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

Nolen Abel

Around my first year of middle school, I’d want to say. I was a nerdy kid who loved experimenting with different hobbies. I always had to learn something new. So my days were spent programming, finding glitches in games, or reading a science magazine. I always knew I could sing, but I had no desire to cultivate that talent. That is until I saw my uncle perform at a festival. Read more>>

Antwone Barnes

It all began when I was eleven years old. While attending junior high, one of my English teachers recognized my potential and suggested I participate in the school’s production of Romeo and Juliet, portraying none other than the iconic role of ROMEO. Though the prospect initially daunted me, her belief in me was enough for the both of us, prompting me to embrace the opportunity. And I’m so happy I did! All of my friends who I thought would watch the school play to mock me had surprisingly become my biggest supporters! That experience was enough to spur me to pursue my passion further. Read more>>

Rachael Amber

I feel like I knew since I was young and could see the impact visual art had on others and the world – especially when it was something I created. Yet at first, while being pressured into pick a college in high school, I was attempting to find a middle-ground solution of following my love for writing into a career that seemed to have more of a defined path like Journalism. Read more>> 

Tom Vera

It was something that I always wanted to do, but never thought it was realistic. You know? One in a million type chances. I might have a better chance of winning the lottery type chances. It wasn’t until my wife recommended I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. If you haven’t read it, go read it! It changed my life. Read more>>

Meredith Tillery

I loved creating art as a kid. I enjoyed painting, calligraphy, and drawing but never had a consistent “style” or medium. A few years ago I started experimenting with heavy texture acrylics and never looked back! I love dimensional pieces that create a story from every angle. Read more>>

Yifei Jin

As a Chinese-born individual raised in a Tibetan area, I was immersed in a vibrant artistic heritage from an early age. The captivating Thangka paintings, intricate temple murals, and the stunning beauty of the plateau landscape sparked my fascination with art. However, it was during my college years that my perspective shifted significantly. Read more>>

Verbosity

We decided we wanted to take music seriously when nothing else felt right. Making music seemed to be the only thing we had a passion for. Plus we’re kind of good at it! Read more>>

Iman Da Don

Honestly, I knew the moment I could walk and talk that music and art was my destiny. I was reciting lyrics and performing in public before I could walk. My mom always tells the story of me singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” in a department store and when I noticed people watching I started to sing louder and put on a show. That has always been who I am. Read more>>

Jaruam Xavier

I am from an artistic family, and I started dancing when I was ten. Shortly after I completed sixteen, I decided to be a professional dancer and work in a dance company. My father was to one that came to me, and during the ‘father’s talk,’ he said that I should move to a big city to increase my chance of becoming a professional dancer. At seventeen, I got my first job as a tap dance instructor, and at eighteen, I got my first contract as a professional dancer. One year later, I moved to a big city to dance in a well-known dance company. Read more>>

Olivia Martin

I was in high school, probably my sophomore or junior year. It was time to start thinking about my future and I racked my brain about the “regular” careers I might be interested in… and came up empty. It wasn’t until I learned that art school was an option for higher education, that I made my decision. After that, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I think back now after 6 or so years; what would I even study? Would I even be happy without art? I can say for a fact now that I would be miserable in any other career. Read more>>

Eileen Wong Cervera

For as long as I can remember, I have loved the process of creating. Just as my life path has taken me through many journeys and adventures, my love for creating art has also evolved. Art is not only my passion. Today, I consider painting as an extension of my personal story, my therapy. Read more>>

Patricia Sonnino

I knew I wanted to be an artist from a very early age, from the time I made my first painting with finger paints. Of course, I had no idea what that meant but my love for creating has not left me from that moment. Growing up we were surrounded by books, paintings, and music. Some of my parents’ closest friends were painters and our neighbor was a sculptor who threw his unwanted works into the alley behind our house. It was a treasure trove. My brothers and I were pirates appropriating and repurposing these exotic items for our garden. Read more>>

Paul Ormsby

I knew before I graduated high school that I wanted to pursue a career in a creative field. My biggest hobbies were music and art, but art always stuck out. I took as many art classes as I could and also competed in art competitions. It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized the side of art I wanted to delve deep into was film. Read more>>

Sarah French

Looking back, I’ve always loved to entertain. As a kid my sister and cousins and I would put on little plays for family at the farm I grew up on in Minnesota. In high school I made short skits and short horror films with my friends. I grew up watching horror films so that was always my go to when creating, I loved it. I always wanted to be that girl running through the woods, half naked, bloody and battered, running from a killer or being the killer! Read more>>

David Fuselier

It was a few different things that inspired me to pursue a career creating music. When I was in high school it was 1996 which I was a band student who played a few brass instruments so that is where I would say my background as a music creator came from. Also around that time is what many hip hop fans would call the golden era of hip hop. Read more>>

Artemis Montague

I’ve known that I was interested in music since I was 5-6 years old because I wanted to be a singer like Britney Spears, Monica, and Brandy, icons of 90s popular music. loved singing, dancing (poorly), and eventually writing. I wrote my first song “My Way” when I was in 3rd grade and thought I was starting a girl group called “HFM”. I also wrote short scenes in the mid-90s at my birthday parties. I mean, I always knew I wanted to be a part of that world, and what music would mean to me hasn’t ever changed, but my interactions with it have. I lost my way several times. Read more>>

Niyati Jiwani

It was always in my mind to pursue art but to make it a profession I was waiting for an opportunity. So I picked up one by participating in an art competition which added fuel to the fire for my future steps. I embarked on a new path and engaged myself in gaining more knowledge and learning new styles with hands on different materials which eventually helped me know my process as an artist. It boosted my confidence to its zenith as an artist. This was my stepping stone in my journey as an artist. Read more>>

Jamicka Lakeya

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path when I was in middle school (early right…I know). I kept notebooks and journals full of my writings and I always wanted to do something with them. I would let my middle school English teacher (Mrs. Whitson) and some of my close friends read over some of my poems and writings and look over them for grammar issues and to give me feedback. Read more>>

Juwon Seong

When I think back my childhood, I was a creative kid just like the other artists. I always drew doodles in the corners of books or made weird stuffs out of weird materials. I also loved watching advertisments, music videos and movies endlessly and used to tear up cool pages from magazines. It was certain that I love “appreciate” Read more>>

Sawyer St. Sin

I starting dance lessons when I was 3 years old and was hooked. Dance has always been an outlet for me to release my worries and stress. When I perform I put my heart and solo into every act and leave all of me on the stage. Read more>>

Natouri Roye

Honestly, it wasn’t until recently that I decided to pursue art professionally. I’ve been creating art whether it’s photography, painting, or using other mediums since I was in high school. But for me art was more of an escape or a hobby. I didn’t want to make money pieces. Rather, I gave everything away as presents. If someone came to me and said oh I like that, I would say you can have it. I even had people commission pieces from me. I would never charge. Just purchase the materials and I would create the piece. I never truly knew my worth. Read more>>

Vasiliki Sountou

Creativity has been a part of who I am since the very beginning. As far back as I can remember, I had a desire to built, craft, and express myself through hands-on creations. However, I never considered a professional creative path as an option for myself. That is, until I found myself stuck in a technocratic job, feeling suffocated and looking for a way out. Read more>>

Komplex Simplicity

As a child, my mother sold baskets. I would follow her into her car on weekends as she traveled to beauty shops across the city on her day off. Although I didn’t care for the solicitation aspect, seeing her fellowship and network while selling what she essentially created out of nothing was always riveting to me. At that moment, I knew I desired an untraditional path, but I also knew the expectations required of me. Read more>>

LB Beistad

Probably watching SNL. I discovered a lot of my favorite bands from seeing them perform as musical guests on SNL. That show in general made me want to perform professionally in some capacity, whether it happened to be music, comedy, or something similar. Read more>>

WILLIE D DAVIS, IV

The First time that I knew was when I found a gospel album with my mother’s picture on the cover with a group she was in. Seeing her motivated to want to be a creative individual. Read more>>

Lisa Bramhill

My realization of pursuing a professional creative path dawned upon me during my junior year of high school when I took on my first art class. Art became both an escape and a realm in which I flourished. The memory of our inaugural live portrait drawing session, utilizing charcoal on newsprint, is forever etched in my mind. Read more>>

Grace Nguchu

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue my artistic path professionally was actually when I had completed high school in 1993. I wanted to pursue Graphic Design at a polytechnic. Unfortunately, I was not able to do it as my relatives felt at that time, that having an art career was not lucrative. Fast forward to late 2021, I started to seriously consider pursing my art career again. I had subscribed to a certain artistic website: Read more>>

Jacob Scherer

I knew I wanted to pursue a more creative path when I lost my IT job of 5 years. I realized that when I lost my job, that no one was going to have my back but myself, and that I was just a number to my workplace. I felt that I needed to do something on my own and I found what I wanted to do was Content Creation. I found that creating things for Virtual Reality (VR) was a very freeing experience, Read more>>

Jalen Rose

Being a professional dancer was always the dream. Of course, as I got older there was a pressure from others to “be serious” about what I wanted to do professionally. Often getting puzzled looks when I proudly state I want to be a dancer and then met with questions: “What can you do in that field?”, “So, how will you support yourself?” and “What’s your back-up plan?” Read more>>

Joshua Rodriguez

As a child of 2 Puerto Rican parents, music was always in our lives. We play it when we’re cleaning, when we’re driving, at parties, get togethers, and just about any place we can. That love continued in me, but my parents noticed something different about me. Growing up I always gravitated to music, more than the average person. My parents would tell me that I used to zone out when I would hear music in the car as a kid, Read more>>

Keon Nahali

I have always had a passion and love for music since a very young age. I was heavily influenced growing up by my older brother who used to play a lot of electronic music which helped pave the way for wanting to learn how to produce and become a Dj. I started Dj’ing at 13 and later learned to produce at around 15 but growing up playing and traveling for hockey made some bumps in the road but right after high school, I knew I could go down an artistic path. Read more>>

Sche-Hao Thomas” Wang”

I think I began to consider pursuing a creative path as early as I started writing short stories at 8. The stories were inspired by the Wuxia, Kung Fu novels I read, and I demonstrated the fight scenes with my exaggerated illustrations along with my words. From then on, I aspired to publish my works and become a novelist before I was accidentally admitted to a theater department for my undergraduate program regardless of my original intention of majoring in English literature. Read more>>

Walken Schweigert

I knew I wanted to pursue a career in theater when I was nine years old. I had already started keeping a journal at that time, and I remember a distinct moment when I was ranting in it, around twilight, and at the end of one entry I wrote “I just want to ACT!” and underlined it several times. I was already in plays at that point, and it was just crystal clear to me that that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Read more>>

Samo Hatel

From a young age, I knew deep down that I wanted to be a content creator and pursue a career in this exciting field. The desire to create has been a constant companion throughout my life, and I have always found joy in capturing moments through recording. Whether it was documenting family gatherings, creating imaginative videos with friends, Read more>>

 April Rubio

I’ve kind of always known I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally, but when I was younger I didn’t really understand how to do it. It wasn’t until I was working at my 9-5 job in my 20s that I realized I could pursue my art on the side. I started to doodle in my free time, during lunch, when I got home, and any time I had that I wasn’t working. I also started sharing it online and people began to react really well to it, so I kept creating more. I knew I had to find a way to make this profitable, so I opened up an Etsy shop and sold my art as prints. I only sold a few pieces, but the joy it brought me was immeasurable. Read more>>

Christopher Hedlund

I get asked pretty regularly if I’ve always been an artist, especially as a kid. Technically yes, but I have always been a musician. My first job was working in the tobacco fields when I was 13. (Yay loose child labor laws and under-the-table farmers in NC!) I would stay with my grandmother during the summer and go to work with her in the tobacco field at 5am every weekday. I was making $350 a week as a 13 year old during the summer harvesting months. The first thing I did with that money was buy my first guitar and amp and have been playing ever since. Read more>>

Sejal Bhutani

For many individuals, the desire to pursue an artistic path professionally often stems from a deep passion and interest in their chosen field. In the case of becoming a fashion, lifestyle, and travel influencer, it seems that your journey began after high school, driven by your strong interest in fashion. This interest likely sparked a desire to share your unique style, experiences, and recommendations with others. Read more>>

Brandon Hackey

i always knew i wanted to pursue an artistic path, i always incorporated my creativity in my daily life. whether it be through drawing, artistic visuals, or clothes. but to pursue it professionally i decided 2 years ago that i would slowly make it my life full time job. its been my mission ever since Read more>>

Kristiana Ayets

I first knew I want to take the creative path serious when I went out to LA for the first time in 2018 to visit my brother who living out in LA at the time and he was in school. So basically we were fashion kids in high school wearing HBA , Supreme, Bape, & Etc he met this guy name Winnie stackz and he took me under his wing. Building up clientele then eventually getting celebrity clientele that when I took things real serious and seeing real money til this day I have high profile working wit member from labels to underground/upcoming artist Read more>>

Zaida Sever

I began to recognize art as something that would be crucial to my long-term career and success around 9th Grade. Not because I was a prodigy, or even that I thought the work I was making at that time was worthy of being celebrated, but because it was a true passion. I’ve always loved drawing as an outlet for imagination, but middle and high school is where I began to transform it into a practiced skill rather than a hobby: Read more>>

Tahlia L’Oreal

I knew from a very early age that I was not meant to have a “regular” job or live a “regular” life. At the age of 6 I had a near death experience that opened me up to my psychic mediumship and channeling abilities. I was visiting my Dad and my Stepmom at the time and I went for a swim with my siblings and ultimately I was found at the bottom of the pool unresp0nsive as no one saw me drowning. Read more>>

JAY-LEN

Since A child I had a love and appreciation for music. It has helped me survive some of the most challenging situations but also has given me joy at the highest level. My parents and family have the same appreciation so ive always been around it. I believe I was about 10 years old when I developed a real passion or love for it though. I havent went a day without music since! Read more>>

Dee Fomby

Growing up I always wanted to pursue a career in the music industry. I had no idea what it would be, but I knew it would be something in the music industry. I always found a lot of interest in music production, but I did not know for sure that it would be that. Read more>>

The Willow Sisters

We have been singing together since the young age of three. We grew up singing in church, at school, for the elderly in nursing homes, and pretty much anywhere we could. Our parents actually built a stage in the backyard for us and we would hold nightly concerts for our neighbors. I’m sure they loved it! Ha! But it wasn’t until we went to a recording studio for the first time in 2015 that we realized we need to be taking this more seriously Read more>>

Kathryn Rodrigues

I remember always being drawn to creativity and art as a child though I didn’t feel particularly good at it. It wasn’t until I took my first photography class in high school that I felt it was something I could pursue professionally. I fell in love with the process of shooting, developing and printing film in a darkroom and how it combined technical and creative skills. The combination of close observation and personal expression really clicked with my personality. Read more>>

Haku Leaf

growing up I would always make music at any capacity I could, sticks n stones, piano at Bjs (yes the wholesale store), singing all the wrong words in the car with my fam, and writing randomness,, it wasn’t until I started performing in elementary school through high school I actually knew I had true love for pursuing music In a deeper way and it’s lead me on this path of self and healing. Read more>>

Betsy Roth

When I was a sophomore in high school, I saw the US premiere of “Ragtime” in Los Angeles. I cried my teenage tears as Mother sang her heart-wrenching goodbye to Father and by the end of “Journey On,” I knew that this was the thing I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I continued to sob through pretty much the rest of the show…and I still can’t make it through “Back to Before” in the shower without breaking down. Read more>>

Michael Carter

I knew that I wanted to sing since I was 4 years old. I heard Alicia Keys song “Fallin” I wanted to sing and play the piano. Once I learned about Michael Jackson, I taught myself how to dance and decided I wanted to be a full on entertainer. My mom put me in modeling and since I was a child, I’ve only ever wanted to do things in entertainment, especially involving music. Read more>>

Zainab Bassam

From a young age, when I watched TV from series and movies, I liked to become like them and give more effort in this field. When I was young, I was obsessed with watching movies and series, and I was very much noticing the duration of their creativity to throw the story to the viewer. Read more>>

Baker

As a child, I knew I didn’t want to look or be like everyone else. I’ve always found ways to be creative with my approach & appearance. I designed my first dress in the 6th grade and from there I knew my life had to have some form of art & style. Looking for ways to stay creative I chose to attend art school to push myself further & I landed in the field of cosplaying, designing crowns & painting. Read more>>