Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Sofia Mifsud

Growing up I constantly felt as if people were misunderstanding me, it was simply a fact of life (or so I assumed). From past managers in shops that I didn’t enjoy working at telling me to get my head out of the clouds, to teachers showing irritation towards me for asking too many questions – I consistently and without fail felt as if I were speaking a different language to them, and I could never grasp why. Read more>>

Andre Gomez Hadiyah Williams

It’s without a doubt that it is not easy being a business owner. Attempting to balance your personal life and now create a lucrative source of income is something more consuming than most believe. In the world of business, there are many challenges to learn and grow from. Like nights taking paperwork home, being present for your brand and the community you’re building, setting up financial security outside a 9-5, you name it. Read more>>

Stefan Heuer

When I was 10 years old, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome. TS is a neurological disorder that presents itself in the form of involuntary vocal and motor tics. I first realized that something was different about me in the 4th grade when my tics got severe. I had to have special seating in classrooms and assigned testing rooms because of my outbursts. Other students called me “twitch” and “retard”. Read more>>

Heidi Petersen

As with any industry, life situation, or subject, unless you have lived it or been close to it, I believe it can be misunderstood. The world of pageantry is one that understandably has fallen into this category because of its roots. Beauty pageants began with judging physical attributes but have evolved into something much bigger. Read more>>

Kevica Towns

I am a person of Queer nature and my dynamic makes people ponder. I am often misgendered because of our daily stereotypes to what a man and woman “should” look like. I am non binary and grateful; to be misunderstood is an acquired feeling. Read more>>

Alec Messer

Artists often face the significant challenge of a lack of belief from others in their creative pursuits. No individuals or peers will take the time out of there day to give you a chance. This happens what is seemingly a VERY LONG TIME. However, there comes a turning point when everything changes. Suddenly, a wave of overwhelming support and dedicated individuals emerges, willing to go to great lengths to assist and promote an artist’s endeavors in any way possible. Read more>>

Mac Huffington

Being LGBT doesn’t mean I am not a good Business Owner. People see I am Black and if they found out I am LGBT they think I cannot do good business. Read more>>

Jonathan Butler

As an artist, I believe there is often a misconception that I am merely adopting a persona or character. However, it’s important to understand that the music I create reflects real-life experiences and is intended to resonate with my fans and audience. On the other hand, my personal style and presentation are distinct from my true self when I remove the “Exclusive” mask. Read more>>

Graci Thompson

I’m often misunderstood. With June being pride month, let’s get into it. Being a teen in the lgbtqia community isn’t the easiest but it is exactly where I want to be. Many people make so many poor assumptions about me based off my appearance. People assume a lot of things, but I’m here to settle the score with facts. The fact that I’m genderfluid doesn’t mean I want to change my body at all. Read more>>

Mei Tang

Of course, and before it used to bother me. But through age and experience we also realize and recognize it’s not anyone’s journey except our own. Things might not have always made sense, but as long as we know who we are, and what we are here to be any opinions or outside, influences does not matter. Read more>>

Francis Vallejo

This answer is dedicated to the parents that have a child that is passionate about the arts, specifically the craft of drawing and/or painting. If you are nervous (or strongly against) about your son or daughter’s creative career options, please read on. I know you have your child’s best interest in mind, and want them to pursue a career that has financial stability, but you owe it to them to advise them based on facts and not generational falsehoods. Read more>>

Jineen Glover

Most of my life I’ve felt misunderstood or misrepresented. I am a 4 on the enneagram and that can be a struggle for people like me. We have creative ways of showing up in the world whether that be our style, our clothes, our hair, our art, or our way of carrying ourselves. People have judged my multiple selfie pics at times and I’m here promoting my gray hair and all that it represents for me and other women! Read more>>

Nadia Butterfield

I have been misunderstood from a very young age. My parents run their own business; a very successful law firm. I am so grateful for my parents because they gave me and my brother an amazing childhood. As the oldest, I was always taught to carry myself with poise and grace. In elementary school, people would call me “stuck up”, an “attention sponge” and snobby… without even getting to know me. Read more>>

Chris DeVore

I may be The Karate Cowboy, but I’m not really associated with Karate or Cowboys. I actually state that I contain less than 3% actual Cowboy. I draw a lot of influence from western music and culture like Patsy Cline, Bob Wills and Willie Nelson, but I do not listen to or perform country music. I sometimes wear a cowboy hat and play a telecaster style guitar but my musical style is a combination of world music, jazz and rock with a western flare mixed in. Read more>>

Jeren Haywood

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always known that I was different from most people. From my fashion sense, music taste and even down to the way that I talk – it’s often been critiqued in a negative manner. Me being a humble person put me in a weird place in knowing what I like, but also never being accepted. Of course it’s transferred to my art, which I don’t mind. The part that I find myself not liking is being referred to as a “rapper”. Read more>>

Susie Singer Carter

I think one of the biggest challenges I have faced in my creative career has been unconscious bias. It is stealthy and often shows up when we least expect it. I like to describe myself as a feminine feminist. Proud to be a woman and eager to support my sister colleagues. Hell, my company is called Go Girl Media. Yes, well, easier said, then done. Read more>>

Raven Jackson

I find myself misunderstood and even mischaracterized as a burlesque performer quite often. On stage I am confident and extremely outgoing, so after shows people are often surprised when they meet me and find I can very reserved and quiet. One of my favorite parts about performing is the person I get to be on stage, but when I get off stage I’m just Raven. Read more>>

Q Revy

I believe many artist feel misunderstood throughout their journey. I’ve been definitely misunderstood the last several years. I started as an secular artist then became an gospel artist in 2011. After several years of creating gospel content I transitioned to a more personal and positive approach. Each time these moves left my supporters wondering why such a change. I still get questioned about my decisions to create different genres of art. As an artist with the constant desire to evolve being misunderstood comes with the territory. Read more>>

Mariah Maynes

Oh man, do I have stories about being misunderstood and mischaracterized. This is kind of a long one, so bear with me. I hope that maybe by telling this story it’ll inspire some change, help someone avoid some of the mistakes I made, or teach someone to be nicer to their peers. Read more>>

Evan Saffer

Everyone wants to be loved, period. How would we know that feeling if everyone loved us? To some degree you have to accept, especially as an artist, that some may not get what you’re doing. Most people are carrying their own burden, or fear inside them and that is the basis of hate. They feel justified in putting you down so they can come up. Read more>>

Brianna McKay

This might be a loaded topic to discuss, but out of all the options available to me, this one resonates the most. I am a black woman and I’m an artist. Those are not characteristics that are exclusive to me, but they can certainly be challenging ones when pursuing an art career. Let’s not forget to mention that being a black woman already places a burden of representation on us from the day we enter the world. Read more>>

Traci Falcon

I began my company as a Special Effects Artist. I began in an attempt to bring the things I viewed as beautiful or intimidating into a reality where it could be just as stunning as I imagined. I have always been judged prior to obtaining knowledge of my personality. With that in my head piece I struck to just be the very best weirdo I felt comfortable with. I allowed my own creativity to fly and have since enjoyed expressing myself to my daily fullest. Read more>>

Craig Burrows

Since I started doing ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence (UVIVF) photography of flowers I’ve struggled with my work being misrepresented as ‘bee-vision’ even though that was never my intent. I’ve always wanted to preserve the scientific integrity of the photography by avoiding excessive post-production, avoiding inclusion of man-made fluorescent material, and working to avoid the narrative that my photography represents bee-vision. Read more>>

Aleena Daredia

I definitely feel like most people, including me, in the creative and art industry have had their work and businesses undermined. I believe one of the biggest misunderstandings is how much time and effort goes into organizing classes and creating choreography. Even if the choreography is simple, it takes specific skills to run and teach classes which is sometimes overlooked. In turn, some may believe it isn’t worth the amount we charge to hire us to choreograph their event or attend our weekly class. Read more>>

Ismaill

I feel like misunderstanding comes from misinformation, and it all depends on which attributes of a person are portrayed accurately and positively. Personally for me as both an artist and as a person of color living in America, I’ve seen and heard of so many stereotypes about my race (first generation American Indian), with some of them being ridiculous. One such stereotype is that Indian people are very geeky and don’t really have much of a creative side, and are usually portrayed as comic relief in films. Read more>>