Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Fredrick Francis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Fredrick, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

Little backstory: I’ve always been pretty good at art, even as a child. I used to draw all the time—mostly wrestlers, from the smallest guy, Rey Mysterio, to one of the biggest, Kane. I even sold my drawings for 10 to 25 cents without realizing that later in life, I’d be doing something similar on a much larger scale.

Teachers always knew which paper was mine, even if there was no name at the top—there was always some kind of eighth-grade-level masterpiece illustrating the Pythagorean theorem. If I could go back in time and hone in on my creative career, it would’ve been during my junior or senior year of high school. At that point, I was a rebellious kid when it came to art and the way it was graded. I was talented, and my teachers saw that, but my arrogance sometimes overshadowed it. My work was always complete and met the criteria, but where was the effort?

Looking back, I now realize that my teachers saw my potential and wanted me to push myself further—but I refused. I only cared about getting the grade.

Years after graduating, I decided to pick up painting as a hobby. I needed an outlet to express myself, so I painted every day. Next thing you know, I’m buying more and more paint, getting pretty good at it, and refreshing my old skills. That’s when I created my art page, P34nutH34d, on Instagram(currently Peanut Head Studios)—just a place to post my artwork.

Soon, friends, family, and even people I’d never met started liking my work. Some wanted to commission me, and I thought, “Why not?” As I gained traction over the years, COVID happened, and suddenly, I was stuck in my room painting every day. One day, I painted Dexter’s Laboratory on my Nike shoes and posted them on Snapchat. The offers came flooding in, and at that moment, it all clicked.

Safe to say, if I had never ignored my gift as a teenager and had started focusing on my talents earlier, I’d be light-years ahead of where I am now!

Fredrick, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Fredrick Douglas Francis Jr., and I was born and raised on the north side of Houston. My siblings and I grew up in two households between my mom and dad. There was a total of seven of us, including my godbrother.

Currently, I’m a full-time student at the University of Houston, working part-time as a server at The Woodlands Country Club, while also running my business on the side—aspiring to make Peanut Head Studios my full-time career.

I started taking my craft and business seriously during quarantine, like many new entrepreneurs. The first pair of shoes I painted was during COVID—a Dexter’s Laboratory design on my Nike Huaraches. When I posted them on Snapchat, people started asking for custom pairs, and that’s when it hit me: I could pursue this realm of art. My love for art took a different route and opened a new door.

Over the years, I’ve expanded my skill set to include digital design, paper craftsmanship, printing, bookmaking, and brand identity creation. These skills have added value to my business and have helped shape my creative journey. This path has had its ups and downs, but I continue to learn and remain open to growth.

I made a promise to myself and my friends to hold myself accountable to my craft—I dedicate at least one hour every day to working on some form of art, even if I don’t have commissions. I don’t just make art; I make expression. Seeing the joy and reactions on my clients’ faces fuels my soul. Knowing that the gift God has given me can bring happiness to others is what keeps me going.

I want to inspire the next generation—show them that if someone like me, who didn’t have it all, can rise from a low-income background, then they can too. One of my core values that sets me apart from other artists is authenticity. If I feel like I can’t do something or haven’t done it before, I’m honest with my clients. To me, honesty is more important than money. Money comes and goes, but your reputation stays, and I’d rather be known for my authenticity than as just another money-hungry seller.

One of my proudest moments since starting this journey has been giving people hope and inspiration. Some of my followers have told me they started painting shoes because of me—that my message encouraged them to explore their creativity. That right there warms my heart. To think that a young kid from Houston could have that kind of impact on others—it means everything to me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Not Doing Contracts (Lesson Learned)

One of the skills I mentioned earlier is brand identity design. Every entrepreneur—really, everyone—learns from difficult clients, and I definitely had my fair share.

I once took on a logo design project for a woman I met at the airport. We had some things in common, and when I told her what I do, she mentioned she was looking for a designer. It was a word-of-mouth situation, so I decided to take her on as a client.

I followed my usual design process:

Sketch phase – The client chooses three sketches.
Refinement phase – Two of the three are further refined.
Final selection – One of the two is chosen for digitalization.
As you can imagine, that process alone takes time—and that’s just the sketching phase. We hadn’t even started digitalizing the design yet.

Once we finally got to the digital phase, she suddenly wanted to choose a different sketch, essentially resetting the entire process. At this point, it had already taken much longer than expected, and I won’t lie—I was getting irritated. The amount of work I put in far exceeded what I was paid.

That experience made me re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about brand identity design and working with clients. From that moment on, I scrapped my old approach and made a major change—I now require a contract for these types of projects.

Lesson learned.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience through my friends at first. I started posting consistently, and as more people with the same interests saw my work, they started following me. On the Explore page, I would like and comment on other artists’ work, showing love without expecting anything in return. Sometimes, that would lead to a new follower.

2. Collaborations & Free Work
At the end of the day, I love doing art. If I have an idea I want to share but my platform “isn’t big enough”, it only makes sense to collaborate with someone who has a bigger following. Working with them helps me gain traction while bringing something valuable to the table.

I know free work sounds crazy, but honestly, some of my best work has been free. I don’t come from money, so when I got back into art, it wasn’t for fame or a paycheck—it was to get my ideas out there. And if I can do that while collaborating with someone, why not? It benefits both of us, and who knows where that connection could lead?

3. Pop-Ups & Being a Vendor
You have to put yourself out there. The world is MASSIVE, and showcasing your work in public makes a huge difference. I guarantee that someone will love your work, take a picture of it, and share it. Then they’ll tell someone, who will tell someone else, and before you know it, a chain reaction of new followers begins.

If I can give one piece of advice—don’t be discouraged if you don’t have 5K followers yet. Be true to yourself and appreciate the followers you do have. Those are the people who genuinely love what you’re doing, and once others see that, you’ll definitely get somewhere!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peanutheadstudios/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredrick-francis-62a6b2248/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OfficalPHS
• Other: Pinterest:
  
  TikTok:

  @peanutheadstudios

  
  Google images:
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