Artistic and creative careers are among the most rewarding, but they also come with unique challenges. We asked some of the city’s best creatives to tell us why they choose to pursue a creative career.

Shinae Choi aka Shaman Asian Mama | Metaphysical Consultant & Culinary Crusader

I started out in the arts and strayed from it for a long time, but ultimately, I didn’t have a choice but to return. There were times in my life when I pursued other avenues because I believed, based on so much external conditioning, that more socially accepted career paths would be best to provide and care for my family. But over time, I learned that not living in alignment with one’s essence becomes very costly to the psyche, and a healthy psyche is the top priority in best fulfilling our purpose. So you could say I did it to save myself. Read more>>

Bee Johnson | Owner | Purple Ghost Apparel

Being artistic and creative was always a part of me as far back as I can remember. I’ve been drawing since I was eight years old. I can remember sitting at my aunt and uncles dining room table trying to replicate cover art from my favorite video games or pictures in magazines from my favorite cartoons. I’ve always wanted to make art and bring concepts and ideas from my mind into reality. The easiest way to do that at the time was putting pencil to paper. As I got older, I never lost that trait. With the rise of technology and new media outlets, my skill level and mediums evolved as well. That strengthened my love for being creative and gave me confidence that I could bring my creativity to the world in different forms, such as apparel. Read more>>

Nicholas D. Monteilh | Actor, Writer, Director

I am not sure I ever really considered anything else. Sure, I wanted to be an astronaut when I was five, but then I saw the movie “Alien” and I didn’t want to be an astronaut anymore. I knew I wanted to make art and do creative works every day for my entire life, so figuring out how to do it professionally and as a career just seemed in line with that overarching goal. Read more>>