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.

Johnny K. Wu

Me and 6 others found out last year that the film festival is going to be retired, it is one of the best indie level film festival in our city and we thought we should continue the legacy. Read more>>

Tong Wang

My creative journey is deeply rooted in my childhood experiences, where my sensitivity to the world around me first flourished. From a young age, I found myself drawn to the mysteries of the divine and the supernatural, fueling my insatiable curiosity. Read more>>

Ethan X Evans

Before jumping into film I owned and ran a software development company. I was self taught in that field as well which caused me to have to rely heavily on my employees to scale. Read more>>

Ben Hoagland

My story starts very early in life. When I was 7 years old I was attending my first concert with my family. That concert was Warped Tour 2005 at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington state. Read more>>

Rosemond Nymaewaa Van-Ess

I knew I wanted to study a lot about Ceramics from my secondary educational level but the moment I enrolled at university things got both artistically and scientifically interesting. Read more>>

Tara Kothari

Pursuing a creative path professionally, happened by accident. Since I was young, I loved working with my hands and creating. As a child you would often find me making crafts. Read more>> 

Angela Mona

Music was my first language, so there was no way I was just gonna brush it off and tell myself “I’d rather be a doctor instead” even though that was close to happening. I’ve always felt powerful on stage or just creating, its so different. Read more>>

Caitlin Walters

My name is Caitlin Walters, I’m 19 years old, & I am a freelance model located in Midlothian, Virginia. It all started right around my high school graduation time. Read more>>

Matilda Awaitey Ayerki

Growing up, I was surrounded by the hustle and bustle of my parents’ self-started businesses. My dad, a shoemaker, and my mom, a seamstress, worked tirelessly to provide for our family. Read more>>

Melissa Tyson

So I was kind of an odd bird you could say I was very right brained and left brained growing up. Always making art, but also very good at math so naturally my parents wanted to encourage me to get a degree that I could have a career job in so they said,” hey you could be an accountant, you’re so good at math.” Read more>>

Shyia Simmons

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path was in elementary school. I always wanted to be in the plays. I wanted to sing in the choir. I wanted to be on the dance team. (Even though I can’t dance lol). Read more>>

Jonno Heyne

I decided to pursue a creative professional path while taking a walk on a cold fall morning. I had just lost my job as a delivery truck driver. No good will come from me sharing all the details, Read more>>

Crash.N

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue music was when me and my friends auditioned for the school talent show. We practiced everyday for weeks doing rehearsals. Read more>>

Justin Nealy

I started making music with some friends a long time ago. All of us were really good. We had an old beat up laptop that we were making our music. Read more>>

Tom Pergola

I started out in the fine art business in 1978 with Martin Lawrence Limited Editions by being hired as an artwork shipper. I soon became curator and general manager for the company which grew to the largest distributer and gallery chain in the country. Read more>>

Devika Mahajan

To be honest, that realisation was more of an organic shift than a sudden epiphany. It began with a simple routine: coming home from the office and dedicating an hour or so to painting every day to deal with the day’s work stress. Read more>>

Pariis Noel

Pariis Noel, is a multidimensional artist whose passion for music began at only 10 years old, while growing up on the west side of Detroit, MI. His passion was ignited when he was first introduced to the movie “Breakin”, a film focused on the dynamic between a aspiring jazz artist and two talented break dancers. Read more>> 

Amaris J. Gagnon

I’m not sure there was ever an “aha” moment. This passion for storytelling was always inside me. I just never had the courage to explore it until I was older. Read more>>

Justin Vreeland

When I started performing and writing, I would be writing songs in my basement, and when I’d get something I liked, I would just jam on it for like an hour. Read more>>

Valerie Gaskin

I believe I’ve always wanted to pursue a creative artistic path. I recall as a young girl always writing poetry, creating songs, and writing small plays. Read more>>

Lindsay Payton

I think it started sometime in late elementary/junior high, I was always a voracious reader and I’d started to write my own fiction and illustrate it. Read more>>

Rosanna Peng

I was in high school and I was a part of this video and broadcast class where we would prepare weekly news broadcasts in the form of funny skits and news reports. Read more>>

Shannon Irwon

I have been painting for over 20 years when about 10 years ago I had someone mention an art licensing opportunity. Honestly I had never really ever heard that term but after some extensive research I realized how much opportunity was out there to create work for Wall art designs!! Read more>>

Kimberly Salinas Silva

It’s Christmas morning. I see an image of myself at five to six years old. I am standing at a child-sized easel equipped with paper, ready to paint on. Read more>>

Becky Jewell

When it was time to pick a college major, I switched from Astronomy to Fine Art at the last minute. I realized that as much as I loved science and was doing some pretty serious work in the field, art was what made me and all of my friends happy. Read more>>

Kaylee Tan

Growing up in Singapore, where math and science were prioritized in education, I initially focused on academics and did well. Read more>>

A-Jah Geathers-Dayse

Since I was five, I was very self-aware of the fact that I wanted to be a fashion designer. And because my mother raised me to be extremely specific with the things I desired, I also knew I would name my brand P.S.D since then. Read more>>

Missy Michaels

When I was still in elementary school, I was already so fascinated by words that became stories that became full length books. I was the little girl who would sit at the table and read every single word on the cereal box or the bottle of syrup. Read more>>

Kay Storck

I had always been interested in art, even as a child. But my mother instructed me to focus on my studies to gain professional employment as an adult. Read more>>

Michelle Świderska Law

Simultaneously very early and very late. I think I knew really early on, say maybe 8 years old or so, that I wanted to spend my life performing; sharing stories, connecting with people via live performances, and exploring how other people think via different characters. Read more>>