We asked some insanely talented artists, creatives and makers to tell us about when they know they were going to pursue a creative career.

Stephanie Brody-Lederman

I was 3 years old. My grandparents lived in an apartment building in the Bronx.. we would visit them several times a week. My mother would talk to them in the living room. I would go into the kitchen and draw on a torn brown paper bag that previously held groceries. My drawing implement was a pencil, sharpened in the chipped white enamel kitchen sink, with a sharp knife. I was supremely happy and knew then that I would be an artist.; my breathing slowed down. Read more>>

Samara Bliss

There wasn’t a single turning point—it was more of a steady realignment. I studied neuroscience at Columbia, went to med school, then dropped out when I realized medicine would soon be deeply shaped by AI. I pivoted to working in healthcare AI, and while I found the work intellectually engaging, it lacked the emotional depth I needed. I began splitting my time between AI, hospice care, and event production. That combination—of systems, death, and experience design—eventually led me to the art world. Somewhere in that tension, I found the feeling of being a fully awake human that I was craving. Art became the only container big enough to hold the contradictions. I didn’t “choose” a creative path. I just stopped pretending I could do anything else. Read more>>

Melvin Glimstål

So I am born in a family where my dad used to be a Chef. So I have been in the kitchen at home, cooking, for as long as I can remember.

But it wasn´t until around the aged of fourteen I relized that being a Chef was the proffession I wanted to persue. I love the fact that me as a chef gets to work with my hands every day. That I get to be creative every day, creating and cooking new dishes working with only the best produce. I live the whole process of me getting an idea, creating the dish in my head, putting in on paper and then finally cooking it for my guests and custemers. Read more>>

John “JayStudd” Spencer

The first time I knew I wanted to do music professionally was back in 2000-2001. Me and a couple friends started out recording with 2 boom boxes and blank cassette tapes. Lol. We would record the beat on one tape and swap the tape from the boom box with the recorder so we could play it and record on another tape. All of this took place in my bedroom at my mother’s house. At that time, she wasn’t a fan of the loud music and all, but she let us do our thing, as long as we weren’t too loud. I must say this, the inspiration behind music came from watching my big cousin, Mark Selvie, rap and make beats like it was so easy. Actually, he was the very oldest person that I knew that could come up with a free style from hearing just a beat. Read more>>

Preacher Bishop

I was born and raised in the Bronx New York by a single mother who was present at the inception of Hip Hop. My first musical influence was Michael Jackson in the early 1980’s. My first love was dancing and then I began rapping at the age of five.The first talent show that I did in my neighborhood let me know this is what I want to do from the feeling and crown reaction. Read more>>

M. Aurora Oliva

I’m an abstract mixed media artist. Just before turning 50, I finally allowed myself to admit that I wanted to become an artist. Born in the Philippines, I immigrated to the United States with my parents in the 1980s. I called New Jersey my home for more than two decades. I have no formal background in art but as a child and young adult I was creative and loved visiting museums. I remember tacking a poster of Mary Cassatt’s “The Child’s Bath” in my room in high school or the time I devoured Hayden Herrera’s biography of Frida Kahlo in college. Art was always in me, but it stayed quiet beneath the surface. An idealist, I pursued a professional career in the nonprofit sector, including working at a national women’s organization in New York City. I eventually moved to Portland, Oregon and found myself fundraising for local and national environmental groups. Read more>>

Robert Cross

I first realized I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally while I was in high school, when I got into rock and alternative music. One night, while sitting on my bed listening to the radio, the idea of writing songs just clicked—it felt like something I had to do. I didn’t know how to play an instrument yet, but that didn’t stop me. Luckily, my uncle had an old nylon-string acoustic guitar he wasn’t using, and he gave it to me. That guitar became my starting point. Read more>>

Kevin Elam

I have played music in some variety since I was five years old. However, I did not realize that I wanted it to be my career until I had finished my second year of college. I was attending George Mason University as a physics major with a music minor. I had always been good in math and science, and although I was (and still am) very interested in physics, I realized after that second year that I wasn’t happy with my major. Although the material was interesting, I found that I wasn’t making very many friends, as STEM work is often more individually based, and there are simply fewer opportunities that facilitate or require strong interpersonal connection. Missing those strong friendships and personal connections in my field of study, I found that I was simply not motivated to study and put in the amount of effort that would be required to truly excel in physics. Read more>>

Henley Beall

I knew at a very young age that I was going to be an artist in some capacity for the rest of my life. I was 9 years old when my Aunt Joyce, a muralist based out of San Diego, California, passed away from cancer. Throughout my childhood, she had painted murals in each of my siblings and I’s rooms and taught us how to draw anything we ever wanted. Her passing was the push in my early youth to pursue art. I was inspired by her and wanted to honor her memory through my art career. I’ve always felt very lucky to have known what I’ve wanted to do in my life since such an early age. In the next few years after her death, I auditioned and was accepted into a middle school arts program which taught me multiple styles and mediums and connected me with multiple local artists. Read more>>

Quenell Jones

Going to High School in Atlanta, GA we had Television station where I was able to train and found the passion for production working as a Director/Cinematographer. During the summer I was working with PBS and CNN Film unit where I was able to really work and learn from professionals. Read more>>

Shem Louis

Hello Hello Hello! Thanks again for having me share my story, I really appreciate it.Artistry is something that runs DEEPLY in the Louis ancestry. I think If I recall correctly, I’m like a 7th or 8th generation artist.(maybe a little over/under). I know immediately my Father was a musician, my Grandfather was an actor, my Great-Grandfather was an actor and my Great-Grandmother was an actress and opera singer. That’s just the tip of the iceberg in regards to that. Read more>>

Darius Wright

From as far as I can remember, since I was a kid. Growing up in church being in the children choir and directing the children’s choir I knew then I was very artistic. Then as I got older and in school my love for music, instruments and dancing became stronger. Where I joined the band playing the clarinet and alto saxophone since middle school, and in high school I joined the choir. So I was keeping myself surrounded by music and entertainment. Going to concerts and seeing music video’s on tv was something I was drawn to and knew I wanted to pursue that kind of career. Read more>>

Brigitte Balbinot

As a child I was really into the performing art. I used to dance, sing and act. My uncle owned a famous theater in Paris and I was convinced that my path would lead me to be on the acting scene. It is only about a decade and half ago that I found out my passion was painting. I didn’t know what kind of painting though, so I tried every style and medium there is until I found my love and passion for painting with beeswax and fire. There begun the love story. Read more>>

Alexys V Wolf

Artist: I have been drawing since I could hold a crayon. When I was 6, a local artist saw my “work” and commented to my mom, “She’ll become a professional artist one day. She has the gift!” Writing: When I was 11, I looked at my parents and said, “I’m going to be a writer when I grow up!” They were stunned and amused because, at that time, I hated to read. It was impossible for them.to take me seriously, but I knew for sure. Read more>> 

Dr. Janet Bentley-Ewers

I have always had a love and passion for everything creative, even as a young child. I remember being in
kindergarten at five years old and winning a district contest for one of my drawings as well as several instances of winning awards for poems written while in grade school. During this time, drawing and writing poetry was just something to not only pass the time but to also express myself in an environment that was less than ideal- moving often and my family being homeless at times due to economic instability. Read more>>

Monique Williams

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was when a tragedy occurred. I lost the complete use of my voice in June 2020 when I had a second partial thyroidectomy due to thyroid cancer. While I had to cope with losing my voice, I found art! Read more>>

Debra Montalvo

My artistic journey began with dance at age three, solidifying into a career aspiration by age seven. For over 35 years, I dedicated myself to the dance industry through teaching, performing, choreographing, and judging. Upon retiring from dance, I transitioned into acting and have recently expanded my creative pursuits to include speaking and co-authoring my first book. So I guess you could say creativity is my career! Read more>>

Ava Rose Johnson

It all began when I was 4 years old, I danced behind my sister while she was singing in Branson Missouri. From then I knew I wanted to pursue music! Read more>>

Sofia Enriquez

When I was in middle school, I was very much into collecting vintage pins, tearing pages of magazines, making dioramas for my toys, and playing on Microsoft paint. I think at that point I was just obsessed with decorating my own space and pulling things that I liked together and surround myself with them. That was the birth of my creative DNA. It was the weird middle stage of still playing, but trying to find what’s cool as a kid. That’s basically the same thing I am doing now. Read more>>

Tyler Jordan

I think the moment I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally didn’t come from a gallery or a classroom, it happened underground while I was still working for the MTA. I had spent years operating trains, moving millions of people through a system that felt like it never stopped. But there was this one night, I was finishing a late shift and paused at the end of the platform in silence. The lights, the steel, the motion, it hit me how much unspoken poetry lived in the everyday routine of the city. Read more>>

Tina Richardson

Prior to the pandemic, I performed professionally as a Singer in a band with and for my Ex-Husband. After going through the pandemic, and all that it brought with it in my life and the world, I found my calling in Entertainment. I learned to DJ and began marketing myself as a DJ | SINGER | EMCEE. This allowed me to use all the gifts and talents God gave me to spread love and peace through musical entertainment with or without a band. Read more>>

Babah Fly

My creative journey started in the heart of Little Rock, Arkansas, where the intoxicating rhythmic beats of hip-hop resonated through arcades, school corridors and basketball courts. It all began during P.E. class, when we got a guest teacher visit from some b-boys from the Rock Steady Crew where I first embraced the art of b-boying. My passion didn’t go unnoticed during the class; I was soon invited to perform with these visiting teachers at our elementary school’s all-student assembly that day, marking my first taste of the spotlight. Read more>>

Cassidy Barnes

I think I’ve always hungered for a creative life. A life of daydreaming and wild, free expression. In grade school my teachers were struck by the attention to detail and use of color in my drawings and school projects. By the time I was a freshman in high school I was singing in two choirs, playing violin in the orchestra, taking studio art classes, creative writing classes, and film production classes. The only thing I hadn’t tried yet was theater. So I decided to audition for the spring musical, Brigadoon. I had never acted before but I have a beautiful singing voice, so I was cast in the chorus and awarded a small solo in the prologue. On opening night, my heart pounding, I stepped onto the stage and immediately lit up. I was beaming from ear to ear. It was the most exhilarating feeling I had ever felt. Like a star exploding. I had found it. My one true love. I was going to be an actor. No, I was going to be a movie star! Read more>>

Denise

I have a Disability by the name of Spina Bifida I was never educated about my disability growing up because I lost my mom at a early age and my dad raised us children. When I was in middle school I was bullied from the abled body kids and got my lunch money taken away several times. Going to high School was tough because I knew a lot of students but I never really socialized with anyone other than my best friend at the time. Read more>>

Todd Moyer

My first job just out of High School was working for a local electronics repair shop, fixing personal computers. I liked working there, working alongside older, masterful electronics repair techs who fixed TVs and other equipment. It felt like I was turning my little bit of expertise in computers into a living, maybe a career. My boss’s friend had a production company, and before long I started working there too, making computer graphics and learning how to use the editing decks. It was there, surrounded by professional creatives, that I started to feel at home. We had this one job producing a multi-day event for a big firm, and it was the biggest production I had ever seen, and it was at this beautiful hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. Read more>>

Jessica Canvas

When I was around 5 years old my grandfather noticed I had a love for art and really wanted to nurture that aspect of my life. I was always drawing, painting, and kind of getting my hands on any materials I could to try new things. Around the time I was 12 or so I saw my first tattoo, it was a helmet with a sword going through and I remember thinking how cool that would be to create something so permanent. Jumping forward several years I landed an apprenticeship in tattooing when I was 16 and I never really looked back. Read more>>

Johnny Fletcher

The first moment I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally dates back to my elementary school days in Flint, Michigan. It was there that an art teacher introduced me to the world of drawing, and I was instantly captivated. This passion for art stayed with me through high school, eventually drawing me into the vibrant world of tattoos. In 2022, a turning point came when I noticed a local nonprofit in Flint initiating a mural program. I reached out to them, and with their guidance, my career as a muralist truly began. Since then, I’ve since had the incredible opportunity to create over 50 murals around the world, exhibit canvas shows, and sell various prints and merchandise, all while sharing my journey and passion for art. Read more>>

Cory Say

As a child I grew up in a household with two older brothers, both of which loved to draw, that love bleed into me. I wanted to be as cool as them. I soaked up everything they were into, movies, cartoons, games and comic books. Comics were huge for us, we copied and tried making our own comics. A love for art developed and I enrolled in every art class I could from middle school to high school. I had my eyes set on being a comic book artist when I was in High School, but my art teacher who was a designer, introduced me to Graphic Design. After her introduction, I was all in, I had a new path, Design. Read more>>

Heather Zuhlke

I had always excelled in creative writing and had teachers in middle school that recognized and fostered my talent. When I was in tenth grade, I had the opportunity to attend a rehearsal for the 65th Annual Academy Awards. My dad’s cousin, Anna Hart, was friends with one of the producers that year and we were extended an invite to see it all come together. It was the year some of the songs from the “Bodyguard” soundtrack were nominated for “Best Song” and Natalie Cole performed an incredible medley. Then, as Placido Domingo was performing a song from the “Mambo Kings,” Debbie Allen was working with the dancers on the choreography. I remember sitting in the theatre and seeing the lights illuminate the stage… and that’s when I started to dream big about becoming a screenwriter. Read more>>

Ezra Edwards

I have always been passionate about learning and science communication, and for me, as a science illustrator, the love of this creative field started off firstly in that scientific sector. In undergrad I studied cognitive neuroscience and was focused on a pre-medicine course load. I would study by sketching what I was seeing during my dissection classes, and through that practice I got a glimpse into what art can do to help with accessibility and understanding in sometimes very complicated scientific fields. Read more>>

Estee Marie

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path was in high school. I had always been into the arts from choir, to creative writing, to dance – I had a love for all things dealing with creative expression. I have so many creative interests and the goal is to pursue them all in the proper timing. I initially wanted to go to Cal Arts, but my immigrant parent’s perspective of college encouraged me to pursue other options. So I landed at UCLA getting an interdisciplinary degree in African American Studies with and emphasis in Film and Television. Read more>>

James Williams

At around 11 or 12 years old, I started designing and sketching clothing, freely exploring different colors and patterns. Fashion seemed to come instinctively to me. My family, particularly my parents and grandmothers, were fashion-conscious, which likely played a role in shaping my interest. I’ve always maintained that fashion is in my blood. However, growing up in the South, I wasn’t aware of the potential for a fashion career. It wasn’t until my move to Los Angeles in 2001 that I discovered I could turn my creativity into a career. Read more>>