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

Marconi Calindas-Cafege

Well, that’s a good question. I was a writer slash journalist and marketing consultant for years when my now husband noticed my creative side as I was creating art on the side while I was doing my journalism job. I was a Marketing Consultant for a renowned auditing firm and a part time writer for a lifestyle magazine back in Manila, then I had an opportunity to work as a reporter for a leading newspaper in the Northern Mariana Islands. Read more>>

Joshua Davis

The moment when I had my first solo at church, I knew I was destined to be a creative force in the arts. Since then, my gifts have expanded beyond singing. I. now compose music in various genres and enjoy telling stories through musicals. Read more>>

Valerie Star

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been captivated by the magic of colors and art. This fascination has accompanied me throughout my life, shaping my perspective and fueling my creative journey. I’ve hopped from one creative pursuit to another, finding interest in every medium and subject matter. This freedom to explore has been a rewarding journey of self-discovery. Read more>>

Gabi Amie

Growing up in West Texas as a Swedish-born Syrian immigrant, I felt constant gratitude for living in a land of opportunity. In first grade, I began learning English and appreciated its universally understood nature. With proper knowledge of American culture and language, I became the most literate in English of my family. This meant gaining skills of negotiation, career-related paperwork, and skillful writing at an early age to help my parents. Read more>>

Ashton John

The first time I knew I wanted to be a performer was when I about 5 years old. When I was young, I would spend my summers in Maryland at a campground. Every summer the campground held a talent show/lipsync for the campers. My family always heavily participated in the show as my grandmother was the activities director for the campground. Read more>>

Anthony Anderson

When I was just a kid, I began to have these aspirations. I knew I either wanted to play in the NBA, or make music and be an artist/musician. And from that point on, it became my focus! It’s been that way for as long as I can remember! Read more>>

Dan Milam

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path from a very young age. When I was seven years old, my mom signed my siblings and me up to be in a rendition of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I don’t remember much about the casting process, but we all got parts, and I was cast as Mustardseed. Read more>>

Katia Eggcloud

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was in my early thirties. Even though I have been drawing since I was a child, always sketching in my notebooks and creating little pieces of art for friends and family. During the 90’s in Poland my grandma would always buy me sketchbooks with some catchy covers, always telling me: Read more>>

Jeffery Glenn

I knew since I was about 7 years old. I pretty much grew up on the stage. I was always singing, acting, and dancing. My sister “Fabulous Elle” and I were 8 1/2 years apart and I grew up watching her on dance teams and in theatre, so I’d pretty much watch her and do whatever she was doing. we’d cut a fool together. We would make up songs and dances around the house. Read more>>

Cassaundra Flor

I’ve always loved being creative, growing up I always kept a sketchbook and documented ideas and images that intrigued me. This is a practice that has stayed with me in my adult years. It’s helpful as an artist to write down your thoughts, ideas, inspirations no matter how trivial they may seem at the time. These become guideposts in understanding yourself and what is important to you. Read more>>

Tonia Ranco

I have always been obsessed with makeup. At the age of 47, my husband suggested I become an Influencer. I thought he was crazy. Honestly, I was completed terrified of becoming a beauty influencer. I grew up hearing all the things that were “wrong” with me. Your lips are too big, your eyes are too big, etc. So to put myself on a platform to be possibly torn apart, I was hesitant. Read more>>

Darrel DeWitt

Hopefully this won’t seem like a convoluted answer to a simple question. I honestly didn’t know or question it until way into my career. To give a little back story, I was the kid that often would hang out and listen to adults talking rather than playing with the other kids. I’ve always enjoyed friends of all ages. Because I always had friends that were older than me, from a young age I had several friends that worked in salons. Read more>>

Jai Ingersoll

Sensuous Enemy is a twenty year old darkwave electronic band led by myself, Jai Ingersoll along with Joh Freriks, programmer/guitarist and Bob Hensley programmer/drummer. I have have been a musician, composer, pianist and performing artist for most of my life and wanted to express my life experiences through music and the arts, Starting at age seven, I took piano and singing lessons for ten years and learned to love music with all my heart and soul. Read more>>

Marlo Marquise

I always knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally. As a child I was always drawing and creating. I had a really wild imagination, and was always interested in the arts of all kinds. My parents in fact still have artwork I did from age 4 into my college years. As a teenager I tried creating with any medium I could get my hands on, and I even went to live drawing night classes at the local college when I was 16. Read more>>

Alisha Reid

Since I was first asked what I wanted to be when I grew up in the third grade, I knew the answer was to be a singer. However, in my grade school days, I was too shy to admit that deep down, my purpose was a much greater risk than the common career choices I would hear about. As I improved in my craft, I would constantly hear, “You’re going to be a star,” “Remember me when you become famous,” and I even won a superlative stating “Most Likely to Be on American Idol.” Read more>>

Warren Cobb

The first time I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path in the arts was when I was a senior in high school where I participated in the chorus. I had been playing guitar for many years prior and had just started to teach guitar at a local music store. At the same time, I developed an interest in using my voice as a secondary instrument. Read more>>

Orli Swergold

The summer before my Junior year of college I had the privilege of studying abroad with Brandeis in Siena, Italy. While I was there I studied late medieval/early renaissance Italian artworks such the Allegory of Good and Bad Government. The experience of being surrounding by art and art history pushed me to commit myself further to art making. Read more>>

Alexander Callaway

It all started when I joined high school, I was told as a freshman getting into musicals within the first year is hard and rare, but I was lucky enough to partake in the musical as ensemble which was huge to me because I had no acting experience…only singing in choirs. I have expression and freedom which is what got me through I believe and it helped shine through within the musicals also. Read more>>

Judith Ingram

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally when I was 3. I say this because when I was 3 I was told that I loved to sing and I always was trying to imitate mainstream singers. Also, my father was a singer, music teacher, songwriter, producer, and was able to play multiple instruments. His father played the guitar. Read more>>

FranShay

My dad always pushed me hard as a kid in music and at that time i didn’t really understand. So after growing up having multiple occupations where I could never be settled at or just like completely comfortable at , I took a leap of faith and started putting together my own jam sessions. Work ethic is a major factor of music and I learned a lot about that after hosting my own shows. Read more>>

Antonio Alvarez

It all started when i was 15. I picked up my first turntables & started doing house parties when I was in high school. During the duration of my sophomore & junior year, I was hanging out with the wrong crowd & got derailed. It was an uncle of mine who spoke to me giving me tough love expressing I needed to get my *ish together. Read more>>

Ashwin Challapalli

I have been an artistic person from the very start. As a child, I attended painting and art classes regularly. In school, I loved spending time in the art department and eagerly participated in art classes. I always immersed myself in creative activities, whether it was building sets for dramas or simply painting. I also enjoyed pottery classes, which further fueled my creative passion. Read more>>

Samuel Nkrumah

I realized I wanted to pursue a creative journey probably way back in my junior year of high school. I loved to draw and create sci-fi settings straight from my imagination. However, I felt like I could elevate my craft in a new art form but didn’t know how. One day, a friend who often saw me draw abstract and cool sci-fi pieces told me, “I think I know something you would like to do.” Many of my friends knew me as a nerdy guy who loved computers and all their complexity. Read more>>

Kristi Taylor

When I was a kid, I loved making homemade movies with my cousins. We would put so much effort into them making them into our best renditions of those movies we’d seen in the theaters. Eventually, we began writing and creating stories on the spot for movie making as well. But, it wasn’t until I had a few years of community theatre and little film projects under my belt, that I started thinking it might be something I could do forever. Read more>>

Karen Elizabeth Baker

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path when I was working in my career in the women’s footwear arena of the fashion business. I was responsible for sales and business development and was very successful. One of the things that drew me to the industry was my interest in the creative aspect of the product. I was involved with better women’s shoes and every season was a delight when the new styles were presented. Read more>>

Raechell Tamaryn

My passion for music started the moment I was born; I came out of the womb loving music and dance. I began playing the piano when I was young, soon after started singing, and writing songs. From grade 4 to 11, I was bullied and had few friends, so I spent a lot of time alone in my livingroom with my piano. During those years, I found solace and inspiration in other artists, who helped me feel less alone. Read more>>

Al Piper

When I was around 5 years old, my family joined a new church in Silver Spring. Shortly after we joined, my older sister, by seven years, was cast in the church’s production about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. I remember—during one rehearsal I was dragged to—being in my own little world in the back of the room, playing with paper or a toy and then I heard a bout of THUNDEROUS laughter. Read more>>

Tina Mayes

I have always had a creative drive, from the earliest age I sought out creative outlets. I remember being 7 years old and getting all the neighborhood kids together to launch a play in this grassy area in the parking lot of our huge apartment complex. I hung a sheet on a rope that was hung between two small trees for our curtain, though I cannot recall the play or how it turned out. Read more>>

Kevin Heisinger

When I was in 3rd grade, my dad pulled me out of public school and sent me to a private school called Waldorf. I’m not exactly sure what I learned there, mostly that trees have feelings too. But it was there I learned how to tap into my creative side, and realized that I loved making people laugh. I was constantly telling stories to my classmates, and as I got older started making comedic short films with them. Read more>>

Adam Hinkelman

While the idea of pursuing a career in the arts was seeded in my mind at an early age, it did not become a reality until my early 30’s. For a decade, I developed outdoor industry experience while painting and commissioning works on the side. There was never a singular moment that initiated my shift to the arts, but rather many which coalesced to giving me the confidence to change my primary career trajectory to become an artist and art educator. Read more>>