Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rashad Ali Muhammad. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Rashad Ali , 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?
At the root, I think my self-esteem and confidence developed by liberating myself from what others think of me and honest self-awareness. If you met me today, you’d never believe I was ever shy or had low self-esteem.
Self-esteem has been an extensive journey. In the past, I perpetually struggled with body dysmorphia. I’ve been slim, hefty, and other sizes in between. I equated happiness and my physical worth to the size of my body, which got me in some predicaments, but that’s a conversation for my future book. Today, I’ve gotten to a place of body neutrality where my body size and shape don’t dictate how I feel about myself. Rather than focusing on how I want my body to look, I spend my energy simply on being healthy. That has released a lot of pressure and negative self-talk.
Beyond my physical appearance, my self-esteem and confidence were grounded in my capabilities and intelligence. We naturally compare ourselves to our peers, and by doing that, I recognized the value of my mind and my creativity. Yet, my confidence was heightened by my self-awareness. Being deeply aware of who we are, what we value, and what we’re good at are the foundations for building confidence. We often tell ourselves lies about our abilities, which keeps us in a state of low confidence. When we deeply know ourselves, we can differentiate between the truth and lies. Greater self-awareness leads to greater confidence.
By knowing myself in and out, without being delusional, there’s nothing anyone can say to me that I don’t already know about myself. How am I so self-aware? One, I spend plenty of time in my mind analyzing myself, people, situations, etc. I regularly ask myself, “Am I being authentic? Am I honoring how I feel? Am I eliciting the reaction from people that I’m expecting?” MANY other questions are swirling around in my mind, but in essence, I’m perpetually fine-tuning how I show up to bring my most authentic self to every situation.
The other side of the confidence self-esteem equation is not caring what people think. Everyone has specific experiences that shape how they see and move through the world. I can’t control how people see me based on their experience, so I try not to get bogged down with their unknown thoughts. My view of myself is what truly matters to my life’s journey. Am I okay with me today? We all know that person focused on living up to everyone else’s expectations (family, community, etc.) or fearing what others think so much that they’re not living the life they want or aren’t enjoying life. I refuse. It all boils down to nerve. Do you have the nerve to create the life you see for yourself?
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?
As a multidisciplinary artist, I work across various mediums in my art practice (collage, assemblage, photography, video, and design). In the last year, I also learned to sew and started making my clothes — which has gained a lot of interest, but I’ll keep it a hobby for the foreseeable future. Outside of my creative businesses, I work full-time as a graphic designer. That may sound daunting to some, but it’s beyond fulfilling for me. I love creating and get to do it 24/7, so I’m living the dream. The only downside is the lack of time to explore and expand on ALL my creative ambitions. Everything I want to explore will be. However, some projects are relegated to longer timelines. I approach my creative pursuits holistically, meaning everything flows into each other. How I approach design projects benefits my approach to fine art projects or other creative projects. It’s like an endless loop of creativity and inspiration, where my ideas flow and evolve continually.
What makes my work exciting or unique? I’d say my art’s most remarkable feature is its whimsical/imaginative essence. Art reflects the artist, and I feel my artwork reflects my inner child. Through a child’s eyes, endless possibilities and boundless fascination ignite great joy.
Watching people interact with my art, I notice a childlike wonder and mysticism wash over their faces. I imagine that comes from using nontraditional materials such as faux flower petals, upcycled fabrics, and reclaimed jewelry. I feel most people see art through traditional skills like painting or drawing. I love showcasing a different way of thinking and creating from everyday items we tend to discard without thought.
2023 has been a year of tremendous growth in my art practice, from grants and commercial commissions to my seventh solo exhibition. I completed my most expansive commercial commission (17 feet wide) for Kaiser Permanente Shady Grove Medical Center, with a few more commercial commissions in the books. My seventh traffic box art wrap will be installed in SW DC by the end of the year. I’m participating in numerous group exhibitions through the end of the year, showcasing at the Superfine Art fair in DC at the end of October, and featured in a duo exhibition at Homme Gallery in DC in early December. I’m focused on continued expansion through the end of the year into 2024. Next year, I’m focused on creating my next body of work that explores the multidimensionality of people.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, the three most impactful qualities on my journey were feeling the fear and doing it anyway, being teachable, and leaning into a positive outlook. I’m not sure who created the phrase, “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” but I first heard it while reading Jenifer Lewis’s book The Mother of Black Hollywood. It was a game-changer for me. We all have those moments of self-doubt or expectations for the worst outcome. Instead of succumbing to negative emotions or intrusive thoughts, focus on the “what’s the worst that could happen?” In most cases, that’s rejection. I know a lot of people fear rejection. Rejection is less debilitating than continuously wondering, “What if?” Once you get a “no” at least you have an answer and can focus your efforts and energy on the next thing. I applied to PLENTY art opportunities where I thought I was a shoo-in, and the results showed otherwise. Does it hurt? Absolutely! Will life go on? Yes!
That leads to my next quality, airing on the side of positivity. It’s human nature to focus on the negative or complain. It’s a habit that takes plenty of patience to change. My parents were eager to provide self-help books to shape our minds growing up. One of the lectures on tape I learned a ton from is “Your Wish Is Your Command.” Of the many lessons I learned from this lecture, my favorite two are focusing on feeling great daily and being teachable. Like attracts like, so I equate “focusing on feeling great daily” with having a positive outlook. It’s like reprogramming your mind to default to finding an optimistic perspective on situations. If you continually send out positive vibes, you will eventually have that same energy return to you. As I put it into practice, I received many great opportunities and experiences simply because I focused on good things happening. I wasn’t explicitly thinking, “I’m going to win or be a success.” I focused on the joy and excitement of doing what I love or experiencing extraordinary things. It may sound overly simple, but it is simple. The formidable part is preprogramming how you think.
The other lesson, be teachable, is a bit more apparent. It’s recognizing that you never know everything. Go into situations with the knowledge you have, but be open to other perspectives. The added lesson in that is to be discerning about those perspectives. While you may not take all or any of the input, listening to other views occasionally provides hidden gems to which you can add your spin.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I wholeheartedly subscribe to the saying, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” So it’s great to continue building your strengths, but improving our weaker skills is equally imperative. I also love to learn, so learning more skills is second nature. Interestingly, as a black person in America, it’s socially ingrained in us during youth that we had to be better than our white counterparts to get ahead. That’s a weighty topic for another day, but that’s part of my desire to be well-rounded. Being well-rounded has multiple benefits: you’re more valuable, you can talk the talk about various topics (which helps increase your community/tribe/network), and it gives you more oversight (especially as an entrepreneur).
In my graphic design career, I knew that if I could build my knowledge base across numerous needs, I would be an undeniable hire for potential jobs and clients. I bolstered my formal design skills and developed knowledge of creative direction, editorial writing, storytelling, marketing, and user experience. Building and showcasing that knowledge base, I knew how valuable of an asset I was. Had my art career not taken off, I would undoubtedly be working as a creative director for some company (GQ was the dream in college) or my own creative agency.
In my art practice, each new medium or style I experiment with flows into the lexicon of knowledge I have built, creating this endless pool of ideas and techniques grounded by my unique perspective. I currently work in analog and digital collage, photography, video/motion, fashion design/garment construction, and graphic design. There are additional skills I have my eye on, like sculpture and installation. The added benefit of working in various mediums is the ability to promote my work and build community from multiple vantage points.
Going into the entrepreneurial side, building knowledge on the business side has been imperative to my growth. Many people think of artists as just art. First and foremost, art is WORK, and artists are business people. It’s a fine line balancing the two; you have the emotional work to create out of thin air, then the logical work to build the business. Of course, artists can rely on others to handle the business aspect (if they have the funding). However, in any business situation, it is crucial to have a working knowledge of the various elements: finance, taxes, marketing, networking, contracts, etc. I never want to be in a situation where I don’t know what’s happening because I relinquished complete control to someone else. Learning the bare minimum about various topics keeps you aware, so it’s a no-brainer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ramcreates.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ramcreates
- Facebook: facebook.com/ramcreates
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ramcreates
Image Credits
Skateboard image: Honfleur Gallery, DC Liberated image: Strathmore, MD Four green pieces: Kaiser Permanente Shady Grove Medical Center Me in front of circular pieces: Photographer The JSR Experience Flower petals falling on me: Photographer The JSR Experience
