WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Actress Katy Albert is satisfied with her "pays-the-bills job" at a catering company, but also admits she doesn't want to be there when she's 35. The hard part is figuring out where she does want to be and how to get there.

Comedian Julia Solomon knows what she wants — sometimes. And sometimes, she knows how to get it. The 21-year-old stand-up comedian was brutally honest about her desire for fame, relative fortune and getting people to like her work. "I just want to be able to not have to work at Bloomingdales and do comedy," she said.

Once an actor, Mike Oleon got sick of competing for parts against so-called beautiful people — who he feels don't reflect reality — and ended up with puppets. 

Twenty-six-year-old playwright Adelina Treviño Bradshaw just finished a fellowship at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. As such, she sees her life in the arts slightly differently than do her peers — for one thing, she really understands the value of health insurance. 

25-year-old Davonte Johnson has had a career many would envy for someone so young. But he's made a change that reflects a realism about the possibility of actual success in Chicago for artists, the sacrifices involved in doing what you love, and what it means to step away.