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.

Melody Ling

From a very young age, I knew that I HAD to do something creative and artistic – simply because it is what makes me who I truly am. In high school, when I first tried painting or photographing something out of my own idea instead of copying what was out there already, I felt an excitement that I’d never felt before. From then on, I knew firmly that the intention of being creative is the voice in me that I’ve longed to speak out and make sense of. It makes me cherish life and its important things instead of simply keeping alive. Read more>>

Ivotres Littles

I’ve always been a creative person. It comes naturally. However, it often wasn’t accepted by my family or in grade school. I was bullied constantly because I could draw better than some kids or I talked about my favorite movies. No matter how far I ran from my creative path; it seemed to pull my back in. Read more>>

Emily Hart Lopez

I always wanted to be an artist from probably age 6 onwards, but started to truly visualize it by age 12 or 13 when I joined my local musical theater company in 8th grade. My parents have always told me that even as a toddler or young girl, they could play just about any genre of music and I would naturally dance well to it. They are loving, supportive parents, so who knows whether or not their observation was true or not, but I like to believe it is. Read more>>

Mario Salomon

I dreamed to be a musician from a very early age, when I was around 11 or 12 years old I knew this is what I wanted to be professionally, for the rest of my live. Read more>>

Yasmeen K White

I’ve not only been creating on social media for a long time now, but similar to everyone in my generation, I have also grown up with these platforms. For most of my younger years, I spent my time near sports fields or courts, but I have an attachment to making videos and editing pictures. Read more>>

Liz Yanez

I remember the day I decided i would be a graphic designer. I had been drawing all the time since i was 6. I would draw collages of different brand names of products. I would fill up a paper with collages of drawings i had made of all the brands of which i liked their logos. I would draw cartoon characters and even had my own. Read more>>

Matt Hausmann

As far as I can remember I always wanted to make movies. One of my earliest memories is seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark at a drive-in. I was hooked. I would ride in the car with my parents, pretending that I was in an action movie with an intense car chase. Someone wrote in my 7th grade yearbook, “Good luck in Los Angeles.” Read more>>

Sly Chapel

Music has always been a part of my life and I always knew I wanted to make a career out of it. I wanted to share my passion for music and artists with as many people as possible. That’s when I decided to become a radio host. Subsequently, my creativity and my overflowing imagination pushed me to become an artist agent and then a manager before finally creating my own record label and distribution to make the talent of artists shine. Read more>>

Joseph Wandass IV

Ever since I was a young kid, I had the dream of becoming a professional musician. In a way, I didn’t choose music, music chose me. This was always God’s plan for my life. I performed a lot with my dad growing up and that contributed immensely to my love of music. I always looked up to him as a musician and as a classical piano player. By the time I was 15, my family and I had moved down to Nashville and I found myself dropped into the middle of the Nashville music industry. Read more>>

Andy Buchanan

I’ve been creating artwork since as far back as I can remember. From drawing pictures to go on the family fridge, to after elementary school sculpture classes, to high school art groups and college painting and drawing courses, to finally leading into my professional art career, I love leaning into the creative abilities I’ve honed over the years. While I have worked many other “non-creative” jobs throughout my life, I always felt like it made the most sense and brought me the most happiness being able to do work that utilized my artistic talents. Read more>>

Terry McFadden

I’d say about 9 or 10 years old. I would sneak upstairs and watch TV in my Mom and Dad’s room while the rest of the gang was downstairs and watch old TV Reruns. Every Tuesday night this NY Station would show an old Elvis Presley movie and I really got into them. Also, I had very little interest in what the other kids were doing and although I played touch football, wiffle ball and things like that I never really got it. Trying to be Elvis got it. Read more>>

Jaleel “JaRich” Ritchwood Jordan

I knew I wanted to be both a music artist and a teacher very early on in life. Elementary school early. I was raised and taught by professionals in the same field and it ignited something in me very early. My very first music teacher, Michelle Montero, at 14th Avenue School in Newark, NJ was the first person to realize I had the gift of singing and she nurtured that gift, and gave me opportunity to sing professionally outside of the school walls by the time I was in 1st grade. Read more>>

Zay 2X

I realized it when i became more aggressive in pursuing it , like going to the studio any chance i get , writing at work , writing at home , putting all my energy and money into it just really pushing myself and i still am now Read more>>

Ifeatu Obasi

Well, I don’t really think I can pinpoint the exact time that I thought of pursuing fashion designing as a creative path professionally. But each time a I create dresses for my clients, the excitement we both feel is contagious during the fitting process. There is this sense of fulfillment that I feel whenever I am in my office designing and giving life to those designs and I know I want to continue doing that. Read more>>

ZorDonofDoom (ZorDon)

Singing has always been a part of my life from a very young age, but it wasn’t until I was in college studying to become a nurse that I realized I wanted to pursue an artistic path. I had a love-and-hate relationship with my voice up until that point and much of what I did depended on doing things to make others happy. I think joining a band and making friends who were also creative helped me to break away from always people-pleasing. I wanted to do something I loved! Read more>>

Abhishek Tata

I discovered my passion for pursuing a creative and artistic path professionally during a pivotal moment in my life. It was in ninth grade when my parents, with great enthusiasm, took me to watch a theater play in which my uncle was performing. At that time, I was rather reluctant to attend, as my interests were still evolving, and I had yet to find my true calling. However, the moment I stepped into the theater and witnessed the magic unfolding on stage, I felt an immediate and profound connection with the world of art. Read more>>

Asuka Ito

I was always a music lover, but I never thought I would pursue music as a career. I started the piano at the age of 5, but I never liked practicing. I kept changing instruments. I tried the violin, clarinet, saxophone, and viola, which none of them I was ever good at. The only thing I was good at was, I could just listen to a song and play it by ear. Read more>>

Camilo Velandia

My father was a musician, and he tried to teach me piano when I was really young, but I didn’t have a passion for the instrument. However, thanks to that, I developed a musical ear from an early age. Around middle school, my best friend got an electric guitar, and every time I would go to his house, I’d watch him and his brother play, and I thought it was just the most mind-blowing sound I had ever heard. Read more>>

Kristen Woollery

High School was the first time that I knew I wanted to professionally pursue a creative path. During that time, I took a number of elective art classes (pottery, photography, graphic design and drawing) that boosted my creative confidence and ability. This would later lead me to apply for and land a creative internship at BET.com during my senior year. Read more>>

Molly ‘Mawlz’ Hanley

My interests and passions have always centered around creative expression. I trained in dance, theater and music during my childhood. Perfecting my craft in music has been my main focus throughout the last decade, but I’ve also branched off into songwriting, as well as video and audio editing/production. I’m versatile and multi-faceted when it comes to my creativity, and ever since I moved to Los Angeles I’ve been exploring a little bit of everything. Read more>>

Mariana Noreña G

When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative / artistic path professionally? Read more>>

Michael Asfour

I first wanted to get in tattooing when I was in high school. I had a lifelong interest in drawing, but never really saw myself as becoming a traditional “fine artist” in the popular sense. The counter culture aspect of tattooing really fascinated me as a teenager, and I started to follow the work of tattoo artists I started to look up to. Read more>>

McAndress

I knew early on that my path was a creative one. As a kid, I spent a lot of time drawing. I was pretty quiet and observant of my surroundings, and I found comfort in creating art because it was fun, peaceful and introspective. Thinking back, I cherish those memories because it was a time where imagination and reality were really intertwined, and as kids, you don’t really question your “worth” or doubt your abilities, you just do what you like and believe in it. Read more>>

Emmi Salonen

I was a very energetic child and my parents were looking for a hobby where the excess energy could be channelled into something productive. They ended up enrolling me to a dance class when I was 3 years old and that’s how it all started. Read more>>

Jake Demo

I knew pretty early on that I wanted to do this job. Around 8th grade this girl I had a huge crush on wanted me to do the school play so of course I auditioned and to my surprise I got a lead. It never worked out with the girl but I found my passion! I knew from that experience that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I’ve never looked back. Read more>>

Terry Allen

I’ve always loved the arts. For as long as I can remember I’ve always found some outlet to express myself. Even as a young kid I really enjoyed fashion and putting outfits together. When I started modeling around the age of 5 growing up, I remember being comfortable in front of the camera on numerous occasions. There was something about the freedom of expression that I loved, and that has stayed with me to some degree throughout my life. Read more>>

A Good Sign Also Known As Kierstin Jackson

Music has always been the driving force of my life. As soon as I had an awareness for what a musician was I knew that’s what I needed to do. In pre-school when ever we had to talk about what we wanted to be when we grew up I’d always say a singer. Read more>>

Tiffany Sedano

I was in my undergrad at CSUSB sitting in a Theatre 100 course contemplating changing my major from Anthropology to Pre-Med. I had a clear sense of direction up until that point. I knew i wanted to be an Anthropologist and learn about people. But once in the basic level anthropology courses i realized i didn’t want to learn about people in that way; there was no life behind the studying of life in the way i thought it would be. Read more>>

FLY GUY

I was 13 years old when I was sitting in my older brother Simeon’s bedroom watching him make beats and rap. I’m a child of Hip-Hop culture and it was at that point that I knew I wanted to be involved in it to some degree for the rest of my life. At first, I wanted to rap; so much so that my eldest brother, Selwyn wrote about me in his first autobiography. Read more>>

Miguel Muller

When I was about 14 years old my father bought a VHS camcorder for the family and I started making experimental short films with it. I probably didn’t know at the time but unconsciously it was my first attempt to express myself and follow what would later become a theme in my life. Besides that I always loved to read and write and when the time came and I had the opportunity to apply for college and seek a formal education I tried to combine these three things and got into the Communication Program in one of the colleges near my hometown. Read more>>

Kathleen Lisbeth

I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally when I entered my second to last year in college studying art and photography. Although, I always knew from such a young age I wanted to be a professional photographer when I grew up. I used to spend a lot of my time photographing my family and friends, posing them, styling their wardrobe and making sure I captured them in the most authentic but most beautiful ways. Read more>>

Christina Valles

Since a young age I’ve known I wanted to pursue a career in the arts. My dad inspired me with his own creativity. He would draw often when I was younger and I remember sitting at the kitchen table while I watched him. It’s also him who has instilled in me to follow what makes me happiest. Art has been and remains what makes me happiest. Read more>>

Shambhavi Jha

I am Shambhavi Jha, a filmmaker and classical vocalist currently pursuing my master’s degree at the New York Film Academy. My creative journey began when my mother discovered my singing talent, leading me to complete my undergraduate studies in Hindustani classical music at the University of Delhi, India. Read more>>

Jeremy Long

Honestly, and I really don’t mean to sound cliche, but I have wanted to pursue a career in the arts for as long as I can remember. I grew up an only child and, although I surrounded myself with lots of friends, I never had the built in playmate of a sibling. My parents are both great and I had a wonderful upbringing, so much so that one could wonder how I ended up becoming a stand-up comic, but parents are adults with lives too and can’t spend every waking moment with their child, which I understand more now that I am older and view my mother and father as people, too, and not just my parents; its a bit of a strange concept. Read more>>

Pyro

I knew I was going to support myself through creativity from a very early age. I’ve always been an artist…you know the inner child that never grew up. Some of my earliest memories revolve around drawing and creating and I can vividly remember the feelings and thoughts of me doing this as a job. Like I said I absolutely knew I would support myself through creativity, the hard part for me, was figuring out exactly which creative field it would be. Read more>>

Bryant August

When I was 13 years old, my uncle constructed a guitar for me. He was an incredible musician and also an electrician. He taught me one song (Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”). I was hooked on music from that moment. Read more>>

Jennifer Watts

When I was 8 years old, I use to watch PBS just to wait for the orchestra on TV. Read more>>

Viduran Roopan

Since I was about six. At first, I wanted to be a writer. Then in my early teens, a musician. But about halfway through high school, I sort of pushed those ideas to the back of my head. My parents strongly advised against pursuing a career as a musician and for a long time I was focused on studying to be an engineer. Read more>>