What's Your Why? - SHOUTOUT ATLANTA

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.

Chloé Noble | Actress & Interdisciplinary Artist

I feel like sometimes it’s the artistic career that chooses you. It has always been obvious to me, since I am a child, that one of my contributions to the world would be making art. Acting and performing simply make me feel alive. It would be like ignoring a very big part of myself not to go for it. Read more>>

Yutong (Susie) Lu | Illustrator

I have loved drawing since I was very young. When I was in elementary school, I especially liked reading comic books, and in junior high school, I saw an illustration book that told the story of the artist and his friend. I liked the book very much, so I I wished I could draw a story about my life. Read more>>

Billy CEO | Musical Artist

At the age of 5, I was entered into my school’s talent show. I fell in love with performing. I knew It was my personal legend. As a kid, music was also a form of escape. I was creating music, writing out my thoughts, feelings, Pain, etc. It helped me develop a unique voice. It gave me the confidence and courage to be bigger than my raspy voice. Read more>>

Hazy Mae | Cookie Jar Maker

One day a gift package was delivered to me, and when I opened it, I found a sweet boy bear Cookie Jar with a love letter inside it. I was instantly smitten- with the size, the character, the functionality- and I began collecting Cookie Jars from the 50’s and 60’s, and I ended up with almost a hundred of them.
Then one day, I decided I wanted to make my own characters, so I began sketching Cookie Jar design ideas, joined a ceramic studio, and that’s when Hazy Mae Cookie Jars began. Read more>>

Fierra Staley | Artist

Growing up In a large family in the deep countryside, my siblings and I always found ways to create, produce an entertain. My dad bought us a camera and we use to make our own sets, props, wardrobe, write scripts and film our own little, short movies. We even use to invite our family and neighbors to our yard and we would sing, dance, do poetry, show our art, you name it, we did it. It always stuck with me, creating the things we didn’t have. Read more>>

Cruz The Dame | Singer, Songwriter and Entertainer

Music is my purpose. I knew as a child singing and entertaining were my talents. My first performance was when I was 4 years old at my father’s church revival. I sang “Welcome Into This Place” and seeing how inspired and energized the audience was, I realized the unifying power of music and how it touches people’s souls. in a positive, joyous, and uplifting way. Read more>>

Chris Tetreault | Don’t Miss Chris

I have been creating art as far back as I can remember and in as many forms as I could get my hands on. I come from a family of creative people on all sides. Throughout my adult life, regardless of what work I was doing at any given time, I’ve always spent a majority of my free time on creative projects in a range of mediums and styles. Around the beginning of the pandemic, I started creating a prolific amount of fluid art. I saw what other people were doing and it intrigued me, so I thought I would try and do something more with it. Read more>>

Vernell Dillingham | Filmmaker and Photographer

I always have been creative. I would watch Television, films, and look at photos of my favorite group The Temptations of their performances and I would wish that I took the photos. I highly admire directors like Spike Lee, Mario Van Peebles, and Robert Townsend to name a few, and I wanted to be a director and Screenwriter. Read more>>

Yue Dong | Visual / UX Designer & Artist

It’s hard to say, at the moment, the pursuit of art and creativity has become part of my career. I’m certainly glad it’s become a job that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ve always thought that becoming a designer was foreshadowed. I can’t restrain my appetite for exploration and my enthusiasm for new things, which has always allowed me to try to see things in a new light. Read more>>

Jonte’ Koonce | Filmmaker

It’s just the passion. I can’t escape it even if I tried. Whether it’s filming, writing, making music, doing photography, the process from turning nothing into something magical is incredible to me. So to be able to do what you love as a career is always the goal and the dream for me and that’s why I’m pursuing a creative career. Read more>>