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.
Sydney Irving
There was always music playing around the house and in the car when I was little; Guns N Roses, Jack Johnson, The Ramones. I got my first guitar for my ninth birthday and started guitar lessons about a year later. I wasn’t overly interested in practicing until I found out about Taylor Swift’s RED and Speak Now albums and then later on, I started listening to Tom Petty’s Highway Companion album which I adore. I fell in love with the idea of writing songs and then preforming them on stage. Read more>>
Karen Carlson
It all began about 22 years ago when my daughter Sarah was a budding jewelry designer. She was all of eleven years old. I could see she needed more supplies of a better quality as her skills were outgrowing what she had to work with. We went to the best bead shop in town and that became the first day of the rest of my life……as I too became irrevocably enamoured with all things sparkly! Read more>>
Amber Howie
It’s pretty cliche but as a child, when asked what I wanted to do when I grew up, an artist was always one of the answers. I say one of because throughout my childhood and adult years, what I have wanted to do as a job has always changed. In childhood I wanted to be an auctioneer. an archeologist, an oceanographer, a marine biologist and the list goes on. Read more>>
Nailah Smith
I first knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally when I saw a beach mural in a magazine in someone’s home. Being a transplant in Atlanta, from Florida, I greatly missed the beach. I thought that if I could paint a beach mural in my in home art studio, that I could feel as if I was at the beach everyday. Then I thought, if I paint this, other people may want it or their own murals too and I could maybe charge for it. Read more>>
Rashad Doucet
To be honest, I think it’s something I had always wanted to do, but was scared off of it a bit when I became a teenager. But it started when my grandma gave me pen and paper to keep me quiet during church. She’d tell me to write and draw all of my ideas down and lol I’ve never really stopped. Read more>>
Zachary Birdsong
Funny story, I never dreamed about being a photographer until I started working at a newspaper. I had just been hired as a sports writer at The Tullahoma News in 2013, and at the time, there was not a staff photographer; each individual reporter captured their own images. So on my first day, I was handed a camera and essentially told, “Good luck!” Read more>>
Erik Harris
I’ve always known that one day I was gonna have the opportunity to creatively direct something big. I just didn’t know where to start or which way to go to get to that destination. The music industry helped me out alot by teaching me patience. It helped me to understand people better. And I learned that most of the time, things won’t go as planned. Read more>>
Josh Owen
When I was 18, I was doing some modeling in Orlando, and one day on set a photographer friend of mine asked if I’d be interested in styling a shoot he had coming up. At the time I had no idea that saying yes would change the course of my entire life. From that first shoot, I knew that this was what I was made to do. Everything just clicked and came so naturally. After that, I just continued to say yes to any opportunity that allowed me to style. Read more>>
Tamara Gasich
I’m a nurse by trade, during the pandemic I found myself burnt-out and stressed. My husband suggested I choose a hobby to decrease my stress level. We have always been candle lovers, so I decided why not give it a shot. I made my first batch of candles and distributed them to my family and friends. The feed back I received was amazing and overwhelming. Read more>>
Keith Elgin Douglas
I think I first realized I wanted to pursue a professional career as an actor during rehearsals for my Senior Recital in college. My professor Douglas McKenzie chose ” A Raisin in the Sun” for the only two African American Theatre majors at my college, a private Catholic institution that had never had enough African American students to perform this play. He was ecstatic and so were we. I felt such a connection with the character of Walter Lee during rehearsals and performances that i knew in my soul I wanted to create and communicate as an actor for my entire life. Read more>>
Ashley Ryan
business. I was invited by a couple of friends to go see Keith Urban at the Exit in. He wanted someone from the crowd to come up on stage and announce his Nashville tour date. To my surprise, he called my name. He knew I went to Belmont and asked me what I was studying and what I wanted to do in the music industry. Read more>>
Omari Grampus
Like most artist, my creative path was born from heartbreak. Dealing with a troubled relationship I decided to write my feelings down on paper and it blossomed into a song. I had shared it with close friends and one of them knew of a studio that I could record it in. At first it was just for fun and never thought that it would take me to where I am now, but I feel in love with the process of making music after my first session and knew it was something I could pursue. Read more>>
Viviane Rivas
Funnily enough, as a young girl I wanted to become a veterinarian. I always had an affinity for doodling, however I wasn’t aware at the time that art could be a career. One day in the fourth grade we were assigned an English project that required I search for images, and while searching I came across a funny cartoon drawing of a wolf. For reasons unknown I grew extremely attached to that drawing, and practiced drawing it every day! Read more>>
Godfrey Campbell
Growing up I’ve always had a dying passion for football; achieving many milestones like making a college team and even a semi-pro team. After a while I felt I was getting older and I kind of lost my love for the game, because i realized taking care of my body and staying out of harms way became more important to me. With that fire for football burned out I felt that I needed to find that feeling again. Read more>>
Yassie Official
I was 8 years old and told my mom I wanted to sing and be an entertainer. She placed me in the choir to sing with her , before I knew it I was singing solos . My mom always knew I could sing since I’d sing all the time around the house but the choir was the first time I really said to myself “ yes this is my calling “ . I’ve been singing ever since . Read more>>
Pam (PJ) White
I’ve never struggled saying “I’m a runner”, “I’m a mom”, “I’m a technical trainer”, “I’m a sales person”, “I’m a waitress”. I’ve been an art collector for forever. I love art, all art. But to me, an artist, performer, musician-they’re in a different realm. People I’d be hesitant to speak with because I couldn’t grasp what they did. Read more>>
Nayeli
I’ve always known especially growing up in the Disney Channel/ Nickelodeon era with Raven Simone, Hilary Duff and Aly and Aj. I would watch the music they put out as artists and mimic their interviews on Radio Disney everyday because I wanted to be just like them. I would watch their live performances and know every step of cardio and every word because I wanted to be a star just like they were. Read more>>
Max Loftis
The year was 2018, I had just moved to Santa Cruz after high school graduation and started my journey at Cabrillo Community college. I spent my time working on my general education, never knowing what direction I wanted to take. I was working as a Shift Leader for a coffee shop but knew in my heart that coffee was not my true passion. Read more>>
Maddie in Good Company
It all started on a cold January night in 2018. Maddie (lead vocals) had just taken a tab of acid and was heading over for the Janis Joplin Tribute show at Exit/In, a legendary Nashville venue. (RIP) She was with some friends, who were a couple at the time, and they had been fighting all night, eventually abandoning her there. Read more>>
SnaxkBoy Boulé
I wouldn’t say early on, but maybe after i did a few live performances. I came to the realization years ago. That when people genuinely like you. They want to know what makes you, you. Other words. Hear stories that have never been told or known. Understand the reasons behind your actions & the way you are. Then hearing your music makes more sense & more relatable. Read more>>
Jasmine Charleston
Internally, I feel as though I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue this creative route. I remember as a kid writing the name of my production company and drawing the logo for the company in a notebook – which I still have at my mother’s house today. Read more>>
Ayeesha Ash
As a kid I was extremely shy. Growing up, I was often the only Black kid or Person of Colour in the room. I hated being different – I didn’t want to stand out. So without even realising it, I retreated into myself. It was only when my nana enrolled me in a weekend dance class that I began to get out of my shell and step into myself. With dancing came singing and then acting. Read more>>
Gabrielle Smith
My parents put me in a ballet class at age 3. Since then, I’ve always been a part of some sort of creative job/group- whether it was cheerleading, an instrumental ensemble, theatre, etc. The arts were who I was! It truly felt like there was never any question about what’d I do when I grew up because of the nature of my child/teenhood. Read more>>
Evan Odoms
I’ve always been a creative person. When I was younger, I would draw pictures on my Nana’s scrap pieces of paper and talk to myself while drawing. But I felt most at home, with illustration. I’ll never forget the stories I would illustrate. I wasn’t aware of comics at 4, so I didn’t realize I could fit all the pictures on one panel, so I would have many pieces of papers illustrating a scene. Read more>>
Shyia Simmons
I’ve known I wanted to be a artist since I was a child. I use to watch the Disney Channel & say to myself I can do that. I use to watch movies and would act out my favorite roles. I would hear songs & pretend I was on stage performing it. Read more>>
Alicia Marie
I’ve wanted to be an artist professionally since I was a kid. I would write songs and come up with music video concepts as early as 8/9 years old. I utilized music and poetry as a form of therapy as I was growing up. I moved from New York to North Carolina in high school and became engulfed in the spoken word poetry scene as a means of coping from the move which led into me having my first true experience making music on a serious note. Read more>>
Molli Kate Vinson
When I was 10 my aunt started teaching me how to sew. For a 10 year old I would say I was pretty good, but quickly grew bored of having to choose patterns that other had made and I had to follow. So little Molli Kate started drawing her own designs and showing them to another that would look. Did I ever make any of them? No. But it was fun to think about. Read more>>
Masaru Suyama
When I was a student, I liked to read manga and I also liked to come up with my own stories and doodle in my notebook. Gradually, I began to express my ideas as manga, and when I submitted my work to a magazine called Garo, I was selected as a finalist. Read more>>
903PBD
I’d have to say honestly my first album release I got a little over 30k+ streams that was my first time going live on all platforms I really seen my support system then Read more>>
Kristina Sharp
I have always had a creative spark in me with a love for cultivating experiences. As a child, my favorite pastime was drawing cartoons and comic books with elaborate characters. I created volumes of stories but wished I could add another dimension to bring them off the page. Then I discovered my family’s video camera– suddenly I took on the role of director, actor, and editor of silly short films. Read more>>