Do you remember the moment you realized what you wanted to do professionally? Was it magic? Was it scary? We wanted to hear from some of the most talented artists and creatives in the community and so we asked them to tell us the story of the moment when they knew they were going to pursue a creative career path.

Erica Brighthill

From a young age I always loved singing. My mom’s best friend was a country singer and when I saw her on stage I told myself ”Wow that’s what I want to do”. When I was young, me and my friends used to play and pretend we were on American Idol and sing for hours and when I was alone at home I would sing with a hair brush or my karaoke mic. I started taking music more seriously after high school. Read more>>

Amanda Still

I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. But I also understood that it could be a difficult profession to make a good living in. So I decided early on that I would study interior design in college. I was already seeking out artistically designed magazine advertisements and art posters to cover my bedroom walls with…practically from floor to ceiling. I would even rotate out the “artwork” when I discovered new “pieces”. So it was a perfect fit during college when I found a job at an Austin art gallery while working toward my degree in interior design. Read more>>

Alicia Ifill

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue photography as an artistic path professionally was when I was in middle school. It all started with my uncle who gifted me my first camera which was a Sony NEX-6. From there he taught me all I needed to know about photography. With my new camera, I started to shoot with friends and family and for any new photographer, the best advice I have is to use the people who care and support you as your models it’s a great way to test any new techniques and styles you may want to try. Read more>>

Stephanie Edwards

When I was 13 years old, my middle school English teacher asked me to be the school correspondent for my hometown newspaper. I wrote a weekly column and fell in love with the craft of writing. I knew I had to pursue a career that allowed me to interview others and share their incredible stories. Read more>>

Melody Gonzalez

One top question I always get asked is… If I always wanted to be a hairstylist? Actually it was my second choice, I wanted to be a chef first. As the new generation has Pinterest, Instagram, youtube, ect at 15yrs old I had the good old cooking network channel. I first watched chefs make simple meals on tv, I took the city bus to my nearest heb and tried my best to duplicate those exact dishes. At age 16, I signed up at my high school and took a culinary arts program for one semester. Read more>>

Vincent Zuniaga

My grandma used to take me to different museums in Downtown Caracas, Venezuela. Also I accompanied her to Opera, Classical Orchestra, Theater Shows and Chorus Concerts where my aunt and uncle performed. I drew and painted a lot as a kid and as a teenager. My grandma believed that I had a gift for art and urged me to enroll in art school. I never followed her advice and life took me in a different direction for a while, but I have always had art in my life in some way. Read more>>

Christina Sutra

As a young woman, I had always been invested in all things art. Art for me, gave me permission to be wild and eccentric. It felt like, I could let my passionate soul out to play without having to make excuses for myself; I would simply say I’m an artist, what do you expect? I loved to sew my own clothes, make art, and use makeup as a form of self expression. To me, our whole life is art. Later on in my own motherhood journey I had kind lost touch with myself in some ways; I wasn’t truly tapped into my creative passionate self. Read more>>

Zion Vercetti

Back in 2012 , me and my middle school boys had a rap group called the trill image where everything originated , we always use to record songs off the phone off this app called garage band shortly after that I met a close friend, his rap name was Fng Bart who at the time wanted to take rap seriously , took me to my first studio. Read more>>

Priestly Law

I think I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a content creator professionally, I just didn’t know the hows or the whats yet. For as long as I can remember I was always making something – drawing, writing stories, making videos. I knew I wanted to create but I felt like I had to “zone in” on something first if I really wanted to make it. Once the world opened up to the new media in social media, I realized that I could just make anything I want. It would be my art, my creations. I didn’t need to limit myself to become a content creator. Read more>>

JaiPiere Morrison

Ever since I was a child, I always loved to perform and create! I sang in the choir, a lot of academic teams, played basketball, make music and funny videos. When I grew older and moved to Chicago. I started working at Pizza Hut and the GM was a trans male. He asked me what’s your pronouns and I said I don’t know because I’ve always wanted to transition. So he referred me to Broadway Youth Center and I started testosterone April 27th, 2019. I’ll never forget the day I was so happy. Read more>>

Jasna Thompson

I would say the first time that I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was by just doing one of my hobbies. I was laid off from work during the pandemic so I had time to invest in myself a little. I had to keep myself busy, someway some how. The beginning of the pandemic was super tough on me, so to keep my mind clear, making the candles gave me a sense of peace and calmness. Read more>>

Joshua (Kuhr) Lee

I have always enjoyed music and have been learning new instruments and techniques since the age of 10. I started out learning cello and becoming familiar with classical music. I ultimately knew I wanted to do this professionally when I started writing songs of my own when I was 17. It was the only thing to do that really made me content with my life and I knew I wanted to pursue it no matter the hardships that might occur. Read more>>

Dynez Dennis

When I think back on when I knew I wanted to be an entertainer, the feels came for me at a very early age, it was inadvertent. Like, I always had a passion for music and I knew within that if I could cultivate this thing inside of me I would be great. Coming from a church upbringing, when it was known that I had a voice, I was immediately pushed to the front. I fought the urges and expectations, I was somewhat a rebel even then. Read more>>

Khia Ancalade

I have always been creative my entire life; throughout high school, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career path where I would be able to utilize my artistic abilities in some form. My desire to combine my creative talents with my collegiate education prompted me to major in architecture throughout college, which allowed me to sharpen my graphic design and creative thinking skills. Read more>>

Holly Gerken

After unexpectedly becoming a stay-at-home mom following the birth of my daughter, I decided that in addition to my new role as a mother and stay-at-home mom/wife, I also wanted to invest in my creative identity and see what I could do with some of the ideas and interests that had been swirling around in my head for some time. I began trying to work out some of my ideas, some of which never came to full fruition and some which are still part of my business today, Read more>>

Gage Retz

The first time I ever received a compliment on my saxophone playing was when I knew I wanted to follow a creative path in life. It was Sophomore year in High School and we would meet on Monday mornings in band rehearsal and listen to Judges tapes with doughnuts and milk if we had a marching band competition the preceding Saturday. The first one of the season was pretty standard and was just some other HS band teacher walking around critiquing minors with instruments. “Misstep in percussion” and ” Out of tempo in the brass” sort of comments. Read more>>

Peter J. Lehman

The first time I knew I wanted to make music was when I was about 14. Some friends and I were working on starting a band and writing songs. I was into punk and grunge rock at the time and I had this dream that was unrooted in reality of getting a van and going to California after I graduated high school. I thought that’s what one did in order to be a rock star. But after my freshman year my family moved from Alaska to Missouri which was a huge culture shock and it put those plans to a halt. I eventually lost touch with my future band mates and the dream fizzled out. Read more>>

Mercy Madu

The first time I knew I wanted to become an artist is when I was seven years old. I watched T.V. a lot and cartoons were a part of my childhood growing up. I enjoy watching cartoons that pertain to humor and I thought the characters makes the show for what it was. From the style to the context to the personality, I believe characters are the forefront of what makes that particular show great. Not only that, the imagination that comes with it when it comes to cartoons makes it enjoyable to watch. Read more>>

Nathalie Hernandez

After I made it on NBC’s “The Voice” and was a member of Christina Aguilera’s team. I was 15. It wasn’t just my parents or my friends telling me I could sing, it was professionals in the industry and thousands of people watching me on TV that made me realize I had something special. At the same time, I was deep into songwriting. It was so empowering and it came naturally to me. Read more>>

Rebecca Powell

To know the whole story, we have to rewind to 2011, during my Freshman year at High Point University. One of the first classes I took at HPU was a ceramics course; it was supposed to be an easy A to knock off my art credit for my liberal art requirements for my biochemistry degree. But my creative heart loved every second of being in the studio. I couldn’t stop with just one course, so I spoke with my advisor and filed for a minor in studio arts. I had no idea what one would do with a Biochemistry degree and a minor in the arts, but I just did it because it felt right. I felt drawn to the studio; the hours just slipped by, whether it was sculpting or painting. Read more>>

Visionary Grind Arts

Visionary Grind Arts began as a spark of an idea one night in 2019 while in my art studio talking with my business partner Lupita Peralez-Garcia. She and I had been having a series of conversations about what we wanted as members of the art community and also what we wanted for our individual art careers. We both wanted to help other artists and find a way to express ourselves without being pigeon holed. Because of these conversations, Lupita and I realized that there was a great need in the Black and Brown artist communities, more than just what one art show or event could address. Read more>>

E. J. Wenstrom

My love for writing fiction is a revelation that came to me slowly. I went through most of my life thinking I was not so creative. I knew I loved books and language, and thought that perhaps copyediting was a good path for me. My senior year I was required to take an internship and ended up in the only spot I could secure–a writing gig with a city lifestyle magazine. Luckily for me, the managing editor who ran the internship program was also a former high school counselor, and very patient. He coached me into tapping into a more creative mindset to write in a style that suited features, and I’ve been addicted to writing ever since–features articles, interviews, blogs, whatever. Read more>>

Lisa Saul

I grew up in Augusta Georgia. My mother used to have her hair done weekly at a salon in a woman’s apartment down the street from our house . The woman’s name was Lila. We would walk do m the street to Lila’s . The moment I walked into the room I felt excited. The room was crowded with women sitting around having their hair done. They had an old fashioned red Coca-Cola cooler in the corner of the room and they gave me a bottled coke to drink from it. I sat in the corner , happily sipping from the bottle watching and listening to everyone in the room. Read more>>

Edward 3RDegree Wilson

I’ve been in love with Music since I was 2 or 3. From my Mother singing to me,spending time with my Aunt Paula listening to Her Records( mostly Michael Jackson) and riding along with my Step Father playing Hip Hop from Tupac, Snoop, Dr Dre, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang and LL Cool J. I knew I wanted to pursure it professionally in 6th Grade, when my Step Father challenged Me by saying he would help my music career if I got my Math Grade up.. in which I did. I knew then that it was more than a Hobby, it was a Burning Passion. Read more>>

Nina Valdez

I have known I wanted to Act since I was 7 years old. I have always been an extremely logic driven person with a lazer focus on my goals, even back then. I remember saying I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up because I wanted to help people. Math and science have never been my strong suits though and I was discouraged because I found out that, that is pretty much what being a doctor is about. But one day I was watching TV and Duggie Howser or something like that came on… and that was that. Read more>>

James Cox

My first experience with depression was quite some time ago. I’d say around 2014 maybe? I runs through my mom’s side of the family, so I can defiantly say I got it from my mom’s side.I was mainly depressed because I didn’t have a girlfriend, (I still don’t by the way). I started podcasting in 2015 I’d say. I had 7 different podcasts (not at the same time). We’ll one day I was out with a friend and he jokingly said “James, you know what…you know too much about music.” “You should do a podcast on and about music”. Read more>>

Rob: Earth-One

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue this path professionally, I was 18 or 19. I was recording full mixtapes in my bedroom and dropping mixtapes, mostly for my classmates in high school. I saw how some of them liked it and thought about taking it further with music videos, shows, etc. I was pretty much still a dumb kid at the time and didn’t understand the industry as well as I do now. In the last 10 years or so, I’ve been fortunate enough to build a fanbase and make connections over the years. Read more>>

Rick Del Castillo

Ever since I was a little boy I heard my older siblings playing music, both on the turntable and playing the guitars and drums. My father would occasionally play the guitar and piano as well I was drawn to it. When I was 12 I saw Led Zeppelin’s movie “The Song Remains The Same” at the theatre and I knew at that moment music was what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Elijah Farrales

Like most creatives, I imagine, I first found a passion that personally resonated with me. Establishing and nurturing that passion laid the groundwork for any and all professional opportunities that would come along later. In fact, however, it was the evolution of that passion into something I’m able to share that steered me into professionally using my art – that art being cup stacking sculptures. To spare you from hearing the long-winded history of a young man finding himself curious about what could be done through stacking a bunch of cups, Read more>>

Sarah J. Sover

There is no straight path to becoming a writer. I knew from early on that I wanted to write, but like many creatives, I have many other passions too. In High School, I wrote for the school newspaper, submitted poems to the literary magazine, participated in open mic nights (we can talk about overcoming a crippling fear of public speaking later), and founded a writer’s club. It was no surprise to anyone when I declared English as my major in college. However, life had different plans. Read more>>

Melodee Pryce

When they say representation matters I absolutely identify with that. I always knew I could sing, my family sings, I sang in church, but it wasn’t until I saw Lauryn Hill that I knew that’s what I wanted to do that’s what I wanted to be. I think I was maybe 10 at the time Read more>>

Yee-Sik Wong

My name is Yee-Sik Wong. I’m originally from Hong Kong. I started playing piano when I was 4 and ballet when I was 5. I took lessons as a hobby when I was little. I came to the USA for my master’s degree in piano performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and then continued my education at the University of Iowa where I received my doctoral degree in piano performance and pedagogy. Currently, I am in my 7th year as a pianist with the Kansas City Ballet (Prior moving to Kansas City, I was with Tulsa Ballet as a Company and Center for Dance Education pianist for 5 seasons). Read more>>

Monique Ford

I knew I wanted to pursue a professional path in music since I was a little girl. You could always catch me at every talent show or singing at every opportunity. I knew I wanted to sing and to get paid to do it was a bonus. To sum up my educational studies, I have studied Classical voice at Eastern New Mexico University and then went on to South Plains College where I received a degree in Entertainment Business and Live Performance. Read more>>

Jessica Kelly

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to be a Visual Artist. I had a vast imagination and colorful dreams throughout my childhood. Before having the understanding of the medium mixed media, I spent most of my time drawing, painting, and using household items as materials to create unique pieces. Some of my favorite mediums to use as a child were watercolor paint, pastels, acrylic paint and graphite pencil. I created non-representational asemic paintings using line, shape and color. Read more>>

Jey Holman

Someone once told me that you really know your calling when you’re willing to do it for nothing. In 2018, I started teaching makeup looks in my apartment to anyone who wanted to learn. Some friends and some strangers. And the only payment I received was the gratification of being apart of their experience. What woman doesn’t want to look into the mirror and fall in love over and over again? My goal was to show women that they could use minimal makeup to create a maximum effect. And just to bare witness to the confidence it created within them was rewarding enough for me. Read more>>

Stephanie Bedell

The 1st time I knew Fashion was my calling was when nothing else gave me “that feeling”. As a young child I was told to steer away from the arts, because it was NOT a promising career field financially. So after high school I struggled with choosing a career path. I tried Accounting, Criminal Justice, Psychology, and Sociology just to name a few. Now don’t get me wrong, I excelled in many of those fields, but I didn’t enjoy it wholeheartedly. After years of becoming a “Professional Student” I applied for graduation and came out with a General Studies degree. Read more>>

Shistine Peterson

Honestly I don’t really know if I ever seriously considered a non-creative career. I grew up knowing that I was in love with making things. I was lucky to have found clay and ceramics pretty early on and got into photography too. When it came to going to college I did as a lot of 18 year olds do and just picked what I liked and hoped it worked out, so I studied photography. It’s been an interesting path I’ve taken since, moving through different jobs and figuring out a good balance between supporting myself and fulfilling my creative needs, but I’m very happy with where I’m at right now. Read more>>

Sharon Barr

I have very early recollections of wanting to make something new and beautiful out of found objects. Making little sculptures and new environments out of discarded cartons and containers and working with clay and collage at school demonstrated very early I was attracted to the arts and clearly a visual learner. Read more>>

Kristan Ryan

I first realized I wanted to be nothing but an artist at the age of five when I watched my dad show me how to draw cartoons. I wasn’t interested in cartoons because I had never seen television and only one movie, so I didn’t know what cartoons really were because my first years were spent in Germany and Morocco and we didn’t have TV in either of those countries at that time, at least not in homes. However, I was fascinated by how my father drew people in what he called “cartoon shapes” as a way to entertain me. Read more>>

Megan-Claire Chase

I have dreamt of being an actor since I was eight years old. My mother not only introduced me to cult favorites like The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz, but she also introduced me to classic films like Stagedoor, Bringing Up Baby, Easter Parade, and Dangerous. I became obsessed with Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn movies as I got older. Read more>>

M. Kellz

As a child, entertainment was always fascinating to me. The way that many forms of entertainment can cross paths to create an overall mood or feeling was amazing. For example, lets say that sports are on t.v. Then they have a commercial break. During that commercial break theres music being played in the background. Then the programming returns to the sporting event. This transition then repeats until the conclusion of the sporting event. Read more>>

King Magik

I knew it young in grade school, i was always good with my hands, always fixing things around the house including electronics. Being a designer is all about construction, taking things apart or starting from scratch to make something cool. So I definitely wanted to always keep building Read more>>

Pilar Jewell

The first time I knew that I wanted to be a writer/poet is in high school. I was in the poetry club and the drama club. I was pretty successful in both. I was nominated and won Drama Club queen. From there I knew that anything with writing or creativity I wanted to do. When I graduated high school, I majored in theatre arts. I eventually changed my major but I still have a passion for the arts. Read more>>

Angeletho

The very first time it crossed my mind of doing this for a living was probably my junior year of high school cause I had already been making music for about two and half years. I was kicking it with my bro Isaiah and he was looked me dead in the face and said bro we can really do this and go somewhere with it, of course to me I was like i don’t know dawg cause yea it be cool but everyone wants to be someone and I was focused on skateboarding more at the time cause that’s all I ever did but he really got to me when he said it cause i could feel the connection and the passion we both shared for the music. Read more>>

Haley Jonrs

When I was young I ended up invest time into drawing. At around 7 is when I really just drew a lot and spent a lot of time creating art. It was like something had spark my creativity. I went from doing traditional art to graphic designs and spent many years just doing digital artwork. I knew I was going to pursue being an artist one day. As I got older I did not spend much time doing art or anything due to life and responsibilities of being a mother to 3 and running my dog grooming business that was featured not to long ago with voyage Houston. Read more>>

Shunita Wynne

I always knew I wasn’t meant to work in a typical 9-5 type of job. I am a dreamer. I believe you should do what makes you happy and the money will come. I started doing my own hair at the age of 11. I will never forget I was fake curling my bangs with a comb and it got stuck in my hair. My first reaction was to try and untwist it but that didn’t work, so I took some scissors and cut it out. I knew at that moment, a: Read more>>

Jimmie Lee Jackson

The time came when I knew I wanted to pursue painting professionally when I just moved into my new apartment. I had all this wall space and freedom to hang whatever I wanted. The place I was coming from didn’t have much so I told myself this was the opportunity to dig deep into my inner child and be completely transparent and honest. The little jimmie in me loved art galleries, sculptures, drawings & a killer Esthetic. So I did just that!, now at this time like most people I went to your local places trying to fill this faint void with some kind of excitement. Read more>>

Alex Fraile

As a child, I discovered that I could play musical instruments, the first instrument I learned to play was piano at only 6 years old. At 10 years old I discovered that I could sing in tune. Then at 15 years old I taught myself to play guitar and that is when I felt the desire to pursue a career as a professional artist. Read more>>

Shana Blakley

My art business, Figure Form, was born out of an intense journey of grief and loss. My background is actually in social work, and I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I practiced therapy with children and families for 10 years before stepping away when my firstborn son died. It completely altered the course of my life. In 2017, my husband Matt and I became pregnant after moving to a new city (Richmond, VA), buying a house, and beginning to set down roots. Read more>>

Mariam Poppins

Howdy ! I started illustrating when I entered the planner community. I was bullet journaling and sharing some of my art on social media. People started to enjoy the art and then we put the art on stickers, various stationery and then we entered the children’s book world and it’s been a blast. Read more>>

David R3y

Ever since I can remember I always knew I wanted to do something with the arts but I never knew exactly what I wanted to do. I remember very well that my mind was always flying away with many crazy ideas, creative thoughts, but at that time I did not understand them and I didn’t have anyone to guide me in that world. Read more>>