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.

Christina Zeigler-russell

I became a content creator back in 2007 after my daughter was born so I guess you can say she was my inspiration. She was born with the most beautiful natural hair, and I started researching how I could preserve it without using any type of chemicals and that’s when I discovered Youtube and decided to create my own platform to document her journey. Shortly after starting my own Youtube channel www.youtube.com/phillydiva19154, I discovered that I had a really good niche for hair, makeup, fashion, and shopping and began making tutorial videos. My audience started to grow and collaborations with brands started as well. After taking a much needed break several years later, I realized that I missed sharing content with my audience. If I could change one thing it would be not taking that break, simply because I know my content creating career could have progressed much more than what it is now, but everything happens for a reason. Read more>>

Kaelin Mae

Like most individuals who identify as artists, I’ve been creating art my entire life. As a child, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I’d create my comic strips and send them out to professional illustrators and comics like Bill Waterson from Calvin and Hobbes. In my adolescence, I could attend an arts-centric school where I could study visual art and create art through a structured curriculum for hours a day. This endeavor, while an incredible education (more art in schools, always), did impact my excitement for creating art- the due dates, deadlines, and rigor were difficult for me, and I rejected the artist identity for many years and turned to political organizing instead. As I got older and finished college, it was during the pandemic that I began to reclaim that identity and started creating art again – not for anyone but myself. Read more>>

Allison Neiss

If I could go back in time, I would have started my creative journey sooner because it has brought me so much joy and fulfillment in my life. Ever since I was a child, I always admired unique types of ceramic art and wondered how they were created. While I was always fascinated by pottery, I never invested in myself to learn the craft. Instead, I focused on what I thought I was supposed to do, which was to do well in school and get a corporate job to support myself. The years passed quickly, and I found myself juggling my career and family. While I had great success at work, I always felt that something was missing. In my late 30s, I thought about investing in a hobby for myself but felt guilty about taking time away from my young family. Read more>>

Lena Wu

I wish I had started my creative career earlier. After graduating, I found there were limited opportunities for unsigned or individual artists to showcase themselves. Most performers end up joining paid groups or companies, which often involve strict requirements and touring commitments, leaving little room for personal expression. Unfortunately, many musicians are left teaching just to make living, while only the big stars get noticed. If I had started earlier, I might have had more time to develop my unique voice and build a supportive network in the creative community. It’s frustrating to see so few platforms for emerging talent, and I believe more opportunities would help artists thrive instead of just blending into the background. Read more>>

Noamz

There was a time when I wished that I could have started my creative career sooner, but now, I feel like I chose to pursue music at exactly the right time. I’ve been playing music since I was kid. I started on piano at 8, and then picked up the flute at 11. I played competitively as a classical flute player until I was 19, where I was the first chair at the UW-Madison Orchestra and ranked one of the best youth flute players in the state of Wisconsin. I had to quit flute at 21 because of major back issues that made it too painful to play. So for 2 years, I barely played music. I went from 4 hours a day of music, of it defining my life, to nothing. But in that time, I grew so much as an individual. I was a full time Climate Activist through Sunrise Movement and won the largest federal investment in US history to fight climate change –the Inflation Reduction Act for those who know it. I successfully ran a team. I learned how to take media interviews. I grew so much emotionally and spiritually.  Read more>>

Bertha Vanayshun

I’ve been an artist my whole life whether I realized it or not at the time. When I was a kid, I loved playing online video games but my parents (understandably) had no interest in dropping cash on them – so I found my own workaround. I would make graphics and designs and sell them to people for in items and valuables in the game. Maybe this was must me doing a little tax evasion or maybe it was the birth of my creative process, who’s to say. For drag specifically, I got the bug near the end of my time in college. I was in a dual degree program for fine art and international relations and I grew really frustrated with Fine Art and the way the industry would pigeon holed and confine people and then pat itself on the back for being progressive about it. There was a running joke in my year that if you were a woman and drew a flower it was about your genitals, if you were Latino the flower was about the border and if you were black the flower was about slavery. But if you were just a random white dude the all of a sudden the flower was about form, function and our society at large or whatever. Read more>>

Christopher Dudley

I’ve always been a creative person, from singing and songwriting in bands to sketching. But, as life often does, it threw curveballs that pulled me away from fully diving into my creative side. It wasn’t until this year that I truly found my voice in the arts. There are moments when I wish I’d been able to nurture this part of myself earlier, but when I reflect on it, I realize the experiences I had in the meantime shaped me and my art today. Those life lessons gave me the perspective and depth that now influence my work. So, while starting sooner might’ve led me down a different path, I think I needed to go through what I did to be where I am now. Read more>>

Mel Lanzieri

I learned about music making at a very early age, at around 7 year old I was writing my first lyrics, at 10 I was learning how to play the guitar and at 14 I was producing my first songs. I’m so happy I got to discover my love for music creation that early in life, unfortunately it took me many more years to be confident enough on what I was creating to share it with other people. When I was 15 I started my YouTube channel posting covers of popular songs I liked, but I was so afraid of posting anything showing my actual creations because I didn’t want to be made fun of by my school peers. Looking back at some of the old projects I worked on during those years I see that it all had some potential, I just had to learn to trust my instincts a little more and even though the quality of my work has improved so much over the years I know that if I had started earlier I would’ve seen a lot more growth a lot faster.  Read more>>

James Michael Hollenstein

Throughout our lives, we often encounter those defining moments when we realize our true passions. For me, it was early on when I discovered my longing to be involved in broadcasting — whether it was being in front of the mic, sharing stories, or working behind the scenes to create compelling content. This dream fueled my enthusiasm; however, it was a double-edged sword. The ambitions I nurtured were often hindered by an all-too-familiar foe: insecurity. Reflecting on my journey, I understand how my insecurities crept in, casting shadows of doubt over my abilities and worthiness. The broadcasting field, despite its allure, can be intimidating. The constant cycled barrage of criticism and comparison sends many of us into spirals of self-doubt, questioning if we’re “enough” to step into the spotlight. I often grappled with thoughts like, “What if I’m not as articulate as the others?” or “Will anyone even want to hear what I have to say?” Read more>>

Kimbra Westervelt

I come from a diverse background. My father, an artist at heart, had many friends who were working actors in Los Angeles. My mother was more prudent, and growing up in Orange County, I was surrounded by “traditionalists” with conservative work ethics and values. I grew up wanting to do the thing that was expected of me, and not take risks. I’ll never forget my high school drama teacher telling me that I was the most talented person in class but I wasn’t bold enough to audition for the school plays. I was too self-conscious to hang out with the “theatre crowd” because they were not considered “cool” at my school. Fortunately, from a young age, music was always a part of my life. I discovered I could sing at about seven, and my grandmother who had been an opera singer would tell me stories of her performing days which did inspire me to a certain extent. Read more>>

Tedf

There are times I wish I had started sooner or in a different way, had I started sooner I may not have properly developed the level of self-actualization–that is the confidence I have gained through my growth in skill, however I would have been more traditionally immersed in the art scene, I would have been well connected with my pairs and those adjacent. In some instances I wish I had gone to art school and been classically trained, having easier avenues to pursue mentorship and guidance. This probably would have pushed me to start showing my work sooner than I had. Read more>>

Devin Keast

I don’t know if I could wish that I had started my creative career sooner or later. The fact is that I began regularly attending open mic nights after turning thirty because I had tried other things first. I played piano (briefly, as an understudy) at The Second City in Chicago, I called play-by-play for a college hockey team, and nothing felt right until I tried standup. Thirty might be considered late to be starting a career in standup, but there’s value in process and the experiences that lead us to where we’re meant to be. Read more>>

Gabriel Blackmon

I was raised by two living parents who were both the musical children in their respective families. My older brother also was involved in music as a Tuba player and a DJ. I experienced a lot of fear as a kid, which did a number on my self confidence. It was really hard to be sure of myself when it came to being good at creative things. I don’t have any formal training and I always thought ppl would be able to tell, then I’d get exposed as a fraud lol. Before I ever released a song, I had a pretty extensive song library of demos written for other artists, then was the dilemma of artists actually hearing these songs so they may purchase one. I feel that if I started releasing music 2 or 3 years earlier, I would be further along. Fear can be so crippling and freezing was my response to sharing my art with the world. I believe I will reach all the ppl I’m supposed to, I just wish I had the courage sooner. I also had the support of my family and loved ones around me. Without them having my back and encouraging me continually, I’m sure I would have waited longer to start. Read more>>

Elaine Reed

My creative career began in fits and starts. A project here, an idea there, the occassional collaboration. Creative ideas brought to life under a corporate moniker. It took a long time for my creative career, that was a true reflection of my vision, to become my reality. In many respects, I think I needed time to stack up experiences and to learn more craft while I had fewer eyes on me. I needed time to find my voice, and to learn that my voice changes with me, and that’s amazing. Ultimately, a community of authors and writers ushered me into my creative career. I was in my early 40s and sitting on two completed novels with no clue what was next. I joined a local writing group that decided to publish an anthology to raise funds to hire speakers and experts to teach us various aspects of writing, editing, publishing, etc. I agreed to contribute a story and in doing so, gave myself a formative experience. Without those women encouraging me, and taking the leap with me, I might still only be sharing drafts with a select handful of people. When I realized that even though writing is a solitary action, I was not alone, publishing went from nerve-wracking to exhilarating. Having a community to lean on made all the difference. Sharing milestones and accomplishments with other creatives made everything more exciting. Read more>>

C.k. Beggan

The thing I wish I had done sooner was become an indie author. Part of the stumbling block was that I didn’t really understand what independent publishing was. Indies are a little different from self-publishers. When you’re an indie, you are your own publisher; many authors form their own LLC. You bear all the burdens of putting books out onto the market, but you are also in control of your own fate. For almost two decades, I lived in the submission trenches, both in the short story market (I started out as a literary short fiction writer) and querying agents with novels (some fantasy, some not). I had a handful of early successes in the short story market, with kind publications that nominated my stories for awards, including the Pushcart Prize. Also, I sometimes got very encouraging rejection letters, as funny as that sounds! It felt like I was going in the right direction. Read more>>