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

Lifrancis Rojas

“Unsatisfied with my job, I found refuge in the arts, which shifted my mindset. Once I stepped through that doorway, there was no turning back—it’s been 13 years since then. Read more>>

Andrece Brady

I’ve always been creative as a child. I remember in elementary school my mom would hang up my artwork in the hallway and when I was in 5th grade I painted myself as a Nefertiti Queen. Read more>>

Durrell Hunter

I’ve been drawing since I was a child. Throughout my early years people knew I was an artist and I was told I was good at it. After graduating from high school, my creativity would come to a halt. Read more>>

Reggie “BANGA!” Williams Jr.

I first knew I wanted to be a professional drummer back when I was a freshman in Robichaud High School and decided to join the drum line. Read more>>

Jingting Wang

I found myself being more comfortable expressing myself in a more abstract way. Instead of piecing my mind in words, I prefer to either draw them down or turn them into another physical form. Read more>>

Shannon Hollins

Creativity has always been my thing. From dancing to graphic design, and even trying to invent things, I’ve always been drawn to it. Read more>>

Chris Zavala

I knew at a very early age that being a musician is what I wanted. I remember being in second grade and hearing my favorite songs. I’d write all of the lyrics down and tell my friends that they were my lyrics. Read more>>

Elysse Price Price

Following my passions has always been important to me. I feel like the question what do you want to be when you grow up is a ridiculous thing to ask a child. Read more>>

Xinyu Zhang

Since a very young age, I’ve been fascinated with drawing and reading comics, showing little interest in much else. In high school, my fascination took a turn when I was captivated by a realistic wood sculpture. Read more>>

Jordan Lucas

I wanted to make music because i grew up around music my parents grandparents and my cousins kept me around music i gravitated towards making music when i got older because i was seeing artist around my age make music and i felt that i could it as well! Read more>>

Mary Morgan

I knew after I began teaching art that I wanted to pursue my creative artist path professionally as a painter Because I was teaching full-time it wasn’t until I began to examine how I was going to attain my goal of becoming a visual artist that the opportunity to return to graduate school became available. Read more>>

Casey Baum

There has never been a moment in my life where I did not want to pursue a creative path professionally. I always credit my parents for giving me the spark and I am thankful every day for the fire that it lit inside me. Read more>>

Kela Wong

If you’d asked “kid me” what I wanted to be when I grew up, I probably would have said that I wanted to be an artist. Despite my lifelong love of being creative, for most of my life I never seriously let myself consider pursuing art professionally. It felt like a maybe one day dream. Read more>>

Grace Power

I think to some degree, I’ve known all my life. I remember in elementary school, we had to draw a picture of the profession we wanted when we grew up. Read more>>

Marcus Jan

Art found me early on in life. The first time that I remember would be when I was six years old living in Queens New York while attending PS 156 in Laurelton during art class. Read more>>

Tori Cole

Since I was a little girl . I have always wanted to be an artist/creative in some complicity. My idea of an artist when I was a little girl was to move to Paris & become a famous painter. Read more>>

Joaquin Martinez

I knew at a very young age that I had a thing for music. I grew up around music playing non stop. Its been a family affair from both sides of my family really. Read more>>

NYSomeTimes

I was in the path of becoming an engineer or scientist for almost ten years all the way up to PhD. Witnessing other passionate peers during that long period of time made me realize one thing: Read more>>

Jingqi Steinhiser

The key to this question is the word professionally. Like most painters, I had a strong interest in painting, drawing, making images on textbooks since pre-school. Read more>>

Andres Widener

When I first took up photography, and photographed my first show. A few people had mentioned I should be charging for the work I do. Read more>>

Brandon Martinez

I first realized my passion for pursuing a creative path professionally during my teenage years. Growing up, music was always a significant part of my life, whether it was playing instruments, attending concerts, or simply immersing myself in different genres. Read more>>

Elijah Delgado

I’ve known that I wanted to do music professionally since I was around 10 years old! I feel super fortunate to have grown up in Austin, Texas, where there’s live music at every corner. Read more>>

Phystee Brown

As a babygirl I always wanted to become a model. I would see the pretty girls on tv and in magazines and wanted to be just like them. Read more>>

Stephanie Thomas

I first started creating just for family and friends in 2018. However, when the economy shifted, I realized that I needed to have additional sources of income coming in to support my family. Read more>>

TETRA

I would have to say, the very first moment I got to perform my own recorded tracks in front of a crowd, and seeing how they reacted to my performance. Read more>>