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.

Twyla Grider | Creator, Cultivator, Curator and the CEO of Stellar Creative Collective, LLC

I am a creator. It’s what I was born to do. I create art as the Spirit moves me. I create opportunities then use my gifts and my unique skill set to build a life of freedom and security. So I had to have a career that would allow me to continue to create. Once I understood that, I never looked back. Read more>>

AMG | Model, Actor, Brand Ambassador, & Owner of All Money Good, LLC

I pursued a creative career because it was something I was running towards but away from all my life. You know how you have been living your life for others, but somehow you still don’t feel satisfied. Yeah, you are gaining small victories throughout the process but nothing fulfilling. That’s how I knew I needed to pursue things for me and not what others thought I should be doing or where I should be. I had been modeling and acting since the tender age of five years old. It was time for me to live for me. That’s how I ended up moving to Atlanta and going hard with modeling and acting; more so modeling though. Everything else just kind of fell into place. Read more>>

Kristi Hickman | Interior designer The Hickman House

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career? I have followed and explored my creative instincts for as long as I can remember and those artistic inclinations have led me to pursue and experience multiple artistic career paths over the years often with one flowing seamlessly into another. My newest career venture has been partnering with my stylish and talented mother-in-law Adrian Hickman to build the interior design business The Hickman House. We are loving it! I was that teenager growing up in small town southern America who was equally enthralled with both the lush, landscape of nature around me and the distant, exotic architecture I saw in glossy magazines. I was the teenager awake at 2:00 am on a school night sitting at the kitchen table with my Diet Coke and Doritos, listening to the radio and writing poetry while dreaming of all the marvelous places I would travel to one day. Read more>>

Nicky Nocera | Hairstylist/Salon Owner

From a young age, I started loudly expressing my interest in art and fashion. My mom said I seemed to march to the beat of my own drum and was a trend setter. Sadly, when I was 15, my 17 year old sister committed suicide and home life became rough. My hairstylist (who was a friend of my parents), always made me feel and look good when I was in her chair during my difficult high school years. As I went through my journey to heal from the loss of my sister and the toll it took on my family, I began to have more clarity on what my calling was; to become a hairstylist. I am super passionate about the artistic side of doing hair, but I love the human to human connection just as much. Hairstylist are day-makers and we take ours roles very seriously at Salon Nine Seven. Read more>>

Janina “Nina” Steele | MUA & Beauty Brand Owner

Why did I choose an artistic and creative career? I am a very colorful and creative person by nature. Colors really excite me. Just dealing with the color combinations, various hues, and be able to express myself through makeup is therapeutic and fun for me! I love to draw. I use to draw and sketch as a way to cope with things when I was younger. I definitely had a rough childhood, so the colors in my drawings always brought out the brighter side of life. I started playing around in makeup in 2007, while enlisted in the United States Army. My wardrobe was pretty colorful, so I would play with colorful eye shadows to complement what I was wearing. From then on, I would learn more about applying makeup by watching YouTube videos and practicing different techniques and trends I learned on myself as much as I could. I started to realize that this was a form of drawing or painting, and my face was the canvas. Once I perfected my own look, I would practice on friends and family members. Read more>>

Jason Gonsalves | Actor & Screenwriter

Expressing myself creatively and artistically is what makes me the happiest. I’ve always wanted to have a job that I love and when I found myself watching movies and music videos all the time as kid I realized that I wanted to be involved with that process somehow. Throughout my adolescence I tried on the different hats with entertainment and found acting to be the most liberating and impactful in my life. When I began to get more serious with my training the choice to pursue it as a career became more about the impact it could have on other people and less about how it makes me feel. I think storytellers have such an important job in society and expressing yourself through your art could create conversation around topics that your passionate about. It’s all about revealing perspectives for me. Read more>>

 Almasi Maluki | Photographer & Fashion Content Creator

I have been passionate about the arts for as long as I could remember. Music, Fashion, Photography, Visual and Graphic Arts, etc always seemed to amaze me. The expression and freedom encouraged and allowed in the arts are what makes it so appealing. I would like to work in a career where I absolutely love my job, do what I love, and love what I do, and no better place than in a career pathway that I have always been passionate about. Read more>>

Domonique Bouldrick | Functional Art Creator

Since I was a child I’ve always been a tinkerer, taking apart my toys to figure how they work. Around middle school age I discovered I had the ability to draw and my grandmother bought me a sketch book and a drawing book and I was hooked. This is eventually led to me auditioning and getting into Design & Architecture Sr. High in Miami, Fl. a small magnet school in the heart of the Miami Design district. While enrolled I pursued the area of Architecture but ultimately graduated from college with a BS in Industrial Engineering. Fast forward to 2017 I’d purchased my first home and there was a spot that I wanted to put a bar but all the ones I liked were out of my budget, so I found some plans on Pinterest headed to Home Depot to purchased all the materials and a few tools I needed and in a few days time I’d built a whole bar in my home! I was hooked, working with my hands to create something from scratch was soo fulfilling. Read more>>

Kilee Reid | Content Creator, Writer, & Luminary

I wholeheartedly believe that the most interesting thing in the world is creating. There really isn’t a wrong way to create. It’s very intimate and allows an individual to expose what’s inside the mind. In addition, what’s even more fascinating is the process of cultivating what’s inside and projecting that very idea outward. This phase in creating is very rewarding because the steps needed to produce your thought or thoughts must be worked out and experimented in order for the finish product, no matter whatever it may be to make sense and ultimately represent the creators thoughts fully. Once you create and present that very thing to the world, it’s out there. Your own personal artifact, carbon footprint, your mark that stamps your existence here during this lifetime. I feel that once you create, the creator becomes immortal and will live forever by way of their creativity as well as the people who may be inspired by such works. That’s personally why I chose to become a creator. Read more>>

Terrell Harrell | Author

I chose to pursue a creative career, because it is all that I know. It allows me a moment to be “free” and escape from reality. It also allows me a space to breathe. Read more>>

Imari Reynolds | Actor, Youtuber, Musician

As a kid growing up, I fell in love with creating things. It really farted back in Detroit, Michigan when I was drawing a lot. I would make comics, posters, or anything productive. This was just the start point in my life. Overtime, I discovered other creative talents which is now acting, youtube, and working on music. The reason why I’ve my choice to pursue this creative career is because this is what I enjoy doing, I love making someone’s day with my content, and of course, it’s great money in this field. Read more>>

Samantha Bryant | Polymer Clay Artist

I had never thought of myself as artistic or creative, but I knew when I was pregnant with my daughter I needed to find an outlet or something to use with my hands to keep me from falling into postpartum depression. When I started creating things with clay, something in me lit up and I haven’t looked back since. I started creating things that I loved, and others started to notice and show a liking towards it. Knowing that my pieces of jewelry and art had a chance to make others feel good inside AND outside was a no brainer for me to pursue my creative career. Read more>>

Alexa Jae Eyler | Concert and Fashion Photographer

I pursued an artistic career because that is always where my heart has been. There are still finger paintings that I made in kindergarten hanging up in my childhood home. Growing up I went to a school where everyone was expected to be a lawyer, doctor, or scientist, and that just wasn’t me. But because of this, there was always an immense amount of doubt in my brain. But in my junior or senior year of high school, we went on an out of town fieldtrip to the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, PA. As soon as I stepped through those doors, I knew that art was the life path I had to take. I took my first photography course in seventh grade, and haven’t put my camera down since. I have always been surrounded by art and music, and by getting to do concert photography it is the perfect marriage of both of my biggest passions. The fashion photography part only came in the past few years, but I enjoy combining the edginess of the music industry along with the fine art of fashion. Read more>>

Havell Teylar | Artist & Sound Engineer

I decided to pursue a career in the music industry because I knew I was going to be unhappy with my life if I didn’t do it. I decided at early age right after I graduated high school that I was going to save up some money and move to Atlanta to get into the music industry…I actually planned on being homeless and sacrificing certain creature comforts until I figured out how to make money from my passion. I’ve never been the type to be too concerned with what others thought of me, so I was willing to forego being comfortable for some time in order to live a life that I truly wanted for myself, free from the pressures of what society normally dictates. Read more>>

Khadijah Grier | Creative

I love this question because the creative career chose me. I’ve often tried to take a more corporate approach and i’m drawn back to my creative roots every single time. I love to create. I love art. I am very passionate about my creative side and what I produce to the world creatively. My mind continues to grow every day and there is so much more to come. Read more>>