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

Anji White

So imagine you’re a parent, maybe watching TV or folding laundry in one room, when suddenly, from the kitchen, you hear your child—me, at about 6 years old—yelling and singing at the top of her lungs. Song after song, non-stop, for what feels like hours. I was that kid, putting on my best performance for a very inanimate audience: the microwave, the stove, and the fridge. Looking back now, I realize how annoying that must’ve been to my parents, especially in our one-bedroom, temporary living space. Read more>>

Vince C

I have been around music pretty much my whole life. One of the first pictures my family took of me was in the kitchen of a restaurant where my parents used to work. I was maybe around three or four years old. While my parents were busy working, I would grab a couple of pots and pans and use them as a makeshift drum set. From that moment on, my passion for music never really left me. Read more>>

Ethan Webber

Growing up, I always enjoyed telling stories whether that meant telling my parents what happened at school or creating a three-act plot with my action figures. I remember, as a kid, watching red carpet coverage of a Harry Potter movie at its premiere. I heard the word “director” and asked my parents what that word meant to which they explained that a director was the person who makes a movie. Did I understand what that fully meant? No, not at all but from that day on I knew I wanted to be a director. Read more>>

Booker Newton

I’ve always loved music. Growing up, my parents played music throughout the day and taught us about the artists behind the songs. They introduced us to a wide range of music, from The Temptations to 2Pac, sharing not just the songs but the stories behind the artists and how that music impacted their own lives. My cousins also played a big role in shaping my taste, introducing me to artists like Paramore and Daft Punk. Being exposed to such diverse sounds and styles helped me develop a deep appreciation for music as both an art form and a storytelling tool. The biggest lesson I learned through all of this was the importance of understanding and appreciating the lyrics—every song tells a story, and that story deserves to be heard and valued. Read more>>

Sound Siren

CHRIS: My musical journey began in 8th grade when I first started playing the snare drum in my middle school band class. As I progressed into 9th grade in high school, I joined the marching band drumline, where I continued honing my drumming skills. Additionally, I was involved in starting up a few original bands with my friends, taking on the roles of drummer and lead vocalist. I began my professional career as the drummer and backup vocalist for the pop/rock/punk band Rock Kills Kid, which signed with Fearless Records in the early 2000s. During this time, I gained extensive experience through multiple recordings and nationwide tours across the United States. After my stint with Rock Kills Kid, I transitioned to focus on singing and songwriting. Read more>>

Dwight Myers

For the longest time I was always inspired by those with artistic abilities. Some of my friends were artists or musicians. I always had a desire to draw, paint or take photos. It first hit me in college. I was in my senior year and was able to take an elective not in my chosen major. I decided to take “2 Dimensional Art” class. I was the only non art major to get an A in the course. At one point the professor told me I should major in art…I was to graduate with my Social Work/Psychology degree that spring. I remember his words today. After graduate school I did take a couple of art classes at a local art school. More for fun and learning than anything else. Read more>>

Victoria Sutherland

I was in video production since college, majoring in broadcast news. Through several forks in the road (aka the 2008 recession) I was running my own production company with a focus on weddings and creative retreats around the world. One of my amazing clients specialized meditation, flow states and finding your inner voice. Concepts that I had no clue about growing up in small town West Virginia. Read more>>

Mikel Elam

I realized in high school that creating art was so exciting to me . In fact every aspect of the visual arts was thrilling to me . I went to a magnet public school. My major focus was learning commercial art . Design , illustration, printmaking. My teachers felt I should pursue going to college as a fine arts major because I had showed signs of being a good painter . I did not grow up in a house interested in art . My teachers and a few family friends were my mentors . They guided me in the right direction. It really does take a village. Read more>>

Cortez Shaw

I was about four years old back home in Dallas, TX when I first saw Michael Jackson perform on TV—or at least, the first time I can remember. It wasn’t just music; it was magic. The way he moved, sang, and commanded the stage felt larger than life, like he was speaking a universal language that didn’t need words. Around the same time, I heard Whitney Houston’s voice for the first time—pure, powerful, and emotionally raw. That was the moment it all clicked. I knew, deep down, that I wanted to be a singer. Not just to perform, but to move people the way they moved me. Music has this incredible ability to reach into someone’s soul, to tell a story that feels like their own. Read more>>

Michael Teh

I was never really encouraged to pursue anything artistic and never considered acting until I was an adult. It was never on my radar. As the first born son of an Asian immigrant father my “job” as a child was to excel academically in rigorous subjects, and to have a well-paid prestigious profession. In fact my father specifically wanted me to go to a top U.S. business school for an MBA and to become an investment banker on Wall Street. Read more>>

Justin Renteria

I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember, and was always the “class artist” growing up, but I didn’t think earning a living from art was even possible until high school. I wasn’t planning on going to college, didn’t have any prospects, but I was starting to figure out very quickly that I didn’t want to end up getting in trouble like some of my friends- a few of whom ended up going to jail, prison, or even getting killed. In my junior year, I had a friend who was a senior, and had taken many of the same art classes I had. He ended up getting a scholarship to an art school in Denver. By the time I was a senior, there was a new art teacher: Ms. Whiteford. She was instrumental in helping me to see the possibilities of a career in art, and she pushed me to apply for the same scholarship my friend received the year before. Read more>>

Cassie Britt

A little while before Covid first started up, I ran across some online writing prompts. I had fun coming up with stories for them, but at first, I wasn’t brave enough to share them (even anonymously). But I was really enjoying doing them, so I kept up with it. After a while, I took a serious interest in writing those short stories, and got brave enough to start sharing them. As time went on, I entered a lot of free online writing contests just for the fun of it and won a few. Of course that only bolstered my confidence and made me even more excited to write. Read more>>

Daniel De Santiago

Growing up I was always captivated by movies and the process of how they were made. I knew I either wanted to be an inventor or a film director as a child. In my Freshman year of high school I took a video class with my friends where we would mostly do funny little skit videos. It was all for fun, I never really thought I had any potential in filmmaking. I was a very doubtful kid growing up, I had little to no faith in myself, and though I loved being creative I never thought I was good at it. I realized later that type thinking was holding me back. In my senior year my video production teacher convinced me to compete in a state high school film competition for SkillsUSA. I was put under the Digital cinema category which is a 48 hour shoot with a prompt. Read more>>

Parlay Yvette

My 1st involuntary activity had to be of creative expression. There is no marked beginning of my artistic expressions. I do recall at the age of 3 feeling a defined command for artistry. Age 4 I was given the title of ARTIST by a Sunday school teacher, I had very short pause of acceptance- [ inner thought: ” ahhhh so this is what you call this. I am ARTISTÉ !!!” ] Read more>>

Laura Fuino

I knew I wanted to work in entertainment when I was a child. probably around 10 years old. That was what made me happy. I was extremely shy when I was little but when I began to sing in middle school for show at the school, I came alive. I would then organize variety shows in my backyard with the neighbor kids and charge a nickel to see it. Read more>>

Mk Zariel

I’ve known I wanted to be involved in anarchist organizing since I was thirteen years old. The summer before eighth grade, I was going through a serious depressive episode, and discovering anarchist theory—first Emma Goldman (of course), then more recent stuff such as the BashBack tendency, Margaret Killjoy’s postciv anarchist works, the whole Xenofeminist movement, and more—quite literally saved my life. From there, it became my passion. I joined local affinity groups throughout the Great Lakes region. I started an anarchist group at my middle school (truly). And I also realized that the creative pursuits I’d always loved as hobbies were integral to the community. Read more>>

Margarita Mantis

Music has always been a creative outlet for me. I began taking formal music lessons at around 7 years old, specifically for the piano, which sparked my interest. However, it wasn’t until I was around 11, when I got my first guitar, that I started developing a more mature interest in the art form, particularly in songwriting, as I quickly found that it was the easiest and most natural way that I could/can express my inner troubles. I decided to pursue music professionally in 2021 when I was just 16 years old when I started uploading my work to YouTube and steadily grown a following since then. In the beginning, I posted my songs as acoustic demos but soon decided to take the next step. In August of 2022, I ventured into a recording studio, ready to record my first fully-arranged single “I Can Hear the Flowers Laugh,” which was released early in October of that year. Read more>>

Melissa Davey

I was 65 years old, sitting in a comfortable senior level corporate career for more than two decades when it hit me that I had reached a milestone age that many consider “retirement age.” It pushed me into questioning what I was doing and whether I should continue. There was no ageism in the national company where I worked, and I could have stayed as long as I wanted but something was pushing me to consider alternatives to what had been my career for so long. I didn’t feel old. I didn’t want to stop working but I also knew I was rather bored with the routine I had created for myself. That prompted me to start making a list of all the things I had fantasized about but never really took seriously. Read more>>

Sha Swazey

Well it was a day I was listening to beats when I found the instrumental Chris brown back to the crib and I thought that would be a good instrumental to write a song to and I wrote one and recorded myself on a phone and thought that I was going crazy, my uncles came home and told them I wrote a song and I played it and my uncle told me that I was good the only thing I needed was a flow at the age of 12, that’s something I would never forget is what made me start it from there but until this day he doesn’t know he the reason why I’m making music now. Read more>>

Lorato Botshabelo

I started my journey in Primary School where I used to draw on the board for my fellow classmates. I fell in love with art via Creative and Performing Arts lessons even though it was just basics.During my junior school years I could not make it to an Art as a subject class but that didn’t deter me. I would sometimes shade for my classmates until 2022 when I finally decided that I have to start. This came years after I tried running away from my creative calling. Read more>>

Patricia J Baker

I was always interested in the creative aspect of art through sewing and crafts. My mother, Dorris McGregor was instrumental in teaching my sister and I to do both and we began early as teens making our own clothes due to lack of finances. I made many of the clothes I wore to school and throughout my school ages I discovered many crafts— macrame, rughooking, crochet, woodburning, sewing and finally beading jewelry. I also enjoyed sketching and drawing at an early age but only for my own enjoyment. I considered it doodling and often did it when I was bored. I usually drew fashion design, intrigued by the swirl of the fabric and loved drawing different colorful patterns. Read more>>

Anissa Mchenry

I knew I wanted to pursue modeling when I started working with a local boutique here in Memphis in 2019. I was nervous when I first attended their model call. Aside from photoshoots for cheer & a Dillard’s photoshoot as a toddler, I had ZERO experience. I went for it anyways. From there, the rest was history. The work never felt like work. I felt like I found my calling/creative avenue I wanted to explore. It was something that I truly enjoyed doing and when I felt the most confident. I started to book my own photoshoots, working with different creatives in the Memphis area, and trying to learn the craft as much as I can. My love for modeling & fashion only grows more every day. Read more>>

Christine Beals

I was diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis at 40 years old. At this point I quit working, due to my health issues. My art started out as a way to fill up my time. The first piece s I made were holiday gifts for family, winter of 2014. From that point on my art became my main focus in life. My first solo exhibit and street fair happened in 2019. Since things have evolved in a way that I have never dreamt possible. Read more>>

Giovanny Acero

I remember falling in love with poetry and literature in the second half of my high school years. Until then, I had been a sort misguided misfit, letting myself be guided by others but still craving to be understood for who I was; I finally found that when I took the chance of reading, albeit not the ideal choice for someone wanting to fit in. Read more>>

Sistah Lu

As far as I can remember, music has always been a part of me. As a child, my grandma taught me how to play the piano. When she died, a part of me died, and I lost touch with my true calling. I became a nurse but always felt like I needed to do something else. A few years later, a jolt of fate somehow reignited my heart and before long, I was once again on this “not so easy road.” Nursing is what I do, but Music is my purpose and passion. Read more>>

Stevan David

I knew it was time to follow this path around the age of 12. I have always wanted to be a musician, I think truly what I needed was that like… kick! Something to just come and smack you in the face. And for me that was the first time at 12 I heard Nirvana’s “Nevermind” hearing that at such a young age for the first time is really what truly inspired me and made me say to myself “yeah, this is something I want to do” soon after I got my first guitar, began lessons, and eventually sort’ve found my own voice and began writing songs around 13 and that’s really what made me become what I am today. Read more>>

Justina Grosso

I still remember the first time I realized beauty was more than just a hobby for me—it was an art form, a way to tell a story without words. At 10 years old, I sat in front of my mirror with black liquid eyeliner, trying to recreate Lady Gaga’s bold looks, mesmerized by how makeup could transform not just a face, but a feeling. Growing up, I spent hours watching beauty creators on YouTube, but I never thought it could be a career—until two years ago, when I finally posted my first video. The moment I saw people resonating with my work, asking for more, and feeling inspired by my creativity, I knew this was what I was meant to do. That single decision turned my passion into a profession, and I haven’t looked back since. Read more>>

Alexandra Zone

As a kid, I was always running off to draw or paint—any chance I got, I’d disappear into my own little world, lost in creating. It didn’t matter if it was crayons, paint, or whatever I could get my hands on—I just wanted to make something. At one point, I thought I wanted to be a vet. I loved animals, and it seemed like the right path. But even then, I knew, deep down, that my heart belonged to art. Read more>>

Kathleen Burns

Although I’ve always loved to be creative, and dabbled with some watercolors throughout college, I studied Anthropology undergrad and thought I might end up in academia. I minored in general design, and took some fashion classes after graduating at night to try to figure out where I wanted to go. Years later, I decided to invest in an Ipad for marketing purposes for my job for a family business, and I quickly figured out how to draw with the app Procreate. Finding videos to learn more about digital illustration, and finding artist/illustrators on social media during the pandemic, led me to realize that illustration could be a career possibility. Read more>>

Jay Walkr

I started back when I was 19, basically trying to be famous for the sake of escaping a reality I was already mentally drifting through.

I was around 22 when I realized that I wanted to take my music in a serious direction. I had already been making music for a little while, but it was very leisurely and without genuine purpose.

After some thought, I figured it’d be a waste of energy just doing music in such a mindless and aimless way. I took a step back to evaluate what message I want to put out, as well as what sounds naturally feel good for me to put together. Read more>>

Dai Time

I feel like my journey in the entertainment industry has been quite extensive and unique, which a lot of people don’t know… I first seeked an interest in entertainment at the age of 6, when I took it upon myself to write a song. My mom saw this spark in me and decided to help me produce the song and honestly, since then I’ve just been tackling the entertainment industry in new ways. So, yeah! My introduction to the booming entertainment industry was artistry, and now my biggest contribution to that same industry is covering media and posting content online as an influencer. Read more>>

Sandra Iroegbu

When I was trying to write my waec and jamb here in Nigeria, I did a play for our coach and people commended my performance. After the show, my close friends said “Sandra you will make a good actress, have you thought about it?” At that moment I had filled my jamb to study law, so I changed my course to theatre and when I got admission, I knew it was God that wanted me to use my talent and shine in the world. During my undergraduate days at the university, I was one of the best actresses so I concluded that this was what I wanted to pursue, acting. Read more>

Jenae Inez

I knew I wanted to pursue hip-hop when I was in kindergarten. Even as a kid, I knew I wanted to use my therapy as a way to entertain people. My mother was a rapper and extremely talented at it. Growing up, she would teach me to rap as a way of sharing her passion with me. Once I started attempting it on my own as a way to journal my emotions, I was hooked. I was five at the time, and to this day, I still feel the same way I did when I first started learning. Read more>>

Robin Kay

My dermatologist asked if I wanted to do a commercial in Miami when I was in college and I said yes. The client sent a limo to pick me up and take me to Miami for a few days to shoot a cosmetic commercial. I had so much fun and cannot believe I got paid for this type of work. That was a unique experience and not what is normal in the industry. It’s a lot more of a grind and chasing after the work. But I didn’t know how to get started in the industry and I was so far away from Miami. It would’ve been very difficult to do castings and connect with agents when I was an hour and a half away. This was the days of beepers and home phones so putting yourself on video was not the norm. Read more>>

Aaron Higareda

In the fall of 2013, I transferred out of East Los Angeles College and started attending California State University, Los Angeles. I was only taking one English class at the time, but I still eventually dropped out. This one English class I was taking, and I think everything else that was happening in my life at the time, like the advent of my second child being born at the age of 22 with no real way to support my family, really fucked me up. In that one English class I learned that I sucked at grammar. And I remember thinking to myself, how the hell was I going to be an English teacher if I can’t even pass this intro class? Read more>>

Latoya Cameron

To some who knew me as a little kid, they would have never predicted I would become an actor. I was extremely shy. I was so shy that I would never talk. I often hoped that I was invisible and no one would see me, so I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. However, I have always been drawn to the arts. Read more>>

Caleb Gesicki

Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to do something involving art. My grandfather being an artist and main inspiration for me, taught me at a young age that I can always pursue my skills through art above all. I never really knew what that might be or look like for my future until I reached high school. To say I struggled in school, is an understatement. So my saving grace was all the art classes I was able to take. Read more>>

Matt Basler

Slime, baby! Goop, oobleck, floam, gak… Whatever you want to call it (just don’t call it “bad” or “not my thing”!) I was a directionless pile of floor dust before I dunked my hands into that life-altering slop.
I want to be as wet as possible, as often as possible. Did you know that human skin can’t actually sense “wetness”? It’s true! Look it up! Hell, look it down if you want. No matter how you look at it, you’ll come to the conclusion that humans can’t actually sense “wetness”. Our precious skin can only detect the change in temperature and some other stuff – but not wet! Read more>>

Shankar Menon

When I was growing up, the only two people I knew that had a musical passion were my mom and my uncle. Both of them showed me the importance of music and it’s impact for the world. I was always around carnactic music growing up. As I grew, I wanted to create my own path of discovery, living in California and learning about the different cultures of music here. It led me to creating something unique to my circumstances as I pursued further into my craft. Read more>>

David Wierzbicki

I have had a big imagination and a wandering mind from childhood until now. In 3rd Grade my teacher came up with a solution to my tendency to doodle all over my schoolwork instead of completing the actual work. She said that when I was done my work I could let her know and she would give me a book full of blank paper and I was free to use the remaining class time to draw anything I wanted on its pages. I had no idea such a wondrous thing as a sketchbook existed. A book that wanted to be filled with my scribbles? Amazing! This promise of open creativity prompted me to finish my work faster than ever and encouraged my love of drawing. That was the moment that I first realized that art was my path. Read more>>

Thiago Leoni

Not many people know this story but I guess when I was around 7 or 8 years old, there was a day that my teacher, right before sending my whole class to lunchtime, asked everyone to sit down for a few minutes longer: “Kids, I know that it’s almost lunchtime, but before I send you all downstairs, I wanted to open up this space for a colleague of yours who has asked me to share a story she wrote.” Read more>>

Josh Evans

Y2k hadn’t caused the untimely demise of society, the coolest tech was flashily housed in transparent colored plastic, the twin towers were still a thing, and I was OBSESSED with Star Wars Episode One The Phantom Menace. We didn’t just have the vhs, we had the vhs which came with a second vhs which was all about the making of the movie. I probably watched this behind the scenes tape more than I watched the actual film. This second tape laid a crucial groundwork for what was to come. Read more>>

Brittani Starr

I’ve always been passionate about the arts. From playing in the church band to forming my own bands, creativity has always been a part of my life. However, the advancement of technology is what truly pushed me to fully embrace it.

In the past, renting a recording studio—even from a friend—was costly, and even designing my own cover art still came with expenses. Now, with the ability to create, produce, and design independently, the process is more accessible, allowing me to bring my vision to life without compromise. Read more>>

Yoka (yujia) Gong

I tried to think back from the beginning of how I started doing art. The Arch of Hysteria made by Louise Bourgeois was the piece that dragged me in. Back then, I knew nothing about Louise Bourgeois when I saw the piece hanging in the middle of the gallery with a high ceiling. It is quiet but powerful, calm but intense. Those complex feelings root both in me and the sculpture. It feels like those emotions are trying their best to stay inside this bronze figure, but the tension that is created by the pose and the only string that keeps everything still explodes. I cried in that room, at that moment, with a feeling that something collapsed inside of me. I think it’s not just because the piece itself is amazing but also those paradoxical feelings that attacked me made me feel overwhelmed. Read more>>

Celeste Rehm

I was interested in becoming an artist at a very young age but I needed wider exposure to the arts and a good education first. Some artists might have an epiphany and suddenly declare they are artists. But for me it took years to find my vision. I decided to become an artist “when” I found my vision and had something to say. But just as important was “why” I chose to become an artist. This happened after being encouraged to make art for most of my life. I cannot stress the importance of how much positive words and encouragement matters in forming future artists. Read more>>

Yunhsuan Cheng

It all started during my sophomore year at university when global warming weighed heavily on my mind. I often found myself drawn to the shores of Hsinchu, exploring the intertidal zone in my spare moments. But amidst the peacefulness of nature, I couldn’t ignore the unsettling presence of discarded plastic. That experience sparked a deep sense of unease—and an even deeper craving for connection with the environment. Read more>>

Abigail Jessee

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved creating. Whether it was doodling in the corners of my school papers or meticulously decorating my dolls’ rooms, creativity has always been a part of me.

In college at Georgia College & State University, I majored in Mass Communication, which was the first time I truly saw creativity as a career path. From writing stories to designing marketing campaigns and graphics, I loved exploring different ways to tell a story. Read more>>

Ac Scar

Ever since I was real young I had two things that exited me the most, exploring nature.. and soulful southern music. I spent my days puttering around the lowcountry rivers catching shrimp and collecting medicine bottles. I’d come home, wash up, and go deep into the night listening to my dads vinyl collection of Allman Brothers & BB King – trying to steal a pinch of the magic they pulled out of those guitars. That’s a theme that never faded. Read more>>

Jessica Koehler

I’ve loved all aspects of entertainment since I was a little girl. But not just being on stage- the entire creative process has always been exciting to me.

I’d rally the neighbor girls as the cast of my shows. We’d draw flyers & have our parents copy them off at work. The fireplace or driveway were our favorite stages! Read more>>

Ellisa

I first fell in love with the world of art and creation as a little girl. My earliest memory that has stuck with me was specifically seeing my mother sketch and draw with colored pencils or pen…I was probably 4 or 5 when I started to really be captivated by the idea that you can take a blank piece of paper and create a new life for it with color and how it can all come from the mind. Though my mother never did anything creatively with her career, she had this hidden talent that I was able to see at this time in my life that really clung onto me. Most of my childhood I would wake up early in the morning and sit on my bedroom floor making up projects for myself to do involving whatever I could find in the house, which would mostly consist of too much printer paper, random glue, cheap paint, and whatever markers and crayons bought for the school year. Read more>>

C Niambi Steele

I was born into life as the great-great-granddaughter of a slave on my mother’s side … My introduction to her side of the family came about as the result my being placed in the care of her parents,
my grandparents, as my mother became a part of the pre-and post-WWII migration of Blacks from the South … So,in one way, even though I’m a post-WWII baby, emerging into the boom of the 1950’s and the modernity of it , the foundation of my life began in the traditions of a people only one generation from that vile institution of humans owning humans … Read more>>

Matt Larocque

I’ve always been creative/artsy ever since I was a little kid. I always had good grades in school and never had an issue with classes like math or science, but I never enjoyed them. Often times my way of taking notes was just doodling in my notebook or writing song ideas out. Of course the only way to make money these days seems to be in the trades, medical, or engineering fields, all of which I find boring. So of course the things I am good at such as art, music, film, and design are all severely underpaid and practically require you to go viral before anyone will take you seriously or pay your worth, despite these things being everywhere in everyday life. But I’d rather do something I love than be miserable forever even though I’d have a little more peace of mind with some extra cash. Read more>>