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.

Soleil

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally since elementary school – I started singing and playing piano at 5 years old, and whenever someone asked me ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I responded with ‘a singer!’ In elementary school, I took any chance I got to sing or play piano during assemblies or events. The same goes for high school and college, and once I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, I auditioned to be a singer in a cover band. Read more>>

Starrie Sky

I knew I wanted to pursue writing when I was in first grade and won an award for “Best Poem” in my class. I really enjoyed writing, and being able to create a world with words. I was always writing and drawing as a child, plays, movie scripts, stories…everything! I had huge binders filled with all of my work. Every time I finished a new play, I would drag all of my friends into acting out the parts, and we would perform them to whoever would watch, usually our younger brothers and sisters, they had no choice haha! Read more>>

Michael Luckhardt

Animation has been a love of mine since I was a kid. You would find 12 year old me stitching together crudely drawn MS-Paint images into gifs, or uploading fan-art flash animations to the web (shoutout to newgrounds.com). This led me to pursuing animation in art school, taking design courses by chance, realizing the two fields could be combined, and wham-bam my interest in motion design began. Read more>>

Johnny Chops

I had always wanted to live a creative life, from a very early age. I was always the kid daydreaming out the window during class instead of learning my multiplication tables. I’m not sure why, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year in college that two distinct events age me a realization. I was attending SWT in San Marcos, TX in the Theater Directing program. I had chose that major without a lot of thought or planning. At that point it was just the next natural progression from high school as I had directed a one act play my senior year and found that very fulfilling. But for one of my motion classes, I wrote a short skit about an old, down and out musician who comes to life when he hears a particular song and his movements dramatically change as he pulled out a guitar and played along to the Johnny Cash song “Big River”. Read more>>

KC Carter

As a kid I was always interested in creative writing. I used to draw characters and create full backstories for each one. My love of music was there ever since I could talk. Growing up in church and being around Gospel music really help cultivate that interest. Before I knew anything about notes or music theory, I would come up with melodies in my head and try to play them on the little Casio Keyboard my mom bought for us. By the time I was like 10 or 11, I bought a tape recorder and started recording myself playing the keys and beatboxing. I starting writing songs and little raps to those recordings. When I got to be around 13, I remember my cousin loaded this program called Fruity Loops on my Grandmother’s computer. Read more>>

CHRISTINASERA

I’d like to say that I always knew that I wanted to be a performing artist when I grew up, but I did have a brief yearning to be a veterinarian when I was about five years old. That dream, however, was short-lived as I am and always have been extremely allergic to cats. All joking aside, I truly have always known deep within my soul that music is a huge part of who I am. Even from the ages of 3 and 4 I was planning elaborate talent show performances with lighting and costumes and begging for my brother and sister’s elementary school to let me in their talent shows even though I was too young to even attend school there at the time. I grabbed a composition notebook and started writing songs about princesses and bunnies, scribbling shapes that resembled notes on a page of sheet music that only I could read. Read more>>

Jon Landers

It was not just a whim or by chance. In 1999 I was going through a divorce from a 29 year marriage. At the time, I was a manufacturer’s rep in the lawn & garden and hardware industry selling and servicing The Home Depots and big box home centers covering an area from Maine to Virginia. I was averaging about 54,000 miles driving throughout this territory. In the three years following my divorce (with two daughters in the mix) my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer, my dad attempted suicide because of my moms condition and my brother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Read more>>

DJ Kurupt

I knew I wanted to pursue my arts and talents, was when I first started creating my mixtapes and mix cd’s. That is when I realized my creative gift when I was receiving the continuous phone calls as well as being approached about DeeJaying events and/or projects. The only thing that I had to do back then was the things I loved to do. That was playing around with the music and the unique sounds around it. The more and more consistent I was releasing mixtapes the more I was booked for gigs and the bigger the gigs got the more my phone rang. Read more>>

Yung Mono

Well my oldest brother went double platinum for producing the song Laffy Taffy, then my older brother had tracks that were running the battle grounds on the radio and eventually I felt like I needed to do music too. So I made my first track “I’m the Man Now” in like 2017 just for fun, and it got like 1000 plays in a few months. I thought that was dope so I was like why not drop another song(Check Up) and it got 1k in like a month. When I saw that I was hype so I recorded and dropped Griffin and it got 1k over night and I was shook. Next thing you know the Delta Sigma Fraternity at Kennesaw State University reached out to me and booked me for my first show. Read more>>

Zyi Li

I wanted to start taking music more professionally during my divorce. Music was an escape for me at that time. At that point, I was already playing saxophone for about 25 years and played professionally with the United States Marine Corps. However, I took a few years off from really playing my horn and taking music seriously. The emotions during the divorce was a motivation for me to start playing more and to express myself creatively. Therefore, I started playing more with performing bands locally, was hired to do gigs/weddings, starting doing recordings, and wrote originals. Read more>>

Bonnie Perlin

I always loved creating art. I enjoyed drawing and painting and did so for many years without formal training. In the late 80’s I enrolled in a class at the Roslyn School of Art, upon the suggestion of a friend. I began taking a class, which led to more classes. Within a short time I rented a studio space in the back of the school, where several other artists worked. We all became close friends sharing our mutual love of painting. We painted day and sometimes nights. As my work evolved, I began selling . People would stop by my studio and were interested in my work. I started showing my work in a couple of local galleries and also began taking art workshops to give me a broader view of the process. Little by little I began selling my work and at this time, I realized that I wanted to pursue this path professionally. I could do something I love to do and at the same time sell my work. Read more>>

Terrell Jones

I think ever since I was a kid I knew I wanted to do art professionally in some sense. The first job I can remember myself wanting to do was a cartoonist. Also, my Aunt Linda is a very talented portrait artist and when I was young she would show me her amazing pieces and tell me that people buy them from her. At the time that showed me that you can actually monetize your craft. Ever since then I’ve been searching for my own ways to get paid doing what I love most. Read more>>

Clio Lang

The first time I knew I wanted to be an artist is when I won my first poetry competition in tenth grade. Upon winning first place, I was awarded a workshop to meet authors at a book festival. It was definitely a highlight for me . Especially as a literature nerd, this experience helped shaped me as a writer. This is when I learned that writing isn’t just about words; it’s an art nonetheless like painting or drawing. Read more>>

Poonam Jethva

The first time I knew that I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was when I was 6 years old. I know it sounds crazy but I knew that I wanted to do something that involves drawing, coloring and painting. I loved mostly all the subjects in school but Art made me the happiest of all. I went to Elementary, Middle and High school in Nairobi, Kenya and my schools had the most wonderful teachers. I still remember how encouraging they were and how they helped me keep my passion alive. You can say that they cheered me on. That kept my passion for Art alive and kicking. Read more>>

Shena Canty

I first knew that I wanted to pursue my art professionally was after having my band for three years. Life happened to a point where I no longer wanted to exist. I wanted to not live anymore. Luckily my small tribe of friends and family got me back together. After that, I chose to put energy into music for healing not only for myself but for others who can relate as well. Read more>>

Justin Gates

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue being a creative professionally happened the first time me and my team The Gaming Illuminaughty went to E3 for the first time. I started off just making videos on Youtube in 2011. Fast forward a few years later, and I’m writing articles about video games on our own website. Through that it turned into being classified as media, which turned into us being able to apply for press badges at the Electronic Gaming Expo. This has been something I have been wanting to go to since I was a little kid. It was literally a dream of mine. Our audience even donated to us so we could buy plane tickets and a hotel room for the week. Being able to go to the convention and go behind the scenes to play games early really solidified that this would be something that I can do for a lifetime. Read more>>

Pimptress

Oh God!! I honestly think I knew I wanted to be a singer when I was about 5 years old! I remember all my moms friends saying ” Wow you have a star on your hands” and ” She can really sing”! I always walked around singing my favorite songs from my favorite artist! High-school was when I realized I wanted to also pursue rapping. I was always a good writer. I wrote poetry so I knew I’d be a good story teller when I came to putting lyrics together Read more>>

Molly Watson

Looking back on my childhood, I should have known that I would go into a creative field. As a child I would create homes for my dolls instead of playing with them, using every scrap I could find to build furniture for their growing abodes. As I got older, my friends and I would make movies and spend hours writing scripts and storylines, we would create elaborate meals concocted from our parents refrigerators. I was always making, painting, or designing something, my days were filled with creativity and imagination. I’ve always been an artist and a maker, but it took me until adulthood to realize it. Read more>>

Bri Minus

It wasn’t until the release of my first single, ‘What If’ that people really started to take notice. Instantly, I was approached to perform at various shows around the city. My first performance really set my path in stone. I was filled with excitement and joy to even just perform in front of a few people. I knew then, I had about three songs at the time; this is what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Nicolas Casanova

I have always been surrounded by a creative environment. My father, Hernando “El Culebro” Casanova, was a very famous actor in Colombia. I always accompanied him to work which means I grew up between the world’s of wardrobe, makeup, and seeing him create his characters behind the scenes. At home the atmosphere was not very different, while other children played hide-and-seek or soccer, my father directed my brother and me in short films. What seemed like a game, then became a whole day of work. Somehow without wanting it. When I was six years old my dad taught me the compromise that audiovisual production implies. Read more>>

Iulia Curca

Since I was little girl, I loved sweets. I have been watching my mom and grandma always when they’ve been baking, cooking. No matter what, I always was present in the kitchen. I’ve been watching how much effort they’ve been doing, and a lot of LOVE. Is not simply to create a delicious dish. They always say: attention, love, patience, creativity, fantasy, time, need to put all your soul into. Read more>>

PK Meshell

I’ve always had the creative urge ever since I was a teenager. I was definitely the kid not paying attention in class and instead I was doodling in my notebook or skipping school. Discovering punk music was my gateway into several mediums throughout my youth and adult life. My creative endeavours revolved around playing music, booking shows, making flyers, or screen printing for bands or causes related to the communities I was in. In doing all this stuff I was always working some other job I would never be very invested in. As the other artistic practices kind of took a backseat painting, drawing, and tattooing just sort of naturally became the next mediums I wanted to focus on. My first year of tattoo I was living in a different country and crossing an international border on the regular in order to go work at a coffee shop. The pandemic, along with other life obstacles, in some way shape or form pushed me to pursue tattooing as my full time practice. Read more>>

Elena Killgore

Great question! When people started telling me I had talent! I honestly cannot pin point the first time, I’m a dreamer so I was never thinking about the process of making the art. Sadly, I was focused on how to make money as an artist. That mindset kept leaving me high and dry though. Just recently my heart has taken a shift because I was touched by my own art. It was an experience. I was anxious about something and I brought my art piece out into the living room and I just sat in front of it swimming in my thoughts. Over time as I soaked the piece in, peace like an ocean just came over me and that’s when I knew I knew I was doing what I was called to do and my need to share it drove me. Read more>>

Haspil Lafontant

There was one late night where I was just in my head, and thought “ I want to create a short EP “. I worked on it for about 2 weeks… found a studio and once I laid it down it really gave me a different sense of exhilaration. I hadn’t been that excited doing anything else. My style paved unorthodox to the average sound but that’s what reeled ears in. I knew it was different but I wasn’t weary of how it’d be received. Friends to a liking to it more than I ever expected. It was about 4 songs but only for 6 minutes, which was intentional to only give them a taste and draw them in with an urge for more. Read more>>

Lupe Lawrence

I was working at the City of West Palm Beach, and one day I saw a special on PBS on degenerate art. My heart broke as I saw the art, and I remembered the art of John Constable and Rembrandt and others like them, and I prayed to God, if you can use anyone, use me. The next day I took my dog for a walk in the park near my house. Unbeknownst to me, there was a festival, and I saw a man selling art; I approached and told him I was an artist and asked if he was interested in seeing my art. He said yes, and the following week I brought my art over; he accepted five of my paintings. I was overjoyed when he called me and told me that he had sold two of my paintings and would send me the check the next day. Well, I never received payment, and I began to call him, but no one ever answered to my dismay. I went to the gallery, and it was closed. Read more>>

Dee Goodson

That would have to be back when I sing to a girl in front of my entire school when I was 14! I know it sounds mad cheesy but she had just broke up with me and I wanted her win her back because I swore I was in love with her and I felt like I had to show her in the most extravagant way (laughs)! What was even crazier what it was during the Black History Month program at our school and I been practicing the song that I was gonna do for the show but I changed all the lyrics and everything the DAY of the event! So when I got on stage the entire was watching me and I didn’t go to a small high school… we’re talking 500+ people! I said this song is for my Hawaiian Baby and every knew who I was talking about because we been together for a little while. But after I got done all I heard was a roar of screaming and I seen her standing up clapping and crying and I knew right there that I had a gift with music and influencing emotions with the guitar and my voice. Read more>>

Sacred Thomas

In 2012 I started a party bus transportation service with my business partner Vinny Jurado. We both started it while we were in college at Texas State University. The company ran for about 7 years. While we were operating the business we used to hire a videographer by the name of Thomas Abowd to film our promotional videos. Thomas & I became close as friends and one day I asked him if he learned how to film while he was going to school at Texas State. He told me that he pretty much learned how to film from Youtube and not school. That statement planted a seed in my mind & from that point on I would continue to think about it. During the final year of operations I knew I wanted to do something different but I didn’t know what. Read more>>

Melissa Mari

I knew as a small child that music would be my passion in life. It seems to have come in to me from the beginning. I actually remember going to a chamber concert with my parents at around two years old and seeing and feeling pure magic and beauty coming from the stage. And I remember the joy and depth present in the musicians. That moved me deeply even at that age. Then when I was a bit older, I pulled down the guitar that was hanging on the wall at home and never looked back. I was always a loner or an outsider type like a lot of artists and I had a rather difficult childhood, so playing guitar, singing and writing music was how I grounded myself and felt joyful in the middle of chaos. Read more>>

John Lathrop

Oddly enough, when I was a toddler. I loved to draw as a kid. And I know most kids like to draw, but I really LOVED it. Like, something deep inside me was telling me this is what I need to do. For a large part of my childhood, the majority of my time was spent drawing Peanuts or Garfield or Disney or Marvel/DC comics characters. Then later, my own original cartoons. And caricatures of my friends and teachers. Were they always flattering? Umm, no (sorry about that). Did they make my friends laugh? Constantly. Later, I moved into realistic and/or psychedelic charcoal or pastel portraits. And when I was a sophomore in high school, I got my “big break,” my very first art commission job: a local pizza place paid me to draw posters in my own cartoon style of different characters representing their pizza specials. I was officially a professional artist at the age of sixteen! Read more>>

Barcawil

I first knew I wanted to pursue being a musician was when I felt the instant connection in creating music. I felt like I could be myself in the studio. I was creating something from scratch on my own. When I first learned how to produce music, it was the best way I could express my energy. Being able to make a song just by the way I feel is what I love the most. It gave me the opportunity to meet and connect with people that forever changed my life. I thank God for opening this door for me and leading me down this path. Read more>>

Daniel Mason

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue music professionally is when I heard gospel artists such as Mary Mary, Kirk Franklin & Fred Hammond. Growing up, all I knew was gospel music. My parents raised my sister and I in church. I grew up singing in the choir and eventually on the praise team. Gospel, R&B & Pop music had a big impact on me. When I was younger I wanted to be on Disney Channel so bad. Those moments watching “High School Musical & The Cheetah Girls” intensified my drive and passion to be in from of the camera/ on stage. .Read more>> 

Rosan Powierza

I honestly believe I was born an entertainer. As soon as I was able to talk, I began to sing. When I was able to stand, I began to dance. Ever since I could remember, I was always joining talent shows and events to sing or dance in front of an audience. As soon as high school began, I joined our school’s dance class called Dance West, where we’d also perform. Read more>>

Doris McCandless

I was 17 when I first made my very own custom made swimsuit to wear in a local beauty pageant. I wanted to have something unique, something that made me feel comfortable and confident while wearing it. I wanted other women to experience the same feeling I had. That’s when IYOSWIMWEAR is born, “IYO” is a tagalog word means “yours” “for you”. I started making custom made suits for models, TV celebrities back in my home country (Philippines) I know how hard it is to find something that fits perfectly. Having something that’s made specifically for you is so special. Read more>>

Ivan Morin

I’ve been performing and writing music for about 20 years now, but I didn’t really get serious about trying to pursue music until 2017. I took some time off from working full-time and started doing freelance and gig-type work to give myself more time to work on my craft. The idea of Alcoda was birthed in 2014, however, my vision was very different then. I’ve learned that sometimes it’s okay to not have the full picture in your head before launching a project. You can fine-tune it along the way and figure out what works best for you. Read more>>

Mike Tony

Some of my earliest memories of my childhood are of my dad playing guitar, going to his band practice, and watching him performing live.  I knew that my dad had a regular job, but it never seemed like he came home happy from it.  The times that he was the most happy were when he was playing music.  I always used to mimic him; when he was at home, he was playing guitar and I would be right there by his side singing and strumming along with him or drumming on pillows with wooden spoons. Read more>>

Miriam Zimms

BOOM – Waking up from a major surgery where I had to relearn how to walk again over a two-year period gave me no choice but to pursue a new life as an artist. I had been a successful business and management consultant in the environmental field for over 22 years when my life changed. I had to have the primary bone cancer removed from my left pelvis and it, along with my hip ball and femur to get “good margins”, had to all be rebuilt too. My pelvis and leg would be salvaged and I’d have an internal imputation. But my left leg would only serve as a “scaffolding” to hold me up. Three months after the surgery, my psoas atrophied. I was left with a disability. Read more>>

Austyn Cage

Music has always been a huge influence in my life, including early childhood. I grew up on mostly hip hop music which is what inspired me to start rapping in the first place. I wrote my first lyrics in middle school in the middle of class and at the time it was just something fun for me to do. As I got older, I became more invested in the craft and began writing entire songs from start to finish. I believe the moment I knew this was the path for me was when I was 19 and did a rap competition in Atlanta with a friend of mine and we won first place. The atmosphere was crazy and the crowd was really feeling our performance. It wasn’t even a question for me after that night. I knew I was born for the creative and artistic lifestyle. Read more>>

Chloe Hedden

I was raised in a family that assumed that if you were good at something, you’d do it as a career. Money be damned. At the age of six, I had already been told which college I should attend–RISD, of course–and that my interest in “figural realism” was serious and deserving. I spent much of my childhood drawing. We didn’t have a TV. My sister would watch me sketch while I narrated the scene. It was a form of storytelling that kept us amused in a small town with very few kids our age and almost no kindreds. Our parents were artist-intellectuals who had decided after getting their degrees from Harvard to “return to the land,” grow food, build their home, and raise a family. Read more>>

Well, I’d like to first start off by saying music wasn’t really an interest for me at first. Growing up, I did hang around many musicians, and creatives that somewhat inspired me to pursue a career in music. The only problem I had really was where do I get started? I remember my first time even stepping foot inside of a studio. I mean, of course I was nervous, or did not have any clue on what to say while attending the studio session, but as I started recording it felt good to finally hear how I actually sounded on a recorded track. Many of my peers as well as people who I’ve never even met before have told me I sound good and I should consider continuing music or starting a career in radio. It was only a matter of time that I found my unique sound and rhythm for doing music. Read more>>

Eric Patno

I went down to the fish market and came across some crabs in a bucket. They’d claw, climb, and attempt to scuttle over one another to escape their surroundings. I thought to myself, “that looks fun.”. So I dived dick first into the entertainment industry… Wink wink… I’m joking of course. It certainly can be competitive, but it’s doubly rewarding so I’m never salty about it. I don’t snap my claws at a single opportunity and have no problem on propping the next guy up when I can. In short, I love to write, create, and the feeling of confidence when working a room. It was a natural fit… Once you come out of your shell. Read more>>

Mi.Yayø

Music was an early love for me starting from my childhood. Growing up in Miami, I’ve been around many superstars (Trick Daddy, Trina, Pretty Ricky, more) at a young age watching them create music in the studio is when I knew I wanted to make music. At the time my biggest hold back was my mentors, at that time, convinced me that my football journey should be the focus due to the age restrictions as an athlete. Even then I use to write in college, never recorded until my career was all said and done! Due to depression and self evaluations, I’m here today as the artist I am! Read more>>

Coleman Sutton

Ever since the age of 10 or 11 I was writing poetry. I never knew it would evolve to become what it is today. At 18, rapping and getting into making beats was just a way to escape, but as time moved forward and I met other likeminded creatives, the idea for this to become a full time thing became my dream. At 21 I dropped out of college and lived at home in the basement. My family was kind enough to let me turn half of the garage into my music studio. From there, the dream really began to shape itself. Read more>>

KRISTY GREEN

I think I’ve always known I’d be an artist of some sort. When I was a small child my parents, that were smokers, had books of matches lying around. On the cover there was a pirate that one could paint with the opportunity to go to art school. What I did not know was that my parents never sent it in. You see, I grew up poor, I was one of five children, to an alcoholic father, who wouldn’t spend our limited funds for a stamp. I vowed then, that someday I would create the opportunity, to follow my dream as a creative. I first worked as a stylist in NYC, for the Paul Mitchell salon, before continuing as a head stylist for more than 30 years. I retired from styling hair and decided it was finally time to follow my dream and I started my art career then. Read more>>

Shadress Denise

If I had to pinpoint a time, I would say it was during high school. I’ve always been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I was that kid who got excited about book fairs, the bookmobile, all of it LOL! I enjoyed art class as well as English but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with that. Art careers were never something that was heavily promoted while I was in school, so I began to think of a career that I could pair them together and I came up with Marketing. Read more>>

Michaela Wright

I grew up with an intense passion for performance and singing. I was the kid that watched the West End “Cats” VHS on repeat, the “Grease” cassette tape repeatedly, and watched “Phantom of the Opera” more times than I can count. I even had my mom pause the “Cats” VHS I had so she could paint my face exactly like one of the performers for Halloween. I always joke that I came out of the womb singing show tunes, and while my love for opera and classical singing came later, musical theatre laid the foundation for me to feel like I had found myself in the arts. By middle school, I was fairly certain that performance was my lifelong path. I haven’t stopped since. Read more>>

Devante Lekendrick

I always knew. I dreamt it forever and never stopped dreaming of it. Even when I worked regular jobs I would be daydreaming. I would naturally just act out movies, sing, rap, dance, and write around all of my family and friends to the point of annoyance. I would make songs, films, and commercials with my siblings and cousins and edit them on windows movie maker and I taught myself how to shoot, edit, and even photography and upload to YouTube way before vlogs and things like that were a thing. I always wonder what would have happened if I never stopped uploading but everything happens for a reason. Read more>>