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

Flynn Brown

In 1988, there was a concert tour called Monsters of Rock, and I had been building guitars for a year or two by then when my friend said she had tickets. So I decided to make a guitar as a gift to my favorite guitarist of the time, George Lynch of Dokken. I actually got back stage to deliver him the guitar, but also, when I saw the controlled chaos of the what it took to make this scale of an event happen, I knew I wanted to be a part of it, and have been consistently working in Live Sound and Events ever since. Dial forward about 35 years, and moving to Los Angeles to be more active in Live Music production and Events, I decided it was also time for Foo Dog Custom Guitars to become a reality, and I am now focusing on building that brand and business. Read more>>

Sohlin Partida

I had been interested in music since I was little. My parents influenced that really early on in life, especially punk rock and metal. I was a little kid on the playground singing Walk by Pantera in elementary school. So the interest has been around for as long I can remember. I went through a couple of different hyper fixations throughout middle school and high school (sewing, digital art, film making, Youtube, and more) until I finally picked up the electric guitar sophomore year. Read more>>

Sonia Brown

I sometimes wonder if I was born knowing I would be in entertainment. As far back as I can remember I knew I would pursue entertainment. The latest I’d guess was as a pre-teen or in my early teens. But long before graduating High School I knew. Most of my extra-curricular activities throughout school were in the creative fields, the Performance Arts specifically. Band, School Choir, Church Choir, Modeling Club, Cheer Leading, Junior Achievement and so on. Aaliyah was my role model, I wanted to be like her. My Mom used to model and dance and she encouraged and supported everything I did in the field. The rest is history! Read more>>

Ankur Meravi

As a child, I was captivated by how things were made, often crafting toys from newspapers, bottles, and even ground clay. I loved turning everyday objects into something new and imaginative, whether it was creating intricate structures or whimsical sculptures. As I grew older, I felt a pull to expand my horizons and dive deeper into the mechanics of creation. I was eager to understand the intricacies behind product design and development. The best way to do that was to tackle competitive engineering exams for premier institutes, where I could meet people from diverse backgrounds and learn from brilliant minds globally. So, I decided to pursue engineering, believing it would equip me with the knowledge of how products are made and open new avenues for my creativity. Read more>>

René Gibson

I was 26 years old, I would either get fired or quit every job I had. I never felt like I fit into regular jobs “working for the man” tattooing was something I did for fun in my spare time, it was a slow progression over a few years. Instagram started being a platform that tattooers were using to promote their work so I saw an opportunity to represent myself in a new way as apposed to doing a traditional tattoo apprenticeship. I had zero confidence to try and get a tattoo apprenticeship. instagram really worked in my favor and gave me the tools to make it a full time career and move to USA. Read more>>

Jehlani Nasira

My name is Jehlani Nasira and I am the founder of my fashion brand Asira. I am a native born and raised designer from East Orange and Newark New Jersey. Coming from a creative multi-disciplinary background I always look to emerge as a liaison between my graphic art world about my fashion work. Since the age of 15, I have been designing abstract streetwear for fashion enthusiasts who dare to be different and serve impact with their looks. My introduction to fashion wasn’t necessarily the traditional route, but more so on the ends of being unable to access the latest trends that others had. What began as a hustle turned into a long growing passion that has allowed me to expand in ways unimagined. I remember creating my blueprint brand post-couture, “LILWAVE” an acronym standing for, “Learn, Win, Evolve.” Read more>>

Remember We Die

Our desire to pursue music professionally didn’t come from a single moment; it was always part of who we are. Music felt as natural as breathing, influencing our lives from the very start. As kids, we’d pick up anything that resembled a guitar, playing along with legends like Slash and Eddie Van Halen, and belting out songs with the same intensity as Lzzy Hale and Maria Brink. We dreamed of being on that stage ourselves, pouring our hearts into every note. Music wasn’t just something we listened to; it was our escape and our therapy, helping us navigate life when words fell short. Early on, we realized we wanted to be the ones offering that same connection, validation, and inspiration to others. Read more>>

Loretta Hajovsky

My entire life I have always had a love for animals. Living on a big farm I had plenty of space to add large animals to my pet family. For my 50th Birthday my husband Gérard Hajovsky drove me for a day trip to Tierra Prometida Alpaca breeding farm. I fell in love with the alpacas and wanted several of them one day. Gerard bought three of them for my birthday. Several weeks later they were delivered to our farm in La Grange. Every day I would spend my day walking, talking, grooming and training my three alpaca boys; Willie Waylon, and Tex. While browsing through Hobby Lobby I was noticing all of the cute accessories throughout the store with alpacas and llamas on pillows, framed wall art, note pads, calendars, and more. All of them were decorated with cute hats or beautiful flowers. It was like a lightbulb went off Read more>>

Amandine Clamens-mccoy

My journey in the acting industry began many years ago, when I was about 7 years old, in France, where I was born, when I attended drama classes twice a week in primary school. These were fun sessions which allowed me to have a laugh, and free my mind. I immediately fell in love with this art of impersonating characters and telling stories through our bodies and voices. I always threw myself into every exercise, improvisation, and script read. I remember vividly as part of my very first school play, we had to imitate the sound of a doorbell. As silly as this may sound, it was pretty much a challenge for children who never did theatre or projected their voice on stage before. Yet, I just threw myself right into it and in the end, it was my doorbell sound that was to chosen and used in the play! Then, after reading the script with all the students, after a class vote, it was decided that I was to play the main role, and so I did! Simply that felt like an enormous achievement to me, and we hadn’t even performed the play yet! Read more>>

Maurice Christian

It was during my sophomore year of high school; I was invited to join a dance group named “The Puppets” based in Chicago Illinois. They are one of the original “Soul Train” dancers who met and formed the group at the Board of Trade Building downtown Chicago where soul train first originated and broadcasted its dance programs. At the time I was living one house down from one of the members in which we met and became friends. We performed at local venues, park districts town halls, high school talent shows and even special guest at private events around the Chicago areas and gained notoriety over the first couple of years since forming the dance group. Read more>>

Colleen O’mara

I first knew that I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally when I was eight years old and in the third grade. Hard to believe now. I had written a short story for class, which was submitted to the annual writing competition. There we were, all of the students from our elementary school campus sitting together in the assembly. Before I knew it, my name was called, and everyone turned around to look at me as I made my way up the aisle to the front. The principal bestowed me with an award certificate for the “Best Short Story” and shook my hand. It was at that moment, looking back at the audience of my peers and classmates that I knew — words can persuade people. And unbeknownst to me, at such an early age, I had stumbled upon some inherent talent for writing. At my high school, we were lucky enough to produce and publish our literary magazine. In college, I began writing seriously and also joined the school’s literary publication, and started to publish short stories and articles. There is nothing like seeing your own words in print. Many years later, it still gives me a thrill to see something I have written get published. Read more>>

Alexandra Copp

I knew I wanted to pursue an artistic path professionally when I realized how expressing our creative spirit IS healing. Coming from a nursing background of 10 years and being somebody who sees energy, I began to observe how when we don’t express our unique creative nature and imagination the body can become sick. I became disheartened by seeing so many sick and suffering and wanted to get to prevent illnesses I saw in my patients. I found that this process began in our childhood. The of hardening us and our cells, so I began working with children helping them express their spirits through movement, sound and art. The expression of our unique spirit generates a frequency that creates harmony in our cells. This frequency created when we weave our spirit or weave our life is a preventative medicine. It may be possible that when our cells dance to the harmony of our spirit there is not room for fear or control to attach to us, therefore there is not room for illness to attach to us.  Read more>>

Michel Dominguez Beddome

I remember the very first time I knew I wanted to be in the arts. I was in 8th grade. My school was putting on a production of 42nd Street at the Sarasota Opera House and I was in the main chorus. There were six of us. None of us knew how to tap dance so we had been practicing for months during lunch and after school. Finally the opening night came. I still remember the smell of the stairs and the dressing room: wood, middle school body sweat, paint, and hairspray. There was so much joy. Everyone was laughing and getting ready for the opening number. It was all so fun. And then something even better happened, something magical. There was a big number right before the intermission where the six of us had to dance on these thick wooden coins. It was a fast moving number, a show stopper. I was at the front of the stage slightly right of center and tapping my little feet as fast as they could tap and smiling as big as my cheeks would allow, hoping for dear life not to fall off. And then in an instant this ease fell over me. I knew we had been perfect, all of us in sync. I don’t mean just those of us on stage. It was all of us–the audience, the crew backstage, everyone experiencing this one moment together. It was as if the molecules in the air changed and time slowed down. I felt this pull in my stomach and in that moment this was all that existed. I knew then this was what I wanted to do. Read more>>

Lynell Ls

Not sure I do remember being young and redesigning my dolls clothes and reconstructing my own tops either just cutting or sewing by hand I had a unique sense of style as a child as much as I could be bein I wasn’t buying my clothes lol Read more>>

Robyn Hager

There wasn’t an exact moment I realized, but rather a cumulation of events overtime that led to me making the decision to pursue an artistic degree in higher education, thus leading me into the world of the arts and living the life of an artist. When I was a sensitive elementary school child, I was almost deterred from finding my voice through my words when my 5th grade teacher told me I needed to “work on my writing” after I had submitted a writing assignment to her that I was proud of. It was a huge blow to my 10-year-old ego. But, unbeknownst to my teachers and peers, I began my true passion for writing – creative writing – in the confines of the place I knew most in the world: my bedroom. I would write comic strips and fanfictions that I would post to my Wattpad account (throwback), not caring if they were read by anybody, but I found the process of writing these short, character-focused love stories so cathartic as I dealt with my pre-pubescent hormones. Read more>>

Jeffrey Weber

I had no idea I wanted to be in the music business. Upon graduating from college as an English/Creative Writing major (I changed my major every year!) I had no idea what to do with my life. My father was a prominent attorney in Los Angeles, so I thought I would attend law school. At least I had a job when I graduated!  I was a journalist in college and in law school, and when I graduated law school, I got a job at Cashbox Magazine, a music industry trade magazine. They needed someone who could take the myriad of lawsuits and synthesize them down into a few paragraphs so that their readers could understand.just what the lawsuits were all about. Cashbox received hundreds and hundreds of records every week, hoping for a favorable published review from a staff writer. Trouble was, most were just plain awful. After listening to dozens and dozens of records that failed to inspire, I felt that even I, with absolutely no industry experience, could produce a better product than most of the musical junk I listened to. After getting that out of my system, I figured I would go back and try to pass the bar exam. Yet, again… Read more>>

Jassy Yuan

I still remember the day it all began. It wasn’t planned, and that’s what made it so special. I was in college, completely focused on my studies, thinking I had my future mapped out like everyone else around me. But then, a classmate of mine was working on a student short film and desperately needed an extra hand on set. I knew nothing about filmmaking at the time, but I agreed to help—more out of curiosity than anything else. The moment I stepped onto that set, something clicked. It was as if I had wandered into another world, one where creativity and collaboration danced together in perfect harmony. The energy was infectious. People were moving around, setting up lights, adjusting cameras, actors rehearsing their lines—there was a buzz, an electric charge in the air that I couldn’t quite describe. And amidst all the chaos, I felt this incredible sense of purpose, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I started doing small tasks, helping here and there, but with each moment, I found myself more drawn in. When I saw the director guiding the scene, capturing moments, and shaping stories, it was like watching magic unfold in front of my eyes. The whole process—from the technical details to the emotional connections between the crew and cast—was thrilling. Read more>>

Lyndon Best

It all actually started back in my home country of Trinidad and Tobago, from learning to play the national instrument of my country which is the Steel Pan that was invented in the 20th century from discarded oil drums. My journey started after learning to play well enough at the age of 15 and being a player in my high school steel pan band Eldorado Secondary Comprehensive Steel Orchestra, performing and competing with other school Steel Pan Bands throughout the country carnival season. I continued playing until I transferred my playing ability over into the big band as we call it back home.  That is a larger Steel Pan Orchestra, which plays at the national Steel Pan Competitions throughout the country preparing for the National Steel Pan Championship Finals on the big stage within our carnival season which is usually in the month of February. I was a member of the Steel Band named Tropical Angel Harps at that time and seeing all those people watching, cheering and spectating or singing along while we the band is playing what a joy to see and be apart off. I also had the what we call back then the chanting style, which is an adapted Jamaican style of singing or delivering the lyrics your saying over any type of dancehall, reggae rhythm for instance like knocking on a table in a rhythmic pattern, then it’s go time for me.  Read more>>

Dominiece Regis

Hmm…somewhere around Summer 2022. At that time my husband, Chad and I had already been traveling together for 10 years, which had been since college undergrad. We had already traveled to quite a few countries, tried a vast variety of different restaurants, and had implemented a weekly date nights in New York City, which is where we currently live. During all of these experiences, I had always captured them through photo and video and would shared them on social media for fun. Over time, I began to realize my audience was engaged and interested in the things that I shared. Mainly, because I was constantly posting recommendations and ideas for things they could also do, experience, or try themselves. Before Covid, I treated our weekly NYC date nights almost like a reality show thru IG stories. That was fun! Thus, my audience began to trust my voice and opinions within the travel space and the New York City scene, all the while receiving quality content. A double win. Read more>>

Marjorie Lewit

I don’t think there was necessarily one single moment I knew precisely what I wanted to do, but I believe there was a feeling I was pursuing. I’ve been chasing that emotional rapture since childhood. At home, I found myself watching classic films alongside my Dad who would be heartily laughing, delighting, in the talents of Danny Kaye, the wonder of Rod Sterling and The Time Machine, the horrific excitement of a Twilight Zone episode or the sweet joy of It’s a Wonderful Life. “Marjorie watch this!” I would look over to measure my Dad’s reaction and wonder how I could create such exquisite awe in him, or anyone, myself. Dad also read to me. He had a steady and calming narrative voice. He created the picture and I was immediately transported. Read more>>

Kendra Norman Holmes

My backstory began long before I had any inclination about embarking on a professional career in the creative writing field. My first husband, who I felt was the love of my life, passed away on October 5, 1995. It was 10 days before our seventh wedding anniversary. Jimmy and I were 20 and 21 respectively when we married, so I found myself a widow at only 28 years old. We had two young daughters–both born in the month of December–so they were just weeks away from turning five and three years old. I suppressed my grief when he died in order to put on a strong front for our babies and to convince my family and his family that I was okay. On the inside, however, I was slowly dying. Nobody saw it because I hid it well. Read more>>

Jaymar Jackson

For me, I think I’ve always had this super vivid imagination. I’ve always loved fantasy as an escape from the real world. I had a long day at work, life was attacking me too hard and I needed an escape. I laid back on my bed and imagined this young black man, with super powers fighting demons and just WINNING. He was unstoppable, powerful and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him and you understood in his fighting that he just had to fight tooth and nail for what he deserved. Peace. Happiness. Tranquility. That’s where it all started. That’s where Celestial Elementals was born. Read more>>

Romy Natalia Goldberg

I remember this moment so clearly. I had recently returned to the United States after living in Paraguay for six years, during which time I had written and published a travel guidebook through Other Places Publishing. I had no idea what I was going to write next or how I would do so with three young kids. We were in the library of the Houston Children’s Museum and I pulled a random book off the shelf, Carmen Lomas Garza’s In My Family / En Mi Familia, featuring scenes from the author’s life in South Texas. In her bilingual tales of communal meals, cake walks and birthday celebrations, I found my path forward. It sounds like, well, something out of a book, but I swear the clouds parted and celestial music drown pumped through the sound system. I left the museum (once my kids were done playing, of course) determined to learn how to write children’s books. I haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Diana Noh

As everyone knows, working as a full-time artist is not an easy path. Not to say that other occupations are easy, but I have constantly heard from others that committing to become an artist is a rocky road and nothing is promised. This effected me deeply as I was just coming out from my undergrad school. I had tried out multiple jobs that was somewhat related to my major which was photography. I worked as an assistant curator, commercial photographer, photo editor, and tapped into art therapy. During this journey I realized I was the most intact when I maintained my own practice. I did enjoy and was good at these jobs but my heart wasn’t racing as I get excited doing random experiments to my practice. Everyday felt the same without any stimulation and I felt really trapped into a cycle that was going to go on forever. This is when I realized I needed to pursue being a fine art artist, even though there wasn’t any solid promise on the road. At this point, I knew how much intact I will be and enjoy my everyday life if I pursued to become an artist. Read more>>

Benjamin Tinajero

Something can’t come from nothing, something has to be there in order for it to become something. One of my brothers was my one of the greatest influence for me becoming an artist; as a young boy I would always see him drawing on pretty much anything using pretty much anything; notebooks, cardboard, bedside tables, spray-paint, paint, chalk, or basic graphite pencils. I was always amazed at his work and skill as he had a true knack of it ever since he was young. I always tried to copy his work or try it at my own style, in hope that he would notice that I would have wanted to be skilled like him. Later in life he told me a dream of his, he wanted to become an artist (In my eyes he was one) and work on all sort of projects; video games and the Chicano culture where his biggest motivations; but unfortunately he didn’t pursue said dream, he never told me a direct answer to why he didn’t go for it; things didn’t fall into place and the old excuse of c’est la vie. I hold on to his old work, a lot of it is lost, but his set if skills are still there, or to me at least they are. Read more>>

Pierre Goman

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path was actually just last year. I had been released from a three-year bid in the Georgia State Penitentiary and was blessed to be working at a good company, however something felt like it was simply missing. Working a traditional 9-5 had taken its toll on my mental health, and I realized I needed to focus my attention after work on some form of artistry to release the creativity brewing within. I had helped my cousin Skyy Beatz a local Atlanta producer, with projects as far as ghost writing is concerned before I was arrested and incarcerated, however I never really pursued it seriously or anything like that. Well last year while living in Denver Colorado, I attended a Slam event at Mercury Cafe and made it to the finals my first time up. I actually thought I was just going to an open mic however I quickly realized I had to produce more poetry as I didn’t have anything memorized. It was in this moment I knew I had to start actually applying myself to my craft as a writer, poet, and speaker and since then have been doing so as much as possible, Read more>>