Wanting to be an artist or creative is step one. Following through means investing in learning your craft, but we’ve heard from so many aspiring artists and creatives who feel unsure about where to start and so we’re incredibly grateful to the artists and creatives who’ve agreed to share their stories of how they learned their craft.

Braxton Turner

I taught myself to DJ in my bedroom at home. After Graduating High School, I saved up from my first job to buy my own pair of CDJs and a Mixer. I dove into learning through Youtube tutorials and lots of hands-on practice. Read more >>>

Zeke Farrow

It took me a long time to learn to do what I do and I’m still not sure if I know how to do it. Somehow I ended up a filmmaker. I started by training and working as an actor. I studied acting for over a decade and I worked on stage and on screen. Read more >>>

Lydia Real

I am self-taught. learned my craft through research, classes, trial, and error. I knew in my heart I wanted to capture visions of beauty that I saw in the women around me in the real world, as well as in my mind. I wanted to learn various media to evoke different feelings and personalities. Read more >>>

Lorenzo Torres 

At the time when I finally made the decision to immerse myself into the world of Fashion Design I had absolutely no understanding beyond the basics of minor sewing and mending and knew how desperately I wanted a change from my career at the Police Department. Read more >>>

Jason Gilbert

A lot of my knowledge came from talking with authors who are way ahead of me in their career as well as editors and publishers who carry the kind of experience you won’t find in a classroom. I also read ravenously, and I have a hard time writing if I’m not reading. Read more >>>

Daisy Peña

My journey with jewelry making began unexpectedly during the 2012 holiday season. I came across a macramé bracelet tutorial on Pinterest and decided to recreate them as personalized gifts for loved ones. That small spark turned into something much bigger, and I soon realized how much joy creating brought me. Read more >>>

Laura Dante

My Father played a huge part in my love of photography. He always had a camera or camcorder in his hands and would often make note of beautiful light, or an unexpected moment when out and about. At a very young age, maybe 11, I knew that a life behind the lens was my goal. Read more >>>

Pujarini Ghosh

I have learned most of my craft by following curiosity. Any time I encountered something immersive, interactive, or at the intersection of art and code, I fell down the rabbit hole to understand how it worked. I tend to “obsess by the year,” picking one area and going deep until I can build with it. Read more >>>

Lesette Maxwell

When I was in my first year of college and had to actually ask myself what I wanted to do, or what I enjoyed doing when I no longer had a familiar social life to try to fit into, I returned home to the idea of screenwriting. It felt so obvious. Read more >>>

Katie Gigliotti

Learning to write and illustrate picture books was quite an adventure! It began with a free Facebook class, which led to a deep dive into writing stories. I scoured the internet for anything I could find – reading and watching everything writing related. In those early days, I must have had at least 100 ideas, but I had a problem. Who would illustrate my stories? Read more >>>

Rose Trujillo Amandine Aman

Rose taught herself music production from a young age and honed the craft by going to Pyramind in San Francisco, while Amandine learned by taking online lessons. The two of us met through a music program that Rose organized back in 2019; its goal was to teach music related skills to women and nonbinary people. Read more >>>

Jonathan Castanon

Other than the occasional intro classes I took back at home, I didn’t really start exploring my creative outlets until 2020, when I enrolled at California State University, Monterey Bay as a Communication Design student. Read more >>>

Adrian Espinal

I learned the basics of acting when my middle school introduced a drama program and a drama club. I was twelve at the time. I was taught a very baseline understanding of line memorization, body language and articulation. Read more >>>

John Brodeur

I learned about writing songs from listening to them. It’s as simple as that. It’s a never-ending quest, from absorbing the commercial hit radio in my parents’ car as a child, to digging for deep soul cuts in the local shops today. Read more >>>