We asked some of the most creative folks we know to open up to us about why they chose a creative career path. Check out their responses below.

Elisa Guidelli | Novelist & Screenwriter

I have pursued an artistic career because through writing and researching and creating stories, I really feel driven to live my life fully. My love for books and stories started when I was a child, and it grew with me until I decided to put myself out there and create stories of my own. I am a historian by training, specifically I have a degree in Medieval History, and historical research is always the basis of my stories, but the need to let my imagination run free in creation made me choose a career as a novelist and screenwriter. It is difficult, but intense and above all, true. Read more>>

Steven Gizzi | CEO of MuseFlow, Composer, & Music Educator

The first thing you should know about me is that I have a profoundly deep love for music, and have spent most of my life following that passion. I believe it to be one of the great joys in life – it can make us dance, it can make us weep, it can give us goosebumps, and it can make us fall in love. Learning to play an instrument and becoming fluent in this musical language is a process that not only unlocks the door to artistic fulfillment, but also teaches valuable skills which build one’s character in the process. Read more>>

Mathieu Cailler Cailler | Award-Winning Author of Fiction, Poetry, and Children’s Books

From an early age, I loved the idea of telling a good story. I was blessed to be surrounded by many family members and friends that were just phenomenal raconteurs. I didn’t really understand what made them so gifted, but I understood their storytelling power. Read more>>

Brian Sicurella | Photographer

I pursued an artistic carrer to cope with my situation. Despite being homeless, I discovered that art was a way for me to express myself and escape from the harsh reality of living on the streets. I initially began by sketching in a small notebook, using whatever materials I could find or were donated to me. Over time, my passion for art grew, and I started creating larger pieces using different media such as paint, charcoal, and pastels. Read more>>

Carlos Davis | Carlos Demond Davis Actor/Author

I’m blessed to be able create, and showcase my vision of creativity, through the art of acting and of course, poetry. I’ve always felt a certain freedom when it came to expressing myself, so what better way to showcase that freedom and make a living while doing it. Read more>>

Hendri | Musician, Actor, and Model

I’ve lived so many different lives and worked so many different odd jobs over the years, and to put it bluntly; I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. I also was lucky enough to have parents that encouraged my art and made it clear that they were supportive of me choosing an alternative path. I think having that permission to dream a little bit bigger not only as a child, but when it came time to venture off on my own made a huge difference. Read more>>

Gio Randazzo | Actor / Director / Producer

I have always felt like a creative person that wanted to express and share my ideas. I started off studying fine arts as a painter and ceramist. When I started modeling and acting in NYC is when I got the bug for the entertainment industry. The collaborative and elaborate nature of making films and television was something I knew I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Read more>>

Kirsten Evans | Singer, Songwriter

There have been moment throughout my childhood and education that have really cemented my love of singing and performing. When I was 17 and performing a pop Ballard for an assessment I was doing for my A levels back home in the UK, I encountered one moment that probably sounds like nothing to everyone else, but was so indescribably special to me: Read more>>

Cahlik Douglas | Photographer

I decided to pursue my creative career simply because there is no limit to this. I carry on a legacy from a mentor who taught me some meaning of life. Photography is all about the details the narratives playing in a photograph. Read more>>

Daniel Overberger | Yoga Instructor

I don’t think anyone picks being a artist or creative career. It’s the old “it picks you”. There are hundreds of better way to support yourself. But, I guess that would depend on how you define “support”. Some things are larger than our work. Some work is a connection to everything we don’t understand. The universe, the vibration. Read more>>

Rocio G Montiel | Visual Artist

First of all, that was the best decision I made. Art has always been my inspiration and passion so, when I decide to create a career from it my life changed. I decided to pursue my dream cause it’s what makes me feel complete and alive. 2020 is when I started my journey as an artist, during lockdown. I took the risk and shared my art; I had always been drawing and painting for years but it was more of a “hobby” and something I enjoyed doing for myself. Read more>>

Christen Reed | IE’s Finest

I think initially what I was drawn to an artistic and creative type of career because of the freedom it allows. Not necessarily from rules or anything of that sort but more of freedom of expression and the ability to think, create, and execute whatever I envision and see fit. It in a way let’s me stay true to myself by allowing me to create in any way that is aligned with who I am as a individual. Read more>>

susan johnston | founder/director new media film festival®

My school had a play and I was a flower (behind the flower, holding the prop) and the flower fell and the whole audience laughed. Fortunately i thought that was fantastic and the rest they say is history. Read more>>

Nadia Voukitchevitch | Filmmaker, Producer, Director, Writer, Educator, World Changer, Activist and Mother

I remember taking a class in Economics when I was at Sarah Lawrence College and thinking how I must be as awful at business as my bohemian artistic parents were, but also realizing that I had to learn the basics if I was ever going to overcome being broke all the time. I suppose I always knew I would have a creative career because when I was about 10 or 12, I told my father, who spent most of his life writing and trying to get published, that I wanted to direct movies and change the world. Read more>>

Jeffrey Johnson | Composer & Artist

In a way, we don’t choose the creative life – it chooses us. The art in our souls bubbles up from a deeper well of goodness and beauty that just can’t be covered up. We can try and ignore the desire to create, push it down, suppress it, crush it with practical business mindsets, block it with too many carbohydrates – and I’ve done all those things – but it still pushes to the surface one way or another. Read more>>