Meet Gabriella Cesarone

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabriella Cesarone. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gabriella , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience – the ability to adapt, recover, and thrive in the face of adversity, stress or challenging circumstances. When I saw the question “where do you get your resilience from?” I knew this was the best question for me. Everyone has a story and mine may look like one that came easy, it actually was the opposite. I have had to work through bullying, domestic mental and physical abuse, and workplace discrimination in my life. Each one of these events has taught me a new way to be resilient and had pushed me to be better.

As a middle schooler and teenager I was bullied because I was friends with the boys the girls had crushes on. I was friends with them because I played sports with them instead of doing what your average teenage girl would do. At the time, it was something that was so difficult for me because I wanted to desperately to be accepted by the girls in my grade, to have a close close friend that I would have through my entire life. What I learned is that — sometimes that type of friendship just doesn’t come to everyone and in my case I did not experience that kind of friendship until much later. What did bullying teach me when it comes to resilience? Coping Skills: experiencing being bullied forced me to develop coping mechanisms at a younger age, to deal with stress and emotional pain. Problem Solving Abilities: Navigating the complexities of bullying can enhance a person’s ability to think critically and find solutions to conflicts, which has helped me tremendously in my business and my adult life. These two skills were learned because of the bullying I endured growing up and are skills I am thankful for because they have helped me grow as a person.

In my dating life, I met someone that made me feel so amazing and terrible at the same time. You never think you will be that person who is in an abusive relationship, until you are in one. For me, I was working through some hard changes in my life when I met this boyfriend. I would fight back occasionally when he would try to say things that were mentally abusive. Things like “how are you a model, you aren’t even pretty” after I would come in excited I booked a modeling job. Instead of letting this get me down, I would walk away and take some time to myself. Don’t get me wrong, the constant comments like that did hurt me, but I had to push past them and keep on the path I was on to get to where I am today. What I now see is that I had a pattern of dating men that were always trying to put me in a box instead of lift me up. (my college boyfriend used to literally lock me in his room while he went to the bars and somehow I did not see what was wrong with this until now being so far out of the relationship). I also gave so much to those relationships and could not believe that someone would try to change who I was at my core. How could I break the pattern though? Though I did always forgive him, the only time I did not look back was when he put me in the hospital. I never thought that that could happen to me until it did. I was ashamed, I didn’t even want to tell my parents that it happened. What did this experience teach me about resilience? It taught me about self-advocacy, perspective on adversity, and community/support networks. I had some self advocacy because of my past with bullying but this put me to a whole new level on not standing for being mistreated. I now had a much clearer picture of what I deserved. Experiencing hardship can alter one’s perspective…helping them to view challenges as opportunities for growth. That is what this situation taught me. And finally, community/support networks – I have had a hard time asking for help or leaning on those who are my close circle. That day in the hospital I called my two best friends who could not have showed up faster. I didn’t know what I needed in the moment but their presence was all I needed that first day to just know I was not alone and that this was not my fault. Ultimately this experience taught me so much about my resilience and that I can really push through what seem like those rock bottom moments.

Finally, workplace discrimination. When working in corporate america there are so many stories you hear about workplace discrimination. I unfortunately am another “victim” of this. I put victim in quotes because I wouldn’t soley say I was a victim but that the discrimination taught me to stand my ground and speak up for myself and others. Corporate america will always have one thing in mind and that is themselves. There is always someone who wants to use your work and claim it as theirs and thinks that you won’t speak up for yourself. For me personally, I was asked by a VP level person, that I should consider focusing on being a mom (I was pregnant at the time) and leave the sales strategy to the men at the company. In another job I was repeatedly told by a VP level employee “you don’t have to work because your husband is a lawyer.” Why is it that because I am a woman and married with a successful husband that I can’t have a career of my own? Why was it assumed that he is more successful that I am? This helped build my resilience when it came to launching my own business in the world because there is truly space for everyone and if you have a message, you work hard and you are resilient with the twists and turns owning a business throws at you, then you will be successful. This particular experience also taught me that I will never treat anyone that way because no one deserves that type of treatment.

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?

I own and run a swim and travel brand! Early in 2023, I started to feel like there was more I could be doing than working in corporate technology. I spend some time really digging deep and started to rediscover myself, my passions, and what fills my cup up. Travel has always been my love language and part of the reason for that is because of how much personal discovery and growth takes place on a trip. I started Sunkissed by Rella because I wanted to marry my love for fashion, making women feel confident, and inspire travel. This brand started specifically because of my many trips to Italy and Greece over the years and how connected I feel to that part of my heritage. My hope is that the clothing inspires women to travel more. Whether it is a girls trip or a solo trip, I want women to feel beautiful, confident and empowered in all of my pieces. The quality is very important to me as well. I order and test each piece before I list it on my site. I also want the pieces to be staple pieces, onces that are timeless and classic. In October of 2024 I will be publishing my first travel journal as part of the brand and am so excited for this next chapter of the business.

I was a model for most of my life so starting Sunkissed was the best way to move into a new chapter of that career. I have had the pleasure of working internationally and being published in Vanity Fair and Elite Traveller. Modeling has taught me so much and helped me in so many ways in my adult life.

I am a mother of 2 children and that is the most amazing job I have been given. My husband and I have been married for 6 years this December and our love for travel is what brought us together. We love seeing the world and traveling with our children as well.

I live in Charleston, SC and this city was just the change that I needed from the city life I was raised in. I am born and raised from Chicago, IL but have lived in NYC, Atlanta, Nashville and Milwaukee. Out of all the places I have lived, Charleston is our forever city. When trying to find my way here in CHS (we moved in April 2020) I fell into love with throwing clay. I started to take classes and now have my own studio. I am hoping to incorporate this in the Sunkissed brand in the very near future.

Some other fun things to know about me: I love concerts, the ocean, volleyball, the beach, and I have played the violin since the age of 3.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

One thing my mother always said before I would go into auditions or didn’t get the job was “the more no’s you get the closer you are toa yes.” This is something that I have held on to my entire life and it truly is something that helps me keep the positive perspective when a no does come my way. I believe everything happens for a reason and when you are ready.

When it comes to my business, I have learned A LOT in one year. My biggest lesson this year has been, trust your gut! If something isn’t working cut it off quickly and trust your instinct. If you hire someone and they are not delivering the quality that you need for your business, don’t sit back and hope that things will change. This is your business and you need to cut the bleeding early while you are still in growth mode.

Not everyone is going to love you or show support and that is okay! It’s hard to block out the noise and focus on your plan and what you need to do to scale…but when you do things truly go so much better and the people who truly support you will be your loudest cheerleaders! You’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and that is totally okay because there are plenty of people out there waiting to see your brand, learn your story and love you for it!

The biggest thing that my journey has taught me is to always trust your gut and do what feels right. The moment I started to do what feels right is the moment things really started to fall into place for me. Being who I am and staying authentic is extremely important to me and is one thing that I will not change.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I love to collaborate! I would love to collaborate with anyone who has a podcast and wants to help me share my story and my vision for my brand. Domestic Violence is such a big topic and being a survivor myself, I would love to share my story with others so they know there is a life outside of the domestic abuse. I am so passionate on giving back so if there are organizations reading this that want to collaborate please do reach out.

I also am looking to collaborate with jewelry and travel brands. The best thing about working in the swimsuit and travel space is partnering and collaborating with the essentials for travel outside of clothing. Accessories that don’t tarnish so that you can wear them on the beach or at the pool is huge and hard to come by! I travel a lot and love to share by travel tips so if there are brands out there that want to collaborate and they have something that would aid someone in their travels lets partner together!

The best way to reach me for collaborations is: sunkissedbyrella@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sunkissedbyrella.com
• Instagram: @rellbell21 and @sunkissedbyrella

Image Credits

Tennis photo: Simplicité Social
Photo with the hat on a rock: Eastlyn Photography
Indoor photos: Alexandra Rostad of Little Runaway Photos
Black onepiece and bikini photo and headshot were taken by: Jasmine Dustin