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.

Brandon Morgan

That’s not a hard one. My son! Around the time of my learning that I would be doing my first professional show, I learned some months before that I was be a father. That single moment is what propelled me into theatre head first. I told myself if I didn’t sell out and go all in for theatre now then it would all be for not. He is truly the reason I keep going forward daily. Read more>>

Heather Webber

A dream. That’s how my writing career started. Literally. I woke up one morning in the late 1990s with a vivid image of a plot, characters, and dialogue in my head. I immediately thought the dream would make a great movie—then changed my mind. A book. It had to be a book—so none of the good parts would be left out. When I told my husband about it, he listened intently, and then encouraged me to be the one to write the story. Me? I truly had no business writing a book. I was a young stay-at-home mom who had all of three weeks of higher education. But I was young enough and naive enough to try. To try…and to dream. Read more>>

Promitto Lux

For our singer Cody Montney: “The first time I wanted to pursue anything creative in those means probably was when Roger and I were in a high school band together.” For our lead guitarist Darren Seder: ” So per se there hasn’t been necessarily a beginning point other than the constant creative inspiration that has flown since roughly my teenage era. So the perpetual inspiration is not necessarily a means of career but something that will always flow through.” Read more>>

Jack Adamant

I’ve always taken music seriously, even from the first time I picked up a guitar and started writing lyrics. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, music has always been a passion of mine but from the beginning, I felt that what I was doing was incredibly important and deserved my best effort. Back then, sharing any recordings wasn’t as easy as it is today; there were no social media platforms, YouTube, or Spotify. My only opportunities to present my material were with close friends or during student recitals, where everyone could share their art without any pressure. Read more>>

Ana Paula Mayorga Paniccia

My high school senior quote was “My goal is to create a life I don’t need a vacation from.” That quote practically became my life motto. I strive to create a fulfilling life that brings peace and happiness everyday. I wanted to become a social media influencer for the lifestyle many successful creators have, traveling with brands and monetizing their content. One of the social media influencers that inspired me to start my journey is Chiara Ferragni, she collaborates with luxury brands and attends their fashion shows, that’s the level I would like to reach one day. Read more>>

Dara Bragg

My passion for the creative and artistic path ignited when my sister established a Gospel group called The Spiritual Inspirations. Performing in various halls and churches locally and nationally, I was inspired to study theater arts and music in college. My professor fostered a nurturing environment, encouraging collaborative exploration of our minds and emotions through activities like improvisation, scene study, and theater techniques. We dedicated ourselves to hard work while enjoying the process. It was then that performing arts across all genres captured my heart. I began auditioning for plays, participating in movie sets, and singing in my church’s choir. I was certain that by following this path, I would achieve my professional aspirations. Read more>>

Taerim Kim

Growing with my dad KIM SONG WHAN, a lifetime artist, I was always intrigued by the endless colors and his works in his studio. A number of his artworks surrounded me made me let into an artistic path earlier subconsciously. Influenced by that, I have usually been drawing and painting since I was younger. I used to draw and depict them from animal picture books. Therefore, when I was in middle school, I decided to get into art college and be an artist. I blew my mind that gigantic art worlds, I didn’t expect, showed out after I was accepted in art college. Read more>>

Iyana Ferrell

Throughout my life, music has been an innate, God-given talent. Raised on record players, I aspired to create songs evoking profound emotions. I valued diverse genres and, upon joining the high school band, honed my skills by learning sheet music. Initially drawn to drums, my music director recognized my potential with the trumpet, revealing a natural aptitude. While band consumed my time, songwriting remained a steadfast passion. I composed verses and songs for others, refining my craft during summers spent in Woodbridge, Virginia, where my father’s professional recording studio provided invaluable exposure. He entrusted us with equipment manuals, fostering autonomy and appreciation. This freedom ignited our self-production, mixing, and recording endeavors, which, though cringe-worthy in retrospect, confirmed my calling. Now, married to the creatively inclined Demetre and raising our six-year-old son Zaiir, I eagerly anticipate the discovery of his innate talents. Read more>>

Corey & Sara Grapevine

It all started as a hobby to pass the time, especially during COVID when there wasn’t much else to do. We have always enjoyed being creative, but rug making quickly became a fun outlet. As we got better, more and more friends and family began asking us to make custom rugs for them. Then, as they shared their creations on social media, the requests really started to pour in. We were getting flooded with orders and realized I needed to come up with a plan to keep up with the demand. Sara started making the rugs the most while I worked on expanding our reach and creating a website and social media accounts. Read more>>

Jennifer Smelker

I’m actually an engineer turned artist. I have my degree in environmental engineering and am licensed as a civil engineer. I’ve always been crafty and creative (sewing everything to decorate my home, photography, and creating my own wall art) but it took me a long time to finally call myself an artist. While in college pursuing my degree, I began designing ads for the university newspaper and I continued to freelance graphic design for small-businesses throughout my engineering career.  Read more>>

Kelly “chef Lew”

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was during Covid. I had always enjoyed cooking with my family, but it wasn’t until I was locked in the house with a sick parent and the world stopped that I realized how passionate I was about it. I remember spending hours experimenting with recipes, trying to perfect my dishes. The thrill and the joy I felt when people appreciated my food made me realize that cooking was more than just a hobby for me; it was a way to express myself creatively. When I watched cooking competitions or shows, I felt a sense of belonging and excitement that I hadn’t experienced before. The support from my family and friends solidified my decision to pursue cooking professionally. It was the blend of creativity, passion, and the ability to bring joy to others through my culinary creations that made me realize this was the path I wanted to follow. Read more>>

Kelly Good

I started dance when I was 3 years old and voice shortly there after. My mother actually placed me in dance do to my difficultly learning right from left. I was naturally ambidextrous and would often confuse right from left. I fell in love with dance and singing as it was a way for me to share my emotions through a creative outlet. From that moment on, I dreamed I would grow up to be a performer. Read more>>

Missa Kate

Growing up I was a tomboy. I played several sports throughout my life. More times than not I was a year round athlete. Besides that, I had older guy cousins (5 & 6 years older) that I would do everything with; football, baseball, skateboarding etc. Pretty much I was the annoying little girl cousin that infiltrated them & their friends with whatever they did. One day when I was channel surfing, I came across John Cena. Besides the simple fact of him being a gorgeous hunk of man, I became a fan of his charisma. Maybe a year or so later, I was channel surfing again & came across Lita. In Pro Wrestling Lita was the tomboy that wasn’t scared to take risks or to get in there & fight the guys. Ofcourse I immediately related to her given my background. Between John Cena & Lita, I was hooked.  Read more>>

Daniel Skolz

I’ve had interest in art since I was little, with family stories about how I loved to draw from toddler-age and onward. But living in a rural area outside of a small town, I didn’t know how to be an artist professionally, and I don’t remember that ever crossing my mind. What I do know is that I was going to go to college, and I needed to choose a major. I looked around and felt that the best jobs in a small town seemed to be the dentist, optometrist, and other health professions, and so I chose to study biology. Read more>>

Brenden Rapp (brapp)

The first time I realized I wanted to pursue EDM, and more specifically dubstep production, was on the drive home from my 2nd music festival, Lost Lands 2019. I went with my best friend Lane and we got into the music together. We started to go to shows together that same year and he had the idea that we should go to Lost Lands, so we decided to full send it there and I truly could not believe the amount of pure love I felt for not only the music, but the people. Everyone I connected with that year at shows truly changed my viewpoint on life and what I truly wanted to do with mine. On the way home I remember looking over to my buddy and told him how sad I am it’s over and that I truly had the best weekend of my life and I felt so inspired and motivated. I started googling production softwares before I even pulled into my driveway back home Read more>>

Jay Lewis

I had always been interested in the arts since a young age. I also got very interested in music, in particular the guitar, by the time I was a teenager. I ended up going to college for wood sculpture and it soon dawned on me that I should combine these two things. One of my first projects was an electric guitar, which ironically has still never been actually finished. From there I knew I wanted to keep trying to make them better and better and I’m still doing that today. Read more>>

Antonio Williams

I certainly knew I wanted to go into the creative path as a child. I would be given task from my English teacher to write creative stories and I loved the idea of coming up with some made up world and writing out stories that i felt would be captivating to people. I read a lot of books as a kid and loved drama and suspense genre. I always admired how the writer takes the reader on a journey with the character. I wanted to share that feeling with others and take people on great journeys, mysteries, suspense and adventure with my writing as well. It would be later as an adult that i was introduced to the idea of going from writing books to writing screenplays. Read more>>

Katie Padgett Brown

I think some creatives have an “aha moment”, or grow up wanting to do “the thing”. I can’t say I actually ever experienced either of those. Growing up, I remember thinking about the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Sometimes I said teacher. Other times I said maybe a doctor. For a while I think architecture was on my mind. But my interests were so varied and I always enjoyed learning and trying new things, so I never stuck with one for a long time. Read more>>

Remijin Camping

I had a very unconventional path to becoming the photographic artist and professor I am today. At a young age, I pursued playing golf professionally, and I did play minor tours for a short blip of time, but there was always something missing with my life. I loved the arts at a young age but didn’t consider pursuing them as a career until much later, after deciding that golf wasn’t the career path for me. Read more>>

Eunsuh Choi

From a young age, I was drawn to the idea of creating, designing, and expressing myself through art. My earliest memory of this was when I became fascinated with fashion. I remember sitting for hours, crafting intricate dresses for my Barbie dolls without any guidance. It was an intuitive process- I could envision the designs in my head and bring them to life with my hands. This childhood passion for fashion design ignited a desire to pursue a career in design. At that time, I didn’t fully understand the vast world of art, but I knew I wanted to create something beautiful and expressive. Read more>>

Yigsy Magaly

I graduated from Rutgers University in May 2020, right in the thick of COVID. With all my job offers cancelled, I took a position at Michaels to make ends meet. At first, working as a cashier felt comfortable, but I soon realized I was spending less and less time on my art. The 9-to-5 grind drained my creative energy; I’d come home exhausted, too tired to even think about picking up a brush. Sure, I had a few commissions here and there, but my personal projects weren’t a priority anymore. Read more>>

Deanna Aliano

Most people assume I’ve been painting my entire life, but my journey into the art world began much later, in 2017, when I was in my late forties. I’ve always been creative, but it wasn’t until I painted a sloth for a close friend’s 50th birthday that I discovered my passion for painting. The gift was a last-minute idea, inspired by her love of sloths, and something about the experience just clicked. Read more>>

Alontae Myson Williams

I knew I wanted to be in the industry and actor a performer since I was 9 years old. I always wanted to be on Tv. I knew that I was gonna accomplish all my goals because I had a strong support team supporting taking me to my auditions studying with me and believing in me . Read more>>

Maria Mukhina

My passion for drawing has always been an integral part of my life. At every stage of growing up, I found ways to express myself through art, and this path led me to pursue a higher education in fine arts. It was there that I realized that creativity wasn’t just a hobby, but a path I wanted to follow professionally. Read more>>

Cory Mc

Ever since I was a child, I have enjoyed making music and performing. My younger brother and I would play on pots and pans for our parents. We would get dressed up in costumes, grab a boombox, and sing and dance for family and kids in the neighborhood. I took tap dance classes when I was five years old and began performing in theatre at that age as well. It has always been a dream of mine to create and perform. When I was in the fifth grade, I joined the school band and learned how to play the clarinet. I loved working both as an individual and as a group to create and play music. Read more>>

Blake Torchon

Back in December 2022, I had just finished my second amateur MMA fight, winning in 38 seconds by TKO (Technical Knockout). The guy I was fighting had already won his last two fights by knockout, but I was able to finish him in under a minute. Right after that, the promoter leaned over and whispered in my ear that I’d be fighting for the 145 lb belt next. Up until that moment, I had seen MMA as a fun hobby, but that’s when I first realized it could become a full-time career. Read more>>

Alicia Gakima

Probably when I was six years old. I loved film and was always so impressed with how actors on the screen managed to make me feel how they were feeling. I thought it was magical. I wanted to be able to do the same. Read more>>

Alanna Peters

Creativity and art have always been integral parts of my life. While I’ve held various jobs over the years, I’ve consistently been drawn to expressing myself through artistic means. For many years, I balanced a full-time job during the day with building and maintaining my art career, all while raising three young children. It was an intense period, but one I wouldn’t trade for anything. In the past three years, I’ve fully transitioned to pursuing my art as my sole profession. This shift coincided with a significant transition in my life—we were moving to a new country and community. It was a time for new opportunities and shedding old habits. With so many changes and risks on the horizon, it felt like the perfect moment to finally embrace the challenge of making art my full-time focus. Read more>>

Jazzy Cadiente

I think I knew I wanted to pursue a career in anything music, or artistically creative, at a very young age. However, I feel like there’s two answers to this: 1 – In general? Maybe around 5 or 6 years old — Probably like a lot of young kids attached to the TV in the early 2000s, Disney DCOM Soundtracks and CD’s had me hooked, and I was caught singing a lot of High School Musical, other DCOM original songs, and outside of that, other relevant artists that were around that genre and time growing up. With that being said, I was also digesting a lot of old school R&B, Hip-Hop, and Oldies-but-Goodies at this time, thanks to my parents’ influence and background. My parents saw how much I enjoyed singing, so they bought a karaoke machine at one point, and slowly started building a pile filled with karaoke CDs— in my spare time, I’d pop one in and just go for it! Read more>>

Nick Allen

It took me awhile to realize what had been right in front of my face for quite some time. I’d always been drawn to comedy. Whether it was watching SNL with my dad, watching Seinfeld religiously, or noticing that I could make friends laugh around a lunch table, I was always drawn to it. I spear-headed a local public access show in my early 20’s that was a mix between SNL and a late-night, Letterman style late night show. I played the part of Letterman (poorly) doing a monologue in a suit and everything. It still didn’t occur to me that I might be interested in trying stand-up until a close friend asked me if I’d ever considered it. Read more>>

Khalid Thompson

Back in 1997 when I was a junior in high school, I took an elective Creative Writing class that changed my life forever. I’ll never forget my teacher’s name. Her name was Ms. Perkinson and she allowed us to speak our truth and encouraged our unique voices. I began to write poetry at this time and for the first time in my life I took a sincere interest in creativity. My brother, sister, and I grew up under a single mother who worked two to three jobs, and my father was imprisoned from age seven to twenty. My upbringing was unstable in every way and as a young child I had a very low sense of self-worth and meaning. Writing poetry gave me a sense of purpose, where I could use my imagination to escape the mundane reality of life and see myself in a way that empowered me. It was during this time that I emotionally knew that I wanted to be a lifetime creative who at some point down the road could pursue creativity as a full-time career. Read more>>

Judell Rome

This first time I knew that pursing a creative path professionally was in the 6th grade. Outside of school, much of my adolescent years involved “D.I.Y.” science projects, painting and sci-fi. Intrigued by the evolution of technology, I turned my attention to comic books and video games with dreams of creating my own catalogues. This endeavor would last for several years and consistently involved the production of drawings, themes and cultures of fictional characters. Read more>>

Angel Strittmater

Growing up I always appreciated dance, however I never anticipated that it would be my career until later I was applying for colleges. I was looking into school with dance majors, yet I also had an interest in healthcare and nursing. Both my parents work in healthcare and had always preached about having a financially stable career. I ended up getting accepted into every nursing school I applied for except one, yet I was still accepted into that university for a general major. I took the risk and committed to that university, which ended up being the university of Minnesota, and chose a major in physiology. After one miserable semester, I realized how important dance was to me and changed my major to dance! Along with this decision I was able to participate in the university of Minnesota dance team, which allowed me to perform in the NCAA March madness concert series with the Jonas brothers. This solidified my enthusiasm for a career in the arts and made me realize how much I enjoyed ring a backup dancer! Read more>>

Meg Lauren

In some ways I’ve been pointed towards being a professional creative my whole life. I grew up watching my dad perform and teach music. My mom is also musically inclined though she was a teacher then a librarian by trade but our house was always very musical. I would say, though that my current career as a professional singer-songwriter blossomed out of the sudden loss of my older brother, Luke. Luke was a Wildland Firefighter, a Smokejumper. He was killed while fighting a fire in the Southern Warner Wilderness in Northern California in June of 2013. I think the whole trajectory of my life changed after that. I was in school for music education and thought I’d become a teacher. I’d only ever written two songs at that point, both for school related projects. I was barely a guitar player and had never been paid to play the instrument in front of anyone.  Read more>>

Victoria Weatherspoon

I think a lot of creatives, career creatives, can trace their point of origin back to their childhood, right? A lot of us can say “I’ve always wanted to be an artist. I remember when I was a kid I used to…” fill in the blank. And as much as I’d like to say I’m some unique and special flower, in that regard, I’m just like many of my peers. I fell in love with creation as a child and it’s stuck with me ever since. When I was younger, my grandparents’ house had this perfect setup where there was a den, then a long hallway, and then a family room. And I remember I would design whole shows, whole extravaganzas, if you will. Read more>>

Laura May

As a child, I always used story-telling as a form of escaping to my own world. I was the youngest child with an older brother who was in and out of the hospital a lot because of his epilepsy. So a lot of times, growing up, I found myself alone at home because if my dad was at work, my mother would have to be with my brother in school or taking him to a doctor’s appointment. In my household with my parents, my brother was the priority because of his condition. And while I understood that, and was also protective over my brother even thought he was older, I still felt alone. The only time I never felt alone was with my maternal grandparents- especially with my maternal grandmother. She and I had a bond that was inseparable. Whenever I had school holidays, I would rush to spend the whole holiday at my grandparents home. They saw me, my grandmother made me feel seen. Read more>>

Cory Loggins

I knew i wanted to pursue modeling at 15 Years old because of the creative influence that the culture of Atlanta had on me. I grew up surrounded by the entertainment industry from TV and movies to music and fashion. As a kid, I remembered going to prominent malls and often seeing celebrities. A celebrity I’ve met early on in my career is Mimi Faust from Love and hip hop. Then 10yrs later we end up walking in a fashion show together for Miguel Wilson. Meeting her and other celebrities who had not only achieved their dreams, but made it out of the same places I came from showed me that I could do it too. From then on, motivation to go after my dreams of becoming a model and actor only grew. Read more>>

Vade

My story starts at the age of 8 when my uncle Won and my older brother Leo introduced me and my younger brother Sha to being an MC. They would create raps from the top of their heads about anything which made me want to do the same, being that I looked up to them. So my mom gave Leo a Casio tape recorder and him and Won began to create mixtapes, rapping into the tape recorder while playing an instrumental that they looped from the ends of some of our favorite songs. After a few songs recorded I took my shot and hopped on a feature which prompted me to believe in myself enough to keep creating. As time went on we developed enough records as a collective so we branched out creating two separate groups. Won and Leo were the Delinquents and myself and Sha were the Lil Tykes. Making more and more tapes we gained the interest of our father who then took us to a real studio to make our first real song and that was the first time I knew I wanted to really pursue a creative professional career as a artist. Read more>>

Yonn Don

I grew up as a theatre kid and knew I wanted to entertain & dress up in some way. I got introduced to cosplaying via Tumblr and working a Comic Convention in 2014 and found that to be a fun leeway into doing what I wanted without the pressure of auditions & rehearsals. I actually picked up working a Comic Con gig as a way to earn extra college money but it truly changed my life for the better. All these people in beautiful cosplays enjoying each other’s company and outside of Halloween? I was invested from the start. Read more>>