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

Deep down, I’ve always known I was meant for a creative path. As a kid, I was constantly drawing pictures for people because art was something that brought me joy and I hoped it would bring others the same feeling. (My best friend still has a binder filled with drawings and doodles and art from when we were young; we laugh about it to this day.) Read more>>
Gillian Dubin

I was attracted to the arts at an early age. I enjoyed dance throughout my childhood years. Looking back on that now, there was an additional appeal to me regarding dance. With dance, came the costumes and all the set design for the recitals. Read more>>
Paul Buono

I stared performing live gigs in the Boston area at age 15 and knew very quickly that music and playing the guitar would p[ay a very big part of my life. The band I was in at the time recorded a two song vinyl 45 (I’m dating myself here) in the local studio so I got my first taste of recording at an early age. After graduating high school I attended Berklee Collège of Music located in the city of Boston where I continued my music training. and education. Read more>>
Raven Armstead

I’ve always had a creative mindset and growing up, I used that creativity as an escape from bad/stressful days. That creativity ranged from me started my own little nail salon business at the age of 11 or 12 to starting my own hair business for my friends parents and their friends at the age of 14. I would give other people a day of relaxation and escape and found a way to turn those passions into my jobs..but at the end of all those days, I always found myself falling back to my own art. To give myself my own peace/therapy/escape. Read more>>
Michelle Underwood

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative career path when I was a child. My mom would often times say, “I wish coloring could be a job” as her and I filled our pages with every color of the rainbow. I remember always thinking, “I’m going to find a way to make money with art!” I got my first camera when I was 11 years old, and fell in love with creating perspectives of every day things and locations. I felt like I could finally show the way I see life with my creative/distracted brain. Read more>>
Shiree Davis

I went to the first public performing and visual arts high school in Chicago (ChiArts). When I first went to the school I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a professional artist actually. Despite going to school from 8am til 5pm, I wasn’t that committed to the art profession until I was probably 17. I got selected for a scholarship to Anderson Ranch arts center in Colorado. When I was there I took a workshop for encaustic painting and sat for a week through various professional artist talks. Read more>>
Jency Hogan

Well, I always thought I wanted to be a broadcast journalist. But in high school, I did a one woman show and traveled around to different churches and events getting paid -performing it. And when I went to my college interview for trying to be a broadcast journalist, they told me because I was dyslexic and really wasn’t that great of a writer. Read more>>
Ashley Sellner

I worked for years as a photographer, weddings, children’s portraiture, and interiors, but I started on film. Once the industry changed over to a digital platform, I knew my days were numbered. Spending hours in front of the computer and learning new software to keep up with my peers did not interest me. I missed working with my hands. At lunch with a friend, I was asked the question – what do you do for fun? Read more>>
Matt Kennedy

Almost as soon as I could walk I was drawing. I learned to read very early and grew up in a household with a set of Collier’s Encyclopedias and Year Books which provided in-depth features on famous artists from antiquity up til the mid century when this set was published. Each volume had only a few color pages, all grouped in the middle, so when looking up artists like Jackson Pollack or Salvador Dali, my first impression of their work was in black and white. Read more>>
Zoe Veranda

From childhood, I always knew I wanted a creative element to my career and to be in the entertainment industry. I grew up in a household where music & art were foundational to my surroundings, supplemental to my growth, and aspirational to my goals. But I was only an “OK” singer, “OK” dancer, and beginner to intermediate in any instruments I attempted. Read more>>
Yadi Liu

When I was a college student back in China, I always loved art, especially illustration, and have taken on a few small gigs during my college years. But I never had the courage to make a living as an artist. However, after I became a full-time illustrator in a company after graduating, I drew a lot of different styles of illustrations in my work, which made me feel more and more lost. In order to be able to regain my original passion and find my own artistic voice. I decided to come to New York to start exploring my career as an artist. Read more>>
Claire Cafri

From a young chid I had a passion for dance. My parents gave me the gift of allowing me to pursue my dreams. Which led me to teaching kids dance, and after teaching kids for 20 years my best friend and I started Sweet Dream Tentz. Creating magical birthday parties for children. During covid we were struggling to celebrate birthdays with our kiddos and so we created a magical sleepover for them and realized how fun this was for the kids. Read more>>
Jenny Klug

After pursuing a degree for two years in Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, I had jumped around the science department, going from Fisheries and Wildlife to Animal Science. I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring and learning in that department, finding myself in very out of the box situations; learning to flip sheep, cleaning horses hooves, herding cattle, castrating piglets, and working on the research side of updating a marmoset enclosure. Read more>>
Daniel Kelly

Creativity and artistic endeavors were always close by throughout my childhood. As a kid I loved to draw and write stories but never thought too far into making it my career. Fast forward to graduating my senior year of high school, I was left with a decision to make on what I’d study in college. I chose nursing out of feeling like I didn’t know what else I’d do. I had lost touch with my creative roots that flow so heavily within me. Read more>>
Steve Korn

I have been inclined toward the arts from an early age. Initially fascinated with music, it become my main area of study and creative expression. Whether visual, auditory or imaginative storytelling, literature/film etc., I have always been drawn to it. I have ADHD and have learned that creative activities ave been a vital element to stimulating my mind. Read more>>
BiCoastal Pack

Growing up I have always been a creative. At a young age I was always intrigued by whats new my particulars were computers, gadgets, camcorders and fashion. After attending and graduating high school, I set out to pursue a career as a music video director. For me a music video is a clash of visual storytelling and fashion, Read more>>
Kyanté Brumfield

I consider myself an ABA therapist at day and a singer/entertainer at night. I am passionate about helping families and children on the Autism Spectrum but music will always be my first love. I’ve been a singer and a performer since I could say the word “sing”. Singing and performing started for me in church like every little southern, country girl. It wasn’t until I attended high school that I realized I could do this music thing professionally. Read more>>
Jingyi Peng

I choose this path because I struggled to make friends and fit in with groups n my childhood, which often left me feeling isolated. Painting is more enjoyable to me than making friends. Since I was a child, I used to draw a lot of charming female cartoon characters and imagine their exciting lives. Read more>>
Red Padilla

I didn’t ever think of music that way. I had dreams of being known for music but I didn’t actually pursue a career until I was 36. Growing up I never really knew what I wanted to do but I think that was because all I’ve ever wanted to do was music. I went to college but never finished and didn’t do well. Not because I wasn’t smart, it was because nothing interested me. The traditional path was never for me. Read more>>
Julia Larkin

When I was around 8 years old, my dad bought me my first guitar and started putting me in guitar lessons. I took guitar lessons for about 7-8 years. Throughout that time, I was doing any and all talent shows or performances offered at my middle and high schools. I also did a few hometown gigs at the age of 16. When it began time to start thinking about college, I really wanted to go to school for music. Read more>>
Sydney Hansen

I’ve known all my life since I was 7 years old that music was always going to be a big part of my life. I had been taking voice and guitar lessons and fell in love with it. I started taking it more serious when I was 13. This is when I started to write some decent songs for only being a young girl. So I decided to enter myself in a songwriting competition in my hometown of Duluth, MN. This was a contest at a local coffee shop ‘Wussows’. Read more>>
Shanti Hershenson

Although I am young, I can pinpoint several moments throughout my childhood in which I knew writing was what I wanted to do. For context, I’ve always been an exceptionally creative kid – I’d spend my time daydreaming, scribbling drawings of new characters, creating these little “books” that I would place on my shelf, as well as many more things. Read more>>
Marlene Jorge

“My trajectory as an artist started when I was 5 years old following an early curiosity for colors, shapes, and especially the human figure. I started drawing comics —imaginary stories about characters that I dreamed
of or invented and brought to life through my drawings. Like most artists, my work is primarily driven by emotion or expresses an emotion or state
of mind. I capture moments or elements of my life that resonate within the soul. Just like a personal diary, each one of my pieces possesses an emotional resonance. However, my body of work does not necessarily intend to convey any specific messages; my purpose is just to convey those experienced emotions.” Read more>>
Olivia Brydon

I knew creativity was always a path I could go down because I was heavily influenced by it from birth. Polymer clay was not my first avenue, all throughout my childhood and into my late teens I wanted to be a broadway performer. Theater ran deep in my family, but my passion started to dwindle when I came into contact with multiple teachers and educators that made me feel less than. Read more>>
Hillary Reese

The first time I went to Nashville was a definite eye opener when it came to careers in the music industry. I had no clue that there were so many people who were able to use their talents and actually make money from that. The first time I walked into a studio, I saw producers, engineers, and musicians, and I realized that they all were making a living doing this, so maybe I could. Read more>>
Eshay Brantley

– I’ve always danced since a child. – took a career test in 2011 right before high school thought I’d be matched with a law office but instead was matched as a arts educator – 2011 I started working at Pillsbury House teaching poetry to youth – From there I’ve fought to continue to be a artist. I went through homelessness in my teens and early twenties with my oldest son. – However I refuse to be a dream deferred Read more>>
Cecilia Anastos

I’m an award-winning Italian-American painter, when I paint, I get transported into a world of infinite imagination. Multiple colors surround me. I feel like the canvas patiently awaits to discover its own transformation. I hope one day everyone can feel like I do when they discover their purpose. Read more>>
Hayley Mercado
I’ve always known I wanted to be a singer. It’s always been my dream to be paid to do something I love. I decided to quit my full time job in 2020 to pursue music and even then, I wasn’t sold that it was the best idea I’ve ever had. I wasn’t convinced until I was introduced to a very good friend of mine, Bredt Showell, an incredibly talented drummer who has worked with notable names in the music industry. He was gracious enough to invite me to do a few gigs with him. Read more>>