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.

Brandon G

I knew that I wanted to pursue becoming a singer when I had the urge to sing but didn’t know. This began back around 2008 when I really decided to take singing in as a hobby but it then turned into a passion to a driving force of wanting to perform whenever and wherever I can. Read more>>

Ciel Chen

When I was younger, art education wasn’t as widespread as it is now in China. My family had a rather limited and stereotyped understanding of artist career. Most of them thought that artists usually struggled to make a living and could only rely on selling their artworks to survive. So, even though I had a strong interest in artistic creation during my childhood, my family didn’t expect me to pursue it as a future career. After a few years, I went to a boarding high school in the UK. One of my courses was Art, and through my studies, I gradually began to explore this field. I realized that the art industry is everywhere. It isn’t confined to high-end art exhibitions or disconnected from the real world. It can be commercialized and integrated into everyday life. This was when I first heard about the career of an illustrator. Read more>>

Cris Thorne

During my senior year of high school, I had already made a couple short films but I hadn’t yet found my voice. My high school had an AM and PM news class that I was a part of, and I enjoyed editing the news stories. It was at this time that I took an interest in documentary filmmaking as a way of telling real life stories that were unfolding almost in real time or had already happened but had an angle that hadn’t been explored much. Read more>>

Corben

Riding shotgun in my dad’s pick-up truck, he played country’s greatest artists, and I fell in love with the sounds of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, and Dolly Parton. My first song I ever played on guitar was “Folsom Prison Blues” by Cash. Cash’s sound is rare, and from a young age, I loved how he could tell a story. I was captivated by his sound. I was born and raised in the small town of DeLand, Florida and I was compelled to pick up the guitar after watching my dad learn to play. I started strumming the guitar and writing songs at the age of 7 and haven’t slowed down since. Read more>>

Riss Zanfei

I knew when I was 10 years old I wanted to be an artist the rest of my life. I loved coloring, crafting & doodling when I was little and it was very much reinforced when my grandmothers on both sides of my family encouraged my creativity. I was always doing something crafty. I remember telling my mom that I wanted to be an artist and that I even made a little studio name for myself. I lovingly came up with ‘Tasty Peach Studios’ because well 10 year old me loved the idea of naming it after my favorite fruit, peaches. Read more>>

EduArdo Omondi

I attended a Turkish International high-school in Nairobi, Kenya that would facilitate an annual-all expense paid trip to Turkey to compete in the Turkish Language Olympiad. I immediately joined at the thought of going to Europe for free. What I did not expect is that the journey to getting there, would make me fall in love with not only music but the experience that came with performing before an audience. I had to compete in dance and song, in the Turkish language and perform in-front of an audience that would vote for the winner. I got second place and found myself on a plane to Turkey. When we arrived in Turkey, nothing could have prepared me for the reception we got. There was paparazzi and police escorts waiting at the airport to escort us to our hotel, we got into a huge blacked-out tour bus that we were to use to tour the country. Read more>>

Dave Carlin

If I had to choose one memory it would be back from 2004. I remember it was a summer afternoon in August. I had just turned 10 years old and I popped my Now 16 CD into my CD player. I was in my backyard jamming to this CD with my mom. The song that came on that totally changed my life was Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard. Read more>>

Ann Adele Blassingame

I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path during my 1st year in University. Originally, I had signed up as a business major, and during orientation, I quickly realized that was not the path I needed to take during my undergraduate. For me, art, specifically printmaking, was a way for me to investigate myself and my values. As soon as a realized that was what I needed to do for myself to grow, I immediately switched my major and classes, throwing myself into the art world which I had not been in since my first year in middle school. Read more>>

John Eisen

As a high school student, I really thought about going to drama school. I loved acting, and my high school had a great program. I was cast in the lead role of a play at my school during my freshman year—very rare. Over 400 lines, and it was a comedy I had a blast with. I don’t think I had the courage at that time to pursue an artistic career. My sister got into the Berklee College of Music, and all through my 20s I complimented her on her courage—pursuing something in the arts. So I decided I’d get a law degree and/or a business degree and work in something intellectual and prestigious. I had the opportunity to study for a summer at one of the best business schools in the US–Chicago Booth. I loved it…4o of us total, half of my peers were from all over the world. I loved it. Read more>>

Sophia Gilberto

From the moment I joined my first community play in the esteemed role of Munchkin #34. I knew that I loved the creative world. When I told my mom I wanted to be an actor she supported me completely and looked for projects I could be a part of. I spent time on sets and began to fall in love with the process, but most of all the community. Although I started off thinking that I wanted to be a performer it was later in high school when I started directing some of our school plays and got the bug for writing and directing which is what I ended up ultimately studying in school. Read more>>

Aria Ferraro

Since I can remember I have used art as a medium to express my emotions and to cope with my reality. For that reason, I never questioned if I was going to pursue a creative/artistic path “professionally”. I simply thought I had no other choice because I only knew who I was within that context. I honestly did not think I could even be good enough to do anything else. Instead my main concern was always how, where and when I was going to be able to do it. Read more>>

Heather Farrington

I’ve been drawing practically my whole life, but never really thought about it as a paid profession until after college. I had been drawing my comic Juvenile Diversion for several years at this point, but it was only for fun up until this point. After I graduated with a degree in web design and couldn’t find a job to fit my skills, I decided to focus solely on looking for a job using my art skills. Read more>>

Catherine Boswell

My best friend introduced me to succulents six years ago, and I couldn’t get over the endless creative things that you could create with them. I made my first Fairy Garden, and I was hooked. I loved how easy succulents were to care for, and loved seeing them change with growth. We started doing farmers markets and did markets together for a year and it was so much fun. I had found my happy place and wanted to continue. Read more>>

Lisa Sain Odom

I started singing and acting in school and church at a very young age, and it was always one of my favorite things to do. But when I was a young teen, I excelled in some voice competitions, and that encouraged my parents to enroll me in voice lessons and allow me to audition for musicals. The first real musical in which I performed changed my life. I couldn’t get enough of it. I immediately tried out for the next musical I could, and I knew that there was nothing I’d rather do than spend time singing and acting. When I thought about college and the other majors I’d considered, I also thought about what it would be like to be a Psychology or Pre-Law student sitting in an audience and watching other students performing on stage, and I could not stand the thought! I knew I had to be one of those students ON that stage. So I chose to major in Vocal Performance, and I never looked back. Read more>>

Nathan Stepney

As a youth, art was always fascinating to me. Growing up in Harlem Ny, I was always be surrounded with art and it’s multiple expressions. This richness of the culture and vibe of Manhattan nurtured and fed my creative appetite. At the age of thirteen I was introduced to acrylics by my high school art teacher, who was also a professional artist. Along with this traditional instruction in class came the blend of the urban inner city artistic expression in the streets. Simultaneously I had been introduced to graffiti by my neighborhood friends. Read more>>

Cleonique Hilsaca

I grew up writing poetry, playing the piano, and singing in the school choir. I would come home to draw and paint before bed. I knew I loved art, but at my young age, I hadn’t yet thought about what my love for it could become. The ambition to study art professionally came to me during a college fair I attended in 9th grade in high school back home in Honduras, where I learned more about the Illustration program at the Savannah College of Art & Design booth. In my pursuit of a career path in art, I would later attend SCAD, where I graduated with a BFA in Illustration and a minor in Graphic Design. Read more>>

Robert Tritthardt

I was in grade school when I first saw black and white illustrations of monsters and mythological beasts in Dungeons & Dragons books. I fell in love with the line work of etchings and woodcuts that I saw in old books. I would spend hours looking at this art in detail to see how the artists turned an area of white into black with all the shades of grey in between. I wanted to make pieces of art just like what I saw. I didn’t necessarily think that I could turn it into a career because all of my attempts were so clunky and awkward. It wasn’t until Community College when a professor noticed that I had a little bit of talent and suggested I look into pursuing a degree in art. Read more>>

Bryanna Phimphachanh

Art was always an important part of my life from childhood to adulthood. I think for me it was never really a question of doing anything else. Art provided me the ability and voice to communicate how I was feeling as a child, aided me in self-expression through my teenage years, and was something that has always been on my mind. It just always felt like the right thing in my life and has brought me so much joy through the act of creating. Read more>>

Madi Rindge

I was 14 and had just performed a solo in front of a packed audience. I was petrified, standing there palms sweating, heart racing. As I normally did, I stood there, spotlight blinding me, barely moving. But out of nowhere, as if something took me over, I started strutting across the stage to “Lady Marmalade”; a strut so confident I didn’t even recognize myself. I had so much fun and was so proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone (literally) that I wanted to do this professionally. Read more>>

Sidra Bell

When I was pursuing my master’s degree as a young professional, the most invigorating moments were the creative processes that were uncomfortable. I knew that I was on the right path and at the cusp of a huge growth arc when I could feel that a new discovery was on the horizon. There was a feeling of going into an unknown and wading through the challenges of making a dance with a team of people. The feeling of transformation that I touched as a created new forms and shapes was thrilling. Being in the studio and working through the puzzles of the body was an exciting prospect. The idea that there is a new combination of ideas that I am unveiling is what keeps me going as a director. Read more>>

Oliver Perry

I first knew during my junior year of high school that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally. I decided to apply to the School of Visual Arts, NYC and majored in illustration. Read more>>

Dani Menkin

I always wanted to be a soccer player. If wax when I learned I am better at telling stories about soccer players than being one that I understood I am a filmmaker. Read more>>

Thoth Adan

As far as I remember, I always new, that I would become an artist one day. This never was a question of choice for me, rather a necessity. If your personality is creative – the need to create and express is the driving force of your being, regardless the media or the field (performing, visual or applied arts) you choose to work in, you’re meant to be a creator! Unfortunately my parents were equally convinced of the opposite. For them, art was a nice leisure activity, not a profession that will pay your bills. I already achieved minor success in my teens, when my art was exhibited regularly and collected by a museum. Nevertheless, I went to a commercial high school instead. Read more>>

Ken Arpino

When did I first know I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally? That’s hard to say. When did I HOPE to pursue a creative path professionally? From the start. The answer is… from the very start. From a young age, I knew I would be involved in entertainment, I just didn’t know in what capacity. Movies, books, theatre, music, TV, I love the art of storytelling and how it can change a person’s mood and how they feel. Read more>>

Miss Britney Rae

It’s something I’ve intuitively felt my whole life. It wasn’t until I grew older that I realized a lot of people don’t have that sense of purpose or an understanding of it. When I was a little kid, I knew I wanted to create in whatever medium spoke to me – perhaps multiple. There was an authentic, inner belief in myself, that everything would work out for me. Confidently following my own sense of direction, despite what others might think, is how I can achieve great things in the world. Read more>>