Artistic and creative careers are among the most rewarding, but they also come with unique challenges. We asked some of the city’s best creatives to tell us why they choose to pursue a creative career.

Avaryana Rose

I have always been creative, for as long as I can remember, I was always the kid reading a book in class while we were supposed to be doing homework. I briefly picked up art, until I became enamored with the idea of being an actress. Once I tried it, I immediately fell in love, and have been since. Read More>>

Sofia Riccio

Growing up, I was very shy and introverted. Talking to people and communicating verbally wasn’t something that I felt comfortable doing. In 24 years I’ve come pretty far out of my shell but those shy tendencies are still part of who I am. As a cinematographer, the job is fifty percent verbal and fifty percent visual. Read More>>

Jim Callans

Creativity wasn’t something I chose — it was the environment I grew up in. My mother’s side of the family had a number of artists, so making things, whether that was visual art, assembling models, or building skateboard ramps, felt like a natural endeavor from a very early age. Read More>> 

Aly Fabrizio

As a child, I was always very creative. I used to lug my Hello Kitty boombox into the dining room and perform ‘Complicated’ by Avril Lavigne for my family, and then tell them about how I was going to move to Hollywood to be like her. Read More>>

James Lambert

Ever since I took my first dance class, I knew that this is what I wanted to do! From that moment it immideatly pulled me in. The feeling that dance constantly provides is totally unique and can’t be quantified. Read More>>

Nicola Fan

I grew up in Hong Kong under the rigorous British education system, in which memorisation and copious amount of assignments defined my younger years. So daydreaming and drawing became a therapeutic process and a form of escapism from my daily life. Read More>>

 Jay Rosa

In many ways, I believe that I didn’t choose the artistic/creative career. Truly, I believe it had chosen me. I had begun writing my autobiography, inspired by my best friend & partner Bridget Haddath titled “The 1st 25”. Upon reflection & introspection of the early steps of what morphed & formed my career the signs of the seedlings growth already begun when I was about the age of 2 with my mum playing MTV & Read More>>

 Brendon O’Halloran

It feels less like something I pursue and more like it’s just who I am, so that’s what I do. I have a low tolerance for monotony and mundane, so the jobs I gravitate towards often are more unusual and eccentric . I want to do what I love and love what I do, keeps the motivation high. good for the soul. I think we all have this creative spark and it just depends on how much you focus on it and feed it. I love being creative and being involved in artistic things. Music, drawing, carpentry, building objects. on and on. Anything can be a creative endeavor, you can be artistic digging a hole. Read More>>

 Tigran Martirosyan

I never intentionally pursued an artistic or creative career — it found me through my life long experiences in work and sports.

I was introduced to martial arts at four years old, and from that moment, combat sports became my first language. Every discipline I trained in — full contact karate, boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, MMA — demanded constant perseverance, adaptation, and expression under pressure. Creativity wasn’t optional; it was required to survive and improve. Read More>>