We’re excited to introduce you to Creative Freedom HQ. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Creative Freedom HQ below.
We are looking forward to hearing about your brand. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
Thank you! I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about my business. I definitely had to seek out the education I was looking for entirely on my own; I had to “enroll” myself in my own education. I found my own teachers whether that was from YouTube, in person networking, reading books or otherwise. I didn’t go to college for the career path I chose and I also had no idea what I wanted to do with my future earlier in life. Once I did start chasing my true passions, not letting anything hold me back from my intuition, I realized I had to learn some new skills. That’s when I just got my hands dirty in order to bring my ideas to life. It has been intimidating at times jumping right into learning about new programs, equipment, and so in but I feel like if you just try your best and give a goal your honest shot, the universe may just grant you a reward in return! Everything got more clear when I started listening to myself (as cheesy as that may sound). Try not to let other voices get in the way of you following your dreams. Ultimately, your vision in life can only be understood fully on a personal level.
Learning also took place once I cultivated a friend group that was more aligned with my calling. Not to be mistaken with making friends that were just like me; but rather friends that inspire and push me to be a better version of myself; friends that also play a role in my creative journey. Connections are so important and I think that networking doesn’t need to be forced. It can happen naturally as you’re progressing on your genuine path. My friendships began to develop as I explored my passions in a more meaningful way. I honestly felt like I finally found my “people”. For example, I’d start to make friends at the studio, from social media, or through shows! I’m now friends with rappers that I make music with and fellow clothing designers that I trade information with! I could talk all day about how my friends have benefited me! I wouldn’t trade my friend group for the world! They are all super cool people, unique in their own way, and they motivate me to go harder towards my aspirations! I’ve met some truly incredible people through art and I am so grateful for that.
Keep in mind: you can’t always map out your whole future. Making money off doing what I loved, starting my own business, those sort of things happened as I grew and understood what I enjoyed doing with my time; enough to really try and make a living around it. Just be yourself, whatever that means to you. Don’t worry about keeping a false image or pursuing profit over purpose. For example, a guy like Gary Vee promotes the sentiment: “how you make your money is more important than how much much you’re making” and I agree with that and a lot of what he talks about. He’s a prime example of a social media mentor of mine!
I think we should all explore our genuine goals and aim to live a life with meaning, one where we are always able to put new plans into motion for ourselves, be surrounded with others who positively influence us, and create impactful memories that speak to our character. The truth is: when we hide our strengths, we set ourselves up for failure.
Try your best to maintain an open mind through life. Explore unfamiliar mediums, listen to unconventional music, interact with new faces, read magazines like Canvas Rebel that serve to inspire and help you along your journey! What makes you different from the rest? What energizes you? What do you always talk about to your friends or try and learn about in your free time? What do you find fascinating? Not every new thing is easy to get into and study further, but if you like something enough you’ll be dedicated to look into it more! This isn’t something that requires much thinking at all, it’s more so about getting out of your head and just following your heart/intuition. Listening to yourself. Paying attention to what makes you, “You”!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I founded Creative Freedom HQ in 2021! The business is primarily an online retailer specializing in streetwear clothing, stickers, rap music, podcasting & more!
My products are featured in skate shops: The Dark Slide, Hardy Skateboard Company, Unkl Ruckus’ + Streetwear stores: 84 Fresh, Good Vibes Movement and Budu\Bu Smoke Shop/Art Collective!
@LegibleMusic and I have a rap EP called: “BEYOND TOP SECRET” coming to all streaming platforms in 2023! I’m very excited for that record to come out because we dive into paranormal topics/sounds and Legible is a lyrical BEAST. With all the product drops lately, it was refreshing to get back in music mode! We will also be dropping a music video for the EP that will include custom masks and a pretty cool location!
Lately, I’ve been part of these comedy skits that parody internet trends for Your Scumbag Dad’s page too! He’s a funny/smart/extremely talented producer that I’m lucky to call my friend! I also interviewed him in depth for the first episode of my podcast (coming soon). I feel like I learn from him whenever he graces me with his presence.
To view his content, search: @thescumbagdad on Tiktok (over 5 MILLION followers) or @ScumbagDad on YouTube (over 2 MILLION subscribers)!
I also recently designed a pair of custom Air Force One shoes that sold the first day they went to market! You can see pictures of them on my website, I plan on dropping many more exclusive Air Force One sneakers in the near future!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Rick Rubin is a huge inspiration/“teacher” of mine! He recently wrote a book titled: The Creative Act: A Way of Being. It is straight creative gospel! I highly recommend it to anyone, because we are all artists in one way or another.
Finding the right mentors can be so helpful when following your passions! There is so much wisdom within books like: The 50th Law (Robert Green/50 Cent), The Daily Stoic (Ryan Holiday), Art & Fear (David Bayles)!
Watching interviews of my favorite rappers/following their creative journeys has also heavily influenced me! Remember: You’re not lost, you’re on a journey of transformation.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
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Contact Info:
- Website: www.CreativeFreedomHQ.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/creativefreedomhq?igshid=ZjE2NGZiNDQ=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativefreedomhq
- Twitter: @createfreedomhq
- Youtube: @NathanielsExperience
Image Credits
For red shirt pic with female model: -Photo creds: _leesphotos (Instagram) Model: Surbhi Saxena (she introduced me to CanvasRebel!) (IG: Surbhisaxenaa) For these below pics photo creds go to @Rodney_washignton_jr – me in green hoodie with skateboard -arcade photo shooting guns -white hoodie arcade photo Main photo of me wearing red hoodie: photo creds on Instagram: iriwkis Photo creds: (IG: @theJuiceBoxVisuals) Model in brown hoodie: Carter Thornton (IG: @thunderthornton_) -brown hoodie photo -yellow hoodie photo