We asked some of the city’s leading artists and creatives to tell us about how they decided to pursue an artistic or creative career. We’ve shared some highlights below.

Chris James

I chose to pursue my career as an artist because it’s who I am! I’ve always best expressed myself through music whether it was singing, writing or dancing, it’s always been apart of me. Being able to channel my emotions and use music as a form of therapy has always been something that I dreamed of being able to make a living off of. People always say when you’re doing something you love it doesn’t feel like work, and I never wanted my career to feel like work, it’s an extension of who I am, and how I’m able to express and also help others in the process. Read More>>

Parker Smith

While my day job is as an owner of wealth management firm which comes with its own trials and tribulations, the main issue I ran into early on was trying to find new people to get to know and better ways to introduce myself to others. With this came the idea of starting a professional development organization like Peachtree Professionals. Just like most young professionals, I was told “go to networking events and tell the story”, which typically looks like you being in a room of 10-30 people with 30 seconds to a minute with the hope you will be remembered. While I not only feel that this is flawed for the average professional it is truly difficult for younger people to separate themselves in a situation like this. Read More>>

Patricia A. Brown

Why did I pursue an artistic career…

I thought my husband and I chose this career because it was something we discovered and found it to be fun and exciting!

My husband and I thought it would be great to start a business so that when we retired, we would have our own. However, I soon discovered I didn’t pursue the career of my own desire; this artistic career was chosen for me for a particular purpose. Read More>>