We were lucky to catch up with Faith Hudgens recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Faith thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

Greenville SC is my home. Growing up as a little girl in the 90’s I’ve witnessed first hand the growth of a small community. This growth is contagious and it makes you feel moved to add value to the culture. Like most small towns Greenville SC is working to achieve diversity one step at a time. I want to leave a legacy of belief. A culture that believes that minority women are entitled to creative titles and that they are innovative leaders. I hope to pave the way for brown girls like myself and propel societies value placed on brown Artist in their communities.

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?

Like many my love for the arts began at a young age. I began my career as a visual artist in 2013. My works have been featured in many exhibits and can be found on my website at www.faithhudgensart.com. I work with mediums such as oil and acrylic paint on large scale canvases. My works are bold, bright, vibrant and layered in spirituality. Although I still pursue visual arts full time I am largely recognized for my talents in the body art industry. As a professional tattooist I have built a successful career by simply believing that “color belongs in brown skin”. As this narrative goes against the industry’s beliefs, I consider myself the rebel who challenged the odds. I began my tattoo career in 2017 and I have dedicated my years to learning and perfecting my craft. I am the first African American woman in South Carolina to open a licensed tattoo facility in 2021 by the name of, Black Swan Tattoo Studios. I employ all female artist from different walks of life and together we serve as a safe place for women in the tattoo industry.
It is not easy being a dual Artist especially since both industries are considered two different worlds, but in reality are very much the same. The truth is in order to be a good tattoo artist you must first be a good artist. My goal is to draw awareness to the division between both worlds and create a new culture where both audiences mesh.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

A phase that i would highly recommend skipping “being scared to show the world what you have to offer”. In business we know that word of mouth has a substantial impact on growing your clientele but it can be a slow game. I have successfully grown my clientele through social media platforms such as Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, Instagram, etc. I do this by making sure that I put out quality content on a consistent basis that is related to my brand. The consistency is important because people live their own lives and they will forget about your brand if they do not see.
When mentoring I find that most business owners/ entrepreneurs are hesitant about marketing themselves on social media platforms out of fear of failure, or being judged. In all honesty, we all struggle with this in the beginning of our career and then the light bulb goes off…
“You will be judged for not pursuing your passions and you will be judged for dreaming to big”
Because of this I recommend being true to yourself and to show up authentically for your brand on all platforms and in all spaces. You never know what audience your brand will reach just by others finding you relatable.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Wow, this is one hell of a question.

As a passion pursuer with a personality type categorized “free spirit” life is riddled with lessons. I believe that lessons are stepping stones along the path of your life’s journey. I find that when i trust myself to make the right choices from the learnings of these lessons, life rewards my wisdom.
Along my journey I would say my biggest unlearning is that the rating of my career is determined by my dollars. Of course in business profiting is very important but it doesn’t make up true success.
When you truly pursue your passions you will do it for free, you will stay up at night dreaming about it, you will risk any and everything to achieve your goals. Understand that the universe rewards this, the recognition will come but only if you put in the work.
Wealth can be categorized as social, financial, time, physical, and mental. However, I also believe that the legacy you leave after this lifetime is also a category of wealth. Jean-Michel Basquiat is wealthiest now than when he was when he was alive in human form. I say that to say this, his success was not limited to his lifetime on earth as his legacy still lives on.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.faithhudgensart.com
• Instagram: bigmama.ink
• Facebook: Faith Hudgens
• Other: TikTok: Bigmama.ink