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.

Ram Tactix

When I was a teenager, but I was timid at that time and not matured enough to fully understand the film industry. There were some people who ask me to consider acting. but still not sure who to trust and I don’t know anybody or any close friend that works in the film industry during ny younger years. Read more>>

Jim Hallenbeck

I remember drawing the Peanuts characters at an early age. From that moment I became interested in pursuing a career as an artist. I was the art editor for my high school yearbook although my school did not have a meaningful art class. Read more>>

Francis Jeremiah Oshogwe

I first recognized my desire to pursue a creative and artistic path professionally when I discovered that painting was the sole activity that consistently brought me pleasure and fulfillment. Read more>>

Gale Salvo

I have had the dream of wanting to be a superstar since I was a little girl but as an adult, it registered for me that I wanted to pursue this professionally after one of my first performances. Read more>>

Melanee Necole

It was in October of 2017; I was attending a community event hosted by Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. The entire campus had various stations set up with different activities; there was food, entertainment and several arts and crafts booths. Read more>>

Mark Byrd

It took me quite a while to realize that I wanted to be a creative professionally. I went through my life doing a bunch of things that I felt were for me, but in turn none of them were truly my path. Read more>>

Luis Villegas

There was always music in my home whether it be on Spanish radio stations playing boleros or my dad playing his classical music records on the home stereo. As a teenager, I got into rock music and rock guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page and Angus Young. Read more>>

Bennie Wilson

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally after my college football career was done in 2018. The transition from a four-time Division 1 national championship team to a championship-contending Division 3 school shifted my focus towards long-term career that I was passionate about beyond football. Read more>>

Tamala Clarice

Fashion was always a side hobby for me. It was fun, refreshing and a creative outlet. I first realized that I wanted professionally pursue Fashion Styling as career is when I got cut from three different NBA dance teams. While moving to California I was a dancer attending attending the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Read more>>

Nicole Behanna

From a very young age, I was always drawn to horror, fashion and art. I guess I didn’t really realize until I graduated highschool and was deciding what college to go to and for what. Read more>>

Ashlynne Berkebile

After leaving my career in mental health, I needed to find a hobby or something to occupy my mind and allow myself to just let go. That is when I started painting and completely fell in love. Read more>>

Nina Wood

I remember exactly when I decided to pursue a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts! It happened during my junior year of high school when my art teacher encouraged me to apply to a summer program offered at RISD. Read more>>

Hernán Barangan

When I was a kid I figured that I’d be an engineer like most of the grown-ups I knew — but when I was fifteen years old I was diagnosed with Leukemia. And locked away in that hospital room with only an IV and a TV, I fell in love with movies; they were my escape. Read more>>

Anchita Tandon

Photography has always had my heart since I was 16 but I never thought I would want to pursue it professionally. I struggled with a lot of mental and physical health issues in 2022 and 2023. Read more>>

Bethany Wearden

I’ve always loved stories. I was a huge reader as a child – often finishing more than one book a day. As I grew up, I became interested in other forms of storytelling – theatre, film, immersive art experiences. Read more>>

Mark Knell

Star Wars came out in 1977…I was 14 years old at that time and absolutely mesmerized when I saw that film. I knew right then that I wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry, though at the time, I just knew I wanted to be associated with making movies. Read more>>

Drew Prez

Like many, my first band was formed in high-school. In fact, I think we started the band specifically for the school talent show, but that was going to be it. We performed two songs by one of my favorite bands, Blink 182. Read more>>

Joesf Glaude

When I heard The Beatles, I knew I wanted to be a musician. I can describe the entire moment still even though I was only 7 yrs. old. Originally, I wanted to be a drummer, but my mother got me a harmonica. When I saw Elvis, I knew I wanted to be a guitar player. That Easter my grandfather gave me his Tenor Banjo. It was a start. Read more>>

Kenzi Flinchum

I’ve always grown up on the creative side of the road. I went to school for Creative Advertising, and one day I had to pick a camera up for a class project–it was game over from there. Read more>>

Elsha Bell

Photography has been a passion of mine from the moment I discovered a portrait of my mom, taken in 1969…captured on film, super imposed over swirling oil, developed in the darkroom. Read more>>

Dianette Wells

The first time I sat down to write, the words flowed out of my head faster than I could type them. Although that wasn’t always the case, when I would start to fell the need to write, I would and the words kept flowing… Read more>>

Jessica Baldwin

I always saw it as a possibility, but I was always interested in other possibilities, too.Singing and music were a huge part of my childhood. My mom was a high school choir director, we did all kinds of music at church, and there were a bunch of musicians in the extended family. Read more>>

Gideon Mzembe

I was in the midst of pursuing a career as a professional rugby league player. But something was sitting right with me, my overall well wellbeing. Read more>>

Shelley Hanmo

Creating paper collage art was a side hobby of mine for many years. I remember that my childhood was filled with museum trips, art magazine readings, and weekly watercolor classes. Read more>>

Frank Carbone

Growing up in New York, I loved music. I used to sit in my room for hours listening to all kinds of music. I remember my first CD I ever bought it was Dr. Dre on a school field trip to Washington. Read more>>

Grayson Rebustes

I’ve always loved creating and entertaining. Whether it be music or videos, creating/entertaining is my passion. I’ve loved hip-hop music since I was a kid and have always been intrigued by the lyricism, flow and rhyme schemes. Read more>>

Vicy

Since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to be apart of anything that had to do with music. At 15 years old, I wrote my first song. For the longest time I had writers block and would write songs here and there but would never complete them. Read more>>

Laura Roth

When it comes to the life of a creative person, I feel like they know at a really early age where their path is going to take them! I remember being about 4 years old and creating a special drawing for my Grandma to give her as a gift that summer. Read more>>

Rocco Ramos

Growing up, my younger brother and I explored a range of different sports together before eventually diving into the realm of creativity, specifically drawing and painting. Read more>>

Phylicia Wissa

The confirmation to pursue a professional career as a an actress in film and television came through a series of moments in my personal life. To begin, my name was, and still is, the catalyst. Read more>>

Lenore Thomas

I am not sure there was ever a clear moment where I said – I know I am going to be an artist! I do know being artist is not the path I expected to take though. Read more>>

Jordan Lawson

I’ve always known I’ve wanted to pursue music as a career path. My twin brother, Jakob, and I sang in church and in different local events before and during middle school. Read more>>

Mahllie Beck

I’ve always known that I was an artist, a leader, and a business-minded individual. I loved creating, brainstorming, and making positive impacts around me. Read more>>

Rachel Gardner

For as long as I can remember, I was always creating and loved to do so. However, I was a highly competitive soccer player for much of my life and most of my time and energy was doing that. Read more>>

Jesus Li

My grandfather once told me, “Start dressing better; you should start wearing shirts; when it’s your turn to work, you should wear a suit.” I was twelve years old. Read more>>