Meet Faith Freeman

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

Faith, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Growing up, I struggled with finding and maintaining friendships. It may not have been all about me being black or being a woman, at least as far as I knew — but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a factor at some point. To my understanding, my struggles seemed to have more to do with my mindset, which has been especially optimistic, content, or “too nice”. As a result, I’ve given off the impression of being a doormat or being weak. I think as you get older, somewhere along the line it becomes cooler to disregard your feelings, to hustle and grind yourself to the ground, to step on people’s toes, and to be less vulnerable. Saying that you can do everything all by yourself is the pride and joy of this age, and somewhere along the line, I began falling for the trap. Having a sense of naivete and a willingness to learn is looked down upon as an inherent weakness, despite being able to see possibilities and opportunities that those who are skeptical might not. This trait seems to have sparked a specific kind of sincerity or inner drive that many people might not have or understand. For the longest time, I didn’t understand this drive either. Fast-forward to now, I’m having to re-learn how to embrace this drive if I want to excel as an illustrator and visual storyteller.

Simultaneously, I recognize that this trait is a double edged sword. While this trait throughout my life has led to unique connections and innovative ideas, I’ve struggled most when I lacked the critical thinking or discernment to spot potential dangers or ulterior motives. Eventually, I would try to fit into the mold, but this made it even harder to keep friendships. I would let other people decide what I should think, but this also alienated me from the peers who really did desire the real me. Unfortunately, I’ve missed out on many opportunities in life because I’ve been too blind to recognize this. At the same time, my attempts of trying to completely get rid of this side of myself has placed the sincerity and integrity of my creativity at risk.

Some time away from social media showed me that I had begun to prioritize validation over relationship and truth. I felt a deep conviction that this was not who God called me to be, but I wasn’t ready to accept it at the time. In the moment, it felt like I was losing myself, but this is exactly what it takes to be found. In all honesty, maybe being the only one in the room could look like irking those who may have only been acquainted with the version of myself that tried to conform to the mold. There will be people out there who don’t want to hear what you really have to say. But this is the truth that found me while I was still lost, and I’ve become a little more comfortable with that the more mature I get. (It’s still a learning process!)

I believe that thriving as an adult means understanding the balance between optimism and cynicism: to be childlike — open to possibilities — while also being discerning. I’m reminded of Matthew 10:16 where it says to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” I am learning each day to be perceptive and alert while navigating opposition, while also not sacrificing my core values or what makes me unique. At the end of the day, you’re the only one who can give yourself permission to be honest with yourself. Overtime, I needed to discover that I cannot thrive by looking at who I’m not or ruminating over “why” I’m not this or that. Rather, I’m shifting my focus to using my individuality to my advantage and for the edification of others.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m Faith, a visual storyteller specializing in concept development, illustration, comics, and storyboarding. By the time this interview is posted, I will have graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) with an honors B.F.A. in Sequential Arts and a minor in Concept Design for Animation and Games.

As of now, I am designing and painting environments for indie animation and gaming spaces. Before that, I honed my skill and taste through animation, manga, and JRPG (Japanese Role-Playing Game) inspired illustrations, where I embraced opportunities to re-imagine characters in new situations alongside those who dared to do the same. This kindled my passion for story and the idea of doing life with others, in spite of fears. In the meantime, I am building the chops to continue bridging these passions into the world of webcomics and storyboarding. Overall, I dream to celebrate the ups and downs of life through whatever creative medium I touch, and to share that experience with others. I thrive when I have opportunities to work in teams, though I’m learning to enjoy my own company once in a while.

When I am not creating, I can be found spending time with family and petting your dog.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

If I had to highlight three skills or lessons I’ve learned over the past year, I would choose adaptability, curiosity, and resillience. These have kept me grounded whenever my world seemed to turn upside-down.

1. Adaptability is not only a skill I embrace as a creative problem-solver, but it has also become a life-style. I believe that this is essential to keeping my creativity alive (and has kept me from getting bored). It’s also how I’ve been able to find where my strengths lie: by trying everything! To me, adaptability is the ability to thrive in a variety of situations. I believe developing this skill is a matter of knowing that I, myself, must change on the inside before I can expect to see change externally. It’s a lifestyle of choosing to put one foot in front of another, making the decision to be proactive each moment — each day — and recognizing that while challenges will come, you can use them to your advantage! My adaptability has also allowed me to branch out and learn from those outside of my discipline, and I’ve gained new insights I wouldn’t have if I remained inside of my comofrt zone. Don’t waste any opportunity to try something new and grow from it!

2. Curiosity is a trait I never seemed to let go of, no matter the situation in life. Over time, remaining curious has molded me into somebody who is solution-oriented — ready to adapt, and take risks. I believe it’s important to be open to possibilities, which has enabled me to pick up new skills and find value in even the least expected of places in my life. Rather than building resentment towards difficult periods, it has helped me to look for opportunities for growth, or to ponder over what God may want me to learn in the moment. After all, our brains are so-called ‘prediction machines’, and no amount of learning happens without an element of surprise. I think if I knew how hard the path I’ve chosen to take really was, I would have said ‘no’ before I even started. But even if I’ve had my doubts about this path at times, I have never resorted to regret. Never say no to yourself, because you have no idea what you’re really capable of doing until you’ve tried it!

Lastly, the above two qualities would not be possible without:

3. Resilience — which, I believe, also goes hand in hand with faith: an ever-increasing faith in myself, and in God. Faith, to me, is not just a feeling, a belief (let alone a name). It’s an informed confidence based on evidence of having overcome situations I once thought were hopeless. Resilience also represents the understanding that real growth rarely comes when you’re sitting around merely waiting for an uncomfortable situation to be over. The challenge is that this is a muscle that’s built through trials and challenges, so there is no growth within comfort zones. I wouldn’t be able to press on without recalling all of the times I’ve seen how my failures and disappointments have been shaped into a new vision, or have opened new opportunities. Because of this, I don’t have to totally lose myself in difficult situations, because it’s only when your life seems like it’s on fire that you learn how to withstand heat. This has been a continual work in progress, but I embrace it as a virtue as I take a career path that is often, by nature, unpredictable.

But these lessons will have never surfaced without their own fair share of challenges. Are you willing to push forward even if you don’t see the external fruit immediately? Are you willing to be changed from the inside out, in pursuit of long-lasting change? Are you willing to not allow the external pressures of this world to dictate your internal drive and cause you to lose focus? I feel that these are critical questions to ask, no matter the endeavor.

I don’t think the problem lies in trying to do something new, or adopting a new way of thinking. That’s the easy part. The HARD part is learning to adjust, and having to choose every waking moment to put behind an old way of thinking and being that no longer serves you (and if it doesn’t serve you, then it certainly won’t serve others).

I don’t say this to scare anyone, but to paint a different perspective on the storms of life. I think what many people don’t tell you about growth and adopting new skills and ways of thinking is that you start to mourn the loss of your old self sometimes. It’s hard because you start thinking that life was “easier” back then. Maybe this old version of you seemed like they had a personality. Maybe they seemed like they had ‘friends’. Maybe they had loved ones who were still living. But when you’re going through hard times now and it starts to seem like the old version of you had it easier, you might forget that in some way, the old you was still crying out for help, freedom, or some chance to finally be somebody. The old version of you, unfortunately, cannot help you in the new situation you’re in now.

As much as the process hurts, I believe not going through it is what keeps you captive. When the thought of remaining in captivity while life continues to pass you by starts to hurt more than staying the same, I think that’s when real change can begin to happen. At that point, the process of change becomes a ‘life-or-death’ endeavor. The truth is, you did not have the freedom or the wisdom that you do now, and you have to recognize that your newfound power comes with greater responsibility.

During these times, be especially wise with who you choose to surround yourself with, or confide in. As harsh as it sounds, not everyone has your best interest at heart, so be careful with who you lend your ear to. Additionally, look at their lives, and be really honest with yourself — are they a reflection of what you value most? There are people out there who can and will take your conviction personally, but there is no need to explain yourself. What’s important is that you have a support system that remains grounded in your values, so you don’t lose your footing when the storms of life come. You know you’ve found these people when they call you out in the moments when you don’t stick to those values. For me, that might look like my immediate family and church family, and a friend who knows me best. This number for you might feel small, but you ultimately don’t want too many cooks in your kitchen. Keep those people who will listen to you and energize you close; they will be crucial in your journey.

If you feel like you don’t have anyone you can trust right now, read books! I believe that there’s a solution to every problem, and it has been done before (thanks Mom). Never be convinced that you’re alone; there’s just too much information out there to be!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I believe my current obstacle while also being a big area of growth for me is in coming out of my shell and embracing risk.

To be honest, this interview caught me at a time when I’m at an uncomfortable transitional period in life. I just graduated art school, and I want to get my career up and running, except I’m facing a situation where it seems like I’m struggling to resonate with my current online artist persona that somehow accumulated 2.9k followers. Now, I have to find ways to remain productive while rediscovering who I really was before I began looking over my shoulder. It’s because I recognize I’m no longer who I once was, but I’m not yet who I’m becoming, and I don’t entirely know what to do about it, other than to just go with the flow and stay connected with Jesus and those who strengthen my faith. Sometimes it feels like I have to suffer in silence for a while before I really can articulate what’s happening to me, while also facing the fear of people turning away if or when I DO open up. In reality, I had to learn that I was my own worst enemy the entire time.

Leading up to 2020, I think part of my motivation for drawing was to escape reality, and it just so happened that I was able to attract significant attention on my art, especially during a time where the world shut down and everyone was glued to their screens. It got to a point where someone else’s validation meant the world to me. It distracted me from the things I really felt on the inside and didn’t want to face in real life. I conversed with people online in order to avoid confronting the parts of life, or myself, that I was disappointed with. Instead of celebrating life in its sincerity, I began living and creating with an agenda.

This clashed with my desire to socialize with my peers at SCAD years later. I admired those who either felt safe enough to open up to others, or didn’t seem to care what people thought. The pressure I felt to have it all figured out kept me in my shell, and I felt like I desperately needed somebody to sit with me regardless of where I was at, but reaching out to the right people was still a foreign concept. I wanted so badly to embrace the lovely “to be cringe is to be free” saying one of my peers in 2D animation would always say. Sadly, this seemed like a luxury only characters in the fictional worlds I enjoyed consuming were able to embrace.

That’s when I realized there was a problem: I didn’t know how to sit through discomfort or do life with those who were right in front of me. I was losing the capacity to push through life’s challenges while not addressing the fact that I felt like I was dying on the inside. I knew that something had to change. I no longer want to build a platform in my isolation, or for someone’s happiness. I simply want to live in a way that resonates with me. The consequences of not doing so would begin to catch up to me years later, where now at SCAD, we’re being taught to cultivate our brand identity. By this time, I was beginning to really question: “Who am I, really?” Despite that, I continued to try and make myself palatable to others, until in 2024, everything came to a head. I shut down, lost sight of who I was, and my creative drive took a massive hit. From there, I was forced to start anew and build myself from the ground up, even if my peers around me at the time might’ve felt confused by my sudden absence.

However, I think coming to the end of myself and being forced to pause and reflect has helped me learn to find things to be grateful for rather than trying to rush through a painful season of my life. During this time, I realized I gained a new audience who was invested in the REAL me this entire time. I think there are many college highlights I could choose from, but if I had to pick one that stood out to me the most, I would call out the amazing roommates I was blessed to have on my very last year at SCAD. Initially, I wanted to live with people I already knew, but in hindsight, these 3 amazing individuals were best for my character development at that time. Even though I was at my lowest, they would coerse (force) me out of the dorm to have dinner with them, travel outside of Georgia to places I’ve never been, push me to be less perfectionistic, eat more apples, and drink more water. One of these roommates even showed me how to skateboard, an activity that seems to scratch my itch for adventure despite present anxieties. This serendipitous moment was a spark to potentially the closest and deepest friendship I’ve had in years.

Even if the four of us only lived together for 9 months, I still cherish the lessons I learned and journeys I went on with them. Thanks to them, I am able to look at what I have at home, as well as the relationship complications I’ve faced with others and with myself in a new light. Today, I’m employing new strategies of being present in my face-to-face interactions, now choosing to embrace a more restful, more graceful (and GRATEFUL) pace of living, rather than being uptight and rushing through even the smallest, yet most significant seasons of my life. Looking back, I’m very thankful for all those who have tried to sit with me and call me out whenever I lied to myself, even if I refused to accept correction at the time.

My final years at SCAD have opened my eyes to who my support system really was. I met individuals who challenged me to understand who it is I truly was beyond what I did, beyond how I performed, beyond my emotional outbursts, and beyond past failures. But I can confidently say that I’ve grown the most around those who pushed me to see my identity and purpose strictly through the lens of how God sees His children: not as worthless, spineless, inferior beings that need to prove we’re not a sham, but to live and serve others in love. My ability to do so is continually fueled and inspired by the understanding that He is the symbol of sacrificial love. That doesn’t mean anybody is perfect at offering this, because this world as we know it is in terrible shape, but we still were given the authority to make it a better place.

I think it’s easy for the world to look at “serving others” as a curse word, but really, I’ve found that I’ve experienced the most joy when I’m able to utilize my gifts beyond isolation and self-centeredness. When I falter or become distracted becuase of double-mindedness, my support system continues to encourage me when I can’t encourage myself, in ways that nobody else can. I was never alone, like I once believed I was. It has taken me a while to learn this, and I’m still learning even to this day.

I don’t think that life-changing experiences like what I’ve shared necessarily negate the temptation to fall back into old ways, but the difference is that I have the wisdom to navigate it the right way this time. I believe it’s possible to live and create with childlike faith again, without all the survivalist tendencies. I’ve seen it done, and I want that for me too. If that means the work I produce could look and feel a little different from here on out, then I’m all for it. While I don’t know how exactly the future for my career or brand may look just yet, I’ve come to peace with treating all that I’ve shared in this interview as a significant milestone, and the end of a chapter. To whoever is reading, I would be elated to have you alongside me, no matter where this next chapter is headed.

I once only created to escape life. Now, I seek to embrace it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tanzynight.wixsite.com/portfolio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanzynight/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faith-freeman-4413a3265/
• Other: Business Email: [email protected]

  Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tanzynight

Image Credits

© 2025 TANZYNIGHT / Faith Freeman. All rights reserved.

Roommate Graduation Photo (from left to right):

– Serin Jordan @serinrohervibes
– Tina Yan@xanurok
– Yours truly…
– Hollie Puterbaugh @hollieillu