Do you remember the moment you realized what you wanted to do professionally? Was it magic? Was it scary? We wanted to hear from some of the most talented artists and creatives in the community and so we asked them to tell us the story of the moment when they knew they were going to pursue a creative career path.

Zeeshan Khan

I’ve always had a deep fascination with the world of film and cinematography. As an eight-year-old growing up in Bangalore, India, a city known as the Silicon Valley of India, it was almost expected that I would pursue a career in engineering or medicine, just like most of my family members. But I had other plans, and I was determined to pave my own path. Read more>>

Diego Ratto (TTØRA)

I realized my passion for a music career relatively late in life, I first knew that I wanted to pursue a career in music when I was 24 years old. Before that, I was working as a mechanical designer in Italy, but I knew deep down that it wasn’t the life I wanted. Although I had played electric guitar since age 12 and always dreamt of pursuing music professionally, I struggled to envision it as a viable career path. Read more>>

Dvir Benesh

If you would have ask me 10 years ago, how do I see my future and career, my answer would have been 180 degrees from now. My life experience and life goals all the way from childhood to youth, were totally different from art. I grew up in a small village somewhere far there is Israel. Yes yes.. Israel. I came from a very patriotic family with a military background in the IDF. My Whole childhood I was doing sports like soccer, basketball, Tennis, and what not? I was a very energetic and restless kid. Read more>>

Nicole Croteau

I sat down in my 2 story house in Whitefish Montana with tears rolling down my face. 13 years old and experiencing my first “heartbreak,” or so I thought. I didn’t know what to do with the constant flow of emotions and thoughts running through my head. At the edge of my bed leaned my moms nylon string guitar she had from when she was a kid. I picked it up and started plucking around on it. Read more>>

Amira Noor

Ever since I was a little girl! Other than the creative arts, I never really enjoyed my academic subjects in school or could see myself pursuing anything else other than an artistic path. I began to follow and take it more seriously when the time came to apply to colleges and the nerves kicked in as I watched my friends figure out their career paths and apply to non-creative/artistic schools. Although college was never on my mind, I knew that if I was going to have to go to one, it would have to be either a music or drama school. Read more>>

Andrea Doss

The first time I knew I wanted to be an artist was a surprise, because I had no idea that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. Although I have always been a creator and have always made art, I had never really considered it as an career option, Then one day, on a whim, I decided to post a painting for sale online. It was a whimsical painting of two quirky women walking a silly dog, something I made because it amused me. Read more>>

Laura Burkhart

For as long as I can remember, from the moment I could pick up a crayon, I have been making art. And as soon as I understood being an Artist could also be a profession, it was my dream to pursue it. As I got older and was told over and over again how hard it was to do this, and how few people actually make art a career, I did waiver, but it never stopped being the dream. I tried to talk myself into many other career paths along the way, Read more>>

Will Lunsford

Art has always has been the one constant in my life. The outlets of expression may change but the desire to create has been with me since the first after-school art classes I took in the first grade. Read more>>

August Blue

I think I knew from when I first started playing guitar in 7th grade. I felt an attachment to my guitar and it always felt like more than a “hobby.” I distinctly remember going to my first open mic night at the Highway 61 Roadhouse in Webster Groves, MO. I must have been 13 or 14 years old. In high school, I started going to Broadway Oyster Bar, BB’s Jazz Blues & Soups or wherever else I could learn from musicians in the scene here in St. Louis or play gigs. Read more>>

Angie Lopez-White

Ever since I was young I have always loved creating art! One of my earliest memories involve drawing my house during kindergarten and making my own illustration books at home. This would be a theme throughout my life, and I became the “art girl” to those who knew me. However, I never considered entering an artistic profession. Read more>>

Mark Feijão Milligan II

While walking through my neighborhood to catch the bus one afternoon, I remember feeling a great sense of pride. I must have been about 13 years old. I was walking up the hill to Centerline road in a neighborhood called Whim, which is on the western side of St. Croix, USVI. As I walked past the houses, my senses were filled with varying sights, smells and sounds of the African diaspora. Read more>>

Mari Redd

I was introduced to the arts and entertainment industry young. My mother was an experienced fashion model, dancer, singer, and video producer while my father was a well-known music producer, DJ, and engineer who worked with legends such as Twista, Crucial Conflict, Kanye West, Sinbad, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre just to name a few. At two years old, dance became my first language before I knew how to talk in full sentences. Read more>>

Jessica Miller

When I was a little girl I couldn’t get enough field trips to Art Galleries and treasured spending my time adventuring the Appalachian Mountains and East Coast with my family. My love for vibrant colors, dancing light, and the natural flora and fauna spoke to me at a very early age. I was mesmerized watching Bob Ross painting his magical pictures, and would spend hours poring through Ansel Adams’ art, National Geographic, Frank Lloyd Wright’s work and Architectural Magazines. Read more>>

Dr. Peace Uche [aka Doc Peace]

I first became aware of my desire to seek a career in the arts and creative fields when I was only 12 years old. I had always been attracted to artistic expression as a child of Nigerian descent growing up in a Southern Californian household. I wrote my first book, “The Midnight Show,” which was a motivational rhyme, at that early age. But I set that dream aside because my family told me “you can’t make money in art” in an effort to get me ready for the harsh “reality” of the world. Read more>>

Erynn Monae

It all started during my freshman year of high school when I was around 14 years old. I’ve always had a deep fascination for art, especially in the areas of modeling, fashion, and beauty. I would upload makeup and hair tutorials on my YouTube channel when I was in high school, as well as doing photo shoots and attending castings for fashion shows. Read more>>

Danielle Warren

I went to Paris to study art at the École Des Beaux-Arts. My grandparents lived in France and my grandfather was a professional artist who inspired me to pursue a creative life. The first moment I realized I wanted to become an artist was in a studio where I was studying life drawing, The room was large with sculpted pillars where a feeling that ancient artists had roamed the halls leaving there spirits all around us. Read more>>

Cris Jackson

I actually wanted to be a professional dancer for most of my life before switching career paths to visual art. I was practically raised in dance studios, where I was professionally trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, musical theatre, hip hop, and a number of other styles. I don’t remember exactly when I started being serious about it, but by the time I was in middle school I was treating dance like a job. Read more>>

Whitney Tates

Knowing I wanted to pursue a full-time art career wasn’t an immediate revelation. I’d spent six years working in a corporate environment, each morning more difficult to rise than the last. My work environment was not hospitable or conducive to much creative expression or good mental health. In the beginning, I worked 6 days a week in a large office filled with a sea of cubicles, loud typing, popping gum, personal phone calls, and smelly lunches. The worst part was, there were no windows. Read more>>

Jacob Shaw

Art didn’t come into my life until my Junior year of High School. I always had a nack for drawing and being creative, but I didn’t really dive into it until I had a pretty serious neck injury wrestling. Art wasn’t even on my radar, when I got injured all my future plans got completely stripped from me. I took an art class thinking that would be easy while on pain killers and my teacher completely changed my life. She helped me get a portfolio that got me into college and eventually lead to me becoming Artist. Read more>>

Nora Feldman

I have always been driven by creativity. As a child, I was a homebody who filled absolutely every free moment with creative endeavors: I filmed short movies and TV commercials, wrote and performed songs, created dynamic multi-person dance routines, painted and drew in front of the TV, made cards and gifts with random bits and bobs in a craft bucket full of things my mother couldn’t throw away, designed brochures for imaginary businesses, built and decorated elaborate Sims homes instead of actually playing the game; Read more>>

Jalen Divad

I’ve always been creative and into anything that could be used as a way to express my creativity. Growing up I’ve always busied my time with creative projects and teachings to occupy my boredom. When I was a lot younger, I didn’t take art as seriously as I do now. It was more so me needing to doodle or sketch something really quickly to cure my boredom. Read more>>

Ike Adibe

I’ve made comics and illustrations for as long as I can remember, but I was in my first year of college when I started working on the project I’d refine over the next several years. I didn’t do so hot during my first three semesters and got suspended. I needed something to do to occupy my time, so I just started working on a bigger and better version of my comic at the time. I was at the library when one of the staff saw my work and asked what I’d planned on doing with it. Read more>>

Ka Yee Ziebell

When I was in Hong Kong, I was working as an IT teaching fellow. I taught a computer science degree program in college. After I moved to the US, I tried looking for an IT related job or a teaching job. I got a couple interviews but they didn’t work out. I think it may be because I am not a native English speaker or my qualifications don’t match the US industries standards. Read more>>

Madylin Nixon-Taplet

When I was young, I knew creativity was a major part of who I was as an individual. My love started with writing (anime fanfiction in particular because #BlackGirlNerdLife). Once upon a time in my life, I even had my sights set on creative writing and authorship. Unfortunately, art and creation was not high on the list of “suitable” career paths for a college-bound Southern, Black female, so I instead set new sights on veterinary medicine, because, hey I love animals too. And anything in the medical field should be acceptable to those I wanted to make proud, right? Read more>>

Claire Parrish

The first time I knew I wanted to explore life as a full time artist was in November of 2020. I was living in my hometown, Jackson, Mississippi, during the beginning phases of the pandemic. Shops and public spaces were closed with only a few exceptions here and there. I found myself with ample amounts of free time on my hands, so I began to create. I used every ounce of energy I had exploring shapes, color, and composition in my tiny little first studio in my parents house. Read more>>

Nemo Chen

I’m afraid I cannot recall the exact moment when I first realized that I wanted to become an artist, but I would be delighted to share with you how I came to that decision. To me, being an artist means delving deep into oneself, pushing the boundaries of self-discovery, and striving for authenticity at different levels of depth. It requires constant introspection and asking oneself how honest they are with themselves and their audience. Read more>>

Rebecca Rodela

I was 6 years old when I knew and announced to my parents that I wanted to be a tattoo artist. I felt intrigued by the art form and thought it was powerful how art could become an active, living being. Read more>>

Euan Leslie

I had a few experiences early on where my eyes opened to the reality of this being a living and not just a hobbie… I got my first paid gig when I was 8. 15 pound sterling in cash on a New Year’s Eve celebration in Isle of Skye Scotland playing a snare and hi hat with my cousin to punters. Read more>>

Caitlin Ayers

I have always knew I wanted to pursue a creative artistic career path. As a child I would do arts and crafts with my grandmother. I even aspired to sell my crafts on the side of her street. I remember the mailman bought my first crafted monster I made with an old egg carton, yarn, craft foam and googly eyes. Read more>>

Neil Kerman

The first time I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was at the age of 68. For many years, I have owned and operated nursing homes where I not only ran the business, but I also took a great interest in finding a way to enhance the lives of the residents, but in particular, the Alzheimers residents. I contemplated for a long time how I could brighten their environment and make their surroundings more interesting and exciting. Read more>>

Tuan Jones

Back in my youth I’d gotten a chance to see my father create these elaborately vibrant oil paintings. I’d practice anatomy from his books and even saw a glimpse of what the art world was like. This early education drove me have comfort and practice in many hard moments. Read more>>

Jeff Baker

Standing on stage at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, I was only 16 years old and I had just won their solo competition. The youngest winner of the competition at the time, I looked around on stage and saw childhood heroes ready to play music with me. Mulgrew Miller, Elvin Jones, and others smiling back at me as I made my debut. In front of me, 10,000+ audience members sitting inside the football arena at the University of Idaho. Read more>>

Silas Mwenda

I was in my first year in high school back in Africa when i got this inner conviction to pursue my artistic path professionally but it was a bit challenging because I just started school and it was hard to balance between the two.Resources were limited as well. Read more>>

Ryan David Orr

The first time I thought I might want to pursue an artistic path I was about 14 years old. That may seem young, but my mother was a singer-songwriter, and throughout my childhood I remember thinking (and telling her on a regular basis that there was no way I could do what she did (perform on stage, sing alone for groups of people, etc.). I first began playing music at age 7 when I took up violin and sang in choirs. However, I never thought it would be something I tried to do seriously. Read more>>

Dajé

I’ve always attended schools that had a big focus on the arts. I always either sung, danced or played instruments. I really enjoyed it, I was always interested in persuing it; but being Haitian it wasn’t viewed as a serious career. As i got older, it just continued to be something I always dreamed about, I kept thinking to myself “If I never did this will I be satisfied with my life?” My answer was no. So that was the moment I decided to persue my dream. Read more>>

DeJongh Wells

I was born and raised in the US Virgin Islands and as such it gives me a unique perspective on fashion as well as it relates to culture because everything in the Caribbean is deeply rooted in African as well as Native American culture. Read more>>

Sean Dill

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path as a profession was in 2017. I had taken time off work as a manufacturing technician for a event design company and was attending a music festival that summer. One morning as I was walking around the festival grounds I saw a booth full of wood cut art that totally captivated me. Read more>>

Sarah Nehama

Initially I was pursuing an academic route, though I always loved to create. I had finished my degree in Art History, and wasn’t sure where to go from there. I took a jewelry making class just for the fun of it and I was hooked. I ended up studying jewelry making in an 18-month program, with additional specialized courses and I knew then that I wanted to pursue this path professionally. Read more>>

Villins

Jesyka: When I was super young I knew I was going to be a singer – it was just one of those intuitive gut-feeling kind of things that has never changed. I was 5 or 6 years old when I first asked for voice lessons, because I was so in love with Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and wanted to grow up and be able to do what she did. Read more>>

Ken Holmes

Well, I’ve always been drawn to telling stories. Even before I could read or write, I would dictate stories to my dad who would type them. Or I would record myself on a tape recorder in my bedroom, pretending to be the host of a radio show, as well as doing the voices for my “guests” who would drop by to be interviewed. Read more>>

Tina Smith

As a writer, artist, and all-around techie, I have been creating things for most of my life. My work focuses on several themes – from help with anxiety and depression to country music and my love of the lessons the genre has taught me. After the loss of my parents, I found my strength in writing and creating. I’ve always done a lot of both in my life, but it wasn’t until the last few years that I realized it was the only thing that gave me purpose – and peace. Read more>>

Jason Flores

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue Music Producing I was 9 years old. I never had intentions to be a music producer at first, I always wanted to be a cop or something in that field. I was downloading random beat-making apps on my phone (thinking they were games) and I started downloading all of them until I made my “Fierst song”. Every Music Producer knows their first beat as kids is their worst. Being the kid I was, I was so happy and showed everyone. Read more>>

Dawn Sullivan

I’ve always been an avid reader. As a child, the school library was one of the happiest places for me to be. Very rarely did you find me without a book near, and I was always spinning tales and getting lost on adventures in my mind. As an adult, nothing changed. I never went anywhere without up to five books with me, and some of my own stories made it to paper. I never thought I would be able to share those stories with anyone until I met Angela Fattig. Read more>>

Sharanda Wilburn

At a time in my life I had to juggle multiple responsibilities. When I lost my job I had to make ends meet. I was watching a tv show called Ace of Cakes. I was ready to engage and started a new skill baking cakes. Read more>>

Simone Barlow

I remember when I was young girl going to school I was always excited to go to Art class! My little heart would always skip a beat knowing that I had a place in school where I can express myself to the fullest. It was just something about being hands on & letting my imagination run wild! Not to mention my school projects. Oh! The school projects!? Read more>>

Chris Perry

Ever since I was about five years old (or maybe earlier) I had always loved to draw and color. Whenever I had a spare moment I would have a pencil in my hand. I would make homemade cards for my family. My mom would buy a pack of typing paper for me to draw on. Whenever I would get papers back in school I would turn them over and I would doodle. I didn’t go out and play much because I loved to sit inside and draw. In art class I always excelled because I would take every bit of extra credit I could. Read more>>

Cookie Brown

I was a mass communications/journalism major and on the editorial staff during my collegiate years. The only thing that’s ever come effortlessly for me is storytelling be it written or verbally. Throughout a 18 year sales career (because that’s what keeps the lights on), something was always missing. Corporate 9-5’s drain the life out of you with no outlet! The creative side needed its main character season. Read more>>

Tabetha McNeal

When my mom took me to see Wicked on Broadway and the music started, tears streamed down my face. As I watched a short black actress who resembled me perform, I felt an electric spark in my heart. That moment was transformative. I realized that I could achieve my dream of becoming a professional actor. After the show, meeting the cast and stepping backstage, I knew that I belonged there. From that moment on, I poured my heart and soul into pursuing my passion for acting. Read more>>

Meaghan DeCelle

I have been interested in the visual arts since a very young age but it wasn’t until I had my first child that I felt compelled to create. After Artie was born, I experienced a severe postpartum psychosis. As I recovered, I compulsively wrote, drew and painted as a way of coping with the huge emotions I felt. I happened to be employed at a university at the time where staff could take up to 6 credits a semester for free. Read more>>

D’Maric Moore

I knew music was the path for me when I heard “Waves” by Kanye Ft. Chris Brown. That’s song changed my life forever. I was in college when I heard this song. I was somewhat sheltered as a kid, so I didn’t really have an updated or current roster of music. All the music I mostly listened to was stuff from what my dad told me or whatever was on the radio. I believe College is where young adults find themselves and I was really coming into my own during this time of my life. Read more>>