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.

Diana Suarez

Yes, definitely sooner Read more>>

Holly Bills

If only the answer was as straightforward as the question! I thoughtfully pursued my passion later in life. A portion of me leans towards saying sooner, absolutely. But the reflective (and thus more sincere) side of me tips the scales by saying it was right on time. As a writer, so much of my style and subject matter is shaped by the experiences in my life and the rich characters who do not even have to cross my path, Read more>>

DaMaris Lee

Yes, I wish I had started a lot sooner because it is so much more that I could be doing. I’m just glad I started now rather than later. I have so much more respect for what I do and what other people like me do. Read more>>

Gerrad Alex Taylor

It’s a very interesting story on how I stumbled into a career in theatre. I was in my Junior Year at Johns Hopkins University getting ready to join the field of Neuroscience and study Sleep, Dreams, and Altered States of Consciousness. It was here at Hopkins that I met John Astin (who you may remember from the 1960’s “Adams Family” television program). Although I had worked with some of the student theatre, improv, and sketch comedy groups on campus, it was always in an extracurricular capacity. Read more>>

Liv Rylan

Though I’ve been working towards my creative career for the majority of my life, it is very easy to feel “behind” no matter how young you are. Especially in the music industry, it’s very hard not to compare your trajectory to other artists, smaller or not. It’s a double-edged sword of young artists having access to the most resources & opportunity they ever have and the market becoming oversaturated and feeling lost because of it. Read more>>

Howard Zinhagel

I reflect on this thought constantly. I’ve been around music my whole and it’s one thing about me to be obsessing over music and making it a career. I left music when I started high school to pursue other activities such as sports. I only started realizing that I wanted to start music again after attending my first music festival in 2014. I started getting into Djing and just playing music with friends. After becoming very decent at spinning tunes I finally made the decision to start producing. Read more>>

Evry Pleasure

Life is full of ‘what ifs’ and that is a pretty valid sentiment to have. However, I believe my creative career started in the right moment. While it may sound like a cliché, I started doing drag when I needed it the most. Back in 2019 I was going through a very rough moment in life where I was questioning everything in my life. I had too much pressure from work, college, and life in general and drag was a way to find a creative side of me that has been hidden for way too long. Read more>>

Jaylin (97BabyJay) Anderson

I don’t wish I would’ve started my career sooner, but I do wish I would’ve started it knowing what I know now. But even then Im kind of glad i didn’t because being able to learn more about the industry and new ways to make music is part of what makes music fun. Read more>>

Maria Mallory

Honestly, the timing was perfect. It felt like I needed my 20’s to really hone in on the skills I could then apply to my life and work now. I went back to graduate school to get my master’s degree in marketing, began managing social media professionally for the businesses I was working for, and was able to attend lots of travel conferences for work that gave me new perspectives and connections that built up my confidence. Read more>>

Summer Oliver

I regret not pursuing my art business earlier in life when I had more time to absorb the countless valuable insights that I am now realizing. My self-doubt and negative self-talk held me back from taking my artistic passion more seriously. My mind constantly fed me ideas that I couldn’t make a living from my art or that I wasn’t skilled enough to master it professionally. I do feel I would have accomplished more and succeeded earlier on if I learned to disregard those harmful voices and trust my abilities from the start. Read more>>

Terrance Brashun

I wish I had started things sooner. If it were up to me, I would exchange those two years that I spent being in school and doing dental assisting for going to school to get my degree in Visual Communications sooner. However, I think we all have a path and the way things worked out for me have lead me right to where I am supposed to be at this moment in my life. Read more>>

Manon Tracy

When I first started ManonDeLArt, I had a hard time seeing myself as a real artist. I always liked to draw but I never considered it part of my identity. I hadn’t even taken an art class. I had a lot of other passions I pursued, but art was always just something I did when I was bored. I remember there were kids in high school who carried around clipboards and were constantly drawing. In my head, they were artists. Read more>>

Samantha Grullon Ferrerr

Even though I have been acting since I was 15, I am very glad I fully started my professional career now in my 20’s because I was able to have a pretty normal childhood. Being out of the industry at an early age gave me the room to have important character-building experiences like navigating different kinds of relationships with people, making mistakes and learning/growing from them, taking my time to explore my identity, and cementing my self-worth. Read more>>

Cat Haus Collection

It’s hard to get past the societal expectation of having a regular 9 to 5 job and the founders of Cat Haus Collection are not immune to that pressure. While most of our artists have dabbled in selling their creative works in the past, this collection has been an undertaking. Cat B is on disability for mental illness, so while she is compelled to constantly create, it can be difficult to organize and manage time, whereas Kat G has a full time job and children, so having the time to create can be a challenge. Read more>>

Brittany Howard

I 100% wish I would have pursued my artistry a lot earlier in my career. I honestly feel that my own self doubt or feeling misunderstood held me back. I was my own worse critique. Thankfully, it’s never too late to go after what you love. I wholeheartedly believe that. Read more>>

Aria Newberry

I do wish I’d started earlier. I spent a lot of my formative years thinking I needed to fix certain things about myself before I could focus on my music; that if I wasn’t able to bring my best self to my art I would waste my chance to connect to people. I was wrong. Music, and art in general, turned out to be the best salve for my personal struggles and a crucial way to communicate with other people nursing the same hurts. Read more>>

Kia Shaw

Being creative from the age of three, my parents began investing time and money into the potential that I had. I began not to just compete in beauty pageants but also winning beauty pageants on the local and state levels. Pageantry has helped me to hone my creative skills as I had to learn to be prepared for whatever questions a judge may ask and to also keep my skills and talents refined. However, I do wish that I had pursued my singing career sooner than 2020. With the advent of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, I could have made many more connections and been further along in my music career than I am today. Read more>>

Lavallette

It’s never too early or too late to start a creative journey. I was fortunate enough to have supportive parents that helped however they could early on. The one missing piece though was a mentor, someone who had done what I was trying to do already. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel or experience everything first hand. Having a mentor would have allowed me to find my path sooner and be successful earlier on in my journey. Read more>>

 DeJonna Williams

Working in the film industry is so rewarding. I have had a chance over the last ten years to work with some of the most talented creatives. I wish that I would have started a lot sooner. I enjoy it and can’t see my life without making films. Read more>>

Charlese Milford

I wish I had started my creative path sooner. The reasons I didn’t are actually the same reasons that motivated me to start. As a person born in the 70s, African Americans were often depicted in one light or confined to stereotypical roles. I wanted to challenge that narrative and showcase the diversity that exists within our culture and communities. I aimed to create storylines where people of color are rarely cast for, breaking the mold and providing more representation. Read more>>

Suzanne Sabat

I think differently now because hindsight..but when I first started my career at 26 I truly thought I was too old to be entering an industry that most people begin at 18. It was something I always wanted to do but had a lot of family and friends who didn’t take the beauty industry seriously. they thought I wouldn’t be able to make any real money..because who spends money on getting makeup done?! Read more>>

Alika Schwartz

Timing is everything! Starting too soon leds to impostor syndrome and lots of trial and error. Starting too late, I fell as if I missed the boat. The market is saturated and I am lost in the sea of Creatives. I’ve always been a crafter. Coloring with Crayola crayons at the kitchen table with my mom or making a mosaic during Girl Scouts. In 2020 we moved to Columbia, South Carolina and I was having the hardest time making friends. I decided to open Sincerely, Schwartz on Etsy selling my papercraft kits. I also started to share behind-the-scenes peeks at my motherhood and military spouse journey. Read more>>

Miss Theo

Great question! It’s all about the right timing isn’t it? I firmly believe that I am exactly where I need to be at this point in my life. I initially moved to LA for music and got swept up in the security of Digital Ad Sales which was fruitful for my pockets, but ended up being detrimental to my soul. I have no regrets though! Every single thing I’ve experienced, every twist and turn, has led me right here, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that! Read more>>

Grace Heslip

Sometimes I wonder if I rushed into my career too quickly. Being creative is all I’ve ever known to be somewhat skilled in while having fun doing it and has been a consistent path in my life. I never gave myself a break throughout my driving creative interest into eventually my career because I knew so early on in my life that is who I was and I wanted to grow my skills in it. Read more>>

Monique Wilsonn

I think I have started my career at the right time. When I was 19. Not only was it because I had a group of people that gave me advice and love along the way but I made my mistakes early so I would know better when I have progressed over time within my career. Read more>>

Teresa Howell

I have been dibbling and dabbling in the entertainment profession for years. I did not think it would be something long-term for my life. I started as a young girl singing in church. I thought my pathway would be singing with well-known artists one day. However, I didn’t discover my true passion until I was in my 40s which was writing! Writing became a critical piece of several puzzles in my life. I found it to be therapeutic, a place of peace, and a sense of grand accomplishments. Read more>>

Sontaé

Not that I wish I started sooner because I’ve always pursued music with a career mindset. I wish I would’ve applied my full potential to my craft sooner. Along the road, I had gotten distracted by the obstacles that life had thrown at me which caused me to second-guess my talent and capabilities at times. Several times I had given up and didn’t think making a life out of lyrics was possible. Read more>>

Ricardo Robles

I have created art my whole life, but recently transitioned into being a professional artist for 3 years. In that time I had rubbed shoulders with art collectors, worked on commissioned projects and fulfilled deadlines for art galleries and museums. Normally I hear artist launch their art careers after retirement. I wish that I had the understanding and knowledge 20 years ago to enable to me make the transition into becoming a full time artist where now I could of been an established artist. Read more>>

Patricia Andrews-Keenan

“Where you talents and the needs of the world cross: there lies your vocation,” Aristotle What I realise now is that I had all the tools and skills I needed to start Pigment International perhaps ten years before our 2018 founding, what I had not discovered was the need for a Black run platform that was elevating Black art. Once I identified that need we began to make strides. Read more>>