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.

Delilah Buitron

All I wanted to do in life is study dance, music and theater. From the early age of 4-5years old I was enthralled by movies, music videos and dancing. My parents enrolled me in dance classes very young – Ballet. Although we were required to take ballet, my first dance teacher’s forte was flamenco and clásico Español.  Read more>>

Kathy Karadza

I’ve always wanted to pursue a creative path. It was never about money and always about feeling happy and fulfilled and necessary. If I am not creating something, even if it is just for fun and not work, it feels like something is missing. I feel happiest when I’m creating and it feels like that is one of my purposes for being here. Read more>>

Christian Cruz

My senior year of high school. It was at that time where I really needed to start thinking about what I wanted to do career wise after graduating. At this point I still didn’t know what I wanted to do but I remember being at home watching Iron Man, Read more>>

Meressa Tockey

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been creating. Creating just for the sake of creating, because it’s a never ending need and craving of my soul. But it took me a while to find something that I truly wanted to dedicate myself to and pursue professionally. Read more>>

EDDIE GORTON

They say, “Amateurs do it until they get it right. Professionals do it until they can’t get it wrong. My love for stand-up comedy started at a very young age. I would listen to my dad’s old Eddie Murphy cassette tapes and watch VHS tapes of his two hallmark classics, RAW and DELERIOUS, until I had them memorized.  Read more>>

Edgar Gonzalez

Being a communicator has always been in my DNA. Either performing on stage, through filmmaking and now through news broadcasting… I’ve always felt like I had, if not something to say, something I can share with people perhaps, about my journey that can motivate someone to get out there, to thrive, To believe you can do anything you put your mind to. Read more>>

Erica Estrada

I dunno. I wasn’t really a smart kid. I had straight A’s but that was only because I did the assignments and turned my homework in on time. The high school I went to wasn’t exactly the best so the bar was pretty low. they were just happy that I wasn’t questioning their authority and trying to “stick it to the man.” Read more>>

Dyra Wolf

There are so many vivid memories that I have about being a young performer and loving it. My youngest memories go back as far as kindergarten. The first was when I was chosen for yje lead role as the baby bird in a play adaptation of a story by Dr. Seuss called ‘Are You My Mother?” The second was the same year, when I danced in a Kwanzaa program. Read more>>

Matthew Lindblad

My journey as a creative professional has been anything but ordinary. I was practically born with a guitar in my hands. Since well before I was on this earth, my father was a musician. As an infant, I would crawl over to him while he was playing guitar and pluck the strings in wonder. Read more>>

Joslyn Marie

I knew I wanted to pursuer a creative/artistic path after singing at a school talent show in 3rd grade. My parents were always playing music around our home between so many different genres. But after I performed and the audience connection that was given from my classmates/teachers. Read more>>

Tristan Wauchope

I was probably in 1st grade – when I’d look up news for upcoming films on a Windows XP computer. At that time, I was really excited for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. I started following the development of its production as closely as possible. And it was very enlightening to me. Read more>>

Ethan Bouchard

There I was, a 9 year old in Memphis Tennessee playing Nintendo 64, completely surrounded by large quantities of Lego and Dragon Ball Z action figures. There he was, a 10 year old at the front door asking my mom if he could mow our lawn for money. Read more>>

Vampisaurus

Since I started working to pay for my career and later when I finished it, I worked in several companies but always with a boss and a fixed schedule. This is not bad at all but while I was doing hours at work I felt that I couldn’t develop the interests that motivated me as I would like to. Read more>>

Xiaoyi Ying

Honestly, although I was passionate about music from a young age, I never imagined I could work in the music industry. I always assumed I would grow up like my peers, enjoying a carefree youth and eventually settling into a conventional life. Read more>>

Barbara Friedman

From as far back as I can remember, I loved “making pictures.” I’m not sure what attracted me to it, but I did know that my mother had been an artist in her earlier years and that there was a lot of art around the house. When other kids came over they often mentioned how grossed-out they were by all the naked people on our walls. Read more>>

Victoria Junmei

I’ve always loved looking at and making art; from the bottom of my heart I really love to draw. Sometimes I would be so busy drawing or painting I’d forget to eat, and that’s not something I’m exactly proud of, but it’s a testament to how much I care about and will sacrifice for my craft. Growing up, I spent the first 13 years of my life thinking I was going to be a concert violinist, but I had to be hounded into practicing. Read more>>

Melanie Haynes

I think I always knew I wanted to be a professional performer. At the age of 2, I was reciting nursery rhymes while standing on the kitchen table. I took dance lessons beginning at age 4 and participated in anything involving performing all through my school years. Read more>>

Simon Sohel TaufiQue

I got my first whiff of what it would be like to pursue a creative path when I became friends with my NYU classmate, M. Night Shyamalan. I’ve never met someone so laser-focused on their passion and so singularly driven to realize that passion as their life’s purpose. Read more>>

Caitlin Riley

It’s something that I always wanted but didn’t allow myself to think was possible for an exceptionally long time. I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil and selling work since I was a teenager, but I convinced myself from an early age it wasn’t possible to sustain as career. Read more>>

Tommy Ortman

Like most young boys, I grew up trying to find myself within the sports scene. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the most coordinated on the field or the court, but I remember finding the most joy in making my teammates and coaches laugh. Whenever things weren’t going our way, I was somehow still able to keep the spirits high. I loved that they all appreciated having me there, and that kept me going through many seasons of strikeouts, dropped passes and missed jump-shots. Read more>>

Margaret Donovan

I loved music from an early age. My mom was a pianist herself and put me on the path of learning to play music as soon as I was able to. We were always singing and she was always pushing me to practice piano. From there, music was always a part of my upbringing, but I never planned for it to become my profession. Read more>>

Clifton Taylor

I knew I wanted to pursue acting/entertainment by the age of 12. It was something I truly loved. Growing up, I was always entertaining friends and family. At the age of 6, I got my first taste of being in front of a crowd for a church play. I highly enjoyed the experience and whenever there was an opportunity to perform, I was there. Read more>>

Brandon Real

I’ve always been into the art of music and creating music. But when I saw the impact that Michael Jackson and James brown had on the world I wanted to be just them and inspire the world in the way they did and still do till this day . Read more>>

Jesus Vasquez

the moment i knew that i wanted to pursue art professionally was the day i sold my first painting, but not necessarily the sale itself that got to me, it was expressing of love that this stranger was showing towards a piece of my heart, my creation. Read more>>

Matthew Rojas

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue music professionally was when I was in the sixth grade. Middle school is hard enough as it is, and a mixture of personal and school things helped me to find an escape in music. Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, I loved these bands, and learned how to play songs from all of them…on piano! (I didn’t yet own a guitar). Read more>>

Beth Lee

When I was in high school I auditioned for my first musical and really started to take music more seriously. My father was in a band for most of my life and I didn’t play an instrument yet, but I remember deciding I wanted music to be involved in whatever I was going to do for the rest of my life. Read more>>

Gary Beauford

Well I decided that a career in the entertainment industry was for me when I first saw my baby brother on tour with Charlie Wilson & the Gap band. I was able to catch this show while he was in town (Baltimore MD) touring back in 2007 & see him perform & dance along Charlie motivated me to want to pursue a career. Read more>>

Jennifer Hudnell

My journey to becoming a professional artist was by no means a linear one. While I’ve always found joy in creating, “being an artist,” owning that title, didn’t occur until I was in my thirties. It started to come about when I moved to DC in 1999. I took art classes to build a community and as a way unwind after a long day. At first art was purely a personal pursuit, a space for relaxation and connection. Read more>>

Devan & Dylan Flower & Brannan

We both went to a red rocks show together back in 2011 to see Skrillex at Global Dance Fest, and ever since then we fell in love with the scene and the music. We dove deeper into the scene by hitting every RR show we could, check out all the shows in Denver’s indoor venues (RIP Beta) and going to EDC Vegas 3 times, Shambala for 2 years and eventually decided we needed to be a bigger part of it. Read more>>

Mandy Chen

I often joke that I enjoy the process of making a film more than the film itself. As a junior in college, I changed my major from finance to Media and Information, which included film production courses. This was my first real exposure to filmmaking and it opened up a whole new world for me. Unlike my previous experiences with more traditional jobs, where tasks and routines were fixed, filmmaking is dynamic and collaborative. Read more>>

Margie Sarrao

I’ve known since I was a child in elementary school that I wanted to pursue art. I have always been drawn to bright colors and had a knack for putting outfits together and decorating. I used to draw all the time as a kid and art was always my favorite subject. The teacher I remember most is my high school art teacher, and she even recently purchased a vase from me. Read more>>

Kristine Palmer

This may sound cliche, but I have known ever since I was little. Like a deep seated feeling that I knew would come to fruition for me. I still feel like I’m working towards it in many ways too. Throughout my childhood and young adulthood that feeling always stayed, the inner knowing that someday I’m going to be an artist. Read more>>

Emma Jean Scott

When I was a kid, my grandpa used to take me to lots of different plays and musicals around where we lived in Ohio. I believe that the first one we saw together was a production of ‘Grease’ at a local theater. Though I can’t remember many of the details from that night, I’ll always remember the excitement of the lights dimming and the orchestra swelling as the overture began. Read more>>

Vince Spano

It was pretty much always going to be music for me and for the rest of the guys in the band. I grew up writing music from a very small age. It was always sort of known in my family that I wasnt gonna fall into a regular job, this was always the end goal. Read more>>

Joshua Freshour

I remember being musical for most my life. As a child my grandma had an organ and I would sit at that thing just making noise for hours. My grandma sat down with me a couple of times and tried to teach me how to actually play but I made it pretty clear I was far more interested in just making noise and she eventually just left me to my own devices and let me make noise. Read more>>