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

Ewuresi Archer

I realized when I was about to head to high school. When I had to choose a major for high school. I went to high school in Ghana and high school in Ghana is boarding school. The way it is in Ghana, you select a major you’ll focus on during your time there. And thats 3 years. So you take classes that have to do with your major and those are essentially your elective classes. I remember my dad sitting me down and trying to pick a major for me. I wanted to do Visual Art from the get go because I was at a place in my life where I realized that being a creative is all I was interested in. I had stopped putting in the effort with classes that weren’t artsy. Read more>>

Huncho Henderson

I first knew i wanted to be an Actor in middle school. I would watch Martin , and Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and just knew that was my dream to be an actor. I even had it written in my year book next to my picture (laughing) What really made me feel like i could do it was my drama teacher in high school. She told me how talented i was and funny, and that staying focused and using that talent would get me far. I actually performed a Denzel Washington scene for my drama class and got a standing ovation. It really made me realize this goal of mines was possible. Read more>>

Keanu Dupay

I knew I wanted to create and do music professionally the moment I was around 5. I remember seeing Headbangers ball on mtv with Slipknot being interviewed and being introduced to all these Nü metal bands like coal chamber , static x , and linkin park, etc. at a young age. The golden age of “y2k music “ is what I would say . I remember being genre fluid and liking a lot of music in this era that still inspires me to this day whether it’d be rock, hip hop , or pop. There wasn’t anything else I wanted to do in the world professionally. Read more>>

Malek Hanna

Pursuing a professional creative and artistic path isn’t always easy but when the bug bites, there is no turning back. Being creative was always a part of what made me the person I am. The need to connect, understand, express and use imagination was my language that I always thought of as a super power. I recall being around nine years old, sitting in English class, while my 4th grade teacher was going over some mundane lesson. I would lean towards what sounded like pipes bleeding and harmonize to the sound. It would create this harmonious toll that vibrated, nobody knew where it was coming from. Read more>>

Geovanni Robinson

As a young kid, my mother took me and my brothers to piano practice, and it was there that I began my musical journey. I didn’t care for it then, my passions were in astronomy and city planning. Somewhere along the way, I was exposed to the music of Motown, James Brown, and the many pioneers of soul music, and I began singing in school and church choirs and thanks to my mom’s order. I was invested in it, but it was only a pastime until I discovered Michael Jackson in 2009. His personality, music, and image was an enigma to me, and I began to sing and dance like him. Soon enough being a performer is what I was known for. Read more>>

Edward Perdomo

My first intervention in a play was when I was 11 years old, it all began at a summer camp where the director of the play we were doing, formed part of one of the biggest teather companies back in El Salvador, after that play in the summer camp she asked me if my mother agreed that id be part of the teather company she was part of, she agreed and my first professional play was in a kids play named “the ugly Duckling” I remembered I love the process of going three days a week to rehersals and then presenting everything we did in the past months to the public, even though I was still a child I still keep in my mind that feeling of the openning night, that was the first moment I realized I wanted to do that for the rest of my days, 18 years later I’m still feeling that way. Read more>>

Jens Ibsen

I got my start singing in church when I was around 6 years old, and was encouraged by the music director there. I didn’t think much of it at the time. A couple of years later, my school choir director, Marilyn Wells approached my dad and said I should join the choir she accompanied after school called Ragazzi, based in Palo Alto. My dad didn’t pay her much mind but one day Marilyn sent me home with a poster for the choir, and at the time American idol was pretty popular. I figured if I became a singer, then I’d become cool, and then girls would like me, so that’s all it took to convince my child self to do it! I told my dad I wanted to join and that was that. Read more>>

Suzi Balamaci

I love this question because it’s one I often ask myself, A LOT. The real answer is I don’t know, and I am not sure I still really know. My mom has always told me that I loved to sit and work with crayons from a young age, even when I was in a high chair. From that point forward my mom saw that I had a propensity for drawing, and she was always encouraging me to practice that skill. She enrolled me in private art classes as early as elementary school and from that point on, art always had a strong hold on me. I can’t ever remember not drawing or being creative in some way to keep myself engaged in the world around me. Read more>>

Julie Solvstrom

I spent all of my late teens and early twenties traveling and living abroad, with the single objective of seeing and experiencing the world. I didn’t really know what I wanted to pursue as a career, but I knew I wanted it to be something creative. At 24 years old, after 4 years in Australia and a rather traumatizing immigration hiccup, I returned to Denmark with a broken heart and a spot at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s art program that I wasn’t going to be able to attend. Read more>>

Fatima Young

I received degrees from the Fashion Institute of Technology and C.W. Post University in New York. I knew then I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally back then. My first job out of college was painting manikins, then designing wraps for telephone books and later illustrating catalogs for an MRI company. They were creative in their own ways, but didn’t pay enough for me to continue on that path. Read more>>

Sarah King

I had always loved music, but it wasn’t until a distinct moment in a rehearsal where I realized it could be more. I was a freshman in high school and it was the first marching band rehearsal of the year for our show, “West Side Story.” It was the first time I had played with a group of that caliber, and I didn’t know what to expect. As we played the first chord of the song, the room started vibrating with sound and I was blown away. I got goosebumps and thought to myself, “This is amazing.” As the years went on, it became clear that music was what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do with my life. Read more>>

Rhia Black

I have always known that I wanted to create. I have been drawing, painting, crafting, etc. for as long as I can remember. If you look through all of the school stuff my Mom saved, there is drawings on almost all of my schoolwork. But, it wasn’t until high school when I thought I could really do this. I felt like my skills were growing every year, and my friends asked to keep my art all of the time. I started my first online store with a friend and I just kept adding to it. Read more>>

Audrey Gore

I believe I have always known. From childhood, I have had the desire to create constantly. Whether I was painting, drawing or working on any kind of creative project, I loved the way I could escape from everything else into my own little corner of my imagination. In high school I made the decision to apply to study painting at The Academy for the Arts, Science & Technology. It was the best decision I ever made. I loved this school. Instead of being in the mix of all the typical high school drama, everyone there was passionate about what they were learning. During my time there, I was also working for a children’s boutique on weekends where I would hand-paint furniture, gifts, murals and teach children’s art classes. Read more>>

Nikki IJackson

I’ve always wanted to be a professional creative, but I was afraid of walking away from the steady income provided by conventional employment. However, March 20th, 2020, the crutch of being afraid to leave my “real job” to make art & fashion full-time was removed. That was the day I lost my job as an activities coordinator for adult day care. Due to the pandemic, recreational services for the vulnerable population we served would be suspend indefinitely, making my job obsolete. Life had kicked me off the rat wheel & gave all the time in the world to pursue my dreams. I was free!… & terrified. Read more>>

Sarah Baumgardner

Having grown up as a musician, (I play six instruments and am a professional vocalist) I always hoped that a creative/artistic profession would be part of my future and even my career. I never imagined that I would get to use my artistic talent with my administrative skills in one role. It never ceases to amaze me that no two days are the same in my field. I love the flexibility and freedom that working in the arts gives, and even more than that, I love seeing the impact that performing arts has on performers and patrons alike. Read more>>

Manda Micro

I knew from a very young age that I wanted a profession in creative arts. I would say around Kindergarten, it’s the only thing I really saw myself doing. At that age it was just “I want to become an artist”. I had two pet fish, one named Pablo Picasso and the other Vincent Van Gogh because I wanted to create art just like them. By middle school that dream evolved into “I want to be an animator”. I grew up reading my brother’s comic book collection and began drawing my own illustrations of myself and my friends as characters in my own world, so my goals shifted from being an animator to, “I want to be a comic book artist”. I was obsessed with Sailor Moon and to this day my style is manga influenced from falling in love with the Sailor Scouts. Read more>>

Marc Swersky

Funny enough, I like to say that I didn’t choose my career in music it chose me! Growing up I was always focused on athletics but music started becoming a passion around 14 years old. I fast forward to becoming 17 years old and I snuck into The Fast Lane, which was located in Asbury Park, NJ to see James Brown. Standing there this very large man walks up to me and says, there’s no way you’re 18 years old and what are you doing in my club (he was the manager). I fessed up, introduced myself, he introduced himself and he then said, come with me. he takes me to the side, asks me if I want a soft drink and says, stay and see the show. Read more>>

Christina Palacios

It’s funny, because the answer to this question is that someone else knew before me that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally….my girl scout leader! I’m 9 years old, walking out of the troop 539 meeting, down the hall, and all my friends from school are all lined up waiting to get into some room. What are you guys doing here, I asked. “Oh, we’re auditioning for Peter Pan.” Why?! I thought and walked away…. Read more>>

Yaba Gobana

I have been singing and performing since I was 9 years old and always dreamed of being a professional singer one day. Every time someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, that was my mental answer. However, I didn’t believe the music industry had a space for me. I am Muslim and a child of immigrants, so it almost felt selfish to expect a dream like that to come true, or to risk the opportunity my parents gave me by chasing it. I grew up on Egyptian Music, R&B and throughout school, I was a part of concert choir where I learned all different types of music in all different types of languages. Read more>>

Kay Trejo

I first I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path because to me creativity is very important for growth! It’s who we are! I was tired of Doing the same thing every day that I didn’t like when I knew I had talents of my own to show off! Time to make my dreams come true! Read more>>

Gabriel Savage

Growing up in a household with other creatives had inspired me to pursue music. My mother taught me how to sing, play the basics of guitar and write music. Later in life I was able to show friends and family songs I’ve worked on, and seeing how the lyrics had impacted them had brought me great joy knowing they’ve related to the music. I hoped to bring that same relate-ability to listeners who come across my projects. Read more>>

Esme Wong

Although I started playing the piano at the age of 3, I never expected myself to pursue music performance as a career until I was 18 years old, during my first living abroad experience in Italy. At that time, I was representing my country, Malaysia, as one of the United World College’s music scholars which broadened my knowledge about roots and customs of Western art. Living in Italy was an eye opening experience that inspired me in my musical journey as I was able to have first hand cultural and vision exposure to different Western Classical arts that had I invested in since the tender age of 3. Read more>>

Jarvis Bynum

I’ve always loved entertaining and when I was 14, I was watching a rerun of The Fresh Prince of Belair, and it was the episode where Will gets shot. One of their more heavy episodes and it made me tear up and cry a little. I was amazed at how this show that makes me laugh so much, had me crying. I remember wanting to create that feeling and have that effect on others. Read more>>

Moore & Moore

We wrote our high school graduation song and were voted “Most Talented” by our senior class. We sang our senior class song at the Kansas City Music Hall for graduation. After hearing the applause and seeing how we could touch people through our music, we knew from that moment on…. we were put on this earth to sing! Read more>>

Nicole D. Sconiers

I was in my early twenties when I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path. I had graduated from Hampton University a few years prior with a BA in English and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my degree. I think I was afraid to call myself a writer or to believe that I could sustain myself with an artistic career. I was working as a managing editor at a Black-owned newspaper in Baltimore but feeling unfulfilled. I would come home from work at night and write screenplays, even though I had no clue how to do it and didn’t even know proper script format. A year later, I quit my job and hopped a Greyhound Bus to California in hopes of becoming a screenwriter. Read more>>

Guy Banks

Creativity has been my strong suit for most of my life. Working a typical nine to five never quite fit me, and I would find myself unemployed hustling on the streets. In my early twenties I was focusing on a career as a rap artist. I didn’t have much knowledge about the business and was figuring out how to make it on my own. I went to prison for 11 years, and it was there where I learned the business of music and discovered a new and better way to approach becoming a full-time industry professional. Read more>>

Joy Frost

A pivotal moment for me was the first time I heard All For You by Janet Jackson when I was 9. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous in that music video (styled by the incredible Wayne Scott Lukas, who 22 years later is now my style consultant for my next album!) but the audio production inspired me as well. At the start of that song, there is a voiceover which pans from the left ear, to the right ear, and then lands in the middle. I was so blown away by that effect and needed to know how they did it. I later went to school for audio engineering so I could produce my own songs. That was the domino that opened a thousand other chapters of my music career. Read more>>

Ellie Lee

I firmly believe that every individual possesses a unique and innate talent waiting to be discovered. Back in my final year of high school, the daunting task of deciding my college major loomed over me. As I began this soul-searching journey, I came to a realization that hit me like a bolt of lightning: I desired to pursue an artistic career. At first, painting and drawing were merely hobbies, a means to pass the time and escape the turbulence of adolescence. In those quiet moments of solitude, I discovered an oasis of serenity within the canvas. With each stroke of the brush and every pencil line, I found myself peeling away the layers of uncertainty and self-doubt, revealing a newfound confidence I never knew I possessed. Read more>>

Casii Stephan

I never thought a creative career was possible for me. It wasn’t until someone believed in me that I thought there was even a chance. As time moved on and I got therapy and started to believe in myself, I had more confidence in stating that “Yes. I would like a creative career and it’s okay to want that.” Read more>>

Leviticus Long Jr

I first knew I wanted to be an artist seriously in High school. Around 10th grade I made an album with one of my homeboys and the feeling is genuinely unmatched. I love creating something that people like and can relate to. Read more>>

Denise Chan

I think that’s a very interesting question for me, as I have recently realized that, for the majority of my life, I had never actively CHOSE dance. I was put into dance classes at a very young age, two and a half, by my mother, and the natural progression from a pastime to a hobby to an intense after-school extracurricular happened so swiftly that I never really had the chance to sit back and ask myself if this was something I actually wanted to do as a career. When the time came to decide what to do after high school, it just seemed like the natural next step. Read more>>

Myke Adams

Well, ever since I was a kid probably 3 or 4 years old, I’ve always known I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path. My dad was a musician so there were always instruments around the house that I was often playing around with. I also had an Uncle who was a painter and a studio art professor. He would visit our family regularly and would teach me something about painting every time he visited us. So the inspiration to be creative was always there from a young age. Read more>>

Yexin Chai

“My passion for art started at a very young age, thanks to my grandfather who taught me how to draw dinosaurs. Those early moments ignited a creative spark within me that only grew stronger with time. As I grew older, my fascination with art led me to join an art academy, where I delved into extensive traditional art training. I found great joy in exploring various art forms and techniques, but it was the allure of romanticism oil painting that truly captured my heart. Read more>>

Constanza Esparza

I think that for the first time I knew that I really liked aesthetics, when I was at school I was always interested in the beauty of my nails, painting, drawing, I always did manicures for my classmates in my spare time. Read more>>

LaSheta Skinner

The first moment that it truly clicked with me was Freshman year of college. Throughout high school I was a member of my school drill team and truly loved it! But it was not until I became a Trinity Valley Cardette dancer, was my path in life more clear. I knew whatever I did moving forward was going to inspire and tell a story. Read more>>

Jaydee Dizon

It was a time of exploration of my art projects at about 2016 and seeking for ways to improve the “sins” series for the Avenue 50 Studios art project. Read more>>

Amber Schnitzius

I get asked this question a lot. I had a career in health insurance and started taking pottery classes after work. I hadn’t touched clay since college and instantly remembered why I loved working with clay so much. It has always been something that has made my busy mind quiet and my favorite outlet for creativity. After a few years of taking classes, I started posting pictures of my pieces to my personal social media accounts and my friends began to ask if I would sell my work. It took a while for me to get comfortable with the idea of selling my pottery but I eventually opened an Etsy shop in 2017 and was successfully selling my pieces. Then in 2018, I was approached to make ceramic dog bowls for a boutique shop in LA and my ceramics side business was growing. Read more>>

Song River

Exploring the arts on all levels has always spoken to me since childhood. Music has played an important role in those moments too of great creativity, as it lends itself to producing works of art in various ways. The creative side of my brain though could never muster vocally or instrumentally although I did try at a very young age to learn and develop such a talent beginning with classical music, however, it was never to be, but the one thing that grew from it was my ability to hear music, not just “hear” the melodies, beats, and rhythms but to sense the heart and soul that was being produced. So my focus tuned into the elements of what the artist was producing and relaying to their audience. Perhaps it is my empathic nature to be able to identify what is coming from the heart, and then be able to know what is truly a work of musical art. Read more>>

Daria Sarmientos

I attended my first acting class quite by accident. After graduating in Political Science I had found a stable 9-5 job, but I felt a constant feeling of apathy. It was as if I had within me the desire to express my soul, but I had no idea how to do it. Movies have always been my passion, so one day I decided to challenge myself and entered the acting academy “Accademia Artisti” in Milan and auditioned for the acting class for movies and TV series. And wow… it was love at first sight. I felt that I had finally found the outlet for the universe of emotions that I felt inside me and I finally felt that I had found my place. Bringing stories and characters to life is something that comes naturally to me. I understood that this was my path and I have never felt so happy! Read more>>

Salomé Robert-Murphy

I honestly don’t remember a time when I wanted to do anything other than perform. I grew up singing and dancing and going to acting classes as my after school extracurriculars. Whenever I would get asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said “I’m going to be an actress,” and I never let external pressure change my answer. At age 12 is when I realised that any other path was never going to be for me, and I begged my parents to let me transfer to a performing arts school. The feeling that comes with doing what you love is unmatched and I’m so grateful that I was able to discover my passion at such a young age. Read more>>