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.

Ming Ley.

I am a long time serial entrepreneur. I have always thought I would have been way further if I would have started when I realized my talent. I have what they call, “a gazillion ideas.” However I was the type to give up too easily until I really started to realize that you will never be what you want until you apply the PRESSURE. I started out in corporate America, I thought it was the great way to go but it isn’t for everyone. I’ve worked for corporate America for over 10 years and it was never settling. Read more>>

Noree Smith.

I do wish that I could have commenced my creative career earlier on. I remember going to the arts and crafts store with my mom when I was around the ages of five and ten years old. So, at that time, it was all fun that brought so much freedom and joy to me not knowing that in the future creativity would also become part of my self discovery and healing journey from childhood and adult traumas. Read more>>

Jennifer Garrison

If I had started making my own work sooner, or kept at it out of college, I don’t think it would look like it does now. My work is very different than what I was doing early on – and where I am now is not really a natural evolution. My early work is large scale still life imagery, using found objects, tools, and other machinery as subject matter. I still return to that sometimes, but more often now I play with shape and abstract designs, and turn them into patterns.  Read more>>

Justin Eats.

I don’t have a lot of regrets in my life. I mean, yeah, we all have some regrets. It’s a piece of our timeline’s life puzzle, and without it, something would feel suspiciously missing. I don’t have many, however, and I have to thank God and my therapist for that nonsense. One of the few regrets I do have is wishing I had come to the conclusion sooner that I have to establish these creative outlets to survive–not just financial survival, but for my mind and for my soul as well. Read more>>

Tay Paulson.

There was a time in my life where my lungs had failed and I died. I was in medical induced coma for 6 days, tubed for 7 and on oxygen for 10. During those 6 days I had vivid dreams that were in the forms of paintings. Something would appear as if it was a moving painting. It had the brush swipes and splatters and everything. Then everything would go black till a new painting began forming. I dreamt of family, friends and life. I was drawn to these dreams. I don’t feel like I slept at all while I was in the coma. Read more>>

Cheryl Prisco

I am an abstract artist based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I was born in Connecticut but have lived most of my adult life in the South, 16 years in Savannah, Georgia, 12 years in Boone, North Carolina. As with all artists, I need to make for my overall wellbeing; it is a necessity, a compulsion. I did not surrender to it completely until relatively recently at the age of 55. Why now? I can not say for certain but I believe it was the experience of almost losing my partner back in 2017. That abrupt reminder of mortality and transience has made me feel an intensity and urgency in everything. My work reflects this intensity visually in color and tactile dimensionality. Read more>>

Darius James.

I first discovered my love for music around the age of two. My aunt gave me my first drumset for Christmas and I never looked back. I started as a musician, playing drums in church, but I had no choice but to learn piano since my dad was a skillful pianist and organist. He had a MOTIF synth keyboard that I used to make beats on when I was 8 or 9. From then on, I started to write songs to the beats that I created and even recorded a few. At the time, music was just a hobby, and I put it on hold throughout my high school years to pursue basketball. Read more>>

Celli Rivera

My day to day, pay the bills job, has zero connection to my education or my podcast. But, it allows my a comfortable life that I needed to mature into. Like most Americans, I was trying to stay sane during the pandemic so it began as a “time passer” with facetiming my friends and family. We would have such wonderful conversations with so many laughs that I thought other people affected by the solitary confinement of lock down would also enjoy these conversations and I began airing my conversations LIVE on Instagram. I would ask different people in my life if they would have conversations with me. Read more>>

Jess Lanciano

This is a tough one because I think the timing of everything worked out really well for me so I can’t say that I would’ve started sooner or later. I’ve always had a creative streak and used it from time to time when I was working in Higher Ed, but I left Higher Ed in 2017 after I had my son. Honestly, I felt really lost; I had left the only career I had, I felt like my formal education/degrees were being wasted, and I had to take on this whole new identity as “Mom”. Read more>>

Damion Saunders

I definitely wish I would have started sooner. As of now I have been DJing for the past six years. Growing up I was always into music singing in choirs, playing drums in church. Never thought to do any of it professionally. In 2005 I decided I need to do something with my life besides working fast food. I remember seeing a commercial on TV for a school at the time called Western Career College. I decided to look into it and ventured on to become a Veterinary Technician. Read more>>

Kym Williams

I’ve always been a creative. I had a photography business in the past and I’m a writer at heart but I grew up hearing that I could never make a living with art and was always pushed to get a corporate job. I never fully allowed myself to pursue creativity as a living because I didn’t believe it could be done. I wish I had believed something different and pursued art a long time ago. I’m happier and more fulfilled and I would’ve avoided a lot of heartache and depression. It’s been two years since I quit my full-time job to pursue jewelry making and it’s been the best decision for my mental health, my energy levels and my overall joy, Read more>>

Hugh Bram

I definitely would have started my music journey a bit earlier if I could go back in time. I released my first single in 2020 as an independent artist but I’ve actually made music in the past during my earlier days in high school stating back to around 2011-2012. In middle school, I used to write poetry and raps in a notebook while in class or once I’m home because I’ve always had a love for music whether it’s different genres. My friends around me in middle school used to beat on tables then we took turns freestyling or we would be in the back of the class reading off our rhymes in our notebooks. Read more>>

Jordan Nevels.

If I could go back in time I would start my music career much sooner; probably in middle or high school. I have loved to sing and write since I was a little girl, but my life circumstances growing up struggling financially made my dreams feel unrealistic so I never took them seriously. Once I got to college at UAB; I met a friend who was pursuing a music career. She explained to me how she records music with a local producer and did music videos with her friends. At the point I realized my dreams weren’t too big and they were indeed very feasible. Read more>>

Meagan Collins.

Before I started my career as a private chef, I would post pictures and videos of the food I created on social media for fun. But once I became a full time chef, it became challenging to post content since my focus was on delivering delicious food to my clients. I also lacked the self confidence in myself to take my creative content to the next level. Looking back I wish I would have found the balance for both. But I’m a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Read more>>

Bobby Boyd Jr.

If I’m being honest, I think I started my career at the perfect time. However I think I should’ve taken it more serious when i started. It was around 2010 when I started rapping so I was about 16 and a sophomore in highschool. Part of me feels like if I would’ve taken it more serious at the time I would be a lot further in my music career. But on the other hand I feel like everything happens for a reason. I wouldn’t take it serious still I was about 22 and I’ve matured a lot between those 6 years. Now I’m 28 and I’ve matured even more . Its definitely levels to this so I don’t necessarily regret going in the direction I’ve gone but I do wonder what could’ve been if I dove head first at that time. Read more>>

Ariel Desiree

If I could go back in time, I definitely wish I would had started my creative career back in 2018. I started modeling in 2020 when I was 22 years old. During that time, I began the path of finding myself, my purpose in life. There were several situations that I was healing from in which I finally had the strength, the courage to break away from. Some of the people I associated myself with were beautiful gems but there were some people who led me towards a path that caused a lengthy distance in the direction I was originally going. Read more>>

Kiana

Often times, I reflect on what my life would be like had I started pursuing my career 10 years ago as a singer/songwriter, as opposed to now. I have always been musically active, since 2007. It started with elementary school chorus (even had a solo performance !), then I transitioned to Concert Band Ensemble in middle school. I stuck with Band until I graduated high school. Once college came, I joined the choir ensemble. So to clarify, I’ve always been musically active, as it related to Performing Arts. Read more>>

Leisa Cole.

As much as I would’ve loved to have started a creative career sooner, all of my unique experiences have created a one of a kind me and business. I started LC Tye Dye in 2020 while I was working from home during the pandemic. I’ve always had a hard time sitting still or being inside for too long, so I decided to order some dye to keep busy. Read more>>

LaBriante Mitchell

The school where I attended high school was a performing arts school. As a result, I studied fashion design and applied design. During this experience, I gained a more in-depth knowledge of jewelry making and jewelry. I always had a love for jewelry. Playing dress-up and trying on jewelry with my grandmothers are some of my fondest memories. Through jewelry and accessories, they taught me self-confidence and self-awareness. In my senior year, I began thinking about my future and decided to take a more traditional route and study Elementary Education. Read more>>

Franco Elun

I’m a firm believer in things happening when they are supposed to. That doesn’t mean you don’t put in the work or you sit around stagnant waiting for things to transpire. It just means stay the course and don’t force the action. There are a number of social media influencers and motivational speakers telling people to just jump into it and let the chips fall where they may. While that may be true for some, it can prove disastrous for others. I’m excited about starting my journey at this point in my life because the vision for my brand is clear. Read more>>

Mel Todd.

Hindsight is always 20/20. The truth is I should have had more faith in myself and wrote the fantasy and sci-fi that I loved. I’d been writing fanfiction for about six years when one of my fellow authors pinged me talking about his original stuff and posting it on Amazon. The idea intrigued me, but was I good enough? Read more>>