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

Robert Temple

I had been a performing singer songwriter for many years. Loved making music but wore out on the music business. i took a workshop about making a lamp from a bottle and the process and artistic possibilities hit home with me Read more>>

Chloe Ward

Looking back, I don’t think there was one specific moment of realization, but rather a series of moments, conversations, and a whole lot of trying to force other things to fit. Read more>>

Lindsie Nichole Nobles

That’s a great question! For me, I think it was the cartoons that I grew up watching. They’re still a huge inspiration to me. The first one I’d like to mention is The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, followed closely by Chowder, created by C. H. Greenblatt. Read more>>

Robert Felsted Jr.

I remember the exact moment I knew I would be a performer, Specifically a comedic one. I was a freshman in high school and I had booked the role of Paris in my high school production of Romeo & Juliet. Read more>>

Elsie McCart

I think the biggest shift from being a hobbyist to a professional happened when I realized how much of an art creating TTRPG stories actually was. Read more>>

Sylva Kelegian

I was twenty-four and working in the fashion business running the operations of a clothing designer in New York and making very good money, when I was invited to see the play, “Fool For Love”, written by Sam Shepherd. Read more>>

Jeremy Guskin

Being born and raised in Manhattan comes with lots of stories, but this is one of my favorites: I was lucky enough to see my father in a broadway play when I was very young.  Read more>>

Linda Ann Weber

Art has always been a part of my life. Always drawing, doodling, creating since I could pick up a crayon. I took any and every art class I could in school—from drawing, painting, jewelry making etc… Read more>>

Jocelyn Sfetcu

I knew I wanted to be a makeup artist since high school. To be honest, I always wanted to be involved in film and TV somehow. Read more>>

Patty Horing Artist

I was a late bloomer artistically. I started making art after leaving a PR career to raise my 2 children full time. What began as a hobby quickly became a passion and an obsession, but it took several years for me to come to terms with feelings of ambition and my growing desire to show the work. Read more>>

Sharon Walker

I was introduced to art and the creation of art at a very young age. My mother was a frustrated artist with talents in multi medium visual art & music. Read more>>

AIRA

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative profession was when I was just 15 years old! Growing up where I couldn’t express my femininity out in the open, I secretly started learning about drag. Read more>>

Adrienne Hulme

I have been doing art in various forms since I was about 4, and I started taking photos at age 9 when my aunt gave me her old point-and-shoot film camera, so it was difficult for me to make the transition to thinking of myself as an “Artist” or a “Photographer”. Read more>>

Michelle Finamore

When I was in high school, my parents brought me to a Renoir exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston that proved to be the springboard for a lifelong passion for the arts. Read more>>

Haley Adams

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally was when I began flying with my dog and sharing our experiences on Instagram. Read more>>

Melo Bermon

I wanna say the first absolute first time was when my parents held a Michael Jackson dancing competition amongst my siblings. Of course I danced my ass off and won. Read more>>

Rell Rushin

I had to stop attending art school due to lack of money and mental health issues. A period of 4-5 years went by where I was convinced I would never design clothing or make art again, and instead focused on working low wage jobs to survive. Read more>>

AB (abi) Espinoza Montero

I have always loved art, since I can remember, I was drawn to Music and Films, obsessing over the lengthy process of writing and creating movies and music. Read more>>

Graahm

It’s complicated. I didn’t always know who I wanted to be, but there were signs. I was maybe nine or ten years old when my parents gifted me a digital camera because they knew I loved taking pictures. Read more>>

Lauren Davidson

I have loved music and the arts my entire life. My dad was a singer songwriter and some of my earliest childhood memories are him playing his guitar and singing songs to me before bedtime. Read more>>

C. Danny Lewis

I grew up in Music. My family was very musical and I had a realization of the emotional impact music could have from a very young age. My father was a guitar player and my Mother was a singer/dancer. Read more>>

McKenna Sosa

I had always been artistic when I was growing up. I had won a few first place spots for my art in some middle school competitions. I also just loved to draw which I had begun taking more seriously when I was about 20. Read more>>

Nick Schaeffer

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path was in high school. I had been writing for the school paper, and realized that writing was a passion that I wanted to grow and nurture. Read more>>

Tawfeeq Sadan

I did not always know what I wanted to do as a professional job. I still feel unclear about where I am career-wise and if I am “successful” enough to consider my art journey a career. Read more>>

Jeremiah Baker

I decided to pursue my passion back in 2020, I had no idea that social media would lead me to where I am today. It is so insane how many connections social media can bring you, I have always been a nerd. Read more>>

Carolina de Bartolo

Some of my earliest memories are filled with the time I spent drawing. I was that kid constantly making pictures, hoarding crayons, pencils, and paper like precious treasures, and putting my imagination on the page. Read more>>

JJ EVANS

I’ve pretty much always known I wanted to sing for a living. I’ve been singing publicly since I was two years old, so music and performing comes extremely natural to me. Read more>>

Sharon Stahl

My love for the arts has existed for as long as I’ve been cognizant of the world around me. Some of my earliest memories include playing with an array of art supplies and making crayon and pencil drawings with my mother. Read more>>

Peipei li

When I was nine years old, my teacher asked us in class what we wanted to be in the future. At that time, I loved drawing very much and hoped to do what I loved forever. Read more>>

Crista Ames

I was always a creative child; drawing, painting, sewing, beading, and building cardboard houses for my stuffed animals. Expressing myself creatively has always been something I loved and needed to do. Read more>>

Paulina Ophelia

My passion for a creative career was deeply influenced by my upbringing. Both of my parents are in creative fields—my dad is a journalist, and my mom is a graphic designer with a passion for film. Read more>>

Yasmeen “ZZAY” Lopez

As a child I always knew that the arts called to me. I remember turning 10 years old and being gifted a karaoke machine and singing “Lovefool” by The Cardigans. Read more>>

Patrick Smith

I knew from a very young age I wanted to pursue music. Trapping myself in the basement for hours everyday learning songs and then writing my own material. Read more>>

Chad Rivera

Art has always been a my form of expression. Since I was a kiddo, I’ve written songs, sang, cried about it, then sang again. I would imagine myself on stage, or how I can make the song in my head come to life. Read more>>

Corey Wilder

Hi! So in order to understand how I knew I found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life you have to understand me as a person. I’ve always been an imaginative kid. Read more>>

Kelly Fletcher

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to pursue a career in the arts. As a young girl, I was always singing, drawing, and writing stories in spiral notebooks. Read more>>

CallMeKidd

So, the time I was terminated from a job when I was one of the best employees at the position I had opened my eyes to focusing more directly on myself. Read more>>

Kim Wallace

When I was little I went to see Peter Pan with my mom. It was such a magical experience, I instantly fell in love with the theater and performing. From then on I was dancing, singing and acting any chance I could get. Read more>>

Robert Seize Antonio Berrios

I’ve been drawing painting and opening up my creativity with musical instruments since the age 4. later started writing a lot poetry. I just always had a desire to create. Read more>>

Ailyn Lee

I came to the United States from South Korea as an international student during ninth grade. That was when I experienced insomnia and anxiety for the first time, which caused a lot of frustration and turmoil. Read more>>

Becky Yunk

It started out as I just wanted a horse from the first time I saw one, when I was very young, so I just started drawing them to try to fill the gap of wanting to be with them all the time. Read more>>

King Eva

When I was younger, I was always a magnet to music. Before I started making music, I was a student of the game. I would listen to Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, all the OG’s and try to figure out the craft. Read more>>

Hannah Birdsong

I have loved the arts since I was a child. I began acting at the age of eight. As a shy and reserved child, acting allowed me to break out of my shell and express my creativity. Read more>>

Luis Guzman

I passionately pursued art as a hobby since the age of six. In 2017 I embarked on a creative pursuit, however my attention was pride driven. Read more>>

Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso

Pursuing an artistic career always felt very natural. Growing up, my parents packed our weekends with museums and orchestra concerts, and my siblings and I took painting and music lessons from a very young age. Read more>>

Jessica Watkins

Like a lot of creatives, it began when I was little. I would fill all my math homework with doodles and draw all over my skin with pen, showing up to school as a pen-tatted 7-year-old. Read more>>

Haley Vaughn

Working as an illustrator is not my first career path! I initially obtained a Communication Sciences and Disorders degree from the University of Georgia with a Master’s Certificate in Nonprofit Management. Read more>>

Cami Sarria

Before launching my own social media marketing agency, I spent nearly a decade working in the world of marketing for various corporations. Read more>>

Cody Digiuseppe

The first dollar was actually my first $100 dollar bill. I design merchandise to go with my music. So I’m not just a rapper I sing and I design merchandise because I am a brand. Read more>>

TREBLE

Music has gotten me through some of the worst times in my life but not only has it done it for me , it has been the way of the world since my ancestors, I mean that’s what negro spirituals are. Read more>>