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.

LOLITA CHRISTIAN

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path in elementary school. I had a passion for art and it was the first thing I’d ever earned a trophy for. Art was the first activity I’d ever excelled at. Read more>>

Keen Khalid

I’ve always wanted to pursue a professional path in a creative field. I started off by wanting to be a cartoonist, then a photographer, blogger, graphic designer, YouTuber turned ‘High Fashion Model’ lol. Still open to all those fields and more. So the title Artist, rather it be professional or not, suits me well. I truly want to spend my time creating and using my artistic skill sets at work and off the clock. Full time artistry sounds like a beautiful bliss and blessing for sure. Read more>>

Damion Saunders

As a child I was always involved with some type of music wether it was singing in the choir or playing an instrument. Growing up I tinkered with the clarinet, keyboard, and drums It wasn’t until 2017 that I found my true passion and pursued a career as a professional dj  Read more>>

Jasmine Diane

Yes, definitely. Although, a career in the church scene is a bit different than what I’veoutside of that world. In that world all you have to do is be committed to to God and the church. Through community there is elevation. I didn’t have a real understanding of what career meant outside of that environment until I was much older. It was a difficult adjustment; Read more>>

Mary Marsh

I always knew that I was going to work in a creative field. From the time I was in elementary school, the only job I wanted when I grew up was to be “an artist.” I didn’t care if that meant being a painter, a graphic designer, a chef, etc. – i just knew that I needed to do something with my creativity. Read more>>

Adam Atkinson

The first few years of my undergraduate degree were exploratory and at times aimless. I am the first person in my family to have earned a college degree, and the only member to have a masters degree. Without mentorship or support from my community, it took some time to figure out what I wanted my professional life to look like. I explored many courses in the liberal arts before the pull of metalsmithing, jewelry, and wood carving could no longer be resisted. Read more>>

Jennifer Harwood

I’ve always gravitated towards artistic expressions. Like a lot of people, when I was younger I use to watch “America’s Next Top Model” in total amazement. I loved all the wild concepts for photoshoots they featured on the show. Then at one point of my life I went through a somewhat difficult period. I wanted to explore a hobby or venture I was interested in to give myself something positive to focus on. I thought about how I’ve always enjoyed modeling, fashion, and beauty from the sidelines, as just a spectator, but why couldn’t I be actually be apart of it?! Read more>>

Matthew Pena

It was 2020 and all of us were in quarantine during that time. Most of my free time I would sing and create music on my computer with Pro Tools or Logic Pro. As time went on I started to enjoy and love the excitement and feeling of completing a song or project, but even before I started making my own music I would sing all the time and still do. My love for music has grown and will keep growing in the years to come. Read more>>

Steve Biggert

From as early as I can remember I’d always done some sort of creative work. Painting, drawing, crafts, and just generally making things was a big part of our household growing up. That’s not to say I was very good, to be honest my drawing skills are nowhere near anything noteworthy. But getting creative so early on sparked a love for making things, and eventually as I got older that grew from just having fun with it, to exploring art a bit more seriously. Read more>>

Joe Kleon

When I was very young. I watched many adults in my family hate their jobs. I told myself I was never going to spend a significant amount of my life working jobs that I hated. I loved music from a very early age, so I promised myself when I was very young that I would always work in some area of the music industry. I started doing radio when I was 18, worked as a commercial radio announcer for over 20 years and then transitioned into music photography. Read more>>

Joseph Gandurski

Throughout my life I remember always being intrigued by theatre, and impressed by so many talented entertainers However, there was more than just the “magic” of their talent. Whether it be dance, song, acting performance, or the written word of a novel, I was often “moved” by exceptional performances. Read more>>

Connor Donnelly

Growing up I was always surrounded by creative and artistic people, and those qualities shaped me. I’ve always known I’ve wanted to have a career in something creative and artistic, but was always more focused on just creating whatever came to mind and not worrying about it professionally, as a career. I almost felt like it would be selling out, and creativity should be more about passion than money. Read more>>

Michelle Montrose

I was always an artist kid, like lots of kids are. In the second grade, my parents found out about a local artist who was teaching some other kids in my class after school at her home. My parents enrolled me in those classes. That continued all through elementary school, and then I took a break in middle school to play in the school band. At this time, I thought maybe I would like to be a veterinarian. Read more>>

Kelly Florence

Even before I could fully write, I wanted to tell stories. Whether it was through a puppet show (a la Mr. Rogers Neighborhood) or performing a monologue about the latest idea that popped in to my brain, I was creative. Through dance classes, reading books, and being exposed to theatre and film at an early age I knew this was the world I wanted to be a part of. Although the path changed courses from ballerina to special effects make-up artist, to writer, director, and author, the path was always the same: be creative and follow my passions. Read more>>

Loren israel

I’ve always had a passion for music since I was a kid. As a teenager, I began playing guitar and writing my own songs. However, it wasn’t until I attended a concert by The Pretenders when I was 14 years old that I realized I wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. Inspired by the performance, I began to seek out opportunities to work in music. Read more>>

Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja

I have always been fascinated and have loved constructing things with whatever materials were available. Growing up in Nigeria, pursuing a profession in the arts or as an artist is not generally encouraged. I never initially considered learning to be an artist and instead chose to focus on the career portion of my accounting studies because we are challenged to pursue professions like lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc. Read more>>

Tsubasa Maruno

I think it started very early on even without me noticing it. When I was a kid, I was good at sports like baseball. But I hated seeing even the greatest players of all time loose their greatness as they age. I really hated it about sports. Then I saw a TV documentary about Pierre-August Renoir, a French painter. At the end of the program, there was a narration describing how he died. Read more>>

Emir Isilay

I was six years old when I first knew I wanted to pursue music. I come from an artistic family and started playing the piano at a very young age. As I continued to study music, I was inspired by my grandfather, Sadi Isilay, who was a renowned Turkish music composer and violinist. Read more>>

Beth Raebeck Hall

I started playing piano at age 3, studied piano for 18 years, had bands, – basically have been obsessed with music, and words my whole life. And, I have always been on stage since I was little, and was always producing things. Read more>>

Aziza Salukombo

I knew I wanted to do this after many successful performances with my team The Royal Descendants, winning competitions and just seeing how much people loved what i had created, I knew that this was something I could do and possibly create another source of income from. My energy is contagious, why not monetize it. Read more>>

Felipe Andrés Alcalá

t was my first semester at my university, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and I was majoring in International Relations when I first got the itch to pursue an artistic career. I had chosen international relations because close family and friends, among these my brother who also studied at Tec, chose this major. I saw his college life and aspirations and was very attracted to it. Read more>>

Andrew Weber

My first identity was a baseball player. I had dreams of playing in college and going pro just like any young athlete does. Unfortunately, I was born with an eye condition that only allows me to use one eye for focus and depth perception. I played highly competitive travel baseball in high school as a middle infielder, and my vision began to hinder my performance. I knew that my dreams of playing professionally were coming to an end. Read more>>

Pam R. Johnson Davis

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. I began reading & writing at an early age, and I’ve always had a healthy dose of imagination & wonder about the world. When I was a pre-teen, my family bought a computer. Now, this was the late 90s/early aughts, so it was one of those big-back, heavy desktop computers that was not at all connected to the internet, but it had a notepad app on it (and Minesweeper, at which I was absolutely terrible). Read more>>

Afungang Music

I joined the United States Army in 2011, and got stationed at Upstate NY, Fort Drum as my first duty station. Back then being lowly privates that we were, we couldn’t truly afford to go out on the town every weekend, plus the closest town to base ( Watertown NY) was about 25 mins away. Ubers wasn’t a thing back then, which meant soldiers will go out partying; either drive back drunk resulting in DUIs, or worst. Read more>>

Jude Remedios

I’m not sure of exactly when I got interested in painting but I do know it happened a loooonng time ago and revolved around my first experiences with finger painting using tempera paints on paper. That feeling was so exhilarating and intense that I’ve spent much of my life chasing it. I just felt that painting was what I was meant to do for the rest of my life. (Who else is with me?) With the exception of a few years off to raise our two boys, I have been painting ever since. Read more>>

Justin DeMattico

Growing up, I always had an affinity for art. I would always see these master paintings and wish I could create something like that. Even though it was not apparent to me as a child, looking back on it now, my soul was crying out to pursue art. I always took an interest in creative projects, especially in school like sewing class, woodshop, and art courses. In high school, I decided to attend a vocational high school and study digital filmmaking. Read more>>

Cynthia Cassillis Chalmers

I have always been happy in a creative space, immersing myself into learning or teaching, some type of art expression. It was in 2008, when the opportunity to take yoga teacher training presented itself, and having done yoga, and particularly yoga therapy on myself, I couldn’t pass on the deal. Then, having successfully completed that certification, my amazing friend Kat, said I should learn reiki. Read more>>

Pacho Berrocal

I always knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic career when I saw the smiles on peoples faces , The positive feedback and the incredible support from family and friends, to be able to make someone forget everything and just dance is a trill. Music is something it was always present in my life and making it a career has been an amazing journey. Read more>>

Papi The Bear

My Journey as a comic started in 2017 after a Brain surgery. I was told my life would never be the same doctor told me I would not have use if my left side , my speech would be sluggish and a host of other issues . But through prayer and determination these issues did not come to past so I vowed to my self that I would do everything that I ever wanted to do in life and execute it at a high level needless to say stand up comedy was at the top of the list lol Read more>>

Erica Lampley

I knew at a young age that I wanted to pursue a creative path. When I was 14 or 15, I took my first art class in high school. I immediately fell in love. The teenage years can be difficult as you’re transitioning from a child to an adult and trying to find your place in the world. Getting lost in making art, I was most at peace with myself. Read more>>

King Tetrus

Wow – honestly this is one of subjects I’ve been dying to touch upon. So Rap has always been my thing – since about 8th grade I was that annoying friend who rapped everywhere. The bus stop, on the way to class, on the way home, it didn’t matter I simply just was obessed. Read more>>

Fatima Telli

On a train ride to Washington DC at the age of nine, I finished reading my very first chapter book, the classic “Charlotte’s Web.” I vividly remember the impact that book had on me; it made me experience something larger than myself and I think for someone who was very sheltered as a child, it was kind of a peak experience for me. In that moment, I knew I wanted to experience more. Read more>>

Amelia Currier

Growing up, art was all around me. My mother always kept a little studio going, and to this day is still painting and showing her work at age 91. Her father was also a professional artist, he graduated from the Chicago Art Institute and made his living as a touch up artist. Read more>>

Linda Burton

When I was around 40, I heard someone say that the thing that you should be doing for a living is the thing that you were most passionate about when you were seven years old. Well, when I was 7, I had one of those big Barbie doll heads that you could style the hair and put makeup on. I would play with her all of the time! I loved putting makeup on Barbie ` even if it was just green and blue! As silly as it sounds, that was the first time that I gave any serious thought to switching careers from being a paralegal to becoming a makeup artist. Read more>>

Ka’zion Wilson

I first knew that I wanted to pursue my acting career when I was on my 2nd project. I got to meet Oprah. That’s when I knew I wanted to really do this. It made me like acting because it showed me that I can be anyone that I wanna be. I can do what I like to do and get paid for it it’s exhilarating. It’s so amazing that I can just have fun while working. Personally I think it’s a very fun job that you can get to do what you love and you could just be so many characters and you just become them It’s just amazing. Read more>>