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.

Ashley Padgett | Therapeutic Art Life Coach

I honestly just wanted to do something that I was passionate about and made me feel good, and do on my own terms with my own availability and ideas. In high school, I wanted to be an Art Therapist. I was in art classes, and did art as a hobby and passion. I fell in love wit pinging and creating. But after learning all that goes into becoming a Master’s level art therapist, I gave up. It was not until after high school that I fell in love with working with children with developmental disabilities and pursued a career path with that. Read more>>

Keleigh Levine | Body Piercing Apprentice

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a body piercer. I’ve always been interested in the arts, whether that be music, drawing, theater, poetry, etc. I wanted a career where I could be myself and express who I am without fear of judgement based on how I look or dress. Read more>>

Hannah Mertz | Wedding and Lifestyle Photo and Film

I went to Aquinas College to become an ESL/bilingual education teacher. After graduating, I taught for 8 years. I loved teaching, I loved developing relationships with my students and helping them reach their educational goals as a student in a school where the language was not their primary. However, public education has changed. It felt restricting as the years went on. Read more>>

Drew Piekarski | AI Content Creator

My journey into the world of creative technology was quite serendipitous. While my day job revolves around working on a Low Code Workflow Automation Platform, it was by sheer accident that I stumbled upon the world of art and creativity through leveraging new artificial intelligence to generate golf course landscapes and post them on social media. Read more>>

Thomas Uli | PharmD, Owner and CEO of Α|Σ Apparel

I have chosen to pursue a creative career with a strong focus on developing and empowering leadership mentalities through the use of visuals and mottos. I firmly believe that art in all of its forms has the unique ability to inspire and motivate individuals to become the best versions of themselves. By designing visually captivating works that draw inspiration from both historical and fictional examples of this sentiment, Read more>>

Jahara Jayde | Content Creator

I chose to pursue career that made me feel fulfilled and like I was making a difference in the lives of the people around me. When I realized that what I’d begun was moving in that direction, I decided it was worth taking seriously. Read more>>