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.

Sophia Bavishi

I have been singing for over 12 years, and for years, focused on musical theater. I loved being on stage, and I loved singing so I honestly thought that was what I would be doing the rest of my life. Somewhere in my Sophomore year of high school, I started singing a little pop and started writing some lyrics and music. Read more>>

C. N. Phillips

When I was a little girl, about eight years old and in the third grade I had to write a story. It was about what we wanted to be when we grew up. At the time I thought I wanted to be a singer, so that’s what I wrote about. I remember really enjoying making up a story of me being on stage at some concert singing my little heart out. Read more>>

Angelisha Jospeh

I remeber my mother was working three jobs to make ends meet and it was killing me that she was working so hard! I had always had the talent to sing but one day I was in the shower and aI hit a note and I knew that I could change my families lives with my voice. at that moment I knew I could do something with my talents. Read more>> 

Robyn Gibson

I’ve been making art since the third grade. For much of that time art was my outlet, and my comfort. When I graduated from high school and started undergrad, I stopped creating. The community art class I had been in for years had ended for me, and I thought that if I wanted to be successful I needed a practical job. Read more>>

Jason John

I spent a few summers studying at a local atelier school. Schools such as these only specialize in drawing and painting as a craft. We would draw and paint from plaster casts, traditional still lifes, etc. Everything had to be super realistic and rendered. Read more>>

Nancy Foster

When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally? Growing up on the East Coast, I always loved drawing, painting and crafts. My grandmother lived in NYC and provided me with the opportunity to visit many of the art museums there and I credit her with instilling in me a love of art. I have always enjoyed traveling and exploring art museums wherever I go. My dream was always to be a painter someday. Read more>>

David Pound

As a kid that moved around a lot, I learned early on that art was currency in academic and social situations. I think I always understood creating things what I was proficient at. As a kinetic learner, sculpture has always been the most direct path for my creativity. Read more>>

Minnie Cruz

So ever since I was a little girl I’ve always loved doing anything artistic wether it was drawing, painting, sewing etc. In grade school I was entered into art competitions and won some awards. I also really liked making clothes for my dolls and Barbie’s out of scrap fabric. Read more>> 

Randy Evans

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember; it has been something that I’ve truly enjoyed since I was a small child. However, art wasn’t something that I made money off of and I didn’t feel like people took a particular interest in what I was drawing; I certainly don’t remember me offering it up for consumption either. Read more>>

Stevan Dupus

My love for art began when I was around the age of 6 or 7 and my father first took me to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and I saw Caravaggio’s St. John the Baptist for the very first time. After that anytime we would visit the museum, I had to find that painting and spend a majority of my time with it. Read more>>

Cosette Montemayor

I feel like I could tell this story so many different ways. Really, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t in love with performing. I was the annoying daughter that would tell my dad “stand here” as I belted out a musical theatre ballad. (Speaking of- thanks for not laughing, dad. Read more>> 

Moizenvelli

I always wanted to be an artist, from a very young age. I started drawing at three & rapping at eight. But it wasn’t until I found myself in a homeless shelter at 15 with my mother & younger sister in Miami that I decided I wanted to pursue music & art as a career. Read more>>

Anthony Molina

In high school I was originally working towards studying Architecture in college, but fate had other plans for me. I’ve always been interested in the arts and the way one can express themselves, whether it be through my first passion like drawing/sketching or other artistic approaches such as dance, music and or theater. Read more>>

Stephen Rafferty

It all started back in 2010; I was in school at the time and when I was a kid; the two things I wanted to do originally was to be a professional wrestler or be a computer programmer and design various video games. I gratefully have had the chance to pursue both ventures at different points of my career but in 2010; the focus was more on game programming. Read more>>

Eric Hollaway

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path profesionally a few times. After leaving the military, I came back home and started my career in the Manufacturing Industry. Eventually, I climbed the ladder to be a plant manager. As a side hustle, I was doing a few things that I was good at creatively which included Graphic Design, buildiing Websites, Singing, and Voiceover. Read more>> 

Jay Saffi

I feel like I always knew. Ever since a kid I’ve been exposed to music, I listened to everything starting from The Beatles then Michael Jackson. I also grew up listening to Usher, The Dream, Lil Wayne and 50 cent. I remember seeing their music videos and feeling inspired. Read more>>

Jihye Han

I took a hand-building ceramics class when I studied nursing during my sophomore year. I still remembered a first project was making a ball, triangle, and cube shape with pinching, coil, and slab technique. This was my first-time touching clay and clay tools. Read more>>

LeAndra Polk

Crafts by Le was started in December 2017 after I decided to make myself a holiday wreath for my favorite holiday (Christmas). Once I posted my creation on social media, I received several inquires about making similar wreath designs as well as custom wreaths for others.  Read more>>

Nivek

I knew I wanted to be a DJ when I first discovered EDM. I would say around the time I was in 8th or 9th grade. I started to learn how to DJ around the age of 18 or 19. I was taught the basics then I took it upon myself to continue to learn from YouTube and a lot of practice. Read more>>

Shanna McCoy-Rollins

The very first time I knew that,I wanted to pursue my creative and artistic path professionally was,at the age of 18 years old. During my 12th grade year in high school,I was in the marching band,and our band was chosen by a former graduate of the high school I attended. Read more>> 

Bobby Nash

As a kid, I was fascinated with stories. I loved to read stories and watch stories on TV. I was an only child until I was almost nine so I spent my playtime in the backyard alone. Imagination became my playmates. At first, I would reenact the stories I had read or watched. Read more>> 

Elaine Drouin

I’ve always loved being in the kitchen. Even as a child, whether I could bake or not, I always had a concern for presentation. Always wanted it to look pretty. The holidays were always the best time to bring out my creative side. Whether it was a cake, a trifle, pastries, etc., it had to be pretty. Having said that, never did I have the urge to bake for a living. Read more>>

Deirdre Noonan

I’ve always wanted to be an artist. But the first moment that I can really pinpoint is when I picked up my first comic book. When I was about 9, we moved into a house that had some things left behind from the previous tenants, and in the room that would be my room, there was the first issue of Batman Shaman by Dennis O’Neal. I was just so transfixed by the method of story telling, and I instantly adopted it. Read more>>

Laura Atria

I always grew up making things. Whether it was dessert in the kitchen, drawing at family dinners, collaging my entire childhood bedroom (ceiling and walls) with magazine cut outs, taking photos, or writing, I was always crafting ways to try and make something new out of something ordinary. Read more>>

Luke Story

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a performer, but never in my life anticipated that I would have the opportunity to make a living as a professional musician/entertainer. As a child I was always drawn to performance, whether it was musical theater, instrumental music through school, karaoke, I always felt comfortable being on stage, on a microphone, in front of a crowd. Read more>> 

Joe Dahlin

It’s honestly hard for me to pinpoint any specific moment, as I think it kind of came in stages throughout my life, starting all the way back with when my parents let me watch the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film. But, to narrow it down a bit and use something a little more recent, I think I’d have to say the time I showed my Dad a short film of mine is when things really solidified for me. Read more>> 

Jay Brooks Neauxla C.

Jay Brooks: I used to watch TRL, 106&Park, every countdown you could think of – I began to create my own countdowns and would do interviews in my bedroom as if I was the host, that’s when I knew I had to pursue a career with music. I had to be a part of the conversation. Read more>> 

Lily Werthan

I would love to claim that I’ve always been committed to a creative path, but throughout college and the years after, I held a lot of anxiety about the need to be “successful” and to acquire a “stable job.” Read more>> 

J. Michael Miller

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I was around 3 years old. I used to tell anyone who would listen that I was going to be the next Stan Lee and pictured my name on the cover of Marvel comic books. My 4th birthday wish was to have a comic book with my name on it. Read more>> 

Carly Owens

The first time I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I promptly answered “an artist”. As I got older, societal pressures changed my answer to art teacher, then architect, then pastry chef, then fashion designer and I eventually made my way back to artist. Read more>>

Jill Stewart

I began painting as an outlet for self-expression. The feeling it gave me fed my soul. I wanted more of it. And I wanted to share it with the world. I told my husband my aspirations and he laughed. He’s not laughing now. Read more>> 

Michael Linert

From a young age, I always enjoyed music. My music training created opportunities of community and leadership that I loved. Almost immediately I was chosen to lead sectionals with my peers and friends and help new students to our classes. My high school orchestra director knew how much I loved teaching music and set up opportunities for me to provide private lessons for children and adults. Read more>>

Stanwyck Cromwell

As a kid, coming from a lineage of artists and creative people, from both sides of the family, I was naturally attracted to the visual arts and creativity. Everything I did, was inspired by art. I was surrounded by art, all of my life and found it to be a refuge, in times of agitation. At that time in my native country Guyana, there were certain negative stereotypes, surrounding being an artist. It was not until I came to America, in 1970, that I decided to pursue art, on a serious level. Read more>>