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.

Ashley Harrington

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic career was in 2019, painting on the side with old paints from my school days, three months into a “create everyday” self-imposed challenge, and working full-time in marketing. After almost a decade in multiple desk jobs I was at a loss for what I wanted to do and thought I needed to refigure my strengths and passions. Read more>>

Oc

I knew I wanted to pursue music early in life. I was writing poetry for my mom every Friday and reciting it to her. As time went on , I started writing in school. After that I won a poetry contest . This is the first 11 years of my life. Me and my brother and my cousins all grew up in a church , so music was around us everyday. I’ve always had a way with words so I’ve always thought is was just gods gift to me so I just keeping on perfecting my craft and god made the starrs align and put me around like minded people. Read more>>

Jasie Kelch

I’ve known since a very young age that creativity was something I desired to do on a professional level. I used to sit for hours as a child; writing stories, drawing clothing, and fantasizing about people seeing my work one day. Creativity has always been an escape for me through my toughest times. Using my creative brain is therapeutic for me and has led to some amazing opportunities over the years. Read more>>

Grace Doyle

Probably in high school, at The Baltimore School for the Arts, an arts magnet school in Maryland. I was exposed to different media, like photography, ceramics, sculpture, painting and drawing. We took art history and visiting artists gave artist talks and workshops. Being introduced to artists and the amazing teachers at that school showed me that pursuing art was possible. Read more>>

Christina Couture

For as long as I can remember I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in the arts. I grew up in a very artistic household, my mother created some of the most beautiful paintings and sculptures that were displayed in our house. My father was a photojournalist in the army and an incredible singer and musician. Growing up as a kid my father would constantly record us kids playing and putting on shows for the whole family. Read more>>

Brianna, Carissa, Jacob and Kamren

Jacob: I was 17. I was exhausted from school, from soccer, from everything really, even drawing. Then I found myself reading comics/manga. This delighted me more than just entertainment, but as a craft. Storytelling and drawing. I learned as much as I could on comic creation in order to create my own. The more I experienced the craft of comics, I realized, I the viewer will desperately consume a comic in minutes, while I the creator, spent a month of dark, delightful nights creating my comic. Read more>>

Emily Strulson

As a little girl I distinctly remember loving my crayola markers and ink pens but it was a combination of a trip to Paris before my freshmen year in college and enrolling in both art history as well as a studio art classes that solidified by commitment to a career in the arts. Visiting the Musee d’Orsay with my mom, Read more>>

Dre Day

Haha that is actually a funny story. It was something I always had in me. I always wanted to be a ball player of any kind but that didn’t workout and music was always around from freestyling to being a street team guy passing out flyers for artist to songwriting. I’ve played drums since 13 self taught and have always had a strong music passion. Read more>>

Rushaal Marwaha

At the age of 16 i told my pare That i had a creative hand and i want to enhance my kills in makeup . I was always into fantasy, sfx and Halloween makeup . My parents were so supportive that they enrolled me to best institute to fulfill my desire to become a makeup artist. Many people in my extended family were against me for opting this profession but i was admant and with support of my parents I didn’t look back and stepped forward to become a makeup artist Read more>>

Eva Parker

I’ve always had a love for making art. Whether it was photography, digital art, painting, the list could go on and on. I would made things for myself or paint gifts for friends and family but I always saw it as a hobby. Thinking that I had to get a desk job and unhappily work at something I didn’t love so that so could be successful in life. It wasn’t until I was 24 stuck at my desk job with a decent salary that I realized it wasn’t enough for me to be successful, I really wanted to be fulfilled. Read more>>

Julie Celina

I’ve always loved being creative in many different ways, and I’ve been drawing and painting ever since I was a child. When I was in high school I wanted to go to art school when I graduated, and I dreamed of having a life filled with art, museums, and interesting people. I’ve always had dreams about my future, and I have changed directions so many times when I grew up. And so it happened that just before I was to graduate high school I got a flyer with a list of university courses. Read more>>

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I feel like a cliche saying that “I always knew” I wanted to seek a creative profession, but it’s somewhat true. People pointed out my ability to draw at age seven when I was hospitalized for an extended period, much of it bedridden. I had suffered a stroke followed by multiple clots due to complications of an unknown-to-us blood disorder, and drawing was one of the few things I could do from my bed. My parents and other adults started noticing that my drawings were more advanced than that of your typical first grader, and I loved to create. Throughout my early childhood, I continued heading toward some sort of future in the visual arts, but without knowing it. Read more>>

Jay-R3D

I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in entertainment when i attended Jackson State University in Jackson, MS. This is where i decided to take a stab at acting. I joined the MADDRAMA Performance Troupe and that is also where i began recording music. I met my group mates within the organization and dropped various projects while in the group. Read more>>

Cassandra Crawley

I knew I had wanted to be an artist ever since I was a child. I had entered into many coloring competitions as a child, took as many art classes as I could, and did as much art as I could at home. I went to a career center for graphic design and print, had an opportunity to paint a family tree in my teachers house, dual enrolled in the community college for photoshop and typography. I had an internship at a screen printing business doing some design work and printing. Read more>>

Alexandra McLennan

I’ve always been drawn to creative environments and ways of earning income. Throughout the years, I held multiple corporate jobs and while the potential was certainly there, I never excelled at any of them. They were mostly just a source of income and anxiety. After graduating college, I accepted an internship with a new outdoor wedding venue in the woods, and quickly transitioned to being the new venue manager and day-of coordinator. Read more>>

Susan (Suzy) Johnson

I was raised in Chicago by a ballet dancer and a professional musician. My life has always been filled with art. Performance art, although I loved it, wasn’t my strongest media! I love music, and play(ed) the piano, guitar, silver flute and Native American flute. Read more>>

Matt Fritz

As far back as I can remember having a creative outlet has been a priority for me. Whether experimenting with fine art, sculpting, photography, architecture, graphic design, music – I cannot recall a time in my life when the artistic path was not my focus. A specific memory that sparks a happy thought is being a young child home with chicken pox and my grandmother teaching me the reverse drawing technique using a black canvas and white chalk as a relief form. From that day on I was hooked on the world of vulnerable creative expression. Read more>>

Timothy Hines Jr

I grew up in a very musical household, and everyone in my family was gifted and talented, at times I questioned rather or not I wanted to do it because my siblings where so great and I didn’t won’t to be compared to them. But, my mom always encouraged me. One Day I was learning a song for church cause my mom was a pastor and I hit a chord on my keyboard and I liked it so much that I recorded it and 10 minutes later I made a whole track on my keyboard and that’s how I fell in love with the process of making music. Read more>>

Keira Green

I literally had an epiphany during my sophomore year of college. An inner voice told me to keep practicing my art skills and pursue my passion. Once I failed yet another Chemistry course, my third time to be exact, I left in 2015, my junior year, and never returned. Deep down I always knew college was never meant for me, but it has always been my go-to since I was a child. You know, that thing society keeps advertising to you so you believe that’s what you want. Read more>>

Amber Jordan

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was about 2 years ago, when I got my first inquiry about collaborating with a local brand for modeling clothes. I have always had a passion for beauty and fashion so I always knew I wanted to be in the industry for either one of those things. When this company reached out it felt like I was moving in the right direction in my career, and the perfect opportunity for me to get my name out there. Read more>>

Leslie Reddick

When I began school at Rhodes College, my plan was to major in pre-law and then on to law school. I took an acting class in my first semester to eliminate one of my fine arts requirements. I enjoyed it so much that I took Acting II. I did not care for the political science professors and actually found the classes uninspiring. I slowly began to take more theater classes until finally, I had to declare a major. It was an emotional and mental struggle because all of my life I had dreamed of being a lawyer. Read more>>

Dawn Pierce

I’ve always considered my self an artist. And as a child art and creativity was nurtured in my by my mother. I took all the art classes my schools had to offer to get an idea of what type I really enjoyed. Though, to be honest, I love it all. I throughly enjoy creating things, be it a painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. Read more>>

Katie Carr

Early on in my life I was exposed to Art. Specifically, oil paints and landscape pieces created by my grandfather, Walter Hans Koernert. Surrounded by the nostalgic smell of paints and the intricate ships my Papa would build from start to finish with such dainty pieces of wood and glue, I knew from a very early age I had the art gene. Not one to draw elaborate concepts or stand out in any artistic way, I rather understood the significance of art and how meaningful it could be to those who appreciated the creativity. Read more>>

Mya Futch

Growing up, I always would watch and often times assist my grandfather, James Williams do art work in the backyard of his home or at locations for the clients that he had through out Savannah. At the time, I saw myself being an artist. Unsure, I was consciously seeking a career during that time, but I knew I had something. Late 2018, I started painting and within the few months left of the year I found myself taking the art of painting a lot more serious. Read more>>

Jordan McGhee

I have always been in love with beauty and makeup and that whole world. I used to sit and watch my mom put on her makeup and I remember thinking how cool the process was and how pretty she would always look at the end. My grandmother used to be a makeup artist at a Lancome counter. She was very successful and worked with clients, applying makeup and educating on products and ingredients. Read more>>

Jeremiah armstrong

Growing up I always knew i wanted to be an artist and practiced with all sorts of mediums, from paint to woodworking I had tried it all. It wasn’t until my personal travels around the US that I found my love for the unique beauty found in gems and minerals. This lead me to finding a way to express my art while presenting these blessings from nature! Settling down with life I began to practice as a full time jewler, which has lead me to where I am today sending my wearable art around the world to be enjoyed and inspire art around us. Read more>>

Fvorboda Allen

As a young girl, I was shy and self-conscious about my body, but I always wanted to dance. I believed that I couldn’t because I didn’t have a slim body and I didn’t fit in with other dancers so I stuck with sports because I was strong. When I was a young adult, a coworker invited me to try belly dancing with her and I agreed, knowing I loved to dance, but knew nothing about it. From my very first class, I knew this was something that I could do. Read more>>

Fred T.

The day I realized that I was meant to be an entertainer was back in high school! I wasn’t too big on acting but one of my best qualities was making people laugh from my family to my friends. One day my teacher recommended that I audition for the one-act play in order to receive a bonus grade for a failing grade that I had in her class. Read more>>

Leesa Robinson

My mother was a model in the 1960s and I learned from my mother at an early age my mother class and sophistication in modeling. I knew I would be in the entertainment industry in one way or the other. I started modeling when young but did not receive a contract til I was 40 years old. I opened my agency for models in talent in 1998 and have grown to date with 45 locations. Read more>>

Bobby Monroe

I knew from a very young age, probably at the age of five that I wanted to pursue a life of music. My father played guitar and sang country music. He had a band called Tex Davis and The Rhythm Rangers on Long Island New York where I was raised. By the time I was eleven I was performing songs with the band, songs from the classic artists such as Hank Williams and Buck Owens. It was then that I began writing songs. Read more>>