We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Rhodes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachel, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I’ve always had a confidence about myself since I was a little girl. I get it from my mom she always told us nobody was better than us. Growing up being dark skinned in a culture where people like the ” mixed girls and Christina Milian types; I was teased for my skin tone. There weren’t pages dedicated to the dark skinned girls. Even though I was bullied for my skin tone I always knew I was beautiful. I always had the energy that I was that girl. Growing up in Atlanta we’re all celebrities and I’ve carried the confidence of that girl into now. I like to think of that Rihanna interview ” Fake it to you make it or cry myself to sleep… and I ain’t crying myself to sleep.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Rachel Rhodes and I’ve always been into fashion. When I say into fashion I mean deeply and truly in all aspects. It started with Barbie and Dollz Mania ( If you know you know ) and progressed to Polyvore, Tumblr , Pinterest @raereneee and just being known to others for my sense of style . When I turned 18 I started to thrift and create more unique outfits to take things a step further. I started having fashion events/ a podcast with a close friend called Fashion Talk 101/ launching my clothing line in the middle of the pandemic called Seveth Rhodes. Next was diving into personal styling, creative directing, sewing, and customizing my own pieces. I also have my TikTok where I still discuss fashion topics @bigrae777. There aren’t really any aspects of fashion that I haven’t explored or inserted myself in I truly love it all.
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?
First is perseverance I have it tattooed on my rib. You have to keep going no matter what and don’t let other people get in your head, It’s a lot of very successful and famous people that went through hell and back to make their dreams come true. I will use Victoria Monet as an example , she was a song writer and best friend to Ariana Grande. She even wrote some of her music but her own music wasn’t as successful ; and a a lot of people don’t know this but she’s honestly been out for years. It was no where near as successful as Ariana Grande’s music at first but she kept going and look at her now. Long story short never give up.
Next The art of not giving a F*ck if you listen to the opinions of others you’ll never get anywhere. You have to realize that not everybody likes you and that’s okay. As I’ve matured I now have realized that people are just going to talk about you. Regardless if you sat in your room for a whole year and did nothing people will say “that girl doesn’t do sh*t”. So you might as well give them something to talk about.
The last one is Minding your business. The best way that I can explain this one is when you truly focus on yourself is when the results speak louder. I truly took time to focus on myself even if that meant not hanging out with my friends as much and being mature enough to commit to celibacy for sometime. You won’t be yourself until you spend time with yourself TRULY by yourself. I feel like I took a year just to focus on me and I took about a half a year off social media. You have to lock in with yourself and that’s when you will create your best art whatever that may be.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
ABSOLUTELY! I’m almost thirsty to work with other fashion designers. I’m always looking for models and people to make styling content with. It seems like lately a lot of my clients are artist or in entertainment and I’m starting to think that’s maybe my lane. So essentially if you need a stylist hit me up!
Contact Info:
- Website: seventhrhodes.com
- Instagram: @_raeforreal
- Youtube: @raeforreal
Image Credits
@iskinnylove
