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.
Broken Vessel Music
I honestly wish I had been more bold in my creative career sooner. There are few things that I enjoy more than expression through music but some of the aspects of being in the public eye and navigating the Christian music industry created an apprehension within me. Since then I’ve grown more comfortable with the idea of being recognized (or even commended) for my talents as well as established some relationships that helped to remove some of the unknowns that exist in the Christian music industry. Read more>>
Jenina (Nina9) Ortega
I do wish I would of started at my teenage years to have built up my fan base and friends with my business and my creative skills in the industry. If I had Instagram back then things would definitely be different. I’d probably have a million followers by now. I could have started when I was doing so much modeling growing up and I almost had a singing career. Read more>>
Bryant Griffin
While I do feel that everything happens when it’s supposed to, there is a large part of me that wishes I had embarked on this career path sooner. My parents were both working class and while my parents were always very supportive, there was a great deal of resistance, or fear, out of their love for me in pursuing a career in the arts. Read more>>
Jamie Neroni
You know, as I look back over the years, I can see small glimpses of my brand popping up all over the place at different points in my life. It was almost as if I had been naturally starting it without realizing it. When I first moved to Chicago, I had this urge to write Yelp reviews for all the places I had tried. There’s a similarity in that with what I do now on social media that I had totally forgot about until recently. Read more>>
Katie Davis
I’ve always been an artist, but I wish I would have known as a young mother (16 years ago) that I could ask for help and childcare. I wish I would have seen the big picture and realized that my studio practice was my job, and not something I had to fit around everyone else’s needs, or apologize for. Read more>>
Psylo Soundz®
Sometimes, I do wish I would’ve started my creative career sooner! But when I sit back and think about my previous job experiences and how all of them have quite literally helped me in some way, shape, or form, I wonder if I’d have the success I have now if I did start earlier. From being a former psych student to working in the food industry, I’ve learned something in every field that I’ve worked in that has served me in almost unimaginable ways as a creative. Read more>>
Nonette Llabres
It’s a question that I have thought about and wondered where I would be if I had taken the creative path sooner. If I had pursued what I envisioned my life to be since I was a kid, which was to be an Artist. As a little girl growing up in the 90’s, I was asked, “What are you going to do when you grow up?” I always responded with, “I want to be an artist!” Read more>>
Kore Charles
A lot of life is about the experiences you get and understanding them on lots of different perspectives. My perspective on starting early might be like anyone else, but the outlook or the after effect keeps me pushing. I always thought starting early was the key and there are days where I still think that, however with the childhood I had, I might have not gotten the opportunity I wanted regardless. Read more>>
Noah Lynch
I sometimes wish that I had started earlier. I started writing when I was 16 and published my first book at 17 years old. I see a lot of my fellow indie authors talking about how they had whole stories written and published by 13-14 years old. But, thinking back, I am glad that I did not start earlier. For one thing, my first story wasn’t all that great and I shudder to think what it would have been like if I had done it at 13. Read more>>
Christine Lakin
I’ve had many creative careers in my life. I started as an actor when I was 8 years old doing local musical theater and commercials in Atlanta. Most people would probably remember me from my role Al on the 90’s sit-com “Step By Step”, but in the 20 years since the series ended, I’ve had careers as a voice over artist, writer, producer, choreographer and now, primarily as a director. Read more>>
LaTonya Patterson
I do not regret actively pursuing a career as a creative. The life lessons I have endured fueled my passion further as I learned more about myself, my family, and my community my writing and performance skills deepened. After finishing my M.S. degree in Entertainment Business class of 2011 from Full Sail University, I have decided to utilize my business management skills to help entertainment-inspiring artists, such as poets, small business entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and dancers across the country bring their project vision into reality. Read more>>
Xiao Lyu
I would say ‘sooner’, sincerely. Before diving into illustration, I’ve also been working for years as a graphic designer and gaming artist since graduating from my undergrad program at China Academy of Art, and my major back then was Visual Communication. It’s a profession with a really broad range and after graduation, I spent a long time figuring out what exactly I wanna do in so many different fields relevant to visual arts while trying my first full-time job. It’s a stressful and confusing period for me. Read more>>
Mari Joy Asiado
Yes, I “started very late” compared to most people who are in the same place as I am. In my BFA program, I was with peers who I felt had been performing since they were crawling. This has been a nagging thought in my head since I took acting “seriously” when I was around 19 or 20. The question of “Where could I be right now if I had made different decisions when I was younger?” always lurks in my head until I tell myself “This thought does not serve me.” Read more>>
Peter Gulsvig
I didn’t begin working in animation until my late 20’s. Prior to working in animation, I did a lot of theater and earned a BA in history. After college, I worked at restaurants, taught English overseas, and worked at Disneyland (very briefly). I’ve been working in animation for over ten years now, most of my colleagues are younger than I am and many began work sooner. Read more>>
Rhiann Duncan
This is a subject I’ve definitely thought about more than a few times throughout my career. I grew up doing competitive sports as a kid. Primarily soccer and a Canadian ice sport called; Ringette. Therefore, I hadn’t really begun to immerse in to performing arts until about the age of 10, when my childhood best friend asked me to join her Musical Theatre class at a local dance studio in our city, Read more>>
Tiana Marshaé
Sometimes I wish I would’ve started my clothing business sooner with printed apparel. I see those who started t-shirt businesses, sold weave or lip gloss while we were young begin to prosper after years. For instance, I remember seeing Jayda Cheaves on instagram selling edge control in high school and now she’s developed her own clothing brand. Read more>>
Bobby Delaney
Sooner. Much much sooner! While a four year degree is nice to have. I do not feel many college programs adequately set-up emerging artists for success, especially in today’s hyper competitive and saturated landscape. I know my school did not. Read more>>
Dewy
My real pursuit of becoming an artist came much later in life at the age of 45. I was a single mother of three and finding the time to create was limited. If I had the funds and space while raising my kids, I would definitely have started sooner. I have learned during the past 8 years of obtaining art degrees that being an artist means you learn by creating and critiquing. You need time to understand your work fully and have the feedback to continuously improve on what you are making. I am still exploring my own voice and since I started on this path I am taking my time. Read more>>
Rochelle Riser
I wish I would have started my career sooner, but I also did not have the confidence or the vision to do so. I could have greatly benefited from an earlier start, but I also was most definitely not ready. I pushed a few really good career opportunities away in my early twenties because I didn’t know how to handle them and didn’t think I deserved them. Read more>>
Lois Bansah
As a part-time palette knife abstract artist who began this creative journey in the midst of the pandemic’s struggles in 2020, the question of timing carries a profound resonance. Discovering the world of palette knife abstract art during such uncertain times was a beacon of solace. Read more>>
Linda Tullis
I have always wanted to be a singer since I was very young. Growing up I listened to a lot of 1950’s and 1960’s music because of my parents. I remember singing and performing songs in front of my fireplace. It was like a stage. Listening to the radio and singing to songs in my room was my escape from the world. Read more>>
Susannah Fleener
Beginning any kind of career can be difficult, particularly when you don’t have much direction and are finding your way, and seeking the direction necessary to succeed. Sometimes those avenues are not apparent when you begin a dream. But luckily we learn as we grow. I’ve been learning how to navigate my way in the art field mostly by myself. Read more>>
Charles Goodwin
Definitely sooner. I treated music like a hobby for too long, I think I was afraid of failure, of being told I was no good by people who know what it takes. I had this naive hope that it would just fall in my lap and I wouldn’t have to pay my dues. I was young and unencumbered by responsibility. Had I been bolder, I could have taken the risk.; should have taken the risk. Read more>>
Colleen Shore
Being able to devote all my time to being an artist didn’t come until after retiring from the working world. It was something I have pursued since a very young age, through studio classes in college and on a various occasions tried putting my creative skills to work. Learning, it was a tough way earn a living, my time was unfortunately consumed with being gainfully employed elsewhere. Read more>>
Arquelle Gilder
When I got started in Real Estate I was 22 years old and in a very dark place in my life. I had just dropped out of college for the second time due to lack of financial aide and making less than 1,000 a month. I hated my job, hated myself, and wasn’t really sure what life had in store for me besides being a failure. I knew I didn’t want to stay in that place for the rest of my life and made a decision to get my real estate license and see where it takes me. Read more>>