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.

Shelby Nicholas | Story Artist

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to tell stories in animation. Luckily, I had a very supportive mother who encouraged me to pursue this passion. As I learned more about the industry, my passion led to me to storyboarding in animation, due to my affinity for visual narrative, character behavior and emotion. Read more>>

Wenzhao Li | Interactive Media Artist

I am an Interactive Media Artist, passionate about creating captivating experiences that engage and immerse audiences. From a young age, I’ve been driven by curiosity and a strong desire to bring my ideas to life through creativity. While studying science initially seemed like a viable path, I soon realized it couldn’t fulfill my need for immediate visual expression. Read more>>

Pauline Hacopian | Visual Artist & Muralist

I never thought of doing art as a career. I always drew in sketchbooks or painted when I was younger. During the pandemic, when everything was shut down, I decided to paint for fun and to essentially help my anxiety. So I decided to create an Instagram page just for my art. I followed some artists that I like and in 2021 I came across an organization that was having an art contest for a Mural. They chose my design, and I painted my first mural. I loved seeing the communities reaction and wanted to get more involved within the community. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to pursue a creative career. Since then, I have painted a few other murals, I painted a utility box for the city of Burbank and have been in a few group art shows. Read more>>

Marvo TheMartian | Artist & Actor

I decided to pursue a music career based off of a lot of events in my life. Me knowing I’ve had something very special from a very tender age and watching & studying my favorite performers like MJ, Chris Brown & Usher have inspired me to do what I do today. Actually it’s something I still do to this day! And they are some huge shoes to fill but I believe in myself! Read more>>

Sean Ev | Musical Artist & Brand Owner

My passion for artistry began young when I was 9 years old when I wrote my first rap. I just knew since then I wanted to be a creative & I wanted to be an inspiration to my friends & even further the world. Read more>>

Sophie (Liang Yun) Lin | Artist

I think it just naturally came within me. My father was a brilliant writer and my mom was a designer, I grew up surrounded by art, literature and loving supportive environment. There are art pieces and books everywhere in our house. My father loved to take us on hiking or get closer to nature when we were free from school — we’d picked a place to sit after a long hike, usually on a giant rock or just underneath the trees, and started creating together. Read more>>

Cory Showtime” Robinson | Comedian

Ignorance? Naivety? But honestly tho, it probably comes from my mother. She was a teacher but she was also an artist, sculptor, and photographer. I was bound to get some creativity thru either genetics or osmosis. I joke about ignorance and naivety because artists and creatives are among the worst paid professions. But the beauty of getting involved in the arts is that there’s no time limit to your success. Hell, the phrase “you’re nobody til somebody kills you” has never been more appropriate because artists are always the most popular right after they pass away. Read more>>

Yvonne Bellido | Photographer & Creative

I decided to pursue a creative career when I was in college. I have never given photography much thought growing up. Cameras were always around when my grandmother was in town and my mother always wanting to capture our memories. In high school I was mostly trying out for Choir and my extend of creativity was on my Instagram. Circa 2015, were everyone was trying to emulate the best theme on their feed. And I was on the mission to have the most aesthetically pleasing look through photos. The camera at hand was my iPhone 5, passed down from my uncle, and it was the start of a little seed planted for something bigger to come. Read more>>

Eric Renard Renard | Fine Art Photographer / Creative Director (Advertising)

I didn’t set out to pursue an artistic career but I found them. It was more of an evolution than a revolution. The schools I attended were liberal arts and required a balance of math, science, language and the arts. While I enjoyed the art classes, I didn’t intend on being a Creative Director or a fine art photographer at that time. Read more>>

Krish Thakkar | Filmmaker

For me coming from India becoming a filmmaker was a deeply personal and rewarding journey that involved the fusion of creativity, storytelling, and a passion for the art of visual communication. There are various reasons why people choose to embark on this path, and for me, it was a combination of innate fascination, a desire to evoke emotions, and a longing to capture the human experience. From an early age, I found solace in the world of films. They transported me to different realms, evoked profound emotions, and allowed me to view the world through a unique lens. The power of storytelling through moving images fascinated me, and I yearned to be a part of this magical process, where narratives were brought to life and shared with audiences across the globe. Read more>>

Petros Boyadzhyan | Freelance Violinist and Educator

I come from a family of musicians. Stemming from my grandfather and his brothers, down to my dad and uncles, and now to me, music has always been a part of our identity. My passion for music and the arts started from a very young age. I spent my childhood going to violin lessons, spending hours a day practicing, going to competitions, playing in recitals, joining youth orchestras and performing on big stages. I loved seeing my father and uncles perform on stage and it was inspiring how much pure joy and love they had for music and entertaining. It was inevitable that music would be a part of my career in one shape or form. Read more>>

Cameron SHIZUO” Lee-Sung | Music Composer for TV

I’ve always been fascinated by the importance of music and sound design in visual storytelling. There is a special moment when a song transcends a scene in a film or TV show, where the combination of sound and visuals work in harmony, creating an emotion leaving the viewer with a forever-lasting memory. Read more>>

Kassandra Vizcaino | Baker

As a child I was always very creative. My parents would take my siblings and I to painting classes and I absolutely loved it. I also loved to draw, I had sketch books where I would draw, I would paint designs on my walls, anything to do with that, I was into it. Once I started baking I found that I could still bring my artistic side to my career, Read more>>

Shunta Hutchins | Educator & Business Woman

I pursued a creative way to work because of my upbringing. I was not as fortunate as children around me and I believe life isn’t a one size fit all approach. You must be creative and think outside the box to reach different people on distinguished levels. My creativity inspires me as well as my community. It allows me to get out there and help give back in a positive way. Love Life Photo Booths L. A. , we believe in “Giving the Gift of Smiling”! Read more>>

Jia Russo | Social Media Manager

A long time ago, I had a quick conversation with my father about what I possibly wanted to be when I grew up. I said maybe a pharmacist because at the time I was taking a chemistry class in high school. I enjoyed the class, I was good at doing the work, and it could turn into a stable career. It ended up stumbling into a reality a bit faster than I expected and wasn’t really sure. I went to UF going to pre-pharmacy. Read more>>

Anjali Kamran | Student

Ever since I was a little girl I loved playing dress up, especially with my moms and grandmas clothes. One year on a trip to visit my great-grandmother, she tied a Saree, a traditional Indian dress, on me sparking my love for Indian clothing. As an Indian American, I struggled to fit in with my American peers at school and Indian family at home. I turned to clothes to be able to express both parts of who I am. From the simple pairing of jhumkas, Indian earrings, with jeans I continued to wear my culture, proud to show it off to the world. My dream is to create an IndoWestern brand that merges the gap between east and west. Read more>>

Brittany Marcotte | Stuntwoman

I like to believe that my career has chosen me versus me choosing this path. Everything I’ve done in life, has essentially led me to having a career in the movie/TV industry as a professional stuntwoman. When I was younger, I couldn’t imagine making a living from riding and racing dirt bikes. I’ve always been very athletic and competitive so naturally when I started to race dirt bikes, I’ve always had a ‘never quit’ attitude. I think that is what made me successful in anything I pursued. I’m truly living my dream! Read more>>

MANOELA WUNDER | Musician (multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter)

When I was about 10 years old, I played a solo violin concerto with my hometown orchestra in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the end of the concert, an elderly woman approached me crying and thanked me for my moving performance. I remember telling my grandmother in that moment that I wanted to be a violinist because I wanted to touch people the way I had touched this woman I had never met. Read more>>

Meet Misha | FKMTATTOO

I find immense fulfillment in the process of creating something tangible, bringing an abstract idea to something permanently etched on someone’s skin. From a hazy concept swirling in the mind to a tattoo that tells a story. Read more>>

Kersteen A Anderson | Artist

I was always making things as a child, like many of my artist and creative fellows, and because I didn’t know you could do it for a living or be paid, wanted to be a doctor. My parents squashed that (because they knew that wasn’t my passion) Read more>>

Linqing Iris Liu | Sound Mixer

Pursuing an artistic career is answering my calling. I always knew my career would be in some creative field. My mother is a huge movie fan and my father is obsessed with literature. I was born an empath. It feels natural for me to express my thoughts and emotions through artistic means. I started painting and a journal at a very young age. Read more>>

Majiye Uchibeke | Director/Producer

I pursued an artistic career because of my deep-rooted love for storytelling, which began in my home country, Nigeria. I was raised amidst rich culture and tradition that filled me with stories waiting to be told. I was drawn to the power of film and its potential to create social change and open up cultural exploration. I see film as a medium to communicate powerful messages, challenge stereotypes, and highlight underrepresented narratives that are often overlooked. Read more>>

Joseph Bartone | filmmaker, composer, writer

I met my first best friend, Todd Benson, in kindergarten. I was struggling with drawing a window. He showed me I first make a box, then I add a cross in the center and that makes all four panes at once. I was stupified. He went on to be a celebrated painter. But as fate would have it he fell from his 6th floor warehosue studio in a tragic accident and perished at 28. I was an electronic guitarist at that time, very much interested in sonics. His death taught me that life is unbearably short, and I should spend it making art. Not waiting till I can afford to live the life I always wanted. Read more>>

Bruno De Witt Zanotto | Sports Photographer & Videographer

I decided to pursue this as my career because I truly have a passion for capturing sports moments for it to last forever, rather if its to share it with friends in social media or just to have it for you for memory to last for ever. I started as hobby taking photos of my son playing club soccer, never in a million years if you would have told me 5 years ago I would be taking photos & video of ones of the biggest athletes and sports team in the world, such as Lebron James, Douglas Costa, Cover the LA Galaxy, LAFC, the Mexican National team and interview one of Brazil’s biggest soccer legends Roberto Carlos, I would say that you was crazy. Read more>>

Michelle Emami | Master of Fine Arts/Fine Arts Instructor

I don’t really know why I pursed an artistic career. I just know that art has always been a part of my life since I could remember. Growing up, I struggled a lot in school and art was my only outlet. My parents couldn’t afford to sign me up for art classes so instead my mother, who was going to college to become a nurse, took art classes as part of her electives and would come home to teach me what she learned. Even now, I still use art as an outlet or a way to escape from reality. Read more>>

Lilach Mendelovich | Acting & Audition Coach

I’ve always loved the performing arts. I feel like most actors have that story of them as a little kid putting on plays in the living room… that was definitely me. I also got bored very easily. No other hobby was able to hold my interest, except acting and directing. I loved that each role was so different, each story something new to explore. And once I got a taste of it I couldn’t imagine spending my life doing a job that was the same every single day. Read more>>

Leila, William Perry, Nicol | The HolyCuts

Leila: I really had no choice. I don’t think I’d be happy or fulfilled if I didn’t express myself creatively. I always wrote songs and put on plays and performances as a kid. It’s a soul urge. When I don’t create and allow my expression to flow I start getting physically stiff and frustrated. When I open up my channel and express, my body and soul feel better, freer, lighter. It’s literally a path to healing for me. Read more>>