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.

Rayna Noel

Life has taken quite a few twists and turns and I would never expected to have landed where I am careerwise. After high school I pursued a career in science and graduated with a BS in Geology and Planetary Science with a minor in Biology and an AS in Veterinary Technology. My creative career began after I had my first child. I wanted to make mom friends so I went to a mom’s group at a church. I met two other women who had kids the same age as mine and they were planning a play date based around fiber crafting. I was recently teaching myself to knit and decided to pick up crochet again in order to join the play date group. That was 14 years ago. Read more>>

Gemi Daphloe( Aka K’aynna)

If I could go back in time, I would have started this earlier. I also know everything is supposed to happen when it’s the right time. I look around and see everyone being in their 20’s or people who have been doing this since they were children and I start to compare myself. I am 33 years old and sometimes, I feel out of place. I feel too old or that I started too late, but then I remember, everything happens when it is supposed to. My journey was meant for only me and I have accepted that, but sometimes it is a struggle between accepting where I am in my life, and feeling down about it. I just remember what an old boss said to me one day. He said that “there are two important day’s in your life, the day you were born, and the day you find out why.” Music is my why and I make sure to keep that in the forefront of my mind, so when I feel low, I remember why I keep going. Read more>>

Christopher Stanley

I do wish that I started my music career a lot earlier. I started at the age of 21 I was working a direct care job just trying to make ends meet. I just so happened to get a new job and had two coworkers who made their own beats. Recorded their own songs and wrote their own lyrics they taught me everything I know today shout out to my guys “RicoTheVillain” and “Brazo”. starting earlier would have given me a leg up I would’ve probably became more polished around that age that I actually started and I would’ve learned the game a lot earlier, especially the business side I was screwed out of a situation a really big one I was writing for an artist who eventually signed to Roc Nation and the record she put out before she got a deal. I never got credit or any money for but I wouldn’t have changed the way that I did anything creatively all my peers told me I took very quick leaps and bounds because my work ethic was very crazy but I definitely wish I would’ve started sooner. I probably would have had a record deal or had a big enough fan base to make this a full-time thing. Read more>>

Jo Clarke

If I could go back in time, I do sometimes wish I had started my creative career sooner. I went to art school, and after completing my foundation course, I had my heart set on becoming a ceramic artist. However, I was advised that ceramics wasn’t a practical way to make a living, so I shifted gears and pursued a degree in Graphic Design instead. Read more>>

Diamondz Gurll

I am a firm believer in God’s timing and that everything happens for a reason. From a young age, I always knew I was destined to be a performer. Growing up, I would dance and sing all around the house, putting on shows, creating imaginary stages, and pretending to win awards. Whether it was music, acting, or any form of art, I was determined to convince my family that being a professional entertainer was my true purpose. Read more>>

Maeve Forti

I officially began my creative career in 2021 – the year I signed with a talent manager. My creative dreams began long before that, but I consider 2021 to be the official start of my professional career. I always had a dream of being an actor and breaking into the entertainment industry, but I put those dreams on hold during college to pursue other things. I wrestle with the idea of not having any regrets. My early adult life looked a lot different than I would have ever imagined or wanted. My mother passed away when I was 20 years old, and that left me without any parents and mostly on my own. My entire life and identity were flipped upside down in an instant, and I needed to learn how to be a person again. Even 6 years later, I am still recovering from this loss. I am just now getting back to baseline. So in an ideal world, I would have started my creative pursuits earlier and hit the ground running, right after graduating college. But the universe had other ideas. Read more>>