Today we’d like to introduce you to Freed.
Hi Freed, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Some of my earliest memories go back to the 1980s. I’m a little kid playing with Star Wars action figures in my dad’s saxophone while he paints a portrait of a beautiful woman. Purple Rain is playing in the background, he is mixing colors together, and I am surrounded by music, art, imagination, and these bright characters and vibrant colors in front of me. That is where creativity started for me.
I was always drawing, making things, and paying attention to how art made me vibe. I grew up watching Looney Tunes and Saturday morning cartoons, so I naturally became drawn to bright colors and visuals that immediately wake you up. You can still see that influence in a lot of the work I create today. My style tends to be colorful, expressive, and full of energy.
A little over 20 years ago, I moved to Phoenix from Fresno California (Go Bulldogs!) to attend a technical school focused on animation and film. Moving away gave me the chance to get outside of my comfort zone and begin building a life for myself. While I was in school, I needed a job, so I found a part time job working in sales. I had never sold anything professionally before, but I quickly discovered that I was real good at it. I earned a perfect score on the training exam, became a manager, and eventually built a long term career in sales. I moved into technology sales in 2012 and have continued working in tech and software ever since.
Sales was not the creative career I originally pictured for myself, but it taught me a lot about people. It taught me how to listen and how to understand that everyone is carrying a story you may not be able to see. That became even more important when I moved into leadership and started working closely with people from different backgrounds and different stages of life. Those experiences helped me to shape the way I create and the way I speak to people today.
I started The Art of Being Freed in 2015. Back then it was an actual podcast on SoundCloud, and that is also when I started the YouTube page. It was just a place for me to share ideas, stories, and conversations and at the time, being on video was starting to be a big deal. After a while I stepped away from video to put my focus back into my art. Then in 2022, I decided to step out from behind the pencil and get back into video content. I built out the Instagram page and started putting more focus into the branding, the visuals, and the larger message behind the what I was creating. The work now centers on growth, creativity, health, self awareness, and what it means to take ownership of your life.
More recently, I have also been documenting my health and wellness journey. I do not approach it as a typical before and after story. I am more interested in showing what can happen when a person decides to become active in their own life again. As people gain more experience in life, there can be an expectation that they will simply slow down, lose themselves, or begin to look worn down by everything they have been through. I wanted to challenge that idea, first in my own life and then through the work I share with others.
My path has not been a straight line, but every part of it has shaped what I am creating now. The art, the podcast, my career, and the work I’ve done on myself are all connected. My goal is to create things that make people feel seen and remind them that they still have the ability to change, to grow, and to become more than they may currently believe is possible.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road. One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to make room for the creative part of myself while also building a stable career and handling real responsibilities. Creativity never left me, but there were stretches where it had to fight for space. I was still drawing, writing, making music, recording, and coming up with ideas, but I was not always giving that side of myself the attention it deserved.
I also had to learn how to trust my own voice. It’s easy to look at what everyone else is doing and start questioning whether your way is the right way. Over time, I realized that the things that come naturally to me are the things I should lean into. The bright colors, the storytelling, the humor, and the honest conversations about growth are all part of who I am. I had to stop treating those things like they needed permission.
My health became another challenge. There was a point where I could feel the years of stress and hard work starting to add up. Rebuilding my health forced me to become honest about my habits and accept that wanting change would never replace the daily work. That process required patience because progress came through repetition, even when the results were not immediate. This helped me to stop blaming things like age. If I’m able, I’m in control.
The road has been uneven, but those difficult stretches gave me something real to talk about. They helped me become more patient, more disciplined, and more honest with myself. I have also learned to stop waiting for the perfect time. You have to be truthful about where you are, then take the next step from there, even if it’s the first.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think of myself as a storyteller first. Whether I’m recording a podcast, creating artwork, filming a video, or writing, I’m always working to tell stories that help people see life from a different perspective.
The Art of Being Freed Podcast has been the foundation of that work since 2015. Over the years it has grown into more than a podcast. It’s become a place where I can talk about creativity, discipline, health, self-awareness, and the choices that help to mold who we become.
Around 2022, I became much more intentional about the brand itself because I wanted the visuals to carry the same energy as the message. Bright colors, bold artwork, and expressive design all go back to the creative influences I grew up with.
The health journey eventually became part of the story too. I wasn’t trying to reinvent myself or build a fitness brand, that was never the intent. I was simply sharing what I was already doing every day as people in my day to day ask for my input. As I became more disciplined, people connected with that process. It reminded me that people don’t just listen to what you say. They pay attention to how you live.
The work I’m most proud of isn’t one episode or one project which is cool because I used to get caught up in the finality of a project. The work I’m most proud of is actually the fact that I’m building something where every piece fits together. The podcast, the artwork, the videos, and even the health journey all point back to the same idea.
I think society expects people to gradually accept less from themselves as they get older. I don’t believe in that. A lot of my work is really about showing that you can keep building, keep creating, keep taking care of yourself, and keep becoming more of who you are.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
The three books I return to most are The Greatest Salesman in the World, Think and Grow Rich, and The Alchemist. I have read a lot of personal development books over the years, but those are the ones I tend to recommend because they have stayed with me. They each deal with belief, purpose, discipline, and the way we choose to approach our lives.
My favorite podcast is actually PHNX Cardinals. I am a huge Arizona Cardinals fan, and their show is one of the ways I unplug and give my mind a break from work and everything I am creating. They cover the team from every angle, and I genuinely enjoy listening to the personalities on the show. Sometimes doing your best also means having something that allows you to relax and simply be a fan.
For productivity, I use ChatGPT and Claude regularly. They help me organize ideas, work through projects, and turn thoughts into something I can begin building. Procreate is also a major part of my creative process because a lot of my artwork and visual ideas begin there.
The app I probably check most consistently is StepsApp. I aim for somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 steps each day, so I am always looking at it to see where I stand. It is a simple tool, but it keeps me aware of how active I have been and reminds me to keep moving. I recently created an app that tracks my macronutrients and fiber based on my goal weight. You typically get the best results from what you inspect.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://freedpodcast.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedpodcast/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100083514390789/mentions/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddiewalton/
- Twitter: https://x.com/freedthekreed
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheArtOfBeingFreed
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-art-of-being-freed
- Other: https://callcentertv.com
