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.

Nate Calima

Pageantry may seem like an odd choice in the western world but in the Philippines and much of Southeast Asia the top 3 national sports are Beauty Pageants, Boxing, & Basketball. I first watched Miss Universe in 1994 when I was 7 and I still have the recorded video tape from the event. Since it was the first sporting event I’ve watched it planted a seed and a dream that would eventually be realized. I worked incredibly hard in business and eventually the opportunity to get into pageantry popped up. It wasn’t until years later that I would go all in. If you were a Los Angeles Lakers fan and you had a chance to be a part of the team in some capacity (even for no pay) would you do it? Read more>>

Givi Carter

I feel as if art has always had an unconscious pull on me. Everything fun and good and colorful as a child was that way because of art. Cartoons, comics, toys, video games: even as a kid I wanted to go beyond just consuming these things but making them my own. I’d act out stories with my friends and then draw in comic form. When asked what I wanted to do when I grew up from Kindergarten on I would say “I want to make cartoons,” and I could never imagine myself going into anything else. Read more>>

Fan Wu

Nine years ago, I started a journey to study in the United States driven by my passion for hand-drawing. It was during this time abroad that I first encountered tattoos since they were not as popular in China where I am originally from. This sparked my curiosity immensely. After getting my very first tattoo experience during my student life, an intense fascination developed within me as tattoos are essentially artistry manifested on human skin – a perfect blend of drawing techniques and body modification practices. Subsequently, self-teaching became paramount as I practiced extensively by tattooing myself; gradually realizing that tattoos held an immense significance in my life’s purpose. Read more>>

Sylvester Rivers

From my very first piano lesson, it was clear to me that music would be my life. I never considered anything else. I believe there are spiritual forces that determine one’s destiny and that musicians are born and not made. My love affair with music was and continues to be a lifelong thing. Read more>>

Sabrena Khadija

I’ve been obsessed with art since I was a child. And even though my family helped nurture my love for art, they never made me feel like pursuing it as a career was an option. As a first generation child of immigrants, I went to school thinking I had no choice but to grow up to become a doctor or a lawyer and saw art as something I’d do for fun on the side. It wasn’t until college where I took up a second major in art and graphic design that I realized a path to being a full-time creative was possible. Read more>>

scott w. prior

When I realized the “regular” 9-5 world wasn’t for me, basically when SDSU kindly asked me to leave because of my crappy grades. I’d always been drawing/painting, so my mom suggested I take a couple art classes at our local junior college and I knew right away that these were my people. So I switched my major to Fine Art/Illustration and ended up going to art school at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Read more>>

Jennifer Lieberman

When I was 8 years old I wanted to be Zack Morris’ girlfriend on “Saved By The Bell” so I started writing myself guest roles in fan fiction scripts, that eventually snowballed into writing myself guest roles in fan fiction scripts for many of the shows I watched. At 12 I wrote my first original script where the plot and characters were all my original inventions. Although I began writing before I started to pursue acting, all my writing stemmed from the desire to perform. So I had a very strong pull towards a creative life quite early on. Read more>>

Nigel Darius

As many artists know, our work becomes an extension of who we are. I think it’s safe to say that many creatives don’t pick their own path, they stumble into it by natural causes or become drawn to a particular field after discovering what exists within them. Read more>>

Noor Bahjat

I’ve always loved observational drawing, and I used to use it to decorate my school desk. When I was 15 years old, I was drawing on my desk when the math teacher asked me a question that I couldn’t answer. He walked over to see what I was doing and was surprised by the excellent drawing. He then asked me, “Why are you studying math?” You have skill; why don’t you pursue fine arts studies? at that point i started considering fine arts. Read more>>

Shiho Tendoou

Ever since I was a child, I have loved being creative. I have been singing, dancing, and performing in front of people from a young age. I started Japanese dance at the age of 3, and learned to play the piano at the age of 4. I was able to do what I had seen on TV and listened to on CDs with my own body, and it was a lot of fun. When I was a kid, whatever I did in front of people, they would applaud me, but gradually I understood that I needed more ability, and once I achieved that, I started to understand that I couldn’t attract people unless I had something different to offer. I majored in performing arts at university, and I believe that my studies there opened my mind to new creative possibilities. Read more>>

Alysss Owens

From an early age I knew I was a creative person who had a special interest in representational art; drawing, painting, etc. as I got older, I began to pursue a creative career, but after attending art school for two years I started to feel like there was no way to make a living in a creative feel. I ended up switching to a degree in communications and working in marketing. After several years in a corporate environment I realized I needed a more creative outlet, and I took the jump and decided to dive into tattooing. Read more>>

Leslie Etzel

I always loved music from an early age and was even drawn to low sounds as a youngster. However, when my father saw I wanted to play tuba in third grade, he said no. “You ride a school bus! There’s no way you could play tuba!” So I learned to play flute instead, and kept on playing throughout high school, and college, and even joined flute choirs when I moved to Arizona. In 2003, my father passed away and on the day I received a check from his estate, I also received a musical instrument catalog in the mail. That catalog included a 10-foot-long contrabass flute. I ordered that flute, and when it arrived I named her Connie Contrabass. She has become my primary instrument ever since. She’s my “tuba-flute.” Thanks, Dad! Read more>>

David M Brown

I have always drawn. My mother is a wood cut print artist and painter and my father is a photographer so visual arts were always present and encouraged. Initially I went to school for film and studied live action but towards the end of my second year I met a producer named Mireille Soria who after talking with me and seeing some of the drawings I had made for my live action projects, suggested I look into animation. She had started in live action and had made the transition to animated features when Jefferey Katzenberg brought her to Dreamworks Animation. I participated in the Dreamworks intern program the next summer when I was on break and fell in love. Read more>>

Hwichan Ko

When I was 15 year old. At that time I just enjoyed to doodle some of animals like shark and cheetah and aircrafts like spaceship and rocket every break time. This experience naturally guided me to think about doing a job related to aircraft engineering or design. After I become 18 yr, I did a job test at high school, and the all of test result indicated the designer, illustrator or artist. From this, I started art to get into art school in Korea. Read more>>

Oleg Tsank

While in art class in 9th grade, I studied great art in detail for the first time. I looked at the different ways one could compose a painting. I explored the color theory and its effects; attracted by the skillful artwork I saw, I was determined to unravel the mystery of masterpieces before my eyes. My fascination with paintings led me to sketch and draw people and my surroundings. I would practice most of my free time, learning the basics of drawing. By the end of high school, I knew I wanted to be a professional artist. In college and university, I studied painting and drawing in depth preparing for an artist’s career. Read more>>

Anthony Balladarez

Working at Transplants Brewing Company was a bittersweet experience for me. I was attending Cal State Bakersfield for a degree in criminal justice with a minor in psychology when I was hired as a janitor. I was also working at Roundtable Pizza, delivering pizzas. I was initially tasked with mopping and sweeping the taproom and what is now the venue room. However, I quickly became interested in the brewing process and began pointing out ways that things could be improved. Matt and Sarah, the owners of Transplants, took me under their wing and taught me everything I needed to know about brewing. Read more>>

Vanessa Godoy

Since I was a little girl I have always carried a deep passion for creativity and the arts but pursuing a professional career as an artist didn’t become quite clear until after my second child was born. This realization was like a light switch, I went all in and I’ve never looked back. With a miscarriage in between my first and second children life became ever more precious to me. Prior to this realization I had considered nursing, with the desire to work with pregnant mothers and newborn babies in the hospital labor and delivery unit. There is so much beauty in these moments, yet they are fleeting. Read more>>

Olivia Mayo

Interestingly enough, my curiosity about acting is one of my earliest memories. I must have been around 5–it was around the time VHS tapes were still a thing (I was born in 2000 for context). I walked in on my mom watching Titanic; she was up to the second VHS tape which begins just as the boat starts sinking. Immediately, she went to turn it off, obviously not wanting me to see such a tragic reenactment unfold, but, apparently (this part I’m not too clear on…but I don’t doubt it happened), I saw a young Leonardo DiCaprio and spoke “Mommy he’s beautiful, what’s happening!?) She explained to me that he was acting, and he wasn’t literally dying. Read more>>

Jay Torres

As most creatives or artists will say, creative people tend to find out at a young age if they are the type of person to pursue an art career. While some hit the ground running, sometimes it takes a while to figure out how to attain it. I have not quite figured it out, but that is the beauty in this type of work, endless discovery. I grew up in a desert town with little to do, so I spent much time at home drawing. It was not until I was 30 that I decided to pursue an art career professionally, so I returned to school to discover if my lifelong hobby could become something more. Since then, I have slowly honed my process and have continued to learn more and more about how to create images and narratives effectively and, in doing so, also share a personal story. So far in my career, I continue to learn more about myself and how I observe the world around me. I’m doing something right if it is Sisyphean at best. Read more>>

Christopher Fuentes

I was about 16 years old when I first really started to get into music. The band that really turned my heart towards music is The Beatles. Some time after that I discovered the best guitar player that has ever lived, Jimi Hendrix. I would spend hours discovering new Jimi Hendrix videos online and when I would watch these videos, a spark would ignite in me and I would go “yup, thats it, this is what i want to do with my life.” Read more>>

Eleanor Earnhart

The thought never crossed my mind until I was in my mid-late twenties and totally burnt out by my first real, “adult” job. I grew up in a household where we were taught that art and music were fun hobbies to have, but they were not viable careers. My parents were very pragmatic and didn’t want their kids to struggle with poverty like they had. So good or bad, I took that advice to heart, and didn’t consider any career in or even adjacent to a creative field when I was growing up. But because I loved making things with my hands, I kept up with lots of creative hobbies while I went to school and then got a few jobs in something more “sensible.” Read more>>

Santiago Heidelberg

As a kid I couldn’t wait until the weekend to watch music videos all day & listen to my mom & dad CD collection, I always admired artist like Toni Braxton, Maxwell, Michael Jackson & Beyoncé, just seeing them perform on stage, made me realize this is something I want to do in the future. Read more>>

Katie Quan

When everyone else said “astronaut” or “policeman”, I knew I wanted to be an artist. Ever since I was young, I have this very distinct memory of my dad coming into my preschool to draw pictures for class. It just became one of those moments that really stick to you. Growing up, my idea of a profession bounced around, but art was always “my” thing. I took art classes starting at the age of five and by high school, I began using comics to tell stories. When I started working a full time job, I craved to flex my creative muscle. I wanted to make something. I wanted to talk to people. I didn’t like sitting down for very long and well, after a few years of wrestling with those thoughts, I made the big decision to jump ship and here I am! Read more>>

Ashley Toman

I think when you were born with a gift and you simultaneously also have a mutual passion for that gift it’s almost inevitable that it becomes apart of your purpose on earth. From as long as I can remember, music was always a second language for me. I was singing at around age 3/4 and had my first performance at 5 years old during the talent show and kind of never stopped. For me, music gave me purpose- I knew it belonged to me and was apart of my destiny, as cliche as that may sound. I never really had a plan b, I always knew that singing was my purpose. Read more>>

Chelsea Rose

I knew from a very young age. I started taking piano lessons as a young kid and was involved in band in middle school and high school. I played clarinet and they moved me to percussion during marching band season. I started singing vocals and playing piano in my youth group band around age 14. Then in college, my voice teacher convinced me to do opera. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and was a part of 4 operas in college. I started writing in high school and have really continued ever since! Read more>>

Gayle Zerr

My freshman year of high school, my mom suggested I register for a floral design class and helped me get a job at a local flower shop. That’s where it all started. I began sweeping floors and cleaning buckets, and within two years I was the lead designer at the shop. I worked there for 10 years before I started my own company, Florist Fire, at 23. Read more>>

Roxie Davila

Well before 4 years ago I was always passionate about music and any type of music at that , when I was young I was around music and studio equipment and just all that fun stuff to make music , now that I’m older and choose to finally do this dj thing officially it became the best thing that I’ve ever done in my life for myself , I love giving the joy of music and seeing people’s reactions or dance moves to whatever I play , so it has now been almost 5 years and it’s been amazing so far and it’s only gonna get better from here. Read more>>

Lovesbond Sterling-Uyanwune

Creativity and the arts have always brought me a sense of satisfaction unmatched by anything else. My journey began in high school with drawing portraits of people, using charcoal and blending stumps as a means to capture the aesthetic nature of my imagination. I loved drawing, even in the technical aspect. It reminded me of freedom—the notion that I can start anywhere, go in any direction, pivot, twist, and turn. Read more>>

Greg Reitman

In 1995, I was hiking with three friends in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. In the interior, I came upon lush waterfalls, stunning cascades and had the epiphany of creating a production company- Blue Water Entertainment. Harnessing that passion, drive and endurance, I began my filmmaking journey toward creating and producing environmentally conscious films for the big screen that would capture the hearts, minds and souls of the audience. Read more>>

Tony Good At It

I’ve always been a music lover since a child. I have a cousin named Sean who would watch YO MTV Raps on Saturday mornings. I was so intrigued by the beats and rhymes. But I didn’t actually want to become an artist until I heard Juveniles 400 Degrees album. Shortly after that I started writing raps and going to the studio. Read more>>

Daunessy Shaitaire

When I was about 8 years old, reading the Songs of Solomon, in that moment I felt the power of words in my heart that I knew I could change the world with. From there it was just a constant outpouring of stories, feelings, poems, songs, questions, answers, prayers, affirmations, and anything in between. Words hold so much within them and I knew if I could connect with that cosmic dialogue it will always flow freely from me leading me and guiding me to my better and giving that energy to all who resonate with my words and voice. Read more>>

The Vegan Foode

It started in 2018, after a 30 day fast and God spoke to me and told me to create an instagram page and retire from being an entertainment publicist and put total focus on being my brand instead of helping others build their career and brand. Read more>>

Lauren Souter

I didn’t even really know how to use a professional camera 9 years ago. I received one as a gift the year I had my son and from there I had a beautiful (and moving!) subject to practice on. Some friends of friends requested I take some photos of them and from there I got more interested in seeing what I could do. It’s been such a fun ride so far. My first 15-20 shoots were free of charge while I practiced and last year I was able to support myself fully from my photography business. Read more>>

Jade Smith

I think I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I was fresh out of high school. I knew I wanted to do something creative in the fashion industry but this was before Instagram and social media really making that attainable for someone like me. Read more>>

Giselle

Since I was a child, I knew I wanted to be a singer, songwriter and musician. It has always been my biggest dream and goal! Of course as a child you dream of becoming this huge famous star and I’m not there…YET! But I have learned throughout the years that the steps along the way are what make this all worth it. All the achivements you make are worth it and meaningful to your path. I have made songs that have touched so many people and have related to more people than I thought was even possible! I have performed in venues that I once thought I could never get in to. The creative/artistic professional path may be a tough one at times, but overall it is truly rewarding. Read more>>

Janette Jacinto

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved fashion & beauty. As a young girl, I loved dressing up & playing with makeup. My first job was at a clothing store & I would spend half my paycheck on clothes, shoes & makeup. Customers would ask me to put outfits together for them & they would even compliment me on my makeup. That’s when I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path. I wasn’t the best at makeup & I wanted to perfect it so in 2017, I attended beauty school and became a certified makeup artist. Now I love & enjoy creating beauty content, working with brands & building relationships with other content creators & brands. Read more>>

Maliyah Clark

My illustration practice focuses on representing Black characters in the fantasy genre – a category not often seen with people of color. I can be found working in the publishing genre which includes books for adults and children, as well as editorial avenues. I draw inspiration from artists like Thomas Blackshear and his work with POC fantasy scenes. I am looking to address a problem I noticed growing up. As a Black girl, I felt like I rarely saw people who look like me in art, cartoons, comics, and storybooks. Indeed, others have felt the same. Only seeing yourself as a villain or a sidekick can leave you feeling unwanted. Read more>>

T’ana Phelice

I first knew I wanted to pursue a career in the arts when writing began to distract me from toxic things. It became an escape. Anyone that knows me knows that I have been writing since I was a kid, but it’s kind of different when picking up a pen is now saving your life. Expressing myself through written form gave me permission to be honest. It gave me the space to feel whatever I was feeling. Naturally, people began to identify with my words. From there my poetry became short stories, short stories became live monologues, monologues became a stage play, and now I’m producing short films. Read more>>

Miki Rose

When I was younger and had yet to be exposed to the diverse selection of creative careers that exist, I really only had a vague idea of what an artist was professionally. I think most people’s idea of an artist can resemble a lonely oil painter or sculptor alone in their studio, fated to either achieve profitable fame or to never be recognized. Read more>>

Mekfly

I’ve been making music since I was 16 years old. I remember thinking of it more so a hobby that I really had a major passion for. It wasn’t until senior year talking to a good friend of mine who also makes music and had been professional at the time who told me to start taking music seriously. I’d always known the path music could lead to but I came to understand in the midst of that pivotal conversation what was truly possible. From that day since, I’ve had the goal in mind of where I want my music to be and where I want to build my career. It stopped feeling like a hobby and quickly became my second job. Read more>>

Shonnie Murrell

I first knew that I wanted to be an artist/ musician at the age of 5 . I use to line up my teddy bears, barbie dolls and just toys and perform as if they were my audience. I remember even writing out my award speeches and giving it in front of my family . Truly an epic memory ! Read more>>

Lyn Koonce

I was in middle school singing in the chorus. It was one of those situations where I could see myself teaching all the parts to my classmates. Knowing that I could hear all the vocal lines and how I would help students learn them inspired me and gave me the idea that I would like to teach one day. Music was “in my bones” and I felt it during school hours, listening to my favorite records at home, or practicing instruments. I never felt confident pursuing a music career that involved touring – there was no road map I could study. However, I loved the idea of teaching and therefore invested my time and energy moving in the direction of becoming a public music school teacher. Read more>>

Adriel Meka

Both of my parents grew up in Cameroon and from a young age, one of their favorite past times was to go to the local cinema with friends. The movie releases were a bit delayed and often took a few months to reach Africa, however, that never prevented my parents from catching up on all of the 80s classics. The love of movies, cinema, and Hollywood was very quickly embedded into our family culture, and it was only a matter of time before my sister, and I followed in our parents footsteps. Growing up, every weekend was spent at our local AMC, catching the latest blockbuster and movie review discussions were often part of our family bonding experience. Read more>>

Aya Kakeda

I grew up in Japan and for school students, the best artists in the class were the ones who can draw very good imitations of comic or anime characters. So even though I always like drawing I was too shy to share my drawings because my characters were original and I thought they were too weird. When I moved to the US during my last high school year, I went to an art summer camp hosted by a nearby art college. There I met all kinds of young weirdos who I love. We respected eachother’s creations and never judge. It was a good and healthy community. That’s when I decided I would love to be an artist. I entered the art school which was hosting the camp, and pursue a creative career! Read more>>

Lexie Chacon-Rios

Growing up, I was always more on the creative side. I would be drawing, painting, writing stories or giving my barbies hair transformations. Although I was always drawn to the arts, it wasn’t until my junior year of college that I really knew I wanted to pursue makeup as a career. After graduating college, I enrolled in Makeup Designory and began learning the skills as well as the business side of being a makeup artist. After a couple years of doing makeup, I decided to go back to school to get my cosmetology license and it was the best decision I could have ever made. Read more>>