical Theatre. When I was nine, I visited New York City for the first time. Read more>>