We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Ursini a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rachel, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I went looking. And kept looking… for most of my twenties. Today, at 32, I might refer to myself as “multi-passionate” but it took many years to get comfortable with that and to understand that no singular practice will ever make me fully happy. I want to be endlessly inspired to try every single thing that peaks my interest and to live every day, creatively.
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?
When the world shut down (during the pandemic), my creativity began to flourish. I taught myself how to sew and really leaned into upcycling and finding ways to repurpose things. But when the world “returned to work” I felt empty without my creative outlet and made the difficult decision to leave my steady job to take what can only be described as, a “creative sabbatical”. In 2023, I started dabbling with mixed media and new mediums of art – uncovering many fun ways to sew things that aren’t “meant” to be sewn. Some highlights include, a fanny pack made out of Old Dutch chip bags, a bucket hat made out of a pool float and an outfit made from Tim Hortons coffee cups – you get the gist! 2023 was an incredible year of self exploration and finding my “brand”, if you will. Sustainability is a huge piece of what I do, with a major emphasis on upcycling and repurposing or recycling materials. At the core of it, my main goals as a creator are to inspire people to create and to live more sustainably (but always, in style).
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Everyone’s journey looks so different but I believe resilience, self-discipline and self-compassion were huge factors in mine. As someone who has tried many things, I carried a lot shame about my “failures” or redirection. Luckily, I had a fair amount of resiliency to keep trying new things but it wasn’t until I started practicing self-compassion that I was able to work through my shame and allow myself to really thrive in a new outlet. With that being said, no matter how much you love what you’re doing you won’t always find the motivation. So the self-discipline piece is huge to keep moving forward even when it feels hard.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
Partnering with a brand is definitely on my 2024 Bingo Card! I would love the opportunity to collaborate with an in-house Food & Beverage team on bringing a product campaign to life. But honestly, I love making unexpected creations in any shape or form! I’ve been lucky enough to land a few commissions and they are equally exciting. The best clients are clients who allow you to play and really trust your creativity in bringing their vision to life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/ray-made-it?usp=sharing
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rayyymadeit/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rursini/
