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.

Bella Corich | Music Producer / Engineer

My mother always tells me that from before I could even speak I was interested in sounds. Ambulance sirens, commercial jingles, stranger’s coughing on the street , the announcement bell on the train; whatever noise I heard around me (as strange as it might have sounded) I would mimic it. Read more>>

Level Tattoo | Private licensed Tattoo Artist

Although I have been doing art since a very young age I never considered pursuing it as a career. I was raised to believe that a safe career was the best choice and art was just a hobby, not something that I could make money doing. I went into college as an engineering major, thinking I wanted to be a systems engineer. After a year I switched to finance because I hated engineering but still felt I had to pick a “safe” path. Soon after that switch was made I started tattooing. I never really had a thought of wanting to intentionally pursue tattooing, it sort of just found me. Read more>>

PJ Germain | Writer / Director

I’ve always been creative, even at the earliest age. I spent quite a bit of time drawing characters and role playing with toys and action figures. I remember I think at the age of 5, I used my parents gigantic VHS Camcorder to shoot stop-motion scenes with my toys. A lot of car races and things like that. My interest slowly just built over time and I started writing short stories and getting really in depth into filmmaking. It was definitely a way to escape from whatever was going on in my life. There were a lot of ups and downs, and I used creativity to shield myself from it. Read more>>

Kari Lane | Vintage & Upcycled Clothing Shop Owner

My earliest experiences with sports were being smacked in the head with a football and scoring a goal on the opponent’s net. I was born into a sports-loving family. But I found grace in the expression of creativity that art and crafting gave me. Art was something that I was enamored with at a very young age. My basement had a full craft room that my mom stocked with everything you could imagine to create with. My nana went by crafty Nana Lane and did craft shows most of her life. I took on dressing my dolls in endless outfits draping fabric and styling their homes as my main medium of choice. I started taking sewing classes when I was 9 and had dreams of attending the project runway school Parsons School of Design in NYC shortly after the start of 6th grade. Now I get to dress my clients and send them off with decor to decorate their own space! Read more>>

lucia Tarantino | Actress – Writer

Many different aspects led me on a creative pathway. It wasn’t just one thing. When I was young, I had a speech impediment. I also struggled with reading, and because of this, I did not read as much as my peers. Instead, I would lose myself in films and television. I am naturally curious about why people do what they do in certain situations, so I would daydream a lot in school, creating all kinds of fantasy worlds and places in my head. Mixing that with my natural curiosity about why people do what they do in certain situations. Read more>>

Sisse Marie Soeby | Artist and Actress

To be honest, it didn’t feel like a choice. I started my professional career at 13, so I never thought about doing anything else. I love the process of creating. From nothing, we can create everything. Read more>>

Janie Rounds | Actor

Growing up as an only child can be very fun but also lonely. I was an odd child and didn’t much care for being around people because I felt they wouldn’t understand me. One of the things that made me feel less lonely was movies and T.V. shows. I could always find a movie that expressed exactly how I felt on the inside or if I was sad there was always a go to show that would take me right out of my world and put me in one I actually wanted to be in. It seems strange now as an adult with friends and my own place. Read more>>

Annie Schindel | Singer/Songwriter

Like most artists, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. Luckily I’m young enough and delusional enough to think it could work:) Growing up, I always loved getting lost in poetry, in songs, in stories— writing them, reading them, performing them. I have some learning differences that made school hard for me— I’d been in tutoring every day of the week for almost every academic subject since 2nd grade! But music was different—there was a sense of ease and freedom that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I ended up finding my voice and my confidence in writing and performing music. Read more>>

Jessica Harper | Microblading and PMU Expert

I have always played it safe with going to school, getting a career in the family business and just living for others. I met my husband when I was 19 and we got married by 21. He joined the US Airforce and we moved to Germany for three years then Illinois the next three. During these years I dedicated my life to my husband’s career. Long story short we decided to start a family and he got out of active duty so we can move home, closer to family. Fast forward 7 years we have three beautiful boys, ages 7, 6 and 2 1/2. So to answer the question… Read more>>

Destiny La Princess | Rapper/Actress/Writer

I can’t imagine doing anything else. For me, all other careers pale in comparison to the joy of creating art. Art of any kind really, but making movies, making music, writing pretty much anything, I simply can’t help it but to do so. It’s often where my mind goes, and it’s so much fun. Sure, sometimes it’s hard to create something or get that finished product out there, but the hard stuff doesn’t make me not think about it. I believe if the difficult aspects of pursuing a career do not dissuade a person from wanting that career, then you owe it to yourself to really go for it, as well as to all the other people it can benefit. Read more>>

Emoshun Campbell | Creative/ lowkey chemist

My pursuit for a Artistic/Creative career is because it’s something i feel like I’m meant to do. All my life from what i can remember from young , i always wanted to be a singer. As i grew older i started taking other interest in the creative world that still supported my career . Whether it was producing shows for artist of all kinds, building a business making & selling natural products . I knew whatever i did creatively weather it’s through my music and or business it had to be influential, inspiring, healing , and of help. Read more>>

Manya Welch | Creative Light Alchemist and Cosmic Blueprint Artist

I have always been creative and tuned in to higher consciousness, as an only child I would happily immerse myself in drawing, painting, and imaginative play as a child and would spend hours reading books and living adventures through the characters. Creativity is so important and despite that it’s a topic where I’ve seen it subtly be eliminated and placed in a box ‘do not open’, it has been replaced with academia, IT, formulas, processes and protocols that should be followed in a precise way. Read more>>