Is there ever a “right” time to start a creative career? Our goal has always been help people pursuing their passion. Helping those people often means helping them think through important decisions such as when to start, when to take the leap. Below, you’ll find our conversations with successful creatives reflecting back on when they had to decide whether to start or wait.

Jeff Sprauve

On a general note, I think it’s best to start any journey right where you are at anytime if it’s in your heart. With my creative journey, I believe that I started right when I was supposed to. Looking back now, it felt right on time. I remember being 15 years old, living in Queens, New York and deciding to begin this acting journey, having no idea of how or where to begin. The only acting experience I had was from doing Christmas and Easter skits at my church. I knew nothing about what I was truly getting myself into and it was probably a good idea that I didn’t. Read more>>

Jupiterkami

If I went back in time I would definitely start as soon as possible. I first started making music in 2019 but didn’t really start making any steps until early 2022. Before making music, around 2016, I was an animator under the name “ReVan SFM” on YouTube, where I posted terrible FNaF (Five Nights at Freddy’s) and Bendy and the Ink Machine animations using Source filmmaker. If I didn’t do that and started making music at that time, right now I would be a much better musician with a lot more experience and contacts. In retrospect, I’m really disappointed in myself for not starting sooner and the amount of precious time I had wasted in my younger years. Read more>>

Brittany Trice

Growing up, my mother and sister were always in the beauty industry. They are both hair stylists. Once I graduated from high school, my mom and sister told me that I should go to Cosmetology school as well. I decided that that was not the path that I wanted to pursue at the time. I decided to take the path of pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. I thought I wanted to be a psychologist but once I graduated and couldn’t find a job in that field I decided to pursue my Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources. Read more>>

Alison Elder

I have thought about this question so many times over the years, and the simple answer is both yes and no. The long answer is more complicated being as that I was already working as a creative for many years before I began Stick It Yarns. My background in the arts was primarily in dance and photography. I danced for over twenty years and my B.S. and my M.F.A. are both in art photography. I was an adjunct photography instructor for many years, and I worked as both a product and environmental portrait photographer up until February of 2020. Read more>>

Ali Moat

I started doing hair at age 23 and while that may be a little later of a start in this industry, I wouldn’t change a thing. I went to university for 3 years before cosmetology school. I spent a lot of my early 20’s trying new things and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and I believe that all that made me appreciate my career even more. I can’t say that I would have that understanding about how important it is for me to do something I love for a career if I didn’t try some jobs that just were not for me. It made me realize that I needed to do something I was passionate about and loved doing everyday. Read more>>

Paige Finley

As a child I always was always drawing. I was an only child and very shy, so drawing was something that kept me occupied. I kept up my art into high school where I took numerous art classes and actually won a VFW contest. In addition, one of my pen and ink drawings was included in the high school yearbook. I had hoped to go to college and major in art but that never happened, and I never really drew after high school. Photography was something I was always drawn to but never really pursued other than to take pictures of things I thought were cool. Read more>>

Kat Arias

I’ve loved dancing and the idea of dancing my entire life, but it took me becoming an adult to actually hone in on this craft. I wish I would have found dancing sooner: being a child in hip hop and ballet lessons, growing up with technique ingrained in my body that has cost me a lot to learn as an adult , being fit and filling my evenings and weekends with classes, and enjoying more of my body at its prime to tell stories through movement, these are just a few of the things I imagine I would have been able to experience in my younger years. Read more>>

Ashley Marlow

I have always been artsy and creative. I started my “maker“ journey as a child. In middle school, my dad taught me how to use a band saw, miter saw and a sander. Although, he was afraid I would hurt myself being so young, I would draw designs directly on wood and my dad would cut them out. I would then sand, paint and put the décor together. After my little collections were finished I would sell them. My mom’s friend had a little home decor shop where I would consign my items. Each month my little collections would bring in a $100 dollars or so. At 12 and 13 years of age that was pretty good money! Read more>>

Sierra Brantley

I started really creating when I was at my lowest, I was teaching, dealing with fertility issues, and it was after the pandemic. I’ve always had low self-esteem but I needed something physical that I could create and put care into in order to feel some catharsis. Art is something that seemed like it was for other people, I am an avid museum visitor and am currently working on my master’s in Museum Studies so the comparison is something I had to deal with and move on from. Read more>>

Tanya Stiegler

My jewelry career started with a beginning metalsmithing class at home in PA, the summer after my freshman year in college. The college I went to in NC didn’t have a metal shop so I sought out a self-employed local designer/jeweler for an internship. After the internship, I worked for her part-time until graduation from college, then full-time until her business hit a lull and she could no longer afford to keep me employed. I saw what a challenge it could be to own a small business, all of the hats she wore as a business owner, and how time-consuming some of them could be (dealing with tax issues and the IRS for instance). Read more>>

J.B. Nearsy.

Art as a profession for me began when I left a full-time accounting position in 2015. I had been doing commissions, original art, and graffiti in most of my spare time prior to quitting the day job. Going back further, I began graffiti in 2001 upon moving to San Bernardino, CA for college. That same year, my first instinct and major declaration was fine art, and yes, I wish I had stuck to that. Read more>>

Michael Rayner II

I’ve personally always been creative , and resourceful in chasing my dreams! However, at a time when we(SQUAD.) were peaking creatively within making music and performing, we missed several opportunities to expand on branding and further solidifying the vision for our “label”. It was established more-so as a family ran operation on the principle of love and service that was fully entrenched in the art of sound. These days , having had experience as teacher , being able to mature in our fields from the past as well as adjust into new areas that are beneficial to our operation, has been tremendous to our growth as men, creatives and entrepreneurs. Read more>>

Swove Domas

If I could go back in time and start my career earlier as an artist I definitely would. The way I work and from my upbringing and growth as a person/man/artist… there’s no telling where I would be at this very moment; if I would’ve went ahead and chased my dreams when I was initially thinking about it in my late teenage years. By now… the progression, the talent, and the artistry would be so much more enhanced and developed because of the time heavily focused in my craft paired with my strong work ethic and experience gained. So instead of waiting to chase my dreams I wish I would’ve went ahead and pursued them all. Read more>>

Shalini Randall

To skip to the end- yes, I wish I had started sooner. But it wouldn’t have happened if the other stuff didn’t first. When I was young, I actually wanted to be a lawyer. There isn’t anything to say that I couldn’t have pursued that path, but as I got older and started a pre-law program in college, I quickly learned that wasn’t for me. Throughout my life, art and music had always taken up a lot of space. Early 20s, you would find me in the clubs not just one the weekends, but many weekdays too. It was one of those, “DUH” kind of moments, to be honest. Read more>>

Jasmine Morrow

My current creative work started in early 2021 when I opened an Etsy shop called Dreamware Co. to sell glassware with vinyl designs, along with drink lids and straws! I also began in October 2020 managing the social media accounts for a local boba tea shop called Tealicious, a favorite small business of mine! My glasses are also sold in the Tealicious boba shop. Read more>>

Darlene Deloris

If I had the opportunity, I would have started my creative career sooner. I knew as a young child that I loved viewing and making art, but I was consistently told that a career in art was not realistic. I was told women, especially Black women have no business in art and that my intellect and talents would be best utilized as a secretary or a lawyer. This was the real life truth of what adults were telling me at the time. So I went through school thinking that art could be nothing more than a hobby for me. When I was 23 my eldest sibling passed away. I was devastated. Read more>>

Gary Byrd

No is the simple answer. There is no substitute for life experience and choosing a path that is suitable to one’s personality. I began oil painting for the joy of it; not to put food on the table or pay the rent. I had a very enjoyable career in the Energy business for many years that established me financially and allowed me to meet my obligations. Read more>>