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.

Dr. Sydney Schroeder | Naturopathic Doctor & Jazzercise Instructor

Many may not correlate creativity with a career in medicine, but I have learned otherwise since starting my journey in Naturopathic and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). I knew I wanted to be a doctor since I was 16 years old, but I never knew that medicine could also be creative. I grew up around many creatives in my family – artists, photographers, makeup artists, singers, musicians, etc. I have always loved expressing my creative side with singing, dancing, drawing, and painting, but medicine is my passion. I am so thankful to have found Naturopathic medicine, because it combines my creative side with my passion for healing and optimizing health. Read more>>

Tyler Kilmer | Student Filmmaker

Everyone in Double Down Productions has a very creative mindset. We all attend a school that focuses in both Performing and Visual Arts and that lets us really express our ideas and creativity. We’ve all made countless homemade films in our own lives throughout the years and as we’ve grown more, we wanted to make more professional films and projects to show off. Read more>>

Evan Nichols | Luthier or guitar maker

I chose an artistic career because I’ve had other non-artistic careers and I just wasn’t happy with those. Being creative gives me a sense of purpose and it fulfilling to me. Read more>>

Leena Rhodes | Musician & Songwriter

Creativity has always been a compulsory release for me. It is the avenue I use to understand myself and my emotions. I work a full time job in addition to Little Lungs, so making time for Little Lungs as a creative outlet is extremely important to me. Growing up, I wrote constantly, and originally had the intention of studying English to ultimately become an author. I would write everywhere, constantly; I distinctly remember sitting on an airplane and having the abrupt but overpowering urge to write a story on the back of a Southwest napkin. Read more>>

Brynn Johnson | Sports Photographer

I decided to pursue a creative career purely on what started as happenstance. I had brought my mom’s old camera to one of my brother’s high school hockey games just to mess around with. I had never operated a camera before that moment my senior year of high school. However, minutes after shooting my first few photos, I had parents asking for me to take some of their child, and the growth of my title as a photographer began. In these moments of capturing all the action on the ice, Read more>>

Amber Avery-Pierce | Owner, Bisbee Soap & Sundry

I am an artist at heart, and always have been. I was raised by two wildly talented artists, and luckily inherited some of that. I don’t think I pursued a creative career, so much as it just fell into place. Read more>>

Hannah Crane | Lash Tech & Business Owner

Growing up, I was obsessed with any and all things beauty. From nails to makeup, skin care and hair. In high-school I was introduced to two women who owned and ran their own beauty businesses doing eyebrows services and instantly knew that having my own business was something I wanted to pursue! I always knew college was not for me but I felt as if that was my only option for so long. Getting to see the community of women working in the beauty industry inspired me to combine the two things that I am passionate about; Read more>>

Alexandria Roberts | Model

There is a lot of creativity that goes alongside modeling, which allows me to have a creative outlet. The little things like planning hair and makeup, or even the big things like themes and locations. Why I really got into this industry was to be apart of the magic of portraying fashion as art in the way someone else has envisioned. Read more>>

Giselle Tomlinson | Handcrafter and candle maker

You know, it’s funny I didn’t really see it as a choice, but more like a calling. Naturally, I am very creative and have always wanted to do something artsy and out of the box. I’ve always painted and took all the art classes you can imagine while in school, but I never would have imagined candles. It was one day where I was watching TV with my family that I saw a candle commercial and I said to myself, “you know I could probably do that.” Read more>>

Timothy Little | Night-time Landscape Artist, Instructor and Guide

Initially it was just meant to be a creative outlet to help me decompress after a day of conference calls, number crunching and managing a team of bankers along with all the joys that having a high level corporate job includes. As a night time landscape photographer living on Cape Cod, nothing really helped reset my mood like photographing the moonlit sands leading up to a light house or letting the camera tick away at capturing an hour of star trails over the National Seashore. Read more>>