Deciding to pursue an artistic or creative career path isn’t for the faint of heart. Challenges will abound, but so many of the artists we speak with couldn’t be happier with their choice. So, we asked them about how they made the decision in the first place.

Kennedy Haney | Artist

I do not want to live a conventional life, so I decided to make art my lifestyle. Creating is how I make sense of the world and it helps me to find peace in the incomprehensible. I believe that it is more important to find joy in a career than to dedicate time to tasks that only serve to make you money. Life is too short to be unhappy; I understand that money is important but you can either choose to make a lot of money to buy all the things you want or be content with having less material stuff and make the amount of money that you need. Another reason that I choose to pursue an artistic career is because I think that I have an interesting interpretation of life that I portray in my artwork that might help others to find value in things that usually go unnoticed. Read more>>

JoJo LaRiccia | Media Content Creator, Producer & Director

I have chosen a creative career as a Media Content Creator,Producer & Director because it’s where I can make the biggest impact on the planet and within myself. Read more>>

Brandon Redd | Hip-Hop Recording Artist

My pursuit of a career in music was actually something I realized I wanted to do when I was 14, but really knowing that I wanted to be in the entertainment industry began when I was in elementary school. I’ve always had a passion for the arts which first started with my love for acting, but my pathway into music came via poetry. It was always my favorite thing to do in my English classes, and my peers would always tell me how much they enjoyed my poems. Fast forward to my teenage years, and that’s when I fell in love with music hard, from making beats, rapping, singing, and songwriting. My mom played a big role in grooming me into the artist I am today because she used to be a rapper back when you had some of the greatest lyricists to ever bless a microphone. Needless to say, she didn’t candy-coat anything when I wanted feedback on the songs I would come up with. Eventually, I sharpened my skills to the point where I was confident in what I could do performance wise, and from that point on, it just felt right. I can honestly say I believe I was put on this Earth to spread my music worldwide for people to connect to and hopefully take something away from it that they can walk through the rest of their live’s with. Read more>>

Erika Arango | Wedding Photographer

When I was 17, that was the first time I picked up a camera and immediately I emerged my self into this awesome hobby that I never thought would be more than that, just a hobby. At 18 I wanted to become a paramedic, My uncle was a big influencer for the path I had chosen so that’s what I wanted to do with my life. Of course photography was my escape. Although I have always been into painting and art photography to me it was an extension of it  but I chose what was artistic in my with my camera, all I wanted to do is take photos and of course over time, I got better and friends would ask me to do photos for them and so on. I really enjoyed this a lot and I was figuring out what things I liked the most. At this point I was in my 3rd semester of paramedic school and I was also working at the hospital. It was an amazing experience, I got to meet amazing health care workers and people! However I am a huge empath and working at the hospital was taking an emotional toll on me  ( losing patients, overdoses, hospice etc) and I was not sure  if I wanted to continue my paramedic/ firefighter career and pursue nursing instead. Read more>>