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.

RudeBoyKels

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally came from writing poetry and living in music. Growing up Jamaican, reggae was always around me it wasn’t just sound, it was storytelling, rhythm, and emotion. I was constantly listening to music, knowing the latest songs, feeling the lyrics, and writing poetry as a way to process everything I felt. Read more>>

Matt Stone

I first became an Elvis fan when I was 12 years old, after seeing a clip of him performing ‘Jailhouse Rock.’ Immediately, I wanted to sing like him, perform like him. He just oozed charisma in a way that I’d never seen anybody else do before. Read more>>

Brittany Mona’

My first love has always been acting. I knew early on that creativity was where I felt most alive, but for a long time, it stayed something I loved rather than something I imagined doing full-time. In 2020, a mutual gifted me a set of art supplies. Read more>>

Yuliya Chorna

I grew up constantly drawing, painting, making clothes for my barbies, dancing, even coming up with comic book stories with my brothers. We were a creative household. My parents were engineers by day and creatives at heart. My dad has always been into music. My mom used to make custom clothes for people. Read more>>

DAN Middleton

I never set out to be an artist. Honestly, I didn’t even pick up a paint brush until 2019 (age 57). The moment everything changed, it came during a really hard season of my life. What started with osteoarthritis in my knees had progressed to the point where I was chair-bound. Read more>>

Imani Hopkins

It all started when I was eight years old, sitting at my grandmother’s grand piano. I learned how to play classical pieces by composers such as Mozart, Bach, and Chopin, and quickly realized I had a natural ability to read and understand music. Its structure came easily to me, and I found comfort in both its discipline and its beauty. Read more>>

Phillip Gregory Burke

I was 12 years old and did one of my first musicals, at my church, The United Church of Auburn, called Klinkenschnell, The Christmas Bell. I still recall the melody of the “I Hate Mistletoe’ song! Read more>>

Alex Palermo

I was raised by a family that typically carved out their own path for themselves. My brother Bradley influenced me at a young age with music & skateboarding. That culture really made me realize that I wanted to spend a lifetime making art and sharing art with others. Read more>>

Jessica Barbour

The first time I realized I wanted to pursue a creative and artistic career professionally was after graduating from high school and moving back to my hometown of Brooklyn, New York. Being immersed in New York City surrounded by so many creatives and deeply rooted industries in art, music, and theatre was truly inspiring. Read more>>

Maeve Kelley Baker

The Sidekick Troupe (TST) have been creatives from the beginning. Our path started in 2019 when a group of college students and recent graduates performed ‘Birds and Bats,’ a Batman parody musical that now has over 14k+ views on Youtube. Read more>>

NX Blame

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was in high school, but the roots were planted long before that. I grew up surrounded by music and poetry it was always part of the air in my life, and I was encouraged early on to create, not just consume, art. Read more>>

Jeff Haynie

I feel very blessed to have known I was called to be an artist from as young as I can remember. In elementary school during recess, I would find a tree to sit under and draw spaceships and monsters. It wasn’t until junior high when I took my first art class that showed me that this was my calling. Read more>>

Tania Pomales

My earliest memories of drawing and creating were when the big, thick Bell Atlantic phonebooks still existed. If you know what they are, you know they were quite substantial tomes of endless numbers and advertisements. I was born in 1989 to Puerto Rican parents living in the United States. Read more>>

Tony Mantor

I started piano lessons at eight, and by high school, I was performing with the stage band at concerts and school events. After graduation, I joined a band and never looked back, continuing to chase my musical dreams and share my passion with every performance. Read more>>

inKed Savage

I was 16 when I first started freestyle rapping—just for fun, no real plan, just vibing with beats and seeing what came out. Over time, I got more curious about becoming an actual artist. At first, it was the flashy side of music that caught my attention—seeing people live big off their art made me want to chase it. Read more>>

Harleen Johar

As a child, I spent hours alone in my room with pencils, markers, scraps of paper, and whatever materials I could get my hands on. Formal art classes were expensive and considered extracurricular. This was long before the internet made learning accessible. My creative world was small and self-contained. Eventually, as life demanded practical choices, I drifted away from that part of myself. Read more>>

Karam Salem

I don’t think there was a single “lightbulb” moment—it revealed itself gradually, through experience rather than decision. Music entered my life very early, first as a pianist, and even then it felt less like a hobby and more like a language. I was drawn to it instinctively, as a way to process emotion, atmosphere, and stories around me. Read more>>

Alanna Starr Shimel

As a child and young adult, movement, music, writing, and beauty were how I processed the world. Dance came first… not as performance, but as I presence and fun. Singing has always been a big part of my life, then art-making, then ceremony. At first, these expressions lived in separate lanes: dance for joy, singing for release, art for beauty. Read more>>

Derron Ridley

The first time I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally wasn’t a single moment, but a gradual recognition that creating and curating felt more natural to me than anything else. I’ve always been drawn to visuals, objects, and design—not just how things look, but how they’re presented and why they resonate. Read more>>

Cydni Brionne

Growing up, I was always drawn t music and would sing/listen to music for comfort and as an escape from reality. When I was 19, I had became more committed to my Christian faith which led me to wanting to create music that shares stories about my relationship with God and inspire others to start their own relationship with Him. Read more>>

MK Metten

Ever since I was a little kid I was always making art. My summer vacations spent in daycare programs were filled with drawing, making friendship bracelets, beaded knick-knacks, or whatever I could get my hands on really. I’ve always loved it. Read more>>

Wyn Austin

I can’t really pinpoint the exact time or day when I wanted to pursue my dream. It was a feeling. A feeling that I kept chasing and still am chasing! I remember in grade school whenever we would have indivdual projects, I would put my all into it. Read more>>

Cassandra Bullock-Beaudry

I began my silversmithing journey in 2020—the year the world slowed down and everything shifted. At the time, I had just put my career as a certified dental assistant on pause. Though I loved the field, I knew deep down it was time to finally pursue something deeper. Read more>>

Kayla Kennedy

I was introduced to the performing arts like most people: the school musical. In elementary school, participation was mandatory. In middle school, I auditioned because I thought it could be fun. And in high school, performing was my identity. I was the theatre nerd in every choir and dance group and show I could be a part of. Read more>>

Cheyenne DeLozier

I’ve had a passion for art and creating since i was young. When I was little I remember my dad teaching me how to color inside the lines of coloring books. Art class was my favorite subject ant school. Around 11-12yrs old I remember watching Miami Ink and La Ink on tv and was so amazed at the tattoos they made. Read more>>

Safarri Jessop

After I completed the world championships and became a gold medalist and world champion, I started getting into modeling more seriously and shortly after that I became a photographer. When I realized that my martial arts skills and modeling works had inspired many people throughout worldwide, I started getting passionate about my arts and presentation. Read more>>

Terrell Swinton

I was first introduced to the creative world through modeling. I was in front of the camera before I ever thought about being behind it. But even then, I was more interested in how images were being made than in simply being seen. That curiosity led me to self-portraiture, which became a way to explore control, identity, and emotion. Read more>>

Dan Guevara

The first time I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in music is probably when I received my first encore! I remember the feeling of the night. It’s almost as if there was something magical in the air and it felt like anything was possible! I was performing at a little shop in downtown Georgetown TX called Mesquite Creek Outfitters. Read more>>

Heather Mattole

I think this is one of those things where I always knew I wanted to be creative and artistic professionally, but I was dissuaded from art as a path of ‘impracticality’ for most of my youth and young adulthood. So it feels like in the last 6 years of selling my works, almost like I’m remembering that it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Read more>>

Michael Greco

I have always been drawn to the entertainment industry. My great aunt was a showgirl in the USO back during WW2. Her husband was a contract player for DesiLu. My dad was an actor, my sister was for a big part of her life as well. But, growing up, I was the practical one, the business minded, straight A student. Read more>>

SuzAnne kaltbaum

I didn’t have a single “aha” moment early in life where I knew this would be my path. It came much later, during a really emotional season. My youngest son was getting ready to leave for college, and I was feeling all the things that come with that. Pride, sadness, nostalgia, and the realization that our family dynamic was about to change. Read more>>

Ed Racks

I was 9 years old & my mom bought me a karaoke for Christmas. When I use to get in trouble she use to take away my tv & video games. So I learned to adapt by writing little stories & then i started dabbling into poetry. I grew up in one of the greatest eras of hip hop music the 90’s. Read more>>

Tricia Seymour-Barrier, PhD, EdD

I’m what you might call a late bloomer on my professional artist path. Although creativity has always been part of who I am, I didn’t begin consistently creating and selling my abstract work until my 60s. I was fortunate to grow up in a home where imagination and curiosity were nurtured. My parents encouraged me to explore, to ask questions, and to be unapologetically myself. Read more>>

Manasseh Thornton

I never considered myself a creative but once my wife and I had children, I began to write. That writing eventually became a published book titled: Uncharted Territory: A Father’s Journey. Read more>>

Sarah Swank

I’ve been creating art since I was a baby. I still cherish those early pieces as my mom held on to many of my drawings. I have a box filled with all of my sketchbooks and almost all of my art since my childhood to now. Read more>>

Susan H. Roddey

I fell into publishing backwards. I’ve always been drawn to the arts. From the time I was little, I used to pretend to be a writer when other kids were playing with dolls and cars. My dad was in construction, and he brought a school desk home for my bedroom. It was my favorite thing in the world. After I learned to read (and write, though my handwriting is still atrocious), the obsession only grew. I wrote my first full story in second grade. By the time I reached high school, I was regularly writing short stories. Truth be told, most of it was fan-fiction, even if I didn’t know what it was at the time. Read more>>

Kody Poisson

I don’t think there was a defining moment per se when I suddenly had an epiphany of where my life was heading professionally. If there was a moment, I must have been so caught up in whatever pressing catastrophe to remember. I mean, how does one plan for such a creative life? There were many signs along the way, many early clues. I followed my instincts. Read more>>

Whitney Marie

I didn’t have a big, dramatic “this is it” moment at first. It was more subtle. I just kept noticing that whenever I was around music, culture, and creative spaces, something clicked for me. I wasn’t just enjoying it. I was paying attention to the stories, the energy in the room, and how moments were being created and remembered. I naturally found myself documenting, observing, and wanting to capture what made those spaces feel special. I really noticed it when I went to Vegas one year and met someone who I deeply admire. She was/and still is so kind to me and that was the moment I knew, this is what I want to do. Read more>>