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.

Bradley Verkaik | Freelance Concert & Wrestling Photographer

I pursue a creative career as it’s such an expressive way to show your true colors & nature. There’s no “fitting all your eggs in one basket” type scenarios whatsoever. Music, photography, art, mixed media, fashion, design, etc., all these things are all blended into one another & are all respected upon one another, so no matter what type of creativity you have, everyone is in this together like one big family. Read more>>

Jenelle Catherina | Professional Vocalist and Theatre Actress, Cosplayer, Freelance Writer, Avid Traveler and Aspiring Voice Actress

I didn’t know anything else, truly. I grew up with parents who were former singers/musicians and was raised on their favorite songs and stories of performing them and traveling the world. I started singing at family gatherings at 2 years old and I never really stopped.  Read more>>

Pluto Koi | Indie Bedroom Pop Artist

First of all, thank you for wanting to hear about my story! It’s hard to pinpoint a single reason why I do what I do. I just really like to create things and use art as an outlet to express myself. I’ve always loved making things. Read more>>

Montse Soto | Actress,singer, model and influencer

Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of Hollywood and cinema. I’ve always wanted to tell stories. I remember the first time I went to the cinema and realized that I wanted to be there. At the age of six, while watching the Oscars, I promised myself that someday I would win an Oscar as the best actress representing my country and all those girls who dream of being actresses. Read more>>

Muye Yu | Film music composer

My journey into becoming a film composer is underpinned by numerous motivations, with my profound love and passion for music leading the forefront. Starting piano lessons at the age of three, I’ve developed a deep connection to music and a desire to create original pieces that can evoke my emotions. Read more>>

Dinos Alvanos | Film Composer & Guitarist

I have always been fascinated by anything related to art, particularly the performing arts. Since my early childhood, I began taking music lessons and became involved in local theatrical productions, whether playing music, acting, or assisting behind the scenes. Read more>>

Alan Johnson | Stencil Artist & Painter

Became a Father and saw my art as a way to take care of my family, It was a ruff start began with doing a few silk screen t-shirts then started dabbling in stencils and spray paint and one day I saw Heath Ledgers picture as the joker and spent the next two days drawing and cutting his stencils and when i completed the painting it was the Joker and about two weeks later Heath passed away. Read more>>

Aaron Obenza | Working Professional, Ceramist, Sculptor, Doodler, and Bicycle Rider

While I currently do not rely on my art to sustain me financially, I sincerely believe that maintaining a creative practice has been detrimental to my mental well being. I left my full time artistic practice and have since shifted my work into a sort of social activism. Read more>>

Arpi Agdere Gaifedjian | Creative & Art Producer

I’ve harbored a singular passion throughout my life – the visual arts. From a tender age, I immersed myself in oil painting and drawing, gradually expanding my interests to encompass photography, film, and music. This journey led me to the Art Center College of Design, where I pursued a degree in Fine Art with a minor in photography. Read more>>

I-yang Huang | Design Technologist & Multidisciplinary designer

I often find myself attracted to understanding and improving the daily objects around myself for better user experiences. The focus is not about the general look and feel of objects at surface finish level but how they interact with people to support functions and solve day-to-day problems. Read more>> 

Erini Nomikos | Singer-Songwriter

Pursuing a creative career came pretty natural to me. Since I can remember art and creativity has been part of my life and it has become the way I express my self. Honestly I can’t think of a life where I am not exploring my artistic side and this is big part of the reason why I chose music as a career. Read more>>

Aaron Dsouza | Film Editor/Maker

When I was young, my mother was the one who introduced me to the world of movies and TV shows. Being from a theatre background herself, she always had a keen interest in the artistic and technical aspects of filmmaking. I was instantly drawn to it and spent all my time watching films and analyzing them in detail. Read more>>

Ejival . | Music producer, creative agent and all around good guy.

Throughout my life, creative endeavors such as films, theatre, art, design, and music have inspired and left a life-changing impact on me. Pursuing creativity as a career has been very challenging, due to the confidence and courage required. However, participating in this life experience has allowed me to meet like-minded individuals who have encouraged and inspired me to follow my creative pursuits. Read more>>

Yuji Huang | Visual Effects Artist

I aspire to be a Visual Effects artist because this job is like performing magic for the world. We are able to create highly believable shots that are able to trick audiences’ eyes yet bring a fascinating viewing experience to them. One day, I hope to be able to incorporate my artistic ideas into feature films for the world to see.  Read more>>

Nicole Schonitzer | Artist and Curator

I’ve taken on creative pursuits since I was a kid. Making physical objects and exercising creativity feel fundamental to existing for me. I envisioned numerous creative jobs for myself growing up, but in college I began to think about fine art more seriously as a career path. Read more>>

Archer McKnight | Actor

I knew I needed an outlet for my self expression. Living my life and denying myself my emotional and creative expressions began to feel like a weight dragging me down by my neck. Eventually, I had to commit to a creative life. I would’ve become a shell of myself if I never pursued art. Read more>>

Chencheng Liu | Graphic Designer

Since I was very young, probably in the first grade, I had an interest in digital layout/design. While most of my peers were hanging out in the playgrounds all day, my biggest hobby was to sit in front of the desktop at my grandmother’s house, open up PowerPoint, and try out all the templates, fonts, animations, etc. Read more>>

Isaac Schanno Johnson | Composer, Conductor, Music Director

It’s always been about the joy of making music for me. Even from a very early age it was always such a joyous activity to make music with other people. Still to this day there’s such a magical feeling whenever I get to make music with other musicians, especially when they’re as excited about making music as I am and or when they are more skilled musicians than I am. Read more>>

Grant Maloy Smith | Songwriter and Recording Artist

Because music has always meant so much to me, I wanted to share my music with others, with the hope that it would inspire at least some of them to do the same. If we all made more music the world would be a better place. Read more>>

Maurizio Vidrio | Artist

The reason I chose to pursue a music career is simply because I love listening to music. Anyone who really knows me knows that I always have music playing and it’s always something different, such as 70’s Rock, Opera, or Indie Pop. I make music for myself, even though it’s nice to have an audience, I know that I like what I make, and if others like it that’s great as well. Read more>>

Meka Reed | #1 Best selling author of the book ‘My Dot Matters’

I pursued a creative career because of the freedom it gives me. I started my career as most of us do, working 9am to 5pm, and quickly began to realize that I would rather be doing something else with my time. I felt unfulfilled and I believed that working in a more creative field would allow me to use more of my talents – acting, directing, creating stories and writing – than sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day. Read more>>

Megan Taylor | Musician, composer, performer..

Music is my favorite thing in the entire world and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve been drawn to anything and everything music since before I can even remember. I believe it’s important to do what you love every single day. I made the decision to follow my heart and my passion, which truly has brought an abundance of joy into my life. Read more>>

Cle’era Hollingsworth | Act0r & Storyteller

As a little girl I remember I always enjoyed performing, whether it was coming up with a choreography and showing it to my family or dressing up as a character and reenacting a scene from a film or tv show. My mom put me in dance classes when I was 5 and I was in and out of dance classes through out my childhood but the passion for storytelling with my body never went away. Read more>>

Starry Ye | Documentary Filmmaker & Post Pro

From a very young age, I found myself deeply fascinated by the art of storytelling. Around the age of 14, I began writing for newspapers, and over the years, this experience honed my passion for seeking the truth. Read more>>

Yang Fei | Film Producer

I’ve always been drawn to the art of storytelling, a passion that ignited in me as early as kindergarten. Winning a storytelling competition at that age sparked my imagination, leaving my parents amused by my creativity. This early fascination with narrative continued to grow. Read more>>

Cierra Nicholson | Muralist, Artist & Fiber Artist

I was never really good at anything else. All the other subjects in school I would struggle or fall behind. But Art just clicked for me, I didn’t have to think about it. Read more>>

Arden Alexa | Recording Artist, Singer/Songwriter

To be completely honest, there was never really any other option. As cliché as that sounds, that is how I’ve always felt. Despite knowing that a career in the entertainment business would be uncertain and difficult and brutal, there was never anything else I wanted to do. Read more>>

Ahmed Mohamed | Associate FX Artist

Like many, I loved to draw growing up. I used to be the kid in the back of the classroom using their time to sketch rather than focus on what the teachers talked about. It was very evident that I enjoyed certain subjects with emphasis on creative freedom more than others. Read more>>

Koichi Macgregor | Brawn Tattoo Model

The main reason I wanted to pursue my artistic career is to inspire and have a positive outlook on the world with sharing my vision through my eyes with photos and videos to promote individuality and inspiration with my modeling and tattoos with being a plus size male in the industry with a artistic outlook and promoting mental health awareness. Read more>>

Andrés E. Marthe | Supervising Sound Editor & Sound Designer

My earliest memories of a creative journey started since a young age, being drawn to movies. I lived close to a movie theater and my grandfather had a collection of the Disney’s classics, which he played for me every Sunday after I sneaked into his house and begged him to put one on the VHS player. Read more>> 

Pooja Venkatachalam Kumar | Illustrator and Designer

Growing up in the vibrant, tropical town of Tirupati in South India, art was my first love. However, in a society where academic achievements, particularly in sciences and engineering, are highly valued, pursuing art as more than just a hobby seemed like a distant dream. Read more>>

Bless Kim | Makeup Artist

When I was in undergrad, I was working a job that really did not fit me. It was a struggle to get up in the morning and I felt no joy in this position. Through that experience, I realized that if I did not find a job that I was actually interested in and fulfilled with, a big portion of my life could be spent feeling miserable. Read more>>

Julia Maixer | Cinematographer

From a very young age, I recognized my innate affinity for artistic expression, initially through painting and drawing. Even in my formative years, I was able to achieve several art awards at just 6 and 10 years old when competing for my local town art competitions. Read more>>

Davy McCall | Filmmaker and Professor

I had what I call an “early life crisis.” When I was 18, I studied psychology as an undergraduate at Chico State. Despite my love for Psychology, I found myself getting exhausted by the reading, research, papers, and science. Read more>>

Hope Mothersbaugh | Chinese-American Designer & Artist

As a visually impaired Chinese-American adoptee, I often felt a desire growing up to express my identity in ways that media rarely does successfully. I found that form of expression in drawing and painting, artistic endeavors that I’ve loved since I was little. Read more>> 

Echo Zhang | Indie Game Designer

For me, the world we live in is full of mysteries like a mountain covered in mist. Pursuing a creative career might be the most convenient way to understand the world while earning a living. Read more>>

Lilton Stewart III | Writer & Director

I was always creative and artistic growing up. In school, I’d draw and paint instead of playing sports, and I would reenact my favorite movies with myself as the main character in the backyard. However, being raised in St. Louis in the 80’s and 90’s didn’t give me many options in the creative field regarding career ambitions. I tried almost every trade-based career, from customer service to paralegal, and none clicked with me as the path I should take. Read more>>

Ariel Alter | Motion Graphics Designer and Illustrator

I pursued a creative career because I literally can’t do anything else. It’s something I’m naturally good at, perhaps coming from an artistic family that nurtured it. Sometimes I find myself asking myself if I should have pursued a more “useful” career path. Read more>>

Jessika Grewe Glover | Author, Artist

I feel as though I was born with ink in my veins. The need to create, draw, paint, and specifically, write, has been a part of me from my earliest memories. That was always nurtured in me, however, we hear so often that art isn’t a career. you’ll never make a living as a writer. Read more>>

Laura Kandle | Arts Administrator and Visual Artist

Probably a combination of luck and nurture. I’ve been drawing, painting, and pursuing a range of other creative avenues to examine and digest the world around me since I was young. Two big female figures in my life – my grandmother and mother – loved the arts. Read more>>