Deciding to pursue an artistic or creative career path isn’t for the faint of heart. Challenges will abound, but so many of the artists we speak with couldn’t be happier with their choice. So, we asked them about how they made the decision in the first place.

Roberto Ordonez Hoyo | Photographer and actor

I think I have a very creative mind and a wild imagination. I like to think outside the box with a shock value. Read more>>

Joy Jaramillo Hensel | Artist/Designer

I actually worked in Corporate America for 20 years and created on the side for myself and loved ones. After having my daughters (Hope and Liberty) I began to question what it was I wanted to do with my time. I spent more time at work then with my family and when I did get home from work I was tired and mentally drained. Read more>>

Tyree Robinson | Fashion Instructor & Creative Entrepreneur

I chose a creative career because I have always been passionate about the fashion industry. Growing up, being very crafty and resourceful, people would ask me what they should wear, or if things matched. Eventually, I started going through closets, matching pieces and helping friends and family get ready. Read more>>

Nish Cancarla | Writer. Director. Producer

I originally worked in Marketing. I chose marketing because I thought it would allow me to work in a creative environment while not having to be a starving artist. But I quickly realised I was just making up stories for companies to sell stuff I don’t really care about. Read more>>

Ryan Shannon | Film Editor & Storyteller

Like many before me, I was raised on a mix of video games and classic animated movies. I was instantly enamored with the immense sense of wonder present in movies like Treasure Planet, The Road to El Dorado, and especially Up. What I had yet to discover was how important the vulnerability of their characters was in connecting me to the whimsy of their worlds. Read more>>

Underrated Evolution | Music Group

We all were naturally attracted to music because of our different cultures and upbringing. We always explored different aspects of music like producing, sound design, and videography. Once the pandemic hit we were locked in on campus and started making music at the studio. Read more>>

NURD | Singer, Songwriter, Creative

I pursued an career in music because to be honest it was a calling. I have always sang in choir as a kid from 3 until I was 18 years old. I have always loved music but I never thought I was good enough to make t professionally . Until one of my friends who was a producer heard me singing and was like ” Yo’ you have a beautiful voice and a sound that is unique!” Read more>>

Charlie T. Savage | Screenwriter and Producer

I’ve always aimed to share the stories of black women, narrated by black women themselves. As a screenwriter and producer, it’s crucial to me that both our happy moments and our challenges get equal attention, and that everyone gets to learn about both sides. There are times when it seems like only the difficult parts are highlighted when we’re not the ones sharing. Read more>>

Ash T | Actor & Standup Comedian

“Everyone dies, but not everyone really lives”.
I once walked the halls of the renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, donning the white coat of a physician. My days were filled with patients, research, and accolades. Read more>>

Alicia Hauff | Photographer/videographer/content creator

I’ve always been more creative and find most joy in it and being my own boss. I worked in animal shelters and vet clinics for awhile before learning to become a dog groomer which was nice and had that creativity aspect still but I wanted to go back to photography, which was something I had fallen in love with in my youth. Read more>>

Tom McCaffrey | An entertainment attorney and best selling author

I’m an attorney by profession. That paid for raising my family over 35 years. However, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Once my kids were grown and I had some extra time, I sat down and took a shot at writing a novel. That became my debut novel, The Wise Ass. Read more>>

Raisu Williams | Actor, Writer, Event Host

I want the chance to tell my story through my art and creative career. I grew up in a very unconventional way and everything about me is the exact opposite of the stereotypes so many people believe to be true about African American men. Read more>>

Ravin Goyal | LA-Based Professional Photographer

For me, pursuing an artistic career was never a choice. Rather, it was a passion I could not deny. Once I picked up the camera and started teaching myself how to use it, I knew that photography was my calling. As my interest evolved, I just wanted to keep learning. Read more>>

Kyle Michaels | film director

I don’t think that an artistic career is a choice, I believe it chooses you. Since I was a preteen I was always writing down scenes for movies based on experiences I had with my friends. I saved them all in boxes. Since it was before lap tops were popular I have old grocery bags, restaurant napkins, college ruled paper, anything I could find had story notes on it, just in case I would forget it later. Read more>>

Ira Sharma | Singer-Songwriter & Producer

As a child, I was always passionate about the arts and being able to pursue it as a career had always been a dream of mine especially since I looked up to global icons like Beyoncé and Rihanna. Being able to sing and write songs is a gift from God and to turn it into a full-time career, being a full-time recording artist. has always been a dream of mine. It is also a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. Read more>>

Eric Daniel | Artist & Designer

Do you believe in destiny? I do. Does that sound cliché? Maybe it does. When you have been an artist since 7 years old, there isn’t much choice. The way I look at the world through my eyes is always from an aerial point of view or from the outside looking in perspective. Read more>>

Andy Magro | Polyglot Actor & Voice-Over Artist

This is a very easy question to answer as this comes directly from my heart: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. I just love everything about this job. It´s not monotonous. You get the chance to learn new languages, new cultures, amazing new people and make lots of friends and colleagues. Read more>>

graham moore | Graphic/Mixed Media Artist, Educator

Since 10 yrs old i always showed an artistic flair, which i think came from my mother who was a draughts person, creating technical drawings in a studio on a naval base. I also went to a naval boarding school, where i could always be found in the arts building, drawing away! A big shout out to my art teacher mr. Jeff Brooks, who did nothing but encourage us in our artistic endeavours as students! Read more>>

Jessa Grace | Self Taught Clothing Designer

I am a lifelong creative with a passion for making things by hand. Ever since I can remember I have had the need to express myself through an artistic medium. I knew my future would involve self expression but I did not know in what capacity until one afternoon and a lightning bolt of inspiration. Read more>>

Silvana Jauja | Chef Silvana Jauja

From a very young age, I was passionate about cooking. My inspiration is my great grandmother. An extraordinary woman who had a large garden with plants, fruits and vegetables. This garden was magical. I learned how to prepare delicious food using fresh ingredients. Read more>>

Inancy Chery | Personal Chef

I have always been an artistic person. I get lost when I’m being creative and I’m in my own world. It’s so therapeutic for me. I started in fashion first I enjoyed styling for many years. Even though fashion will always have my heart it was stressful, not cooking. Read more>>

Lee Musgrave | Artist & Author

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night” – Edgar Allan Poe This unique quote has been a favorite of mine since I was a child for I was always day dreaming especially while drawing and painting. I got high on the feelings and emotions the art and my fantasies provoked within me. Read more>>

JP McDonald | Author

In this instance, I was the prey and the career was the hunter. It sought me out at such a young age with music and I was enraptured then and there. I began playing guitar, singing and composing my own songs all the way into adulthood where I mastered playing several instruments, playing in bands and touring occasionally. Read more>>

Elvia Aguirre | Teaching Artist and Resident Artist for Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural

Ever since I can remember I was always creating. My first exposure to art was the Lowrider magazine’s. I remember my first art technique was tracing images then eventually I began challenging my self by free-handing and drawing daily. For the age of 7-16 I was always sketching/doodling until I met- the art teacher on campus in high school and for the first time in my life I was working with paint. Read more>>

Donna Sheratan | Artist/Author

My destiny was set at age four while visiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This painting of Goya s reached out to me inspiring me to become an artist. The portrait has never left my mind since I first set eyes on it. Read more>>

Kaylin Mahoney | Comedian & Illustrator

I gotta follow my joy! When I was a kid, my dad told me he’d rather twist pencils in his eyes for 8 hours than go to work, and that traumatic share was all I needed to commit to having as much fun as possible with my career. Money comes and goes, but making things juices me up, and gives me the same feeling of nailing trampoline tricks in front of my crush, or like, winning a hot tub covered in rhinestones. Read more>>

Karen Kaysen | Realist Painter

I grew up in a family of creative people. My parents were writers and educators, and their circle of friends were musicians and visual artists. After graduating college, I moved to NYC, living a few blocks from Lincoln Center in an apartment building that housed aspiring dancers and opera singers. Read more>>

Cole Trafzer | Professional Ballroom and Latin Dancer, Yoga Instructor, Holistic Wellness Consultant

I believe anyone who is compelled to produce art into the world is a healer. I am very much big picture person, but not who is guided by a poetic tone, but things that have to make sense to me in my mind. Read more>>

Federica Carlino | Director/Casting Director

Because I learned at a very young age that I was more comfortable expressing myself through images, videos, and music, art is truly something that gave me the opportunity to reach more people and to let them know that what they feel is valid and that they are not alone in this journey. Read more>>

Donte’ Hawkins | Designer, Gamer & Collaborator

Growing up as kid, I always use to dabble in Thomas Kinkade paint by numbers, working on puzzles, creating custom soaps and other crafts! Besides those crafts in class, I would sometimes draw abstract drawings on the back of my spiral notebook. I had no idea what all of this meant at the time, but I look back now and see that this was the start of something very special. Read more>>

Heather Yesenia | Actress, Photographer, Artist

When I was younger I had a huge imagination, mostly because I wasn’t allowed to watch tv. Since I never owned one I never truly missed it, when I was a kid I live in Atlanta GA with my parents; I loved it because we were surrounded by nothing but trees. Read more>>

Yi-Chen Chiang | Film Composer and Music Editor

I think any creative mind would agree that pursuing your art and your passion isn’t really a choice. I love writing music and I love films, so I almost feel obligated to pursue a career that indulges that passion. That said, I do believe there’s more at stake than simply what I enjoy. Read more>>