We were lucky to catch up with Rachel Robinson-Lewis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rachel, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from my family in general, especially the women in my family. They have shown me that no matter what, we keep pushing. They are the reasons I feel like I am strong, smart, reliable, and dependable. I guess that’s why, in some ways, I’m empathetic or sympathetic to people’s feelings, life experiences or just their soul in general. Everything I’ve ever been through in life has always posed some type of struggle. As a kid, I struggled with the fact that my mom was a drug addict, I didn’t know my dad and I was the only one in school that was super smart at the time. Which caused issues for me because of the area that I grew up in and the school that I went to. I had to deal with a lot of people talking about my mom and where we lived because we lived in an abandoned shack for 5 to 7 years. Nobody came to get us, not even CPS. They would visit us at school, but they never came to the house. I got to see a lot of grown people activities at a very young age, which kind of jump started my adult life. It let me know cold-heartly of the choices that I did not want to make in life because of the things that I had already experienced or already had seen as a child. As time went on I always made great grades in school. I would try to keep myself ahead of the class and was always top 3% in everything I ever did. I will try to be the best at it because there was a lot of negativity attached to my household as a kid. Because of the choices that my mom made, I had to take responsibility for my seven siblings even though I did not want to. Because of that, I had to grow up fast. I had to learn how to make money, how to feed them, cook for them, get them ready for school, basically I was their mom. Which was not fine because I was supposed to be able to be a kid. I have seen family members in and out of jail. Sometimes they needed to be there, sometimes they didn’t. I have been sexually assaulted when I was a child up to maybe 14/17 years of age. Through everything I just tried to beat the odds, stay on top, stay out the way, and stay focused on my dreams and goals in what I’m trying to accomplish with my own life. Learning that you don’t always have to be a product of your environment, but most definitely loving and understanding that I am Street smart and book smart, and I am grateful for that. It alI has taught me to keep pushing no matter what life throws at you. Stay on top of it so, “you don’t got to get ready”. Try to have a plan even when you feel like you don’t have a plan, because even a whack-ass plan is still a plan. Fast forward I met my dad at 13 he was an amazing man and great dad to me, I’m a true daddy’s girl. My dad was full of life, very creative and beat a lot of odds against him. I got some of that character from him. I had my first daughter at 16 that taught me to get stable because I wanted to be the only person raising her. My second kid I had at 19 and was in an abusive relationship but survived it. My faith and resilience wasn’t ready for the real battles ahead. At 19, I almost lost my son due to routined shots for tots, because of that I had to be a teen mom with a disabled son. Once again, I had to keep my resilience so that my children will know, life will throw curve balls, but you have to know when to swerve left or right. I now have 4 kids on my second marriage,my mom is getting clean, and my dad has sadly passed away going on 3 years. I fell in a deep hole after my dad passed away, but the resilience to make him proud from heaven has kept me moving. My mom is in recovery and I pray she stays resilient as well. Lastly I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without my grandma, aka my mom “Susie”. Her sacrifice could never be repaid but she shows us what NEVER giving up looks like and I’m so grateful for that. Life be life-ing at times but you just gotta keep pushing..
(side note:If you or any one else can help or point me in the right direction I would love to write a book on my life.)
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Well, I use to have a non profit called NUP=Neighbors United for Progress. We ran for about 8 years and specialized in bringing communities together with law enforcement, help with tenant rights and placements, and most importantly, our youth programs and camps. This is hard talking about yourself. I normally enjoy this but this has been a struggle so with that being said, i’ve been doing hair and basically braiding since I was 11 years old. I went to Austin Beauty College when I was 18. I was only there for one month because there was no real teacher guidance and basically the students ran the school. I had quit and didn’t go back to beauty school until almost 5 years later In 2012. graduated from Aveda in 2013 of June at the top of my class. I did every competition, every one-way show, any and every opportunity that came through that school, I did. I set titles at the school for getting the most haircuts done on time in one week, while pregnant. I also met a couple of celebrities as a student at that school. There’s also a national competition that goes on every year during spring probeauty week. They have a side competition that’s just for students called beacon. Only 300 students from all over the world are invited for these 3 to 4 days seminar events with celebrity stylist, runway shows. You name it, it’s there at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas. Sure enough I didn’t place and I was last. But I did get a chance to go to Vegas and meet some of the greatest, like Nick Arrojo, who was one of the best person to meet at the time because he was a genuine soul. He offered 2 weeks of free training in NY with me, but I couldn’t leave my kids. For the next couple of years, I competed and did hair out of my house. I got to be an opener and lead at a show in New York at the Warsaw 2016 and also head lined 2nd at BWIB Extravaganza 2015. I held the title for hairstylist of the year in 2015 by RAW Natural Born Artist. I have also had the honor of working with Kevin Garner, Tristian Keith, and Arjontae Drake to capture creative work in photography. I have also had the opportunity to work with Lizzo with the Big Gurls and other Prime Amazon casts while being a part of Austin SXSW 2022 event. Moving forward I have volunteered with PROM RACKS as a platform artist to do demos of on the spot prom looks. In 2024, I and my students volunteered at “Something at the Park” which was a great honor to help students get ready for school by hair styles/cuts and manicures. I also do private training for salons or individuals in the business. I’m currently getting ready for a Gel X masterclass this year and other classes at a reasonable price. While my classes are fire, I’m a hold vibe. I also love pageants having my own and competing, I just won two titles recently this year and last time in 2022. Most recent competition was the Nailympia I completed in the NASA-stiletto creative nail contest and won 3rd place. Not bad for being self taught and I had to compete on the 2nd level because I was a teacher. 32 hours later, that day, I made history. I have been involved in numerous things in my life and am more excited to see what the future holds. Just to clarify, BrandedbyRachel (BBR for short) is a event styling company that brings mobile services to any event. But I also teach (been teaching for 6 years now),host events, promote pageants, my t shirts, and anything else that has to BRANDING in A BRAND. When my hands touch it its “BRANDED” by Rachel baby. I have all the bright ideas just chime in I got you. My slogan is “Where MY Brand is YOUR Brand”
Crazy, but I also groom the deceased. It’s a passion of mine, and a way of sending love with their love ones.To date I have done 8 cases. Its not for all but I got it. Also I create hair tops for clients with balding issues for women and men….
Just to elaborate on my students and my teaching career. I love teaching and molding the next upcoming beauty or nail tech. I started my current job at Nuvani Institute Austin in 2019 til now,graduated from here as well as a student teacher. At first, I got hired as a cosmo teacher, which was my strongest area at the time. Now fast-forward, I am the lead nail tech teacher for the last 6 years and Night Mgr this last year. I say it with honor because I’m self taught in the nail industry. But my resilience to be the best, and have my students be the best and have a standard for themselves. This has been a real journey. I love my students like they are my babies. Watching them grow and become successful is one of the most rewarding parts of teaching. Watching them overcome struggles while still maintaining attendance, juggling clients, and being my students. Teaching is so rewarding for me, that talking about one of my students in particular, or any will make me cry of their accomplishments and journeys. I make sacrifices for my students that some will never know. No matter if we have a bad day or a great day they will always know I care about them, and I will always go the extra mile for my students unless they cross me lol. Im fun but blunt and business is business. I dont play, but I ride for them like no other. I believe that it will never be another teacher like me who is compassionate and wants everyone around her to win.
Lastly, one of the best things about being a teacher is I literally got to pass down the torch to my daughter Destiney Robinson, owner of OhShit @ohsh1tjae and that has been a real joy. Watching my daughter have resilience during her process was hard for me and her. It was the first time I couldn’t love on my daughter loudly because of my position. I didn’t want no one feeling like she got favoritism so I didn’t praise her as much like everyone else which at times had my daughter feeling she wasn’t up to par. That broke me at times but my daughter eventually understood. I couldn’t be more proud of her and honored to be the one who was able to teach her. I love my daughter and extremely proud of all her accomplishments. So yeah, y’all go book with her as well.
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?
Being a chameleon is part of the job because everybody comes from different walks of life. You got to handle every situation different and be able to do it with grace and confidence.”Kill with Kindness” I say.
EVERYONE IS TEACHABLE- to be the best, learn something new in your field.
No matter what you do in life, everyone has at least one hater. Without a hater, you aint doing something right.
In this business NO ONE is your friend, it’s just business.
Stay READY so YOU dont HAVE TO get READY
TAKE CARE OF YOU first
Treat clients RIGHT because they PAY your bills
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?
Im looking for people to collaborate that are nail and salon owners, and school owners as well…..
*I want to learn how properly and so does my students
Im looking for mentors (or social workers) in the field who would love to mentor my students
*Everyone needs healthy guidance and its rewarding for both parties involved
Would love to partner with funeral home as a groomer for the deceased….
Anyone who is amazing with getting donations or fund raisers…
Looking for performers for our upcoming graduation in Oct 2025…
Any Donations of NAIL or HAIR items or equipment is always appreciated…
Any Field trips or visits in or outside of TEXAS that would benefit the nail program please reach out i do take my students as many places as I can….
If you want to be a guest speaker at school reach out….
Looking for financial advisors because sometimes you need help with preparing for life…
I’m always open to ideas or suggestions if the story reaches your heart reach out we all can help each other if we are willing and want too.
[email protected]
512-956-6004 business line
Money Donations: Cashapp $BBR2020 or PayPal paypal.me/BBRachel
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rawartists.com/brandedbyrachel
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Brandedbyrachel
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brandedbyrachel1959
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bbr2020https://www.tiktok.com/@nuvani.institute.austin
https://rawartists.smugmug.com/BROOKLYN/RAW-Brooklyn-presents-MOTIF/i-S8ZXt2f/A pic link with photographer info fyi
Image Credits
Tristan Keith
laiheartcreations
Arjay Drake Photography
Ricardo Nelsen asst Daz Wirth
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
