Meet Brinton Freeze

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brinton Freeze a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brinton, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.

I developed my ability to take risks by choosing happiness. I grew up playing basketball and although the sport brought me joy, the environment wasn’t for me. I was great at something but left because I knew it wasn’t where I was meant to be. Leaving basketball for tennis was the best thing I ever did for myself and taught me that leaving something is hard, but the joy that comes from choosing yourself is full of lessons and growth that would never have been possible prior. It showed me that grit and determination were all I needed to do anything I set my mind to. I think life has been a lot of those moments and journeys but regardless of the outcome, being true to yourself is never taking a risk, and I live everyday supporting people to be who they are. There’s nothing more painful than living a life that isn’t for you all because being yourself is seen as taking a risk.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am currently pursuing an architecture license after completing an undergraduate degree at Texas Tech and Masters Degree at The University of Texas at Austin. My undergraduate degree focused in Architecture and Business Administration and my Graduate Degree focused in Architecture and Interior Design. I am a part of a team that designs public health clinics, engineering labs, university buildings, and hospitals. While I never saw myself working in this sector of architecture, there’s something insanely fulfilling to design the spaces that heal our communities and provide a place to foster innovations that will change the world. There’s a longevity to the design that will long survive the building itself in so many different ways.

I also founded, owned, and operated a clothing company for several years which was rooted in turning interviews into designs. It wasn’t just designing things that looked cool, but had a deeper meaning which is what life is all about. It allowed me to flex the creative part of myself that I discovered in school that will never really die. I learned how to sew, took part in a large scale fashion week, and even interviewed individuals at a nursing home to inspire design. This company is not something that is still running, but it is and will always be such a prideful piece of my story.

I recently got a drone through a triathlon I was participating in and is more of the pivotal point in my life the last few years. I had always been interested in drone photography and videography and when the chance presented itself to receive a drone at a very steep discount, I took it without asking any questions. I have a background in videography as I took 4 years of classes in high school on top of countless other side projects throughout the years. I have had a documentary I worked on published through PBS and actively implemented the skills into my architectural design projects in college whenever I could. Music became a big part of my life when a best friend of forced me to love it as much as he did. I’ve designed several album covers for various music groups as the opportunities have presented themselves over the past few years. Doing drone work has just given me a new hobby to really love and explore. It allows me to combine music, video production, and shot framing all in one.

I also started training for an Ironman about a year ago. You get to points in life where you’ve lost who you are and I’ve always found that having a a new physical challenge and goal is what gets me back in line. Originally that was tennis, then it was boxing, and now it is an ironman. I really think you can do anything – and you should.

I feel like I embarked on this Ironman journey to really find myself again and I’m in a weird transition period because of it. I have no idea what the future holds, but I’m so excited for it again. The amount of work I had to do just to get here and be optimistic for the future is something words will never describe. When you’re hardwired to accomplish the things you say you’re going to do, it gets really easy to lose yourself along the way. Setting that mission, surrounding yourself with the right people, and taking care of your body are the blocks I live my life on.

To expand a little bit more about my story. I am an only child and while some might think this is a privilege, it was anything but. I come from two hard working parents who worked their asses off to put food on the table. I learned how to count in the shopping cart because we only had so much to spend. You spend a lot of time alone with no one who understands what you’re going through and no one to relate to. It was a life of solitude and while I beyond grateful for the life I have been given, it has taught me to treat my friends like siblings, and to value every moment you get to spend with those you love.

Another big part of my story is navigating my faith and belief in god while also identifying as bisexual. I was raised catholic which made it really had to accept a part of myself that I didn’t want to. It was almost like I wanted to marry a girl just thinking I would never have to acknowledge a part of me. When I started to embrace myself, it made living authentically a lot easier. It does and still does bring a lot of challenging conversations that a lot of people don’t know how to have or even approach. I proudly believe in god and also openly identify as bisexual which has caused numerous struggles with various churches but I refuse to live a life where I hide for the ease and comfort of others. I lived hiding for so long and now am fortunate enough to know that it isn’t a way to live.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Surround yourself with people who inspire you. I cannot stress this enough, there’s people who have told me I’m absolutely insane for doing an ironman, and then there’s the friends who are questioning why I didn’t do it sooner. I am a big believer that you are the reflection of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

2. If it makes you insecure or uncomfortable, odds are you’re in the right place. Embrace it, lean into it, never die wondering. I always tell people that are afraid to step into a weight room that everyone there was once in their shoes. Everyone was at the starting line at one point and there’s so much respect for those who decide to start and never look back. Keep pushing because you’ll never know what could be if you don’t push past the fact that you are the only thing holding yourself back.

3. Unique to me was the desire to re-write the financial story of my past and do it through chasing what actually makes me happy. I know money isn’t everything and I will never sell myself for the sake of making money. When you know who you are and stay true to that, you’ll never die regretting you never did something.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

You can only be sad for so long. I think a lot of life is learning when enough is enough. You can either be sad and lazy or sad and productive. I struggled with the sad and lazy and it was a never ending cycle of trying to dig myself out of a hole that kept getting deeper and deeper. The last 12 months has helped me regain my ability to be consistent again. I struggled with consistency for so long and got to a point where I was only consistent for others in my life, not for myself. You can accomplish alot but if it wasn’t your goal to accomplish, you’re left feeling empty when it’s over. I’m so happy to be prioritizing my own goals again.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: brintonfreeze

Image Credits

Thomas Camacho