Meet Raegan Parker

We were lucky to catch up with Raegan Parker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Raegan, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

If I had to use one phrase that encapsulates the essence of my work ethic, it would be, “figure it out”. This is something I can remember hearing from my father at a very young age. Any problem I needed to overcome or task I wanted to complete could be answered with this essential phrase. And to some this may sound a tad unempathetic, but for me, it’s what I attribute to becoming a problem solver. Someone who doesn’t wait for opportunity and instead makes their own. I was made to realize how much is achievable when you have the capacity to seek it out.

So, I guess you could say it has something to do with how I was raised. But at the end of the day, it’s the things that inspire me that are true motivation. Without a need or desire, there’s very little you can otherwise do. But once you have it, the next step is simple, figure it out.

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?

You know I’ve always had a really hard time answering this question. Only because I find it hard to label myself when I’m always trying new things. But rather for the sake of time, my current focus has been on photography and filmmaking. I’m a performer, producer, and digital artist.

My niche has always been influenced by aesthetics that inspire me. Expressionism, neo-noir, cyberpunk, brutalism, the list goes on. My work prior has consisted of various photography projects as well as short videos to complement them. My desire to expand and work on larger projects has inspired my most recent endeavor. I’m excited to announce that I am currently working on setting up my production company/magazine hoping for a soft launch sometime towards the end of the year.

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

I think it’s easy to look at whatever industry, career path, or goal you are trying to achieve as impalpable when certain odds are stacked against you. Not everyone is born with or grows up having the same opportunities. And it’s completely understandable to be frustrated by that. But what’s most important is to not let that frustration stop you from focusing on what you love. I think it’s common, particularly amongst artists, to have moments where you’re unsure as to why we keep trying, especially during lulls in our career. But something that has helped me immensely with this is by recalling a moment or key piece of art that first inspired me. The work isn’t easy, and there’s no certainty that it will ever be, so it’s important to remind yourself why you started in the first place. Have a deep understanding of you, the way your brain works, and be kind to yourself. I’m admittedly still working on that last one.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

One thing that I’m proud to say I have improved upon is my awareness of when I am succumbing to the trap that is opportunism. I’ve come to find that there is quite a bit of disagreement amongst artists on how exactly this is handled. On one side, there are those who argue that every job/project must be taken advantage of because of the greater potential that may come out of one of them. But I choose to argue for the other side, which is focusing on quality over quantity. There was a time in my life around a year and a half ago where I had kept myself so egregiously busy taking on every job I possibly could to the point where my mental state was declining rapidly, my social relationships were wavering, and my romantic relationship was hanging by a thread. But when I realized the toll that mindset was taking, I was able to step back and break away from it. I have found that I am much happier, motivated, and productive when the projects I take on are ones that spark excitement and passion rather than something that acts as an unfruitful time killer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://blaquespyder.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blaquespyder/