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.

Victoire Douy | Senior Designer

I was lucky growing up with a family that encouraged me to create in every shape or form possible. Everyone around me was creative. I’ve been blessed with a twin who also loved to draw, and we could spend entire days drawing and inventing stories. I think this helped me later in life to pursue a creative career. Read more>>

Tingwei Liu | Outsourcing Artist

During the first 22 years of my life, I primarily studied as a science/engineering student, a path considered stable and correct in my country. Working hard and following the rules, you can secure a career that is respected by society and guarantees a stable income. However, beyond my academic pursuits, I have always been passionate about creative activities such as drawing and graphic design. Engaging in these activities not only improves my skills but also brings me joy, especially when others appreciate what I create. Moreover, creative work helps me focus and provides a sense of fulfillment that I value more than the monetary rewards of a conventional job. Read more>>

Ryan Deweese | Freelance Trumpet Player, Music Educator, Founder – RAD Jazz Orchestra

The decision to pursue a career as a musician came fairly organically. Both of my parents studied music in college and while neither of them ended up pursuing a full-time performer path, their knowledge of what it took to be a musician at the highest level was a substantial influence on me and helped me decide to follow this career path. Another reason I decided to pursue music is the community of musicians and friends that I get to work with on a daily basis. To be able to perform with musicians at a high level that care about each other as people just as much as they care about the music is truly inspiring and drives me to work that much harder on my craft.  Read more>>

Dj Aphro-di | Veteran & Student

Future Funk is a sample heavy genre that is pulls from black and brown music from the 70’s and 80’s. Disco. House. R&B.
I had always been a self-described student of music. When I looked into who the demographics of who was producing future funk I was blown away. The average popular future funk producer is between 17 and 21 and 7 out of 10 of them reside outside of the United States at the time of writing. To me: That meant that the music my granddaddy used to play for me in his Cadillac lives on. Read more>>

Kevin Marcus | Film and Documentary Writer/Producer?Director

Most people see the world around them and take it at face value. That can mean different things to different people, but the common theme is that things are accepted as “thats the way things are”. As a very young child, I was curious about WHY things are the way they are: the cultural norms we have, the clothes we wear, the way we talk, the technology we have. For my entire life, I’ve wanted to uncover the meaning behind, well, everything! This curiosity also extends to the natural world, and all of it coalesces together in a swirling mass in my brain and drives me to be the storyteller that I’ve worked to become. I love to tell purposeful stories through the written word and visual media. Read more>>

Tasha Sylvera | Public Health Professional & Content Creator

I pursued a creative career to further develop my passion for editing and storytelling, while also chronicling my life through a digital album I could look back on and eventually share with my kids. In a world where we’re often pressured to monetize our passions, creating content has been a way for me to enjoy the process without the weight of deadlines or outside opinions. That said, I now feel ready to explore opportunities for monetizing my platform while maintaining that creative freedom. Read more>>

Emma Steiger | Actor, Producer, Writer, Director

I feel immensely grateful to have grown up in an artistic family. My father was a screenwriter and producer. My mother was a dancer and painter. My siblings dabbled in all forms of art between photography, music, poetry, and that doesn’t even cover everything! When I was younger I was thrown into a multitude of extra curricular activities, my favorites being theatre and dance. It didn’t take me too long to recognize that my artistry was a way to process the things that were happening in my life. Read more>>

Rick Son | Pianist & Composer

My musical journey began subtly, emerging naturally without anyone forcing it on me. It was one of the first things I truly devoted myself to, pouring effort and love into it. Once I recognized this passion, I knew I wanted to pursue music as a path. I aspired to be a composer above all else, captivated by the beauty of expressing my emotions and ideas through this graciously exquisite art form. Read more>>

Britten Wrong | Musician/Rapper

I feel like it’s important for people to have an outlet to express themselves, or even just have a way to let off some steam because life can be stressful. For me, I always liked the idea of creating something from nothing and putting it out into the world. I feel like human beings are meant to make things, and my art is my contribution. It’s important to me to leave a mark. Read more>>

Elisa Lucía | Actress

I don’t think I ever decided to become an artist, I think I have always been one, as cliche as that sounds. I was always doing something artistic growing up, whether that was dancing or painting. Turning my passion for art into a career was a no brainer, the hard part is making a living out of it. When it came to deciding what I wanted to do for school, pursuing art was all that made sense to me. I like to think that there is art in everything, as I have always felt artistically inclined in everything that I experience. I grew up in a household that strongly encouraged me to try and pursue different things, so I was fortunate enough to find acting as what moves me the most as a person and as an artist. Read more>>

Charles Benoit | Fashion/Portrait Photographer

I pursued a creative career because I couldn’t imagine living any other way. I love that art is something that I can never stop getting better at or run out of new perspectives to learn more, just to be able to do this as a living is a blessing. Read more>>

Heidy Gondola | Professional Makeup Artist

When I was a teenager I didn’t have many nice things but I did have the most luxurious makeup thanks to my aunts working at Dior makeup counter!I fell in love with makeup and it was the only thing I was really good at. My friends would ask me to do their makeup to go to the mall and for prom and I loved every moment of it. I googled how to be a makeup artist when I was 13 year old, I was interested in how Makeup artist make money. This was in 2008 so times were much different than now. I knew I always wanted something fun with cool environments since I’ve always had a strong dislike towards boring or strict environments. Read more>>

Chris Wirsig | Composer, Songwriter, Producer

Music always played an important part in my life. I remember that already in my childhood I was fascinated by music and sound, and later on I had the feeling that I want to produce these sounds myself. I became interested in the full process of music production – from writing the first notes to being in the studio, recording and mixing it. I wanted to be a part of this journey from the blank page up to the technical aspects in the studio. That’s why I studied Audio Engineering after my basic music education. Read more>>

Liz Levin | Artist

My mentor, artist photographer, Sharon Yaari told me, “If there is anything else you can do other than be an artist, do it.” I have often discussed this idea with my fellow artist friends. It’s not that we can’t do anything else, but we don’t feel fulfilled if we aren’t making art. Futhermore, making art isn’t enough. It needs to be a central part of my life. I was told by a Professor in undergraduate school that my life is my art. I see the two as inseparable.
When I was younger I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer, so I worked hard to make that happen and get into my dream school, Parsons. Read more>>

Alyssa Zamora | Gaming & Lifestyle Content Creator

Originally, I just wanted a creative outlet outside of my main role as an English teacher. Then, it just morphed into a way that also has become a form of healing and self-care. Now I create content to inspire others to do the same. Read more>>

Kyro Davis | Theatre artist that centers black transness and queerness. A storyteller through the stage from acting, writing, and dancing.

I wanted to pursue an artistic career because this is my calling. I’ve grown up in the world of theatre all my life and I understand the gift that I have to offer to the world and I am actively choosing to do what I love. Read more>>

Austin Smagalski | Independent Film Director & Television Editor

As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to make movies. As a kid I told my anyone who would listen that I was going to be a filmmaker someday and would daydream elaborate trailers for the films I wanted to make (several including Godzilla). As the years went on, people started taking me more seriously. When my final film project in high school couldn’t be screened because of an export error, I rented out the local theater for a morning and showed my film. It was a small thing, but life-changing. Years later, I would premiere my first feature Donovan Reid at SF Indiefest and a second feature, TO DIE ALONE, that would go on to win awards including several for “Best Feature.” But really, it all goes back to that daydreaming kid. Read more>>

Haleh Mashian | Artist & Owner of MASH Gallery

When I am being creative, I am being aligned with God, the divine, a higher intelligence…or whatever other name you want to give it. It’s very pleasurable and invigorating when I am in that creative space. It’s being in the moment and living courageously. It’s a journey to figure out who I am through self-expression. I feel like my path of creativity takes me to my inner being, and puts me in touch with the essence of life that is bliss. Read more>>

Edgar Perez Peña | Visual Artist & Professor

Art has always played an important part of my entire youth and adult life and I’m glad as well grateful that the idea of stopping never came to mind. Growing up in the neighboring cities of Los Angeles such as Maywood, Huntington Park and Boyle Heights (by Estrada Courts) served as my informal introduction to art, specifically murals before having access to museums and galleries. Many of them were located in parks, my school, side walls of liquor stores and the alleys. Every time I would walk past a mural or drive by one my eyes would be locked. Such as the “We Are Not a Minority”, mural created by Mario Torero, Rocky, El Leon and Zade as well the Chicano Moratorium mural created by ASCO. Read more>>

Nemanja Zdravkovic | Wedding Photogrpaher

The eternal desire to play from an early age just continued in later life, but only this time pursuing an artistic or creative career allows me to play and engage deeply with my emotions. 
Read more>>

Natalia Buenrostro | Hair and Makeup Artist

As a child I always loved makeup and fashion, I grew up with two older sisters so I was always up to date with pop culture in the 2000’s and I just loved seeing all these celebrities and models with beautiful makeup and hair done especially for photoshoots or music videos. When I was a kid I remembering my eldest sister watching America’s Next Top Model i was so obsessed with the transformation process and I think something clicked in me from there because then I remember being in elementary school begging my mom to allow me to dye my hair or even play with makeup but good thing she didn’t because of course I was too young, but still I knew what I wanted since a child. Read more>>

Rivers Langley | Stand-Up Comedian & Podcaster

I really do think the 2007-2008 financial crisis did a number on folks my age. Creative people who may have been corralled into more traditional career paths no longer had that option. It’s Hunter S. Thompson’s old axiom: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro”. I graduated college with a liberal arts degree in 2009. There was never going to be a conventional career path for me. I worked at my college radio station for all four years at Auburn University. That’s where I got a deep love and appreciation for broadcasting. Then, when I started doing stand-up, I wasn’t funny yet but at least I knew mic control. Read more>>

Leo Testoni | Guitarist and Music Educator

I believe that, often, music chooses us. I was very young, around 9 or 10, when I saw my dad playing alongside a bass player with a massive upright bass. I turned to my mom and said, “I want to be a musician. I want to do that.” That was the beginning of my journey. More than 25 years have passed since, and I’m still driven to study, share my music, and continue learning from other performers and educators. Read more>>

Avi Castellanos | Singer/songwriter/producer

I chose to go down an artistic path for my career and in general embody the lifestyle of an artist for many reasons. For one, it’s always been something I’ve felt comfortable doing since a very young age. It was one of the first ways I could really express something to myself and really dive into introspection and self-reflection. Writing, on top of singing and playing instruments, has been a form of therapy and exploring the dialogue that goes on in my head every day. I remember when I was really young, around like 8 or 9 years old, I used to make “pretend albums” – as in I would write entire track-lists, draw cover artwork and eventually started to write sheet music to the ideas I had floating around in my head. Read more>>

Sharon Hernandez | Balloon Artist & Dancer

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, I, like many others, found myself without a job. I was living my dream as a dancer at the Disneyland Resort, doing what I love most—dancing! With a background in the arts, I have always had a deep appreciation for creativity in all its forms. Faced with uncertainty about the future, I made a conscious decision not to wait idly for things to change. Instead, I ventured into the world of balloon art, inspired by YouTube tutorials and a wealth of ideas from Pinterest. Read more>>

Janet Martinez | Fashion Content Creator

I have always found myself in search of ways to express myself creatively and artistically . From a very early age I was writing poems and stories. Participating in school plays, and talent shows. Painting and diy projects you name it, but my biggest form of self expression through art is fashion. Fashion to me is like storytelling, I write a poem, a story with every look. Fashion to me is like my diy projects, I take things and make them my own. Fashion to me is like a talent show, with every outfit post I present a new talent. Creating different looks and styles that reflect who I am and how I am feeling and being able to share that with others is all I ever dreamed of doing in this life. Read more>>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more>>