We’re looking forward to introducing you to Annalee Neeley. Check out our conversation below.
Annalee, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
In the summer, I wake up at 6am, make my bed, get ready, and head out to walk my dogs. We typically walk for 45-60 minutes around my neighborhood, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the day. I come back, make breakfast, drink freshly steeped black tea, and talk with my mom. It is a very pleasant morning routine!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Absolutely. My name is Annalee, and I am a live event painter from the Nashville area. I am about to enter my junior year of college, where I am getting a Bacherlor’s degree in business with a double major in marketing and global management; I am also working on a Master’s degree in Divinity, so I get to study the Bible every day. It’s the best! I have been working in the art space for just over seven years; my career began with watercolor portraiture, and I specialized in home and pet portraits. About two years ago, I began painting at events and weddings–I love every bit of it! My bookings are for one of two services: watercolor guest portraits or live event painting with acrylic paint on wood panel or canvas. I often accept commissions from family and friends, but the bulk of my work is now in the event-painting space, which I am super thankful for!
One of the things that makes my job super interesting and exciting is getting to travel all over the Middle TN region, meeting lovely people, and capturing beautiful moments. It is such an honor to get to play a part in beautifully curated events, timeless ceremonies, and days that will be cherished by couples and friends for a lifetime.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
My relationship with God has certainly shaped how I see myself the most because it is through my knowing God that I know my given identity, purpose, and calling. This might sound a bit odd as so much of culture and media teaches that we–autonomous individuals–ultimately shape our self-image and perception. I believe quite differently. For me, the Bible is the highest source of authority in my life. What that means is this: God’s design, perspective, and heart shape how I see myself.
The big-picture story of the Bible sums up all that I need to know about myself, and it begins here: God creates all things. In Genesis 1:26-28, God creates man and woman; he gives them names, identities, and purpose–Adam and Eve were created by God in a perfect, unbroken relationship with him. His creation was called good and all things–people, animals, the whole lot–functioned according to their God-given design. However, quickly, the world is broken by sin (Gen 3)–God’s good design has not been totally lost, but it has been completely damaged. The brokenness of this world is why I make bad choices, why there is evil and suffering in the world, why we see loss and death and insecurities, etc. Because of sin, as he is, man’s relationship with God cannot be perfect; because of sin, man cannot truly flourish. But, God, in his love and kindness, had a marvelous plan to rescue his people and restore his creation: He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to make the ultimate sacrifice for sinful people, which was to die the death that they deserve. Jesus Christ was obedient to all that God asked of him, he lived a perfect, sinless life, died a substitute’s death on the cross, and rose again from the dead three days later, fulfilling all of the promises of God. Now, any who recognizes his/her sinfulness, turns away from it, and trusts in Jesus for salvation can be saved. What is this salvation? It is a promise that you will inherit eternal life with God in heaven forever; it is a promise that you have been rescued from the punishment that you deserve, which is eternal judgment from God (Rom 3:23, 6:32). It is a promise that in Christ, you will never be alone because God promises to send his Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of all his children to help and guide them as they seek to become more like Jesus. In turning from sin and trusting in Jesus, you receive a new identity: child of God. You are given a new purpose: called to live a life completely sold out to worshiping God. Following Jesus doesn’t make life easy–it doesn’t make all your problems disappear or promise prosperity–but it does give you a hope and security that is unshakeable.
My relationship with God has given me a firm foundation for my life because it assures me that my identity, success, purpose are all outside myself. In other words, because I am trusting Jesus with my future, everything about my present circumstances, relationships, emotions fall into right-order with what is truest about me: Jesus has rescued me, and he calls me loved, chosen, redeemed, and secure. A relationship with God does not promise an easy or successful life by earthly standards, but it does promise peace and security. My life before trusting in Jesus was so different; I was bound by chains of anxiety, exhausted seeking my own success, insecure in my relationships, etc. Since trusting in Jesus, I have been able to run my business, study in school, and love people with greater freedom and excellence because I know that at the end of the day what matters the most is what has already been accomplished for me in Jesus. This changes everything. EVERYTHING.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
In high school, I was a competitive runner and desired to run at the collegiate level. Not far into my high school career, I began to suffer a chronic back injury. For four years in and out of injury cycles, I fought hard to get well, prepare to race, slip back into injury, and feel hopeless and without answers. My family and coaches rallied around me for three years; we tried about every kind of treatment we could to find out the root cause of my injuries, and ultimately, I was never able to return to competitive racing in the way I hoped. Through the years of physical pain and disappointment, I learned so much about myself and the good purposes of suffering in ways that I might not have had I been an injury-free, high-achiever in my sport. My physical suffering through chronic pain taught me to look beyond my circumstances to the greater things that I find in Jesus: hope, help, and purpose.
Because of the nature of my injury, I spent many seasons on the sidelines. As a high school girl chasing the dream of finding herself on a DI team, I kept finding myself feeling crushed, devoid of motivation to get well, and hopeless of actualizing my potential. I was seeking success, and because of my injuries, it seemed like I could not win. I wanted to allow my pain to poison every area of my life. However, God did not abandon me in my pain. Through studying the Bible and being surrounded with strong Christians who encouraged me in the midst of my suffering, I learned to recognize that I was putting my hope in things that are unreliable, temporary, and doomed to fail: wellness, ability to perform, the chance to be seen as valuable by college coaches. In the life I thought I wanted, I would have had to prove my worth and just hope I was working hard enough to earn a seat at the table; what I found instead was so much more beautiful.
My suffering opened my eyes to see the truth that Jesus promises a seat at the table that has been set by the work he has done, where all who call on his name are invited to feast. Through my pain, I saw the help of Jesus Chris, my rescuer, who promises me that I am never alone. What is more, I found help when I recognized that because Jesus has experienced the greatest suffering imaginable–dying the death for my sin that he did not deserve to die–he can joyfully walk alongside me in my own suffering. Because of what Jesus has done for me, I can find hope knowing that I am loved, worthy, and free from chasing the approval of anyone, including the college coaches I desired to impress. And, because of the great things Jesus has done for me, I have a new purpose in life, which is to love, serve, and worship him. In ways that success couldn’t, my suffering taught me that Jesus is my rescuer, a present help in trouble. Jesus rescued me from the pain of my injuries and broken dreams. In God’s kindness, I was able to run again, and that was such a gift. But more than this, Jesus rescued me from my sins, which is a greater gift than running could ever be.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
Over the years of getting to know myself, one of the things that has become most important to me is presenting one version of myself all the time. There are certainly some environments that pull different elements of my personality out more strongly than others, but I try my hardest to present myself, my whole self, as I am wherever I am. Whether it be on my personal social media, professional social media, in work settings or social settings, it matters to me that I am presenting myself consistently as just a girl who deeply loves people and loves her God even more. This can definitely be tricky when there are so many temptations to present myself in ways that might be cooler, more fashionable, or impressive; however, I have discovered one thing to make it all easier, and it is my motivation.
My motivation to present myself consistently as “the real me” in public and in private is based solely on my desire to “make much of God.” I can outline this for you in a few sentences: first, I believe that all of life is lived coram deo–before the face of God. Thus, who I am in public is known to God–same as for in private. Next, I believe that I am fully accountable to God for every action, word, and thought that I produce. Finally, I believe that the purpose of my life is to bring as much glory to God as I can, and I believe that God is most glorified when I delight most in him. And, my delight in God is directly correlated to my obedience to him, which I know from His Word. In the Bible, God tells us that he has created us fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14); He tells us that his creation is good (Gen 1); He tells us over and over that he created us with purpose, love, and for his glory. Scripture also tells us that God is glorified when we (people) act according to His good design. So, I am motivated to present myself as God created me with all of my quirks, gifts, and even limits because I know this glorifies my God, which brings me the most joy! As I present myself consistently as “the real me,” I bring God the most glory and myself the most good–It’s a win-win! Now, I don’t get it right all the time, and there are areas I can grow; nevertheless, I have seen how my motivation to “make much of God” has given me so much freedom and helped me to find so much joy in this life!
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
When I was in middle school, Lululemon became all the rage. If you were a cool girl, you were wearing Lulu. If you weren’t wearing Lulu, you were considered to be poor and lame. Naturally, I wanted to be a cool girl, so I wanted some Lululemon BAD. At the time, Lululemon was really the top of the activewear game, the most expensive on the market as far as I knew. I wanted my parents to get me outfitted, full kit and all. Thankfully, they did not acquiesce; instead, they told me that if I wanted to wear Lululemon, I needed to earn money and buy it for myself. I started working–doing chores, babysitting, walking dogs–to earn enough money to get the leggings I needed to make it with the cool girls. Sure enough, I saved up $89, and I took my wad of cash over to the shop to get the leggings I wanted.
Once I was at the store, I started to try on leggings. With each pair I put in the “put-back” pile, I was working to convince myself that I really did want these leggings–they really were worth it. After about fifteen minutes of playing fashion show, I walked out of the fitting room with an armful of hangers to put back on the racks. In the fitting room, I had realized that what I really wanted, Lululemon leggings could not give me. I was seeking to be part of the inner-ring, and I learned that overpriced activewear (no hate though, I am wearing lulu shorts as I write this) wasn’t going to get me in there. Well, even if it got me in, it wouldn’t keep me there because in just a few weeks, there’d be another thing I would have to chase, another thing to want that couldn’t keep me satisfied. And that’s just the thing about chasing the inner-ring: the chase does not end.
What I learned in the fitting room at twelve years old I can say is the same at twenty: the chase for belonging won’t end, not in this world. And it’s not worth it. You can easily waste your whole life on a fruitless, empty quest to be “one of the cool girls.” However, there is a quest that is worthy and eternally-satisfying; it ends at the table of a king, Jesus, who beckons all to join his royal family. At the table of Jesus, no one needs to earn or buy an invitation. Instead, the invitation is available to any who desires a seat–no Lululemon required. And the best part is this: once you’re there, you never have to leave. It’s a forever feast, and it’s just the best.
Image Credits
all photos were taken by myself
