Are artists born or made? To help answer this question, we asked some of the most artistic folks we know to tell us about how they knew they were going to pursue an artistic or creative path. We’ve shared highlights below.

Kami Fillman

As I’m sure everyone experienced, when I was a child, I was often asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. If you rummaged through my childhood diaries I would scribble the same thing I told everyone: a singer or dentist. I was performing for my parents regularly and receiving positive feedback, but at school I was laughed at for walking the perimeter of the playground and belting out Hannah Montana. I started doing musicals with my community theatre when I was about 8, and instantly fell in love with combining singing, dancing and a third thing, acting. Read more>>

Mary Lowery

As a young child . I was sick a lot so my mom brought me a coloring book. Instead of coloring in the book ,I would draw the picture then color. Read more>>

Destynee Jones

Since I was a kid, I’ve known I was going to work and live in a creative environment. Growing up, my dad was a visual artist and writer, and those things are pretty much the only thing I ever saw him do. In some ways, I think this might’ve planted the seed that I’m supposed to do something similar. I was always overflowing with creative ideas and projects as it was, and the thought of not having a consistent outlet for that creativity just felt unnatural. Read more>>

Benjamin Salinas

My father is an immigrant from Mexico and he had to sacrifice many parts of his life to build a new home and foundation for our family. In Mexico as a teenager and young adult, he was an artist entering competitions and painting murals in city. Our house was filled with his murals and the dream of being an artist has been consistent my whole life. It is with great joy I get to fulfill this shared dream. Read more>>

Nancy Hielscher

As long as I can remember, it has always been an artistic path that has allowed me to currently spend my days painting in my studio! Ever since graduating from The American Academy of Art in Chicago with a degree in Graphic Arts, every position I held was one of creativity, just a variety of different roles. Beginning as a staff designer, then as a healthcare Marketing Manager, then as Creative Director and Marketing Manager for a custom homebuilder to today’s occupation as a professional artist. Read more>>

Elizaveta Dirat

I have always had a passion for creativity and dreamed of becoming a film director in my youth. However, I only began to pursue a serious path after the outbreak of Covid-19 prompted me to reevaluate my life. This pushed me to explore the world of photography, starting with taking pictures of my husband and friends. Now, I am proud to say that I am a photographer myself. Read more>>

Dejah Hector

I knew from a younger age I wanted to be a dancer, I just didn’t know it was achievable. When I was a kid, I would listen to a lot of christian hip hop and create dances in my room. From there I made It a goal to dance for the artist I grew up listening to. I wanted to be able to mix my faith with my creative path. Fast forward to now, I own a dance business and dance for some of those christian artist I grew up listening to! Read more>>

Jesse Procaccini

When I was 12 years old my grandmother gave a baby grand piano to my parents that had been in our family since the early 1900’s. I was obsessed with it. I liked banging/pressing on the keys and hearing the different sounds that came from them. Soon I started putting the different sounds together into interesting, mostly bad sounding music. My mother made me learn violin and began piano lessons… to be honest, I hated both BUT I learned that the “sounds” were actually notes and that the notes together created chords. Read more>>

Lilith Dead Girl

Several years ago, I was working professionally at a dungeon that hosted play parties & events. A coworker introduced me to the idea of performing at one of these events. That was the first time I can recall seriously imagining myself on stage. Alas, life happened, and I wasn’t able to take up the opportunity. After years of lockdown, I unexpectedly found myself moving from LA to Fort Worth. Read more>>

Lenni Uitto

For me it was like I had this itch that needed to be scratched. I knew I wanted to do something but I didn’t fully know what it was until I found it. And when I did all bets were off, I knew what I needed to do. Some people may go a lifetime never knowing what it is they are supposed to do in life. But I’m glad I was able to figure it out. For me it I knew I wanted to tell stories thru filmmaking and acting as soon as I made my first short film. Read more>>

Katie Jo Novak

Back in 2015, at the age of 20, I delved into nature inspired art, seeking to encapsulate the beauty of the natural world into my creations. It was during this time that I became captivated by the art of candle making. This dual passion became the driving force behind my journey into the professional pursuit of a creative and fulfilling path. Read more>>

Alex Haines

I went through middle school and high school performing music, joining band and choir, performing at the talent show, being in the school musicals. When I went to college to study music, I started getting good at acoustic guitar and started playing shows around my hometown. Enough time passed, and I started gaining a local following, and I slowly came to realize that I enjoyed playing for an audience. Enough time passed, and I soon realized that this was what I wanted to do with my life. Read more>>

Theodora Miller

It was a split-second mistake. I was carrying a heavy piece of furniture down the stairs while wearing socks. Then came the fall and the physical pain. Over the next few days, my muscle pain went away but the invisible injury took a debilitating hold. I was battling a brain injury, a severe concussion. I had many symptoms including brain fog, memory issues, difficulty speaking, balance issues, I couldn’t read, watch tv or be on any electronic devices. Being outside of a dark quiet room brought on intense migraines, nausea and confusion. Read more>>

A.D. Jackson

As a child I always used my imagination, in my head dreaming of all these beautiful things and manifesting them on to any canvas I could find. I earned a partial scholarship to the Art to the Cleveland, however, pursued the military instead. Once I got out the military 15 years of suppressing creativity is now all coming to the front. With my creative space lounges content studio I feel like I’m living within my 18-year-old self and all I want to do is create and create space for other artist to thrive in. Read more>>

Bill Whyte

When I was 16. I had learned to play guitar and knew I wanted to play music for the rest of my life. And then at age 18 I knew I wanted radio to be a part of my life as well after landing my first on air job at a small market radio station. Read more>>

Lauren Malamala

Honestly, my biggest flex is that I’m doing what 3-year-old me wanted to do when she grew up. I was singing before I could talk, and I was obsessed with the 80s cartoon, “Jem.” I didn’t care so much about the specifics, but I knew I wanted my career to be in music and I never strayed from that knowing. The only thing I wanted to do as much as music is… be a mermaid. But now I’m a certified diver, so I still get to fulfill that fantasy for fun on the side. Read more>>

Alina Silva

I started off studying film and television when I graduated high school and became an editor and started landing gigs. I quickly realized that I didn’t want to be an editor and found a lot of interest in costuming. I began my journey thru film by styling women for music videos, commercials, then I found a great friend who brought me on to a ton of movies to assist her with costume designing. I started making clothes in my spare time. Read more>>

Emilio Castillo

At 14 yrs old the Beatles came out and I got in a bit of trouble trying to steal some T-shirts. My dad told me to fill a spiral notebook with why I’d never steal again and to figure out something to keep me out of trouble that summer. My brother Jack and I told him we wanted to play music and he immediately took us to the local music store and he rented me a sax and my brother some drums and we started a band that day. Read more>>

Taylor Windle

‘I have always considered myself wildly blessed to have always known what I was born to do and that is spend my life creating art that brings joy to others through both process and product. As a toddler, I could be found fully pressed up against the television dancing and singing along to movies like Anastasia and Quest for Camelot. As a child, I would spend my days creating musicals and plays with friends and family, operating as both director and performer. At 12, I got my first real gig as a choreographer and assistant director. I immediately was hooked.  Read more>>

Marlee Carpenter

When I was a sophomore in high school I was cast in my first lead role in the musical. After that I caught the bug. But it was watching my friend Robbie perform that made me say “I want to make people feel and laugh the way Robbie does on stage.” He had the confidence on stage that he didn’t have in real life and he completely transformed on stage. I wanted to do that. Read more>>

Mike Adamo

When I was 19 – up to that point I had been playing the drums my whole life, but I had only ever played in bands at school. I started playing with a rock band, we got some material together and booked a gig. It ended up being pretty big – a lot of people came – so we got paid. At that point I had only ever worked at minimum wage jobs. Read more>>

Lise Porter

I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path from a very young age. By the time I was in first grade, I was writing stories, acting in plays, and dancing all over the house. But I grew up in an academically minded household. I felt guilty for majoring in theatre in college and kept hearing an unnamed authority in my head whispering, “So what are you going to do for a real job? How will you make a living? And when you are going to grow up and stop being a dreamer?” Read more>>

Robert DiTillio

When I was in High School, I did very well academically but I didn’t think much about what I wanted to do in the future. I spoke with guidance counselors a few times, but never really explored any career possibilities with them. I just planned on going to college. I guess I thought I’d figure it out there. Even though I loved movies since I was a little kid, a passion shared with my mother and brother, I didn’t consider film school as an option. Read more>>

Katherine Beggs

Before I knew I wanted to do film scoring specifically, I knew I wanted to compose music in high school. I had done a young composer’s program called “Listening to the Future” in which I wrote original music for the Pasadena Master Chorale, a choir in my hometown. It was my first time seriously composing for an ensemble. We had some amazing professional mentors including Reena Esmail and Shawn Kirchner, both renowned composers. Read more>>

Ji Woo Jung

As an actor, my love for stages has been a constant companion since my youth. The allure of spotlights has always captivated me, and witnessing my friends, or any audience, relishing my stage presence has been a source of immense joy. Throughout my performances, friends and family often remarked on the myriad of facial expressions I exhibited, a sentiment particularly cherished by my mom. Read more>>

Maxwell Henderson

During my freshman year of high school in 2012. Honestly, I took ceramics just to get my fine art credit out of the way early, because I didn’t care about it. I never thought art was for people like me anyway. Growing up in poverty, stressing over how to ration food stamps every month, and dealing with stuff at home, like witnessing drug abuse, art felt inaccessible and a bit elitist. Read more>>

Dennis Bredow

Most artists I know were interested in art from a young age. It was no different for me. I remember getting drawing books in elementary school and working my way through each one of them. I was the cartoonist for my Junior High School newspaper, and I distinctly recall drawing in my sketchbook on a family road trip while my family dealt with the fumes from my alcohol based markers. Read more>>

Vicreate Illustrations

From my earliest days, I’ve been immersed in a world of fantasy, drowning in my own imagination. The desire to pursue a creative path professionally has always been a constant in my life. Throughout primary school, I delved into drawing, reading, and writing, exploring various creative outlets. Read more>>

Luh 6ix

Growing up from the South playing sports is something a lot kids pursue, so I didn’t think of making music growing up. I always loved listening to it. eventually it grew on me, and not only was I just listening to music anymore. I actually could feel, and relate to the lyrics. In High school I would still have fun while hanging out with people, but doing music still didn’t catch my eye. Until my peers suggested that I should. Read more>>

Hannah Alexandra

I was introduced to dancing at the age of four. Different styles of dance such as Ballet, Flamenco, and Tap required different styles of music and instruments to move to. My most favorite sound was that of the piano. I began to take piano lessons and realized quickly that I loved to sing. Creating harmony with each note and having the opportunity to mix both the piano and my voice during performance was fascinating to me. Read more>>

Tre Tureaud

I first was bitten by the industry bug at the age of 8. I witnessed Mr. Morris Chestnut on Boyz in The Hood, the late Mr. Robin Williams, and Mr. Bernard McCullough, and knew I wanted to do what they were doing. I stayed mimicking their scenes being dramatic around the house. Read more>>

Dillon Weiss

To be honest, I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in music. When I was 6, I wanted to take guitar lessons. It lasted a couple weeks before I quit in frustration that I was too small to hold a guitar properly. That led to my mom getting me a drum set and showing me that I can play an instrument by simply smacking a large wooden cylinder and that my height didn’t matter. Read more>>

Leonardo Escárcega

Music has been with me since I was seven years old, as time went by it grew in me. I remember watching all these Hollywood movies with my family. I really fell in love with their soundtrack and the overall sound, then unconsciously I started developing a musical ear. In my younger days I used to listen to all these amazing talented rock bands such as; Linkin Park, Metallica, Evanescence, etc. This somehow shaped me in many ways, so much that even till this day I keep listening to them for inspiration in my music compositions. Read more>>

Jayvon May

I knew I wanted to pursue music when I graduated high school and couldn’t get a job. Read more>>