We’re looking forward to introducing you to Raychel “Raye” Smith. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Raychel “Raye”, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I am an enterprising person, and currently venturing out into another industry that serves the elderly and medically disenfranchised. I am excited for the opportunity to serve the community in this way, and looking forward to being impactful.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Raychel Smith (simply known as Raye), and I can be defined as a child of God, filmmaker, creative director, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and an person of good character. I am the founder of Joe’s Dream Studios (JDS), a film, tv and media company that specializes in the creation, development and production of quality ficiational and non-fictional content. Our motto is “Dream, Create, Preserve”, and our mission is to break cultural barriers and produce impactful content that is felt, seen and received worldwide. Most recently, we released the award nominated film “There’s No Crying”, and produced the music video “How to Move” for artist Alonzo Direct, which surpassed 1 Million views on YouTube. Currently, JDS is in pre-production on a docu-series, and developing other impactful bodies of work. Additionally, we are expanding our services to provide out-of-the box creative direction for brand advertising and marketing.
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Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What relationship most shaped how you see yourself?
Humbly, I’ve always been a confident woman; I never needed much validation from anyone to affirm who I know I am. Yet, regardless of how confident one may be, there are specific experiences that confirm certain truths – and that experience for me was a failed friendship.
I am loyalist to my core (sometimes to a fault)! My longest friendship spans over 30+ years, and my friends know that I do not play when it comes to them. Needless to say, prior to the disillusion of this particular friendship, I showed nothing but genuine love, consideration, support, and care to this person.
Yet somewhere along the way something ironic happened. I noticed that when I began to win in life, this person slowly began to retract themselves from my life over the span of a year and a half.
When recalling the situation to make sense of what happened, I matched up the timeline, and what I found is that at the time I began winning, was the same time this person began distancing themself from me. In that moment I learned two valuable life lessons: 1) sometimes people want to see you do good, just not better than them, and 2) The authentic force of light is not seen/known until it shows up in darkness.
So how did this relationship shape how I see myself? This relationship made me realize that no one is going to love, believe in, or understand me like me. Additionally, it challenged me to learn to love people even when they’ve wronged me. As a result, I’ve discovered another level of power and peace within myself.
To anyone who is mourning the loss of a relationship, understand the “failure” was just an event to bring you to the knowledge of your God-given power. While it does hurt in the moment, realize that YOU are worth much more and your purpose is paramount. You got this!
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
When I was a child, I experienced terrible night terrors. I would be afraid to fall asleep, because it always felt like I was being terrorized by a daunting force. However, I grew up in church, and was taught from a young age the power of praying and power in the name of Jesus. When I would pray, rebuking that daunting spirit in Jesus’ name, I found the that the daunting force would leave. This life hack worked for me in this situation, and every other instance where I felt sad, lonely, depressed or scared throughout the course of my life; I wish more people would tap in to it!
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
I am an extremely private person, yet I do not consider myself to be secretive. Who I am in public is who I am in private, however the intricate details about my life are exclusive to my friends and family. I’m what some may consider old school because I simply believe that everyone shouldn’t know everything about your life. Besides, I find a bit of mystery to be sexy!
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would definitely give up social media. Social media is a time-filler, and I’d much rather use my time creating timeless art, building impactful things, exploring the world, and loving my lover.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joesdreamstudios.com
- Instagram: joesdreamstudios
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raychel-smith-3a45b519/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raychel.n.smith/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoesDreamStudios
