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

Max Parker

First time I knew was at a very young age. My first guitar showed me that I had a natural talent for music, so I kept going with that from 12 years to present. I was also taking part in theatre through highschool and university, so stage presence and comfortability in that mode is also on the back of my hand as a performer. Music is my number one passion, but the acting has also taken off in the past two years, having been a part of a feature film in Italy for 3 months with major actors such as Rebel Wilson, Rupert Everett and Jason Isaacs to name a few. There have also been signs along the way that the entertainment side was the right choice to make. I’ve had a top 10 single at radio here in Canada and continue to push myself to produce my own music at this current stage. Read more>>

Abby Reimers

I’ve always said ever since my little child brain could consciously hold a memory, I was never not singing. In the living room of the house I grew up in, there was a small square of wood flooring and the rest was carpet. I would stand on the wooden square as if it was Madison square garden and sing at the top of my lungs, waving to the little individual pieces of fabric like they were screaming fans. My dream has always been big and loud, knocking at the cages of my heart since it was formed. I knew I wanted to make an impact, make people feel their human experience like I felt whenever I would cry from a sad scene, or laugh hysterically from a funny one, or look out the window longingly while listening to a beautiful song. Read more>>

Nancy Hope

As crazy as it sounds, I knew from a very young age that music was my purpose in this life. It was an inner knowing, that my voice was an instrument and I had so much I wanted to say. Music was always what came easiest and ignited my soul in ways I never thought possible. The moment when I decided I wanted to pursue music professionally, was when I was sixteen years old singing in my high school choir in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I remember this so vividly because it was in this moment I declared “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life”. I was apart of a 200 voice pop/rock choir, under the direction of Dave Tabone, that would travel every year in the United States to compete in the Heritage Music Festivals. This particular performance was our year end gala show, and I was actually fighting a fever while on stage. I recall once the spotlight hit me, the auditorium was silent and I began to sing P!nk’s song “Perfect”, I knew this is it. That song is one I hold close to my heart for that reason, and because it was such a powerful song that spoke to my teenage self who was about to embark on this journey. Read more>>

Jsal

I first knew I wanted to pursue my artistic path professionally when I realized the power of music in transforming my own life. After going through a personal battle of fighting breast cancer that challenged me both physically and emotionally, I turned to songwriting as a way to make sense of my experiences. What began as a therapeutic outlet quickly evolved into a passion for creating music that could inspire and connect with others. Seeing how my song “Be Invincible” resonated with listeners made me realize that this was more than just a hobby—it was my calling. Read more>>

Amanda Harris

When I was little I would always stretch and dance all around the house. I begged my mom that I wanted to be a “ballerina” so she eventually enrolled me in the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, my first formal dance studio. I had the gift of studying various forms of dance at the young age of six, including ballet, tap, flamenco, hip hop and African dance. I was always a very shy kid, but dance was my outlet; I certainly wasn’t shy when I danced because I simply loved it so much. As I continued at DADA I grew more and more in love with dance and the opportunities Ms. Allen graced us with. I looked up to the older students who I also had the honor to work with and saw potential of where dance could take me. It was very clear to me even at a young age that I couldn’t get enough of dance and wanted to pursue it as a career.  Read more>>

La Bek

When I first performed as a child in front of an audience –I knew I would have to continue doing just that. A calling was born. The feeling of being home on stage was so visceral, that I could not deny that joy, and I still feel that way today, whenever I walk onto a stage. Read more>>

Lori Colt

I can’t remember a time when I was not drawn to the creative path. As a young girl I recall my mom being involved in the girl scouts. We did crafts and things and I wanted to excel so badly at the dough art as holiday ornament that I went through all the ornaments made, swapping mine in secret for ornaments made by other girls that were better. Boy did I get a spanking and a real world lesson on that one. Years later, at 18 and off to University in Flagstaff, I took a drawing course. We had an assignment on perspective. I remember drawing out tall skyscapers and then a cat with long legs equally as tall. Read more>>

Elisa Lucía

I always knew that I was meant to do something artistic in any way, shape or form. Thanks to my parents I was always involved in something artistic; like dance, and they raised me watching classic movies. Growing up in Costa Rica I never saw acting as a possibility; not because I didn’t like the idea of it, but because of how far and big it looked. I saw it as something I could only dream of considering how tiny our industry is. Then, in high-school, I signed up for acting classes and soon learned that I could actually study theatre in college. That’s when I realized what I wanted to do with my life and everything made sense. In fact, it was the only thing that made sense. Read more>>

Vickie L Evans

The first time I saw my stage play, “A Change Is Gonna Come” on stage, I knew that I was destined for a life-long career in theater. To see the thoughts that I had put on paper in the form of a script come to life on stage, with actors, lights, and songs that I had written, ignited a flame in my soul that validated that I was a wonderful writer with an excellent creative mind. I created this rhyme to define myself, “Spiritually Divine, with an innovative mind.” In 2008, The Lincoln Theatre, a prestigious edifice, located in what is described as the historic “U Street Corridor” in downtown Washington, DC, a historical theatre where greats such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie have appeared, had just been renovated. I was the first event to appear after the renovation. Read more>>

Kara Sullivan

I always loved the movies and TV. As long as I can remember we went to the movies every weekend, there were favorite shows I watched with family and I had to be home on time for every Oscars since I was old enough to appreciate them, before the DVR I would tell friends either come to my place or see me after the Oscars is done. I knew the business was not all the glitz and glamour you see in the media, it was also hard work, which I learned thanks to living in So Cal and my brother’s past experiences in the business. This brings me to being a Casting Director which initally was not the career plan. My plan was to be a teacher, I had started babysitting in highschool, been a part time nanny during college and was a counselor at the overnight camp I went to as a kid, so I loved kids. The year I was going to graduate from UCLA, 2003, I decided I wanted to be with adults all day and I wanted to do something in entertainment. I knew it was going to be hard work and again not the instant glitz and glamour you see on TV. Read more>>

Jode Millman

I was always interested in the arts from the time I was a kid. At that time, I was more interested in the visual arts like oil and watercolor painting, drawing, and sculpture, and in fact, I wanted to pursue the visual arts as a career. But I was also a voracious reader of mysteries like Nancy Drew, and I loved to write my own stories. Then, as a teen, I obtained a summer job in a law office, and thinking it looked like an interesting profession, I switched gears. I decided to pursue a career in the law, which highly unusual for a female in the 1970s. Studying the law, I specialized in Intellectual Property (Copyrights, Trademarks, Music and Art Law), which allowed me to combine the arts and the law. After years of practicing law, it was a natural segue into crime fiction writing. This genre, again, combined my legal career with my literary talents to tell tales based upon true crimes occurring in the region where I live, the Hudson Valley of New York. Read more>>

Bryan Jeffrey

I have a two part answer to that. So, first there was the time I had just lost my father a few years before and I sang a solo of a hymn called “Joyful Joyful” which was made popular by Sister Act 2. I remember feeling sad because he wasn’t there and then I sang and the audience was on their feet and I began to feel this excitement and love that was so therapeutic and so healing! And then I thought…this is what I want to do; I want to be like the people on the tv and the stage. I want to perform. Read more>>

Siri Stensberg

I’ve wanted to be an artist since childhood. I was a quiet and reserved kid. But I found I had a knack for art and some of my fondest memories growing up were getting lost for hours while painting on printer paper at my childhood kitchen table. I think my entire life I’ve searched for points of self-expression and connection beyond the verbal. I pursued dual paths in music and art, finished college and went to graduate school for studio art. During my M.F.A, I relished the expanse of time to intensely focus to my practice. Today, I love the endless possibilities that linger when I sit down at my studio table and the connection my work creates between myself and my environment. Being an artist continuously expands my perspective and I find so much joy sharing that perspective with others. Read more>>

Molly Goehring Burke

I had always been a creative child. Sidewalk chalk stains on my knees, pencil smudges on my hands– my mother always laughs when she tells me about the time she found clear tape in my hair when tucking me into bed at night. I don’t remember ever saying that I wanted to be an artist when I was young, but I knew that my love of art would always be an important part of my identity. It wasn’t until high school, after a string of rather difficult events, that I picked up my sketchbook in earnest. Something clicked. I drew my way through Algebra II and scribbled in the margins of my History notes. I decided that I would take the “sensible” route in college and pursue art therapy; it married my drive to create to my desire to help people in the way I had been helped over the years. Read more>>

Chase Campbell

My interested for body modification started in art class in school. A friend that I sat beside in class showed me a website (bmezine) which sparked a huge interested which fueled my pursuit of body modification personally and professionally. Read more>>

Adriana Castillo

Is there really an exact moment when you decide your path? For me it’s a sum of different moments.  Since childhood, I have always loved drawing and painting — it came naturally to me. As an only child, I had to find ways to entertain myself, and drawing and using my imagination to create something were the easiest and most fulfilling ways to pass the time. I didn’t have a concrete dream, but I was very clear that my future wouldn’t involve math or anything unrelated to creativity. Read more>>

Nidhi Arya

It’s one of those “all path leads to Rome” sort of things. When I was a kid I always had a creative bone especially in music and visual arts. Music is where I leaned into most and felt most at home but stepped back from it to pursue what was considered a more “realistic” career. I had always secretly wanted to be a professional musician and performer but shied away from it feeling very undeserving of it as I often sparred with imposter syndrome. For work, I got into the trade of audio engineering to be somewhat close to the world but that didn’t pacify me as much as I thought it would. I delved into other passion projects but a big life change brought me back to music realizing I need more from it rather than just being a hobbyist or just a shadow behind the curtains. Read more>>

Deshawn Adams

I first realized I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally when I was about five years old. Even at that young age, I found myself constantly doodling in class, even when I should have been paying attention to the lesson. I was always captivated by cartoons, especially shows like “Generator Rex” and “The Amazing World of Gumball.” What really drew me to these cartoons was not just the characters or the humor, but the entire world behind them. I was fascinated by the thought that each character had a backstory and a purpose in the storyline. I would daydream about being one of the artists who created these vibrant, imaginative worlds. I imagined myself crafting the characters’ stories and bringing them to life. Read more>>

Gemikal Prude

I knew that I wanted to do more with my art and creativity when I was in college. I believe that it was during my junior year when I was writing poetry and short stories. There were thoughts, feelings, and experiences that I recall leaning into that didn’t just belong to me. I began to see other people in my stories as well, from conversations that I had with friends or family. Even random occurrences that I had seen when people-watching, it ran across the gambit. The idea of creating art for others to consume made more and more sense as I began to recognize others within what I wrote. It felt like the opportunity to make others feel seen, heard, and understood was right in front of me and someone who values that in his own life, I would want to do the same for others. Read more>>

Oren Studer

At an early age, I had a natural talent for art, which my mom carefully and lovingly nurtured. On rainy days, she would cover the kitchen table with a large roll of blank newsprint paper, where my sister and I would color for hours. As time went on, and my skills improved, many friends and family members would tell me to pursue a career in art. Even as a kid, my dream has been to earn a living making art in some capacity. In elementary school, I wanted to be an illustrator for Disney, in middle school and the beginning of high school, I wanted to draw comics. After my first heavy metal concert the summer between 10th and 11th grade however, I decided I wanted to be a tattoo artist. Seeing all of these people walking around at that show covered in vibrant art, and seeing an art form that seemed to be inextricably linked to the music I loved, I was hooked. Read more>>

Akeem Long

I wanted to be a tattoo artist when I was in high school but it was just a thought at the time. This was 2010 of my senior year. After graduation, I did try a tattoo trade school called A.R.T. But I couldn’t afford the payments so I couldn’t attend anymore classes.  Stuck with literally no other option because information on tattooing was so secretive back then I just went on YouTube and searched.  I didn’t take it serious until 2020 right before Covid. I had signed up for a tattoo boot camp which went over the basics of tattooing, sanitation, client prep,etc.  Read more>>

Tylar Lee

I can remember back as far as first grade telling my parents that I didn’t need to go to school because I was going to be an artist when I grew up. This came after finding out that I would be headed to summer school due to my poor grades. Drawing has always been a part of my life for as long as I have been able to hold a pencil. Throughout all of the changes in my life over the years making artwork has always been the one constant. I believe I found my calling really early in life and I have been pursuing that artistic path ever since. Read more>>

Harry Waldman

-I have loved movies since I was just a few years old, but I was always someone who was a bit too “practical” when it came to my career, despite the fact that my Dad has been a successful artist since I was young. I assumed that you were supposed to graduate college and then work at a job that you weren’t passionate about in order to pay the bills. The thought really depressed me, so I tried not to think about it too often and focused on my hobbies, which included watching movies, playing video games, sports, listening to music and hanging out with friends. Read more>>

Misa Mochizuki

I started dancing ballet when I was 5 years old. And when I was 10, I joined the competition for the first time. It didn’t go well actually, but around that time I started to practice seriously and got motivated to be a professional ballerina. Read more>>

Vama Shah

It was a sunny afternoon when I first felt the pull toward a creative career, a moment that has stayed with me ever since. I was eight years old, with wide eyes and an even wider imagination, and my favorite place in the world was the local mall. There was something about the energy of the place—the bustling crowds, the vibrant displays in store windows, the endless possibilities all around me—that made it feel like a world of its own. Read more>>

Guillermo Bordarampe

While I was attending 8th grade in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I heard The Beatles for the first time and that was it. We started forming a few bands with a couple of schoolmates, until at the end of high school we put together “Arco Iris”, a rock en español pioneering rock band that became very popular in Argentina in the 70’s. Form then I’ve been a musician my entire life. Read more>>