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.

Noah Howard

I wish I started my creative journey sooner because I have always enjoyed storytelling and narrative illustration. As a child, I used my hyper imagination to fantasize about adventurous and heroic tales. Now I can use the illustration and storytelling skills that I have developed to visualize these stores through my art. Read more>>

Kevyn Clanton

This is a question I’ve struggled with so many times throughout the years. I’ve known I was passionate about makeup artistry from the time I was in elementary/middle school. However, in my teens and early twenties, I never imagined being able to make a good living as a makeup artist. I chose a career path that would offer stability and guaranteed income for my little family. Read more>>

Patricia Lanoie

Looking back at my artistic journey, I sometimes wish I had started my career as an artist earlier. Many of us find their true artistic maturity later in life. While some may hit their stride early on, for most, it’s a gradual process. Life experiences, emotions, and varied perspectives gained over time contribute to the depth of artistic expression. Read more>>

Vanna Black

I would like to think that I started right when I was supposed to, but I do think what would life be like had I started sooner in my early to mid twenties. In my twenties I was in discovery mode, and shedding all the principles, rules, impressions that we bestowed upon my adolescent time. So, even though I wanted my career to start earlier – I don’t think I would have been solid and equipped to manage what I am dealing with right now. Read more>>

Leonardo Chora

even though I started my art career a little later in my life. I think I did star at the right time. because before, I only painted and did graffiti just for fun. It had no meaning for me. It was just another task in my day. but little by little, it became a part of my life that I wanted to share. Read more>>

Mike Brown

My wife encouraged me to write stories three years after we moved to Newnan Georgia in 2010 with retirement in mind. She saw that I needed something to do as a legacy to our grandkids. She told me bluntly, our grandkids will not remember you because of the spiritual and academic writing you have done. I asked her, what should I do. Read more>>

McKayla Gonzalez

After I graduated from college with my BFA in photography, I moved to a bigger city with more opportunities for artists. I had the mindset that I was going to hit the ground running and immediately become a fine art photographer. The thing they don’t prepare you for in school though is how hard that actually is. Read more>>

Katie Wojtanik

If I could give a young creative person one single piece of advice, it would be to completely stop listening to everyone and anyone else. Growing up, I was a ver creative kid. Art was always my favorite subject in school and it was the one thing I felt like I was good at. When I was a teenager, the guy that my mom was married to at the time told me that there was no point in being an artist and that I would never make any money or amount to anything with an art career. Read more>>

Adrion Butler

From an early age, I sensed a creative streak within me, but it wasn’t until my college years that I fully embraced it. Despite my passion for sports, I also dabbled in beat production as a personal outlet, crafting my own unique sound in solitude. Upon entering college, I connected with peers from across the country who shared my musical interests, motivating me to step out of my comfort zone and share my compositions. Read more>>

Jason Jenkins

I didn’t start until my 36th birthday so I definitely wish I would’ve started sooner. Some comedians don’t catch their until they’re 20 years in so, if that’s true for me, that means I’ll be almost 60. I don’t know if I’ve ever not looked forward to something I’m looking forward to. I am now in my tenth year still trying to defy those odds. Of course, that means I’m looking for a shortcut lol. Read more>>

Joshua Germain

Yes i do wish I started my journey a lot earlier. Solely because i grew up a student-athlete. Completely into school and basketball. But ever since I’ve been introduced into this lane, I love it and can’t imagine me doing anything else. So if I ever was introduced to this earlier I probably would’ve stopped playing basketball earlier. Read more>>

Trish Thomas

I wished I would’ve trusted my thoughts and intuition sooner but I needed that time to learn myself, what it was I was actually visioning myself as and my business. But everything takes time and discipline as you evolve and grow. Read more>>

Jenifer Roosevelt

Reflecting on my creative journey, I realize it has been a lifelong pursuit, beginning more or less informally in my early years. Looking back, I do sometimes wish I had embarked on my creative career earlier. As a child, I was naturally drawn to the arts, winning some art contests, participating in music and drawing classes, and showing leadership qualities that would later become invaluable in my professional life. Read more>>

Hypnotic

There’s a lot of things I wish I did earlier, my music being one of them. It was always on the table of things I wanted to do, but I procrastinated so much for no good reason and I regret not starting as soon as possible. Read more>>

Jolene Dixon

I LOVE THIS QUESTION, and I am incredibly passionate about this. As a 41 year old female, I have an uphill battle to climb. Especially in Nashville. If you would have asked me at 17 what I would be doing with the rest of my life, I would have unabashedly said, “I will be on stage, performing songs I wrote, all over the world”. And I wasn’t budging. Read more>>

Alissa Razzano

Understanding and appreciating the concept of time as a creative (and a human) has been an ongoing journey for me. Do I wish I graduated college with a team of agents and managers, regularly booked gigs, and no need for a day job? Of course. But was I “ready” then? I don’t know. I think my battle with anxiety had and continues to test me, to be that little voice telling me what “ready” means, that I should always account for plan B, C, and D. Read more>>