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

Abstract C.i.m

Before I claimed poetry as my passion and what I wanted to do in life, I knew I was born to be an artist. Visual art, specifically drawing, was my first love. It was my dream career. I spent an insane number of hours and days creating doodles ever since I was a baby to beautiful works of art as a trained student. I can remember days as a youth during recess choosing to finish a piece of art instead of run around with friends. Read more>>

Adrianna Dyson

“Maddie knew who she was from a very early age.” Growing up, I was surrounded by adults and older kids who engaged in various forms of art. Whether it was painting, making clothes, crafting, drawing, dancing, or even music, these people had a huge impact on me, and their creativity became ingrained in me. I began drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil or crayon. Read more>>

Alexander Tamahn

While I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally, I do remember the moment I was ready to take the leap. From a young age, I had a natural affinity for art and performance, and while that talent was nurtured to some extent, I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s—a time when the intersection of creativity and technology wasn’t as vibrant as it is today. Although I was passionate about the arts, I couldn’t yet see a clear, sustainable career path for myself. Read more>>

Amarachi Crystal Esowe

I’ve always been a creative child. I can’t remember when I didn’t draw on everything. It came to the point where I took pens, pencils, and paper with me everywhere. I remember when my mother bought me a blue creative activity bookcase in elementary school. I think I spent more time in that briefcase than I did in front of the television, doing activity books, coloring, and crafts. Read more>>

Andrew Santana

Music is in my blood, my dad was a musician & my mother always sang growing up. Long before I came around, my parents came over to NY from Puerto Rico, ironically my mom was in a band making some new records & during this time my dad had his own group of musicians where they used to frequent several night disco’s/clubs, and it was through this means where my parents actually met down the line. Everything else is history. Read more>>

Arnold Lau

I have a high school diploma and a Bachelor of Arts in film and media studies. For my career and back story momentum and career is like. *Ready too work* and Alway BE creative*.. When I started taking pictures as a kid Read more>>

Brandon English

Pretty early on, I found myself getting lost in film and TV to the point where I actually believed I was living those lives. For example, after watching a movie about the army, I’d leave the theater thinking I was on the run, chasing after the bad guys. I even thought I wanted to be a model at one point, just because I’d watched “Zoolander.” I didn’t realize then that it wasn’t modeling I was drawn to—it was acting. I fell in love with the absurdity of the character and the world he lived in. Read more>>

Caity Babs

In high-school I was so hard on myself. I constantly looked for others approval and never thought I was smart enough to do something really big. I took the easy way out and went for the only thing I thought I was good at, “Hair Dresser? Sure, let’s try it”. I went to school, worked in a salon and realized this was not the career I wanted for the rest of my life, but what other talents did I have? Read more>>

Caroline Heckman

As a young child, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was certain I was going to become a painter. I’ve always been a creative type, exploring my imagination through writing, drawing, etc. I vividly remember playing around with a variety of mediums such as markers, pens, crayons, Play Doh, and paint. I came from a supportive household that encouraged artistic expression in all forms. Read more>>

Cherisha Heart

I always knew I would be a singer ever since I was a child but I think by around age 15 I realized I had it in me to do it professionally. I was singing my heart out at all the local open mics, and was very well received. I got lots of compliments on my voice and I hadn’t taken any voice lessons at the time. Read more>>

Chiedozie Iroh

Growing up as a kid, my whole life was deeply into basketball. Like any kid with hoop dreams, my goal was to play for the best university and make it to the NBA. I discovered my creative path as an athlete, model, and actor during childhood. The stories of my favorite athletes like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Steph Curry were inspirational to me. I was inspired by the art of storytelling in sports documentaries, Marvel movies, and video games. Read more>>

Christy Ukata

I always wanted to play sports full-time. Even though I used to sing in high school and had some acting abilities, my sole focus was on sports, as I started making a living from it at the age of 15. I played basketball in the Togolese league and made a name for myself, which earned me a spot on the national team. I played for Togo because I was born there. I was paid during those years, and it felt good, though I didn’t know what to do with the money other than buy myself new sneakers. Read more>>

Dario Black

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was when I began writing love poems. I’ve always been captivated by the concept of love—how this one word can carry so much weight, evoke deep emotions, and be experienced in countless ways beyond just romantic relationships. My journey began with poetry, where I explored these different dimensions of love. Over time, those poems evolved into songs, and I found myself experimenting with melodies, slowly building the confidence to sing them out loud. Read more>>

David Milkis

I grew up in a family of musicians going back three generations. The path was always set for me, but was it my decision? Far from it, it was simply a part of who I am. Being part of dynasty of musicians, surrounded by professional creativity, I was always looking forward to seeing what that meant for me. But I didn’t know how to take it seriously. It was just something that was always there, something I can always lean on and look at my family and see myself within. Read more>>

Emmy Panzica-piontek

It’s just who I was from the jump. A significant person in my life used to tell me that a great way to find your joy is to think back on what brought you joy as a kid. And, I was the kid who LOVED “make pretend”. I would develop these detailed plotlines, pitch them to my friends on the playground, and assign their parts. I loved stories, I loved reading. I wrote stories and gave them to my second-grade teacher to check my grammar. I would walk home with a cello on my back and a book in my hands. Read more>>

Hailey Stevens

Growing up, drawing was my favorite activity. My parents signed me up for a lot of athletic and social activities which kept me busy and exhausted, so I was always looking forward to sitting down and creating art at the end of the day. Between school, sports (and, sometimes, bullies), drawing was my escape from the real world and a chance to explore my own. Read more>>

Hunter Krueger

I left a job that was pretty decent but completely routine to me. I knew all the ins and outs and wanted something more. So I moved on to a new job and quickly found that the company wasn’t what I expected. I received two paychecks that were short or otherwise less than agreed and quit that job on the spot. You might think the story would begin there but I still persisted. Found yet another job that I hoped would be more what I was after. It was not. I ended up deciding at that job that I wanted to take steps toward starting my own business and working for myself. Read more>>

J. Stacey Grayson

I have always been a creative person, starting at a very young age. Over the years, I always had opportunities to utilize the natural skills and abilities that I possessed but I never considered pursuit of a career in a visual arts capacity. I did however, want to become a theatrical performer or broadcast personality. Upon graduation from college, I quickly accepted the reality of pursuing an acting/communications career would elude me for years if not forever, so I secured “traditional” types of employ and spent many years working at various jobs in the educational, travel industry, and customer service fields, the most recent being in the Facilities area at a well known Atlanta institution of higher education. Read more>>

Jack Chen

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was when I joined an a cappella group in college. I initially joined the group as a way to meet new people and make more friends, but I quickly fell in love with the entire culture of a cappella. It was through a cappella that I rediscovered my love for music. Growing up, I played and studied a lot of Classical music. I learned both piano and violin, and although I initially loved playing these instruments, I eventually grew tired of constantly playing Classical music.  Read more>>

James Gilmore

I knew at an early age that I wanted to pursue filmmaking! I come from a family that loves to watch movies together and at the end of each film everyone gets up out of their chair from the theater or their couch and leaves. I’ve always been curious to see all the names of people who worked on the film. “Who are all these people?” I used to say to myself. I was always captivated by the stories, the characters, and most of all, by how certain films made me feel. Read more>>

Jared Crowley

I think I’ve known as early as I’ve been able to imagine the idea of a career. As a kid, I was always enamored with any behind the scenes content I could get ahold of. All of the DVDs I owned had the same situation; the first disc, the one that held the actual movie on it, would maybe have a few scratches here and there, but would generally be in pretty fair condition. The second disc, however, the one full of mini-documentaries peeling the curtain back on how these movies were made, would almost always be trashed. Read more>>

Jesse Duquette

For me, there is no time before wanting to pursue art as a professional endeavor. Some of my earliest memories are of pouring through my dad’s old Zap Comics and Heavy Metal magazines (at far too young an age, an early exposure for which I am eternally grateful), both mesmerized by the artwork and gobsmacked that people actually got to do this sort of thing for a living. Read more>>

Jesus (chucho) Morales

Since I was a little kid, I was always entertained by TV and movies. I could spend hours watching the programs I liked, and I would even re-watch shows multiple times, experiencing the same excitement as I did the first time. As I grew older, I became more intrigued by the creation of movies and TV. I would watch a movie and start thinking about how they made it, what elements were involved in the creation of a project, how long it took to be completed, and other questions that formed in my mind. Read more>>

Jewels Jaselle

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path I was about 8 years old. Music and acting just came easy to me in the sense I loved expressing myself in these forms. It was more than just playing around; it felt like I was unlocking parts of my soul every time I sang a song or played the role of being someone else. There was this magical feeling of freedom, where I could explore emotions and stories that were not my own, yet felt deeply personal. Read more>>

Jocelyn Chemel

I have always been someone who changes direction every few years but the one constant has always been my art practice. As a child I always played at being the Teacher. I went to college and graduated as a psychologist. One day when I was pregnant with my first child I started experimenting with watercolor. it was the first time I had picked up a paint brush. I knew at that moment that I was fully present and joyful creating beauty and color. Read more>>

K’ondre Linden

As far back as I can remember, I have always been a lover and fan of music and creative arts. They have always sparked my interest and captivated me. Whether it be any kind of music, dance, visual art or all of the former come together to make one fantastic product. Read more>>

Kaden Bard Dawson

I have been interested in art for as long as I can remember. At an early age, I enjoyed drawing and fabricating works of art from recycled materials. I think on some level I always knew I was going to pursue a creative path; I just didn’t know what shape it would take. My freshman year of high school, I took my first photography class, and that completely changed my world. Those four years in school I learned the entire process of analog photography from shooting, developing film, and producing prints in the darkroom. Read more>>

Kaitlyn Miller

Around the age of 2 years old, I was diagnosed with very low muscle tone and a syndrome called hypotonia. My mom would take me to physical therapy to help strengthen my muscles, but she said I would just scream and cry so they suggested she put me in some sort of movement class to help improve my muscle tone. I started taking ballet classes and my mom said I ran up to her after my first class and I told her I wanted to be a ballerina. Read more>>

Kamodah

I knew I wanted to do music since I was a child. I was that kid that practiced singing in front of the mirror. When I got to a certain age, I would make sure I was alone when I sang. I mean I would check the garage, front yard, back yard, and the whole house. There was one time where I thought I was home alone and began practicing. After about twenty minutes, I hear my mom call out to me from her room and I froze, a wave of disbelief washed over me. I rarely shared my passion with others, mostly due to fear. Read more>>

Kelci Loring

I remember being 6 years old and seeing my mom putting on her shoes and coat. She said “I’m going to see a play.” “What’s a play?” I asked. I will never forget my delight and excitement for adventure when she said “Wanna come and find out?” I had no idea that it would change my life. I watched that high school production of Annie, and when we were leaving during the curtain call to beat traffic I turned around and saw Annie taking her bow. Read more>>