Meet Na’taya Rutledge

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

Na’Taya, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I developed my confidence and self-esteem by 1. going through the struggles of being in relationships with men. I have always known that men only wanted me for what I could do for them physically and sexually but even in knowing that I still gave them access to me because there was always a void I was trying to fill with thinking that if a man would just want to be with me then I could feel wanted and worthy especially dealing with “Daddy Issues”. A lot of men that I had come in contact with was never interested in me for who I was as a person, as a women, and even as a mother. I have always put my worth in the thoughts of a man and when they didn’t want me after getting what they wanted or not getting what they wanted I often had felt like something was wrong with me and even going as far as thinking that I wasn’t pretty enough for a man to actually want to be with me. After years of settling, In 2017 I began to come to my senses of knowing that I deserved better because I was finally sick and tired of. being sick and tired but still didn’t know my worth. October 17, 2020 is when I began my healing journey in which leads me into #2.

2. When I started my healing journey I had also moved to another state(Utah). Moving to another state was Gods way of getting me right where he needed me, right in a place of having my undivided attention and being away from all the trauma, reminders, and distractions. I have been in Utah for 4 years now and within these 4 years my relationship with God has grown so much. God has shown me not only who he truly is but also who I am in him and how he sees me. During this time of healing I have been able to truly see my true self such as my personality, my character, my likes, my wants, my true desires, and most of all MY BEAUTY and MY WORTH! once I grabbed hold of who God told me I was/am I ran with it. Even to this day I am confident and have high self esteem because I know WHO’S I am and I know how GOD sees me and what HE thinks of me instead of putting my worth in people, caring about what people think of me.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am currently a Paparazzi Consultant in which is an Independent Contracting Jewelry Business where all jewelry is nickel and led free and only $5 except the Zi Collection (the bigger pieces)in which are $25 and up.. I absolutely love ALL things Fashion. Outside of my normal day to day job I am a plus size model in which I have always loved the camera and being a “Fashionista” but for years I only had the thought of being a model but never made an attempt to act on it because of fear of rejection,
failure, not fitting in, and not being accepted until I moved to Utah where I was able to heal and to see myself in the eyes of God. I love being a plus size model because when I am on that runway or in front of the camera I represent the many women/men out there who would love to pursue their dreams in being a model but believe that they cannot make it because they are to “big” OR “fat”. I love to see a thicker women loving on herself and having confidence in herself knowing that she is “THE BOMB”. On September of 2023 I was a runway model in New York Fashion week in which I have also been on the New York Times Square Billboard. I have done plenty of photo shoots, I have also styled other models for photo shoots as a Production Assistant and also as a Stylist Assistant and for the pass year I have just been behind the scenes of runway shows around the state of Utah assisting and learning. What I find most exciting about being in the fashion industry is meeting all of the different people from many different cultures, backgrounds, religions, colors, shapes, and sizes. I am naturally a social butterfly and love to work a room full of people. I also love to see all the confidence floating around during a runway show watching all the models walk with so much confidence all while representing designers oh and lets not forget about the many creative outfits worn by the audience of the show!

Up next for me will be a clothing line called GOD’S DISCIPLES its a christian based line based off of Jesus and the 12 disciples. When it comes to the believers we are all disciples preaching the gospel and giving our testimonies to tell people about the goodness of Jesus. This line will be launching next year so please stay tuned on all the updates. I am super excited for this new journey and cannot wait to share it with you.

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?

I would say that while skill and knowledge are very important just knowing your purpose in life, knowing who you are, and having a pure heart of great intentions are also great qualities to gain as a an entrepreneur. In this crazy world that we live in everyone has this desire to be at the top and will do anything to get there even if that means lying, cheating, stealing, and even hurting other people. It is hard to find people that you can trust and so through my life journey I have become what I would want from someone else having great character traits gets brownie points in my eyes.

My advice to people who are early in their journey is to spend a lot of time with yourself before starting the business. Get to know yourself because a lot of times your business becomes the very things you possess inside of you. For example: if you have a passion for children and you care about their safety outside of being in their parents presence your business could be opening a daycare with a reassuring safe environment or if you have a heart to help people your business could be opening some type of program for people with disabilities it just all depends on WHO YOU ARE. Also, to not talk yourself out of things and take risk. If you have ideas regarding your business go ahead and just do it and don’t over think it. If it doesn’t work that’s ok you can just try something different because your regret could be that you never tried

TAKE THAT LEAP OF FAITH!

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing my parents did for me was conceive and give birth to me lol!. That may sound like a cliche but its true because I was suppose to die as a aborted child but my dad would not allow my mom to do it because my mom was pregnant before she got pregnant with me in which due to my mom being young at the time she was forced to get an abortion BUT! my dad was persistent for my mom to have a child by him. So my dad took my mom under his wing and here I am yaaaay! they had no idea who they would be parents to. I became the greatest, the most amazing mixer of the both of them taking the world by storm and impacting the lives of people all over the world with God guiding my every step.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/nataya_92
• Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/NaTayaRutledge

Image Credits

Lisa Gonzalez

Jenkins Photography

OCEANTIDES Photography