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

La La Musiq

I have been singing and writing songs my entire life. I never thought I would do it professionally until 2015 when my husband Pastor Johnny Luter II came home with recording equipment. He encouraged me to use my gift not just behind the scenes but to share it with the world. So in 2016, after having my beautiful daughter I was ready to share my gift. Read more>>

K. LaFleur-Anders

I’ve always been in love with words. From journals to crossword puzzles to dictionaries, I’ve been a word nerd my whole life. And although I’ve always wanted to be a professional writer, it just wasn’t as possible 20-30 years ago as it is now. Thankfully, through the birth and evolution of the internet and technology, creatives have been given various outlets to express their art, and writing is mine to express. Read more>>

KC Corbett

In 2014, before my last year of college, I was fortunate enough to get an internship with Cartoon Network on the show Adventure Time. Until this point, my primary focus as an “artist” was illustration and graphic design. I had dabbled with freelancing for years, but didn’t have a single full-time gig in the arts before interning at Cartoon Network. Starting the Summer of 2014, I was planning on soaking up illustration skills on the job, Read more>>

Peter Herold

2015. The murmuring voices of two old surgeons quiet low. You blink slowly, confused. They flock around you, explaining that with almost 100 years of surgery experience between them, and after a six-and-a-half hour reconstructive surgery, they still aren’t sure how you lived. You barely listen. The sweeping motion of a broken bottle keeps ripping the bottom of your chin in two and plunging deep into your jugular. Read more>>

Vaee Tha GAWD

Since the day I was born I’ve known that music, arts, entertainment, entrepreneurship and leadership are my passions and purposes! — so, let’s just say it’s my destiny. The “first time” I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path,.. Hmmm.. I’d think since forever. Haha. Read more>>

India Kushner

I previously was working full-time in administration at a coworking space. While the pay and benefits were great, I just wasn’t filling fulfilled. During the pandemic, I was laid off and when I was rehired, thanks to the corporate structure, I had to start over as a completely new employee after having worked at this company for about a year. It was the beginning of winter, I was leaving and returning to my home in the dark, sitting at a desk without a window, and just generally feeling ground down. Read more>>

Natalie Claro

I saw Paramore live for the first time in 2014 and I was so enamored. Imagine a 14 year old girl frozen with her jaw dropped for 2 hours. I’m still recovering. Seeing Hayley Williams running up and down these large scale ramps was on a stage specifically is what made me realize that if I love music so much, there’s no reason I shouldn’t make it a career. Despite this I had so much fear at the time. If it weren’t for my mom pushing me to play at open mics and network with different musicians then I wouldn’t be doing what I am now. Read more>>

Melissa Cowan Rattray

One of my goals growing up to become a model, that had always been a dream of mine. I grew up in Jamaica where back then we weren’t exposed to a lot of social media and I was one of the children who was very sheltered so the chances of being exposed to certain things (the necessary resources to achieve my goal) were very slim. I spent most of my childhood years looking through magazine and watching TV and I used to say to myself. ” Read more>>

LISA SMEDLEY-CALDERON

The first time I knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry is when my mom who was a top professional print and runway model , took me to her first runway modeling show. I was 10 yrs old. I had already been mesmerized with watching my mom pick out beautiful outfits when she went out, and seeing her in commercials on TV. and print ads. It was when I went to her runway show for the first time and was backstage . Read more>>

Shelly Fierro

I was lucky enough to grow up in an art-supportive household. From an early age, I showed interest in all kinds of art. Whether I was laying on the floor doodling away or constructing little people out of wire, I always had an attraction to art. My dad is a graphic designer, so once I was in late middle school I decided that’s what I wanted to be too. I pursued art as much as possible during my K-12 years, taking art classes in school and creating on my own outside of school. Read more>>

Vidya Lakshmi Nikesh

I explored arts from a very young age and have learnt and practiced many forms of art. My maternal grandmother has been a great influence on me. Every summer vacation I visited my grandparents, my grandmother used to teach me , my sister and my cousin embroidery, knitting and crochet. My sister and my cousin never liked to do all that and I was extra joyous that I could use all their materials too. Read more>>

Courtney Richardson

Because i really enjoy art such as painting, crafting, digital art, etc, and especially music and piano i’ve always known that i wanted to pursue these things professionally even if i didn’t really have a clear idea on how. Things in the creative field like music and arr have always been my main strengths. Read more>>

Jacob Rodier

I’ve been obsessed with film ever since I was a kid. Going to the movies was my favorite pastime activity. I became engulfed with everything revolving around film. There was a point in my life when I was watching a movie a day, trying to absorb as much influence as I could. Even today I try to go to the theater at least once a week. In high school when it came time to start thinking about college and what I wanted to study, Read more>>

BIGTLK T3Z

I kind of knew back in high school. I was always good with writing and freestyling with my friends, but when I saw one of my closest homies actually put out tapes I was like yeah that’s what’s we really on. After that I went through my instrumentals I had wrote some songs and started recording. Read more>>

Adarius King

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was when I was 7. My cousins and I would write songs and perform them for my mom, aunt, and grandma. I instantly fell in love with everything creative and artistic and the feeling never left. As I got older whenever I dealt with tough times or mentally was going through it, Read more>>

Grace Christian

I have wanted to pursue a creative career since long before I understood what a career was. When I was a little kid I wanted to be a visual artist, an actress, a fashion designer, or a writer- always a different medium but always art. Neither of my parents were in creative fields, but they were always super supportive. I played and wrote on piano, Read more>>

Cat Wondergem

Both my maternal grandparents were creative. My grandmother was a painter, and my grandfather was a jazz musician, so my mother always saw the benefit of encouraging creativity in her 3 daughters. When I entered junior high school and got the ability to choose electives, it was no surprise that art was always my choice. Enter Grace Fruit. Read more>>

Beau Allen Collins

It’s actually two moments that I have summarized as the innate & the extrinsic. The innate comes from this never-ending obsession I have with solving problems and wanting to communicate through physical and visual terms. Even down to my earliest memories, I couldn’t help but want to take anything and everything apart and then try to work backwards to put it back together again. Read more>>

Desmond Parson

In 2013, after years of performing with a band that catered to the Washington DC area R&B scene, I realized I wanted more out of music than just reproducing songs from the radio. Read more>>

Monique Smaz

I had always known I wanted to pursue a professional career in music. My father, Jack Smaz, was a professional jazz drummer, so at an early age I was shown first-hand that with the right mindset, a hard work ethic, and a burning love and passion for music, pursuing a career in music was achievable. Unfortunately, my father passed away when I was 7 years old. Read more>>

Stephanie Uveges

If you would have met me as a child you would know two things. One. I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. This was a far fetched, “maybe someday” dream of mine. And, two, I waned to become a mother through adoption. Little did I know, these two dreams would happen simultaneously and change my life forever. Read more>>

Ashley Simien

Around my 20s. I’ve always been a creative person from my childhood up to now. Whether I wanted to pursue music, makeup, writing, art and even fashion. The options are endless for me. Everything ties in together and I’m blessed to say that I’m a creative that can go down ANY avenue professionally. Read more>>

Nica G

It was around 2018, but at that time I was a natural hair care specialist and was more so focused on being more creative as a hair stylist and trying to work on sets. I wanted to create unique and powerful looks for black women. I envisioned my work featured on the covers of magazines, and on runways for events like NYFW. I wanted to be the “IT” girl of hair design known worldwide. In 2019 my hair artistry was featured in my first editorial on two beautiful models, Ruka Bello and Ariel Richardson! Read more>>

Kyle Rutchland

My first time performing live with a band was in high school, I just started learning how to play bass back then. After graduating high school, I moved to Los Angeles. That’s when I signed to a modeling/acting agency and discovered what it’s like to work in Hollywood. At age 23 I started my first legitimate band with my brother Corey. Read more>>

Faith McQuinn

I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first story when I was five. It was called “The Purple Princess of Purpleville,” and I wrote it on a legal pad at my aunt’s house. But for most of my life, it was just something I really enjoyed doing. Not until I was in high school did I realize that I could truly make a career writing and directing film. Read more>>

Garrett Ray

The moment I realized I wanted to be an animator was one morning in my 7th grade homeroom period before classes started. Growing up, I knew I had a proclivity for drawing; I was always the “artistic” kid in school who doodled on the corners of my papers and got a chance to shine any time we had to draw something for an assignment. Up until that point, however, there was never any real discussion of professional artistic career paths. Read more>>

Michael Wilson

I had been cosplaying since 2012 but back when I first started it was strictly a fun hobby, It also began as just a charity venture. A friend of mine was running a Cancer walk and had saw my Green Lantern costume for that prior Halloween. When he asked if I would come to the event and mingle I jumped at the idea. The following year the only times I would cosplay would be for various community events and children’s hospital visits. Read more>>

Ryan Berkeley

Ive always been a right brain person since I was younger always looking at the visual context and being a visual learner. But also having some left brain tendencies which I had applied to going to design school. When I was in school Ive always had the mental vision of what something could be in the end put together. Preparing for a test I would visualize the textbook in my mind of what it said talk about being a visual learner. Read more>>

Brad Bernard

Art was always encouraged by my parents to art when they observed that it was something that I was good at. I was also greatly inspired by one of my older sisters who was a gifted artist as a teenager. I was fortunate to have friends of my parents who commissioned me to do artwork for them when I was in middle school. Read more>>