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.

L D | Artist & Engineer

I chose to pursue this as a career because my whole life I grew up an athlete. When the ball stopped bouncing, the hobby of writing took over and turned into something more serious. Also, being able to express yourself creatively is a good way to clear your head. Read more>>

Joy Hutcherson | Author

I didn’t really pursue a career in writing children’s books, it pursued me. When I was a little girl, I enjoyed writing short stories and poems however, after age 13, I just stopped writing. Not quite sure why but I guess as you get older other things become more important or interesting. It wasn’t until thirty years later that the interest in writing picked up again; suddenly, and unexpectedly. Unexpectedly because what I began to write about changed, literally from darkness to light. Read more>>

Keaton Clark | Director, Writer, Actor

Growing up as a kid, I was always a huge movie and TV nerd. I’ve always been fascinated with artistic storytelling using a visual medium. At a young age I was always thinking of performances and skits at school talent shows and church camp. I love the entertainment aspect, as well as the building of relationships to characters that evoke emotion and feelings to the audience to enjoy as a community. I love the way film and television can help one escape their everyday life, whatever they may be going through mentally, and make them feel apart of another world. Whether films or TV make you laugh or cry, there is always something humans can connect with to their own life and learn from, analyze and reference to in their future. Read more>>

Tamarie T. | Musical Shaman, Performer, Musician, Creator

I chose to pursue my musical path because it was something in my soul since I came to this earth no matter what other way I attempted to go I would always end up aligning right back to music and nothing makes me feel the way I feel when I’m in my true authentic self musically. My career path is something in my heart and one thing I’ll always do is follow my heart no matter what. Read more>>

Peili Huang | Illustrator

I was an electrical engineer before, working at several electrical substations for 6 years in China. It’s a job with a decent income and I was satisfied with it initially. But as time went by, I felt it was not what I wanted. In a place filled with important facilities, I had to follow the rules to keep everything going well and safe. But I know my heartfelt love for creative jobs, I love to break the rules and think out of the box. So I quit my job and learned illustration from scratch. The power of real passion led me to this new career in art and I’m enjoying it. I believe with an engineering background, I’ll bring more fresh perspectives to the industry. Read more>>

Amy Ferzoco | Media & Marketing Director at Metropolitan Studios

I pursued a creative career because I love to make works and experiences that make people feel something they didn’t expect to! I joke that I love to make people cry, but it is truly special when something you’ve made elicits a visceral reaction that manifests outwardly – like crying from great beauty. I’m a crier for sure! I started imagining myself in a creative field at a young age. I love watching shows and movies about . . . shows and movies so film production was a big draw! When I was 15 and taking driver’s ed., I produced a short film about safe driving with one of my best friends. We shot the whole thing on VHS and edited it in-camera. We had stunts, screeching halts, rearview mirror shots, and a talk show with a fight scene (think Geraldo Rivera getting hit with a chair). Read more>>

DEE MO | RECORDING ARTIST

To be honest it started out as a kid back in preschool. Ever chance I got I was entertaining and speaking in school. When I was in kindergarten I asked to be in the school talent show and I was told it wasn’t for kindergartener’s, so I begged my teacher to let me get on stage before the talent show started. My parents were at the school talent show because I told them my class was going to be on stage. My name was called and it was quiet as ever in the gymnasium. I got on stage and I started rapping about staying in school and getting an education. The whole gymnasium was cheering me on. Although I wasn’t in the competition I still walked away with the first place star and a 6th grader walked away with the trophy. At that very moment my parents signed me up for acting classes and my school explored more to see what I was capable of doing. Read more>>

Danaér Mensah | Visual Effects Artist & Photographer

Since I was 13, I’ve known that pursuing a creative career would be my top priority. As a Photographer, Graphic Designer, Motion Designer, Filmmaker, and Creative Director, my personal goal is to push the boundaries in all I do. I enjoy using creative media to transmit my own individual opinions about the things I shoot to the world, and while I primarily work with artists, I also cover corporate events such as weddings. Read more>>

Isis Kenney | Artist, Designer and C.E.O

I come from a family of artists, preachers, teachers and revolutionary thinkers. Thinking outside the box and being unique and creative was something that was encouraged and fostered in my household. I grew up seeing photojournalism books, art history books and was surrounded in a home of fine arts and instruments. In my room, I created what was in my household but in my own way using Hip Hop, basketball and cartoons. That’s what fueled what inevitably became Hip Hop Fine Art. I wanted to see a world of beautiful black urban, glamorous fashion photos, paintings and collages. Images that were colorful, vibrant, gaudy and chic. Read more>>

David Jackson | Musician

I pursued an artistic and creative career because to be honest my mental state can get very bored and when I’m bored I feel I may do something bad and unhealthy. So I do try my best to stay in motion with something productive so I can stay in my purpose. Creating music is something I love and I don’t think that love will fade anytime soon. Read more>>

Latasha Bryant | Entrepreneur & Creative

I honestly believe in the saying, “I didn’t choose it, it chose me.” Being creative and artistic is in my DNA. There was something internally within me that was sparked by movement, by creating, playing instruments, listening to music, and just the frequency I felt from watching other beings dance and be creative. I also love watching how creatives do what they do, and seeing how impactful it is to many others around the world, even for individuals who may not be in that world. It’s overall a feeling that can’t be put into one description or phrase. It’s beyond this world. It makes me feel good all over. Mentally, physically, spiritually and I just don’t get that from everything else. When I did make the decision to pursue it with all of me, that is what changed my life. Making that decision to ooze creativity from within at every second I got that chance to. Read more>>

Reed Jorgensen | Saxophonist and bandleader of The Midnight Collective

Jazz music is special in that it is an improvised artform. While the songs we play do have a structure, it is up to the individual musician to improvise over the given chord structure at any given moment, listening to everyone else in the band. Being a band of 5 people, we – Reed, Isaac, Alex, Jaiden, and Blake – all come from different musical upbringings. Throughout middle and high school, we all individually gained an appreciation for jazz, and we started to learn how to play it. It is through this improvisation that each of us find both an infinite creative outlet, but also a demand for self-discipline. A jazz soloist is the most vulnerable musician on the bandstand: a jazz soloist must play what they themselves feel at the given moment. It is with this vulnerability that all five of us find comfort, where we are able to truly express ourselves in a medium we feel most comfortable. Read more>>

Sharon Marchisello | author and cat lover

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and I was telling stories before I learned my alphabet. I received enough encouragement from family, friends, and teachers that I just assumed I’d one day get published. Writing fiction keeps me sane. It allows me to create a world where I’m in control.. Justice is served, and the bad guys get punished. I can create heroines who are prettier, smarter, and wittier than me. They always say the right thing at the right time—those zingers I wish I’d thought of in the moment. Writing is more who I am than a career. Read more>>