Getting started sounds so easy – but for millions of aspiring artists and creatives, the uncertainty of the path forward presents a very real challenge. So, we wanted to gather some artists and creatives we admire to open up about their experience and how they think about whether they should have started sooner or waited for a better time.

Kailee Collar

In theory sooner would have been cool but I don’t think I would have been as equipped to navigate a career as an artist young. I learned a lot in my 20s through various careers, all which has helped me sustain this path. I also don’t I think I would have appreciated it as much as I do now. I appreciate the life I have been able to create for myself so much, knowing that I could I be confined to someone else’s ideas, required to follow someone else’s rules, working just to survive, constantly searching for joy, and hanging on to the weekend. Read more>>

Sheridan Furrer

I have held the identity of “artist” for as long as I can remember – and though I began showing in galleries and selling my paintings at the age of 17, I was never quite able to make the leap to calling myself a “full-time artist”. When I decided to go back to school in my mid-twenties, I knew that art had to be a part of my career path and learning that I could combine my passion for art and mental health in the field of art therapy made everything click for me; the combination is a perfect balance of creative engagement for myself and those that I will serve in the helping profession. I don’t think I would have had the focus to complete school and pursue my master’s degree if I had pursued art therapy sooner – the time it took in my late teens/twenties to bum around, work odd jobs, and gain general life experience has helped to give me the focus to really know what I want and the drive to achieve it. Read more>>

Marie Allen

I definitely wish I had started my creative/influencer career earlier. That being said, I think a large majority of the population spent a lot of time on social media during the first wave of Covid, while everyone was at home in quarantine. I know I did to combat the boredom. I am an animal lover and always have been. I have always had 4 to 5 dogs at a time. If only I had stopped to think that my babies could be entertaining people just like the dog videos I was watching. I must say unfortunately the thought never crossed my mind. Read more>>

Leslie Daniels Kibbee

I went to school to study pre-law and moved out to Los Angeles to pursue acting immediately after graduating. When I first got to LA, I was kicking myself for not beginning my career sooner. I had told my parents I wanted to be an actress at ten years old, after all. Now I was the ripe age of 21! Oh no! I thought that if only I got here sooner or even started acting when I was a kid, then I would be a lot further along. I think a lot of more green actresses think they have to be “young and hot” to have a career and therefore they have to “hurry up” and I was in that camp. It didn’t take me long to discover that my experiences in life unrelated to acting have made me into a unique, yet well-adjusted person. Turns out, I’m still young and I have a whole career ahead of me so I’m in no hurry! Read more>>

Brian Wangenheim

During my college years, my initial inclination was to pursue a path in bio-tech. However, upon careful introspection, I realized that this direction wouldn’t bring me true fulfillment and might lead to a sense of dissatisfaction. Consequently, I made the decision to embrace the realm of arts during my college journey. Given the significant investment of time – around 4-5 years – in university education, I believed it was prudent to engage in something that resonated with my passion and creativity. This led me to enroll in the Graphic Design course at Cal State Long Beach. Read more>>

Lee (aka – Percy) Mays

Actually, my career as an artist began in the early seventies in the genre of contemporary Christian music. With the success of the song, “Shine Your Love”, and the success of the album by the same name, I was well on my way to being on a major Christian record label. But things did not develop as I planned. In 1982, I gave up traveling as an artist. I had gotten married and owned a business in Dallas. More than 30 years later, I gradually returned to the music business after I realized in the summer of 2005 that the music from the “Shine Your Love” album had gained popularity worldwide. To my surprise, my self-produced album that was initially released in 1976 had become a vinyl enthusiast collector’s item on internet auction sites. It was in 2012 that I began to ease into performing once again. My performances were not in the United States but in Eastern Europe. The genre was not CCM but smooth jazz. In 2016, I put together a concert tour in the top jazz clubs in Russia. By 2018 and 2019, I was performing my smooth jazz in the best jazz clubs in Moscow, St Petersburg, Siberia, Minsk, Kyiv, Riga, and Rome. My popularity as a concert artist soared in Eastern Europe and Italy until the pandemic in 2020 and the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Read more>>

Tiffany Anderson Leo Ra’Chel

I’ve always been a creative, even as a child I was always making something or participating in something that helped me to always be in my creative space. I was in choir, drama club, took coming classes and I absolutely loved writing; but even with all the things I did, I NEVER thought about doing them on a professional level. Read more>>

Denise Fulton

I’ve often wondered if my work would be better if I had focused on my art sooner. However, I value the life I lived and the lessons I learned in the twenty years in which I pursued an alternate career. My work ethic is stronger and the skills I gained have served me well in my art business. Read more>>

Elecktra G

Do I wish I started my creative careers sooner? Yes and no. I am one of those people who full heartedly believes that what’s meant for you is meant for you in whatever time it comes to you. I believe in divine timing and sometimes being in the right at the place at the right time is all you need to kickstart a career. I do often wonder what my life would be like if I had gotten my life together sooner and put my career in motions when I was younger, how far along on my career path would I be? This is ponder frequently. Read more>>

Joshua Fitzgerald

I wish I would have started a lot sooner because I could’ve polished my craft a lot sooner as oppose to the position Im in now. I feel more polished now as opposed to me coming up in the game back in 2016. It’s always good to have that head start and it would’ve put me in the position to work with the artist in the DMV area who were just starting out at the time. Read more>>

Terry Gooch

So I actually started modeling when I was in high school but I didn’t stick with it. I saw going to college and getting my degree as more important and I didn’t make time for both. I do not regret it as I am here now learning and growing but maybe I would be further ahead. Read more>>

Dave Shecter

I wish i had started when i was very young but unfortunately i wasnt serious about anything until my 30s and 40s. Its to bad because i know i could have become something if i had applied myself Read more>>

Simona Dimov

Yes I totally wish I would have started working in music way earlier in my life. As a child you learn things so effortlessly. However I must also say that me going through a lot of experiences that were not necessarily related to any creative work gave me life experience that I can now implement into my writings and execution of music in general. Read more>>

Kevin Hellestad

That is sort of a loaded question because it is asking to change the past. As we go through life, it has a funny way of teaching us lessons and showing us what we truly want in life. Read more>>

Adam Hendley

Coming from a collegiate educational family, the idea of owning a business, living as a creative nomad, or whatever it may be was a totally foreign concept to my folks. The minute they got whiff of my creative ability, the quicker the suggestion to become a music teacher was introduced. Which to be fair was not an idea I opposed. I taught public school and afterschool lessons full time for 5 years, and I loved every second of it. But that also delayed my process in learning how to be a better performer, how to book shows, how to develop a fanbase, how to manage employees, etc. Read more>>

Carolyn Shulman

There is definitely a part of me that wishes I’d started a career in music and songwriting sooner. Most of my contemporaries in the folk singer-songwriter world have been doing this since their mid-20s. So, if I compare where I am in my career as a 42 year-old to where a lot of songwriter friends my age are in their careers, it can feel like I am not where I should be. Read more>>

Mariah Rose

This is a tough one because having taken a 5-year hiatus from music, I do think that I have a new grown love and appreciation for it but I also wish that I didn’t go without it for as long as I did. However, it made me realize how much I missed it once I started up the dream again and with having more life experiences to look back on and to write about in my own music, it made it worth it. Read more>>

Jordan Davis

I wish I had started my creative pursuits earlier in my life but my parents immediately squashed any idea of being an artist or working for gaming or comic book companies. In their defense they weren’t wrong because it WAS the 90s but if I had went down that path id be further ahead. Read more>>

 Jolene Botzau

Sooner for sure!! One of my biggest regrets is that I did not start some a social media page to show off the items I crocheted and the progress I’ve made with making those items. As an amigurumi artist, I constantly learn new techniques to improve my plushies. I wish I would have started Crochet by Jolene on social media sooner to have a way to look back on where I started versus where I am now. If you’re hesitant about starting a page to show off your creations, DO IT! Read more>>

Kyrsten Cavazos

Sooner, definitely! While I can’t argue that the timing of starting the Mackinac Island Community Children’s Theatre has felt exactly right, I do wish this idea would have sparked a little sooner and been able to grow and provide more of the opportunities it has so far to more of the youth that have grown up in our community. Seeing the joy and excitement in the children I have worked with so far certainly has sparked my own creativity, and I would have loved to share that with more of our community’s members in my years here. We are so lucky to have the participation that we do at this starting point though, and I am so thrilled to grow the program from here. Read more>>

SUB NEON

Yeah I do. I got the bug early on! I’ve been a musician since I was 14, when I got my first guitar. I started out with a burning desire to stand on stage and shred in a band in front of hundreds of people but when I hit college, in my small town, I was approached to try out in a band as the singer. Apart from standing in front of a mirror at home with a hairbrush in my hand, I’d nevr considered fronting a band. Read more>>

Chelsea Lockhart

I feel like every creative person leans toward wishing they’d started doing what they’re doing now at a younger age and I’m really no different in that regard. I started writing stories as a child and fell in love with it. There’s truly never been anything else I wanted to do, but growing up, I listened to the advice to pursue something “practical” with my life and career. That, obviously, didn’t work out for me! And I’m glad it didn’t because writing, podcasting, and helping people publish their books is what I love doing. Read more>>

Maja Planinac

By the time I finished second college, all my peers were already working and had their career set. After that, I came to the US and started my life again. I felt like I was constantly late. Sometimes I wish I could skip my medical degree and go straight to art school. But the truth is that I wasn’t ready for it at the time. I needed to find that path for myself, which took time and internal processes. As long as I follow my intuition, I am right on time for everything in my life. Read more>>

Reshada Pullen-Jireh

I feel like my entire adult life has been my creative career. However I really wish that I was brave enough to ask questions about how to begin exhibiting sooner. I’ve taught art, painted live at events, hosted community art activations, and sold my work at art festivals for years. However, I feel as though I am just beginning to take advantage of the opportunities to exhibit my work in galleries and museums. Read more>>

Nyce Jonez

I wish I would’ve started my creative career and embracing my creative side much earlier in life. Most of us are quick to minimize on our creative sides or get caught up by fear, comparison, or imposter syndrome. Read more>>

Ann Hoffpauir

As a young woman, I wish I had the opportunity to start painting and selling my work sooner. I was raising a family and all the responsibilities that goes with that. As my family grew I was able to have more time to concentrate on my art. My art career came much later. All this was well before the internet. My artistic ability came from observing life around me although I was drawing at a very early age. Painting came later. Oils was my prefered medium at the time. Watercolors were frustrating for me because I tried painting with them like I did with the oil paints until I learned how to use them properly. As my confidence rose in my application of watercolors and oils, my confidence rose in selling my art. Selling my art also gained art students for me that had seen my art work so I now have a studio in my home where I teach. Read more>>