We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adoniah Gabrielle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adoniah below.
Adoniah, 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.
As a Christian, I learned through spending time with God and growing in my relationship with him that my purpose is to bring glory to Him. Being an artist makes it that much easier for me to glorify God through my creativity. God Himself is known as The Creator; He is the one who made me the way I am and with the ability to do the creative things I do. Knowing this has given me confidence in how I approach my gifts through the lens of my purpose: to bring glory to God through all of my gifts. In every aspect of my creative and artistic career, I am confident that as long as I am honoring God through my work, I am fulfilling my purpose in life.
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 am a fashion designer, stylist, seamstress, and developing model. I am also a singer/songwriter, and I also write (stories, scripts, poems, etc.) Currently, I am in my fashion-forward season, where fashion is the current focus. This summer, I had my second fashion show called “K.I.M.M’S in VOGUE: Fashion Show 2024”. The “K.I.M.M’S” in kimms in vogue stands for “Keep it Modest Modeling styles”, which is what sets my brand/movement apart. The focus of my fashion brand is modesty in luxury fashion, and couture.
This idea originated from the fact that I always wanted to be a model, yet I did not want to have to compromise my values while doing so. So, I decided that I wanted to create not only modest couture and formal clothing, but that I also wanted to create a safe place for other fashion creatives with values to be able to use their gifts and talents without being looked down upon, and their talent wasted. I also wanted to show other Christians the value of being modest in the way we dress. In short, I wanted to rebrand people’s automatic prejudice and idea of modesty.
As a model, I have been approached by many agencies, yet have decided not to compromise in regards to what I am looking for. After all, they want my talent and they make money off of it, therefore, I should be able to choose how I am represented and how my image will be portrayed. Without values, I most likely would have found an agency already; however, having a specific goal of being a godly influence in the industry has made me very straightforward with the fact that I am looking for an agency that will respect my values, and will also be able to help me grow at the same time. This connects back to my purpose, which I believe is to honor God in each aspect of my career. I want to encourage others to be able to stand for their values in the same way.
In the meantime, I have focused on small fashion projects, and bigger ones, like the K.I.M.M.’S in VOGUE fashion show. What sets this show apart, according to a former runway model, is that my show is more interactive. Instead of focusing on my designs in the last two shows, I showed an immodest version of an outfit, as well as a modest version (so each model came out twice). I also did spontaneous styling, styling some models on the spot, and we also had interactive fashion games that the audience participated in. At the end, I revealed my fashion collection.
In putting on this show, God really opened many doors for me, and showed me how people actually appreciate this difference in my brand/movement. Many people have reached out, expressing their interest and gratitude in the new niche of fashion I am looking to expand. Other designers from other states reached out as well to express their interest in participating in future shows, which I had not considered previously! Because God opened so many doors, I am currently planning a fall fashion show in 2025, with even bigger dreams and ideas than before.
I have also partnered with an Italian company to create luxury shoes for my brand, and am currently campaigning to get enough sales to go into full production. Feel free to support me by checking out the shoes, which can be found at https://www.aliveshoes.com/adoniah!
Another passion God has recently put on my heart is being a part of the Korean entertainment industry. I recently learned that South Korea has the largest Christian population in the world. As a worship leader who also loves different genres of Christian music, I found it interesting that when I looked for Christian Korean music in the pop, or contemporary genres, it was virtually non-existent. So I believe that God put this desire on my heart to become a Christian “kpop” or “krnb” artist, making Christian music in those genres to reach out to the younger generation of Christians. I would eventually like to get together a group, or even a company, full of Christian creatives – dancers, producers, writers, and more – to create a space for Christian koreans, or Christians who love Korean culture and musical history, to be able to use their talents to bring glory to God through the music industry.
Something new is that I have very recently (this week, actually) had one of my favorite experiences of 2024! I went to the filming of Bulletproof, the sequel to the movie Washington’s Armour, as a background actor, but left as an actual character! The director of the film approached me and asked me to be a character in the film, and I practiced with the main character of the scene a bit, then we filmed! It was an all-day experience, and I was so glad I got that opportunity! My very first role in a film is a speaking role, and I am so glad God gave me the opportunity to participate in a film that not only glorifies Him, but does so with exceptional quality and acting. Please go and support the Washington’s Armour film, which you can find streaming on Amazon, and follow the production of the second one that I am in, Bulletproof, share with family and friends, and help grow our audience!
Although it has not been easy, God has opened doors for me that never would have been opened without Him. Because of this, my dreams are slowly being taken to heights I never imagined.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three skills that I have and have learned include active listening, analyzing, and researching efficiently. The skill or practice of actively listening is valuable and always an asset in life. In many job interviews, active listening is an excellent quality to bring to the table, because it means that you are able to listen to the client and determine what they are looking for and how best to create a meaningful connection with them. Through writing essays as well as debate speeches (and other work I have done) I have learned to summarize and analyze pieces of written or spoken work from a critical point of view. Being able to do this quickly is extremely helpful, especially as a freelancer and someone who wants to be their own boss. The ability to analyze quickly and formulate your own opinion, and present that in a fluent way is a skill that makes you valuable in whatever position you are looking to be in. Researching efficiently also fits into this, because the ability to quickly research a topic or issue efficiently and formulate a stance, while also being able to fluently articulate that stance, you are able to address whatever issues or concerns that may come up with little notice. Active listening is just practiced by listening to people, seeking to understand their need and the problem and or solution – even if that solution is to just listen to the person, and do nothing else. A far as researching and analyzing, these skills become easier through practice. Practice analyzing issues that come up related to your field, formulating an opinion based on evidence, then write out or practice summarizing that in a fluent and coherent way. This will eventually become natural and easy!
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 am always looking to partner with people, especially because connections are extremely important in the industries I am working in. Right now, I am looking to partner with other Christian fashion creatives – designers, influencers, event planners, and brands – to create a Modest Fashion Week in America that could even maybe tour other countries. Istanbul has had one for a couple of years now, but its fashion is more limited because of Muslim culture. I am looking to partner with Christians who love fashion, or who just want to support the cause and expand the market for more modest couture fashion. I am currently planning a fashion show for the fall season next year, and am scouting for locations. I am also seeking investors and sponsors, as those resources will be extremely helpful in picking a location that is affordable but is also beautiful and of exceptional quality.
If you are, or you know a Christian fashion creative, or even creatives interested in learning more about the modest fashion industry, you can reach me through my website, www.stylesbyadoniahgabrielle.com, or email: stylesbyadoniahgabrielle@yahoo.com. I look forward to future collaborations!
Another set of people I am looking to collaborate with are Christian Korean creatives or Christian creatives interested in the Korean music industry. People who can help me translate contemporary, pop, or RnB Christian into the kpop style(some english, some/mostly Korean); Christian dancers that can either be background or train in that style of dance; songwriters who could help me write in both languages and/or even producers that could help me and a team produce this type of music or worship. Basically, any connections I can make with other Christian Koreans and people interested in Korean culture and entertainment. Contact me at my email: adoniahg@yahoo.com to connect with me and learn more about how to collab with me! I would also love it if you could just connect me with anyone you know, even if it’s not you yourself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stylesbyadoniahgabrielle.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoniah_gabrielle/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adoniah-gabrielle-987773192/
Image Credits
Suad Asselin
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