Everyday, somewhere, there is an aspiring artist or creative daydreaming about pursing their creative career full time. Everyday, there are countless creatives thinking about whether to pursue their passion more seriously and so we wanted to hear from folks who’ve made the leap. We asked them to reflect on if they wish they had started sooner or if they feel they would have been better off if they had waited a bit longer.

Z3LLA MUSIC

Everything happens for a reason. The two of us grew up working in entertainment and although we had ups and downs of wins and losses, we never hit that “we made it” moment individually. Read more>>

Jonny Ulasien

Filmmaking has alway been my main passion, but I had forgone film school to pursue music full-time well into my thirties. This did eventually lead me back into filmmaking career as I started making music videos for the band I was writing and touring with in the early 2010’s, Read more>>

Sam3dy

Sooner than expected. Graduating from college, I felt compelled to utilize my degree after investing so much effort into earning it. However, my inner creativity struggled to find expression amidst the demands of everyday life. Read more>>

Jen Ray

I studied art in college and I continued to make art but my career lagged a bit when I had to get a full time job to survive in NYC. My career picked up again when I was more prepared, in my early thirties. Read more>>

Amy Brummond

I found clay later in life, and often wonder what it would have been like to spend my early years studying ceramics. I have a B.A. in Humanities that I never use. I do sometimes wonder, “What if?” Read more>>

Nicole Rizzuto

I do sometimes “wish” I started my creative career earlier. But I believe everything happens right on time.. right when it’s supposed to… or it wouldn’t be. Everything truly happens in divine timing and in Gods plan. Read more>>

Sydnee Spivey

I believe my “creative career” started at the exact time it was supposed to start. Of course everyone wishes their success came sooner at some point but I genuinely do believe that things in your life happen for a reason. Read more>>

Tatyana Champion

As I reflect on my multidimensional art career, there’s a part of me that wishes I had embarked on this journey much sooner. The thought of the artistic growth and exploration that could have unfolded fills me with such a sense of longing tempered by determination. Read more>>

Emile Aslan Lacheny

When I was growing up in France, there were only three options once you got to your final three years of high school. Science, Economics or Literature. Acting wasn’t any of them and schools rarely if ever had a theatre or film department. Read more>>

Eleni Iglesias

I love this question. I decided to take my creative career seriously when I was about to graduate with a psych degree over at Loyola University in Chicago. I was 22 at the time, I believe, and never felt more behind. Read more>>

Kylie Adams

We all know that comparison is the thief of joy. Those words never ring more true in the eyes of someone pursuing a path in a creative field. Read more>>

Jes Smyth

Sometimes I look back and think, “I could have started so much sooner.” At fifteen, I began writing stories, mainly during my Algebra II class, in a spiralbound notebook behind an opened-up folder. Read more>>

Umberto Lukama

I strongly wish I had initiated my creative journey earlier. Despite having a natural inclination for creativity as a child, it lacked encouragement. Once I gained the ability to tap into my creative side and began earnestly learning about the craft, I committed wholeheartedly. Read more>>

Kendra Augustin

I won’t share my age, but I do wish I moved to New York City right out of high school. I think moving for the first time away from my family, and away from my state was a hard adjustment that took me years to overcome. Read more>>

Jeremie Tyler

Sometimes I wish I had gotten my license in cosmetology earlier on in my life. But sometimes things happen in the timing they are meant to, instead of when we’d like it to. Read more>>

Bryan Payment

No way. Here’s why. I was in my late 20’s when I got my first “creative” job. Before that, my job had always been working in retail settings or bartending somewhere. Read more>>

Jordy Gnarpony

As much as my brain tries to get me to dwell on not starting a creative career sooner, it feels mute to do so cause I like to lean more into the notion that everything before today is what got me to where I’m currently at, which I’m extremely grateful for. Read more>>

Rose

I could have waited a few more years before I threw myself in to working but, I think through a subconscious need to escape home I started very early on. I was working at a bicycle shop at the age of ten. Read more>>

EmilyKate Niskey

My mother always said I came out of the womb drawing. I drew before I could write words. As soon as I could write my name I started to sign my last name on all my drawings because that is what Picasso did and I just knew that I would be a famous artist just like him one day. Read more>>

David Neckles

I wished I started my producer era earlier then i started because i feel Read more>>

David Fielding

I wish I had begun writing much sooner. The landscape of getting published these days has changed drastically from what it was when I was growing up. Read more>>

Adam Khattar

Actually, I don’t wish for nothing, I think everything happens at the right time in the right place, maybe I started my career a little bit later than some people and maybe earlier earlier than some people, Read more>>