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. 

Kenedi Hindmarsh

I grew up absolutely surrounded by creativity, my mom modeled, and my grandma was the epitome of beauty and poise. My dad is a photographer, so I have always loved being in front of the camera. As a kid, I even walked in several Macy’s fashion shows showcasing the latest kids fashion, and grew up watching Americas Next top model! Read more>>

Anthony Esparza

The first time I felt the need to pursue a creative path happened when I was very young. It’s kind of a cheesy story actually. I was 5 or 6 years old and my stepmom took my little brother and myself to see A Goofy Movie (1995) in at our local theater. Read more>>

Melissa Turner Drumm

Growing up in New Orleans with an Architect as a father there was always an ongoing discussion about past and present building styles, craftsmanship and pride in all details. I aspired to be an Architect from an early age and would draw house plans during class time. Teachers didn’t mind because I wasn’t talking or being disruptive. Read more>>

Nadia Arambula

I believe my artistic path began before I fully understood it as a profession. I started dancing when I was 5 years old, and from a very young age, dance was always more than movement for me; it was something much bigger than myself. Read more>>

Rafa Salinas

I always knew, in a way, that I wanted to pursue a creative path. When I was finishing high school, I had to decide between studying architecture or graphic design. I didn’t know much about what either looked like professionally, and if I had, I probably would have chosen the latter. But I ended up choosing architecture. Read more>>

Reagan Stoyko

At first, photography was just something I did for fun. I would shoot small concerts of bands in my area that I liked, or my high school’s marching band, because my best friends were in the band. I started to get serious about it a couple of years ago when I was able to capture moments and memories for my friends that were so special. Read more>>

Amanda Pangelinan

It’s hard for me to point to one exact moment because music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved singing, performing, and writing, and for most of my life I carried two big dreams: becoming a doctor and becoming a successful music artist. Read more>>

Tamara Thomas

My name is Tamara Thomas, and I am an artist, designer, creative strategist, author, speaker, and community builder. At my core, I am a creator. Whether I am painting, designing, writing, speaking, mentoring, or building communities, I approach everything through a creative lens. My journey into the creative industry began in an unexpected way. Read more>>

Yingxi Liu

My mother played classical music recordings while she was pregnant with me. After I was born, classical music always helped me sleep peacefully and feel calm as an infant and toddler. I began learning keyboard at the age of three and switched to piano when I was in fifth grade. Read more>>

O’ Buttonz

When I realized I could get paid off something I controlled $ Read more>>

Vid Nelson

Well even at the time I was about 4 or 5 years old, songs used to make me cry. I would feel them immensely and would always go to my mom to hold me while I cried because I was so sensitive to it. Music has always affected me this way. I wrote my first song when I was around 8 yrs old. Read more>>

JEANNIE Ferguson-Goodlow

The 1st time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally is when I was thrown into a Fashion Show by my sister who was a plus size designer at the time. A model didn’t show up and she wanted to show the entire collection and she made me walk. I got a standing ovation from thousands of people. Read more>>

Roya Nazari Najafabadi

I think my artistic journey started when I was a child. I loved making things with my hands—drawing, painting, and creating all kinds of crafts. I would spend hours working on small projects just for fun. My mother noticed how much I enjoyed being creative and always encouraged me to keep going. Read more>>

Kadira Abou Said

I First Realized, I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I was about 17. Fashion wasn’t just something I admired, it became the way I expressed how I see the world. I found myself constantly thinking about design, colors and how clothing can reflect identity and culture. Read more>>

René Romero Schuler

I think I’ve known since kindergarten! I had a very enthusiastic teacher very boldly praised every piece of art created by the children in her classroom. Read more>>

Andee Rudloff

I was finishing up my collegiate path, and being told teaching was the most reliable career choice… Not interested in continuing to work in the academic world, I quickly thought I need to carve my own path. I felt like I had already worked for universities as a collegiate athlete and they were not kind. In fact, it was a brutal existence. Read more>>

Amanda Winston

The creative spark has been with me as long as I can remember. The first time I had an inkling that being a performer was a a thing you could do, I was a pre-schooler, cast as the ringmaster in our school circus play. The joy of performance was ignited from that experience. Read more>>

Zoe Furman

I’ve always been drawn to creative work. As a kid, I loved art and took lessons outside of school, exploring everything from mixed media to pottery. I was admittedly terrible at pottery, but I loved the process of creating and was excited to try every artistic medium I could get my hands on. Read more>>

Eric Dubnicka

Growing up in small-town Northern Wisconsin in the late 1900s, there was no sense a person could have any type of creative career, so as one does, they head for the mountains. After a few serendipitous steps I landed in a role leading crews of scientists around the Tongass National Forest of SE Alaska collecting data for various studies for a number of years. Read more>>

Tamra Sattarelle

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic career when I was very young. Art was always a part of my life, and my father played a major role in inspiring me to pick up a paintbrush and explore my creativity. Read more>>

Andrea Betts

I knew from a very young age that all I wanted to do was create fantasy worlds. I loved stories, particularly ones from books and video games. When it came to video games, I was enraptured by the environments, the character art, and even details like how certain characters decorated their houses. Read more>>

Randee Paufve

It actually happened three times — or maybe it was one long realization arriving in stages. The first flash came at age six, in my very first ballet class. I had no idea what ballet was. I just knew we learned dances while holding a barre, and something clicked. That was it: I wanted to dance. Read more>>

Penelope Peralta

I think I officially decided to pursue a creative and artistic path professionally during high school. While I had always been drawn to art from a young age—through drawing, painting, and later experimenting with photography using a point-and-shoot camera—it was my studio art classes that made me feel truly fulfilled. Read more>>

Sebastiano Sallemi

The reason I fell in love with cinema was without a doubt my father (and his love for cinema). Read more>>

Cailla Williams

So I started drawing at the age of 6. I was heavily influenced by my cousin. I know for a fact this was not his intention, but my cousin showed me how to be different. It started with the stick figures. I’m pretty sure everyone drew stick figures the same, but my cousin drew his completely different. Read more>>

Lisa Mitts

I actually had a later start than most music artists…while I was raised in music as a child from the age of 6 with 12 years of classical piano training, vocal lessons and musical theatre, I put al of that aside after my first year of college when I realized I did not want to be a classical pianist and instead switched majors to Broadcasting Production in Journalism and Communications. Read more>>

Jamila Williams

Looking back, I’ve always been creative. As a kid, I was constantly doing arts and crafts, and I remember trying to make clothes for my Barbies out of old socks because I wanted them to have different outfits. As I got older, that creativity evolved into fashion. While I was in college, I loved going to thrift stores and hunting for unique pieces. Read more>>

Ernest Musik

At the tender age of five, I had my first profound encounter with music that would shape my future. It was a sunny afternoon when I discovered my great-grandmother’s old grand piano. As I approached the instrument, a sense of wonder washed over me. Read more>>

Will Chatlosh

The moment I realized I wanted to pursue art honestly came from a significant rejection at a time of great change in my life, preceded by many years of developing my artistic skills primarily for fun! The primary medium I use for my artwork is crochet, and it is something I picked up from YouTube around the age of eleven as a hobby. Read more>>

Zakk DeBono

I don’t know that there was one specific moment when I decided to pursue music professionally because music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started playing bass when I was four years old, and growing up, I was completely immersed in artists like The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and the Small Faces. Read more>>

Hyotak Woo

I am an interior architectural designer driven by my curiosity about the relationship between people and the built environment. Throughout my life, I have always been interested in observing how people interact with spaces and questioning why environments are shaped the way they are. I was born in Venezuela, raised and educated in Argentina, Ecuador, Korea, The United States, Bolivia, Mexico, and Hong Kong. Read more>>

Lindsey Malone

Makeup became an outlet for me after my marriage ended. I wasn’t always uplifted or made to feel beautiful, so when I left my ex-husband, instead of going out and partying, I stayed home and immersed myself in makeup. I spent hours experimenting with special effects looks, practicing techniques, and perfecting my craft. Read more>>

Vando Davis

I became aware of my true passion for art in May 2016. Prior to that, I was a full-time music producer specializing in remixes for the U.K. market. I often found myself working late into the night on music projects, only to feel compelled to pick up a paintbrush afterward. Read more>>

Kwesi Medley

I was born in the city of New Orleans, La. which is a city heavily rooted in music. Strolling through New Orleans you are sure to come across plenty of Jazz and Brass clubs and bands. Also, New Orleans has a Mardi Gras culture here which has spawned a unique Genre of Music as well. There’s also a splash of Hiphop culture here, too. Read more>>

Dani Sade

I don’t remember choosing creativity… it always felt like it chose me. As a little girl, I was constantly creating—filling sketchbooks with outfit ideas, piecing together looks in my mind before I even understood what fashion really was. I was always expressive, always drawn to the camera, always finding ways to be seen without even trying too hard. Music lived in me early. Read more>>

Jackie Bertolette

When I was in college, I was planning on going into psychology but quickly realized that it was not for me. I dropped out and took a step back to reevaluate what I wanted. Quite by happenstance I was at a party talking with a young lady that I hadn’t met before. She told me she was in Photography school and it peaked my interest. Read more>>

Alexandra Rowley

I think I’ve always known, if I’m being honest with myself. Since I was a small child. There’s actually video evidence. When I was around eight years old, I was interviewed by an NYU clinician who was studying — and I love this — ‘normal children.’ She asks what I want to be when I grow up, and without hesitation I say: ‘An artist. Read more>>

Hannah Strumner

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue songwriting professionally was back in 2020. I always loved creating music but I didn’t know it was going to become a career path and not just a hobby for me. Read more>>

Tyler Cobillas

Back in 2018, I first started my first lyric video with the intent of helping artists have creative and engaging visuals. I wasn’t sure what I was looking to do with my career, but at the time this avenue seemed interesting. Read more>>

RealYungG

Music has always been my dream ever since I was a young kid. Music was the only way I can express myself emotionally and creatively I knew it was my passion when I wrote my first song at the age of 9 and ever since then I been building my career. Read more>>

Tatiana Fedotova

I was lucky to be surrounded by very supportive and talented people in the magic community from the very beginning of my interest in magic. Many of them made encouraging comments when I performed, even in my early days. I paid close attention to those words because they came from respected and accomplished magicians. They have probably forgotten what they said, but I still remember. Read more>>

Evelyn Spencer

I think I first knew I was creative when I realized I saw things differently than other people. I could look at an outfit, a room, a photo, or even a person’s energy and instantly imagine how to make it feel better, look better, or tell a story. Read more>>