Today we’d like to introduce you to RAQUEL M RHODES.
Hi RAQUEL, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started my business in 2010 after being burned out from working in retail, thinking that it would get me closer to being a fashion editor or understanding the fashion business ,however I was wrong.
I got tired of seeing people fight over Mass produced merchandise , so I set out to create my own wearable art. I was blessed to be able to sell it at a major Fortune 500 department store and my business took off from there. 2010 came into play and I got burned out creatively and started creating things to keep up with ” The Joneses” and my own Creator energy faded in the background. After much prayer and meditation God blessed me to develop my own eyewear brand.
Why eyewear you ask?!? I wanted to change people’s vision of themselves in the world around them. I needed people to see themselves as the beautifully and strong individuals that God designed us all to be and to understand the power and the freedom and the love that is in that.
Too many times we are brainwashed into hating our own “TRUE” selves, and I wanted to shine light on that…through a different ‘lens’.
From there, “I-Wear by Raqui” was born… And doing this I want people to” LEAVE💜EVERYWHERE”( which is my hashtag and mission😉) to pass this love around through every compliment, through every testimony, and EVERY DELICIOUS ENSEMBLE PAIRED WITH THE “I-WEAR!” 😂
This journey has blessed me to go as far as working with RuPaul, Janelle Monae, Lisa Raye, Husband and Wife duo “Kindred the Family Soul”, and even appearing on the “Jennifer Hudson” show and having her post her customized “I- Wear by Raqui” on all her social media platforms!!! My brand is sold in london, Nigeria common Puerto Rico, Mexico, Japan, France!!!
So the journey continues…
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To be honest it has been a beautiful smooth Road and a beautiful journey , of course there’s always going to be struggles nothing worth having is going to be an easy journey.
Some of the struggles I experienced was moving to Los Angeles like my first year and a half almost 2 years was pure hell!! From being nearly homeless and jumping from Airbnb to Airbnb, driving Uber and depending on my business and my brand for survival , going to well over 400 job interviews only to be told that I was the” wrong color” or I was “too educated” or had “too much experience.”
Even though, the journey here has been tough, I had reached a point where I had lost my faith, lost myself and thought God had forgotten about me. When I look back, I realize God was always there with me and he never left me and I stand here today stronger and better with a mindset of REFUSING to be defeated!!! I am victorious!!!!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well this is such a BIG question🤣😂 LOL , what do I do?
Well I designed and customize eyewear and not just “I -Wear,” and as my auntie says ,” They are Museum pieces for your face” ( in her Trinidadian accent🇹🇹)
I am known for customizing eyewear as well as designing eyewear for Rupaul’s Drag Race Queen , “Eureka O’Hara” and being featured on HBO “WE ARE HERE!” in addition to that I’ve had a plethora of celebrities being captured by my artistry Jennifer hudson, and being on her show, Janelle Monae, Chef Carla Hall, Tisha Campbell, Kirk franklin, Raheem Devaughn and those are just to name a few 🙂
I am also a nurse and a phlebotomist, medical massage therapist and I’m currently studying for my doctorate degree👩🏾⚕
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
How can people work with me and how can people collaborate with me or support me? People can always work with me, I am always willing to create time to collaborate. My goal is to be in all the major fashion magazines and to travel more with my brand. I am sold in Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Japan, the majority of the United States and France and the London as well. My goal is to reach Africa and other continents as well and to appear in major movies and videos and more TV shows. My brand has been featured in BET’s “The Family business” and former series “The Black Hampton’s.”
And how can people support me? They can purchase from me and follow my social media platforms… my website is
www.I-WearbyRaqui.com
Til Tok-Instagram-Facebook are all “I-Wear by Raqui”.
And also tell a friend, tell a relative, tell the neighborhood squirrels..lmao …. tell your neighbors and your grandparents and your aunties and your uncles ,tell your co-workers, post on your social media , spread the word WITH💜Love about “I-Wear by Raqui” and Leave💜everywhere
Pricing:
- 50$-100$ this price includes basic eyewear most that are free created and custom orders start off at $80 and up depending on the type of design or painting or materials
- 100$-1000$This price range is also for customization some that are already pre-created and designed with rare and raw materials from my mini travels abroad. Also this price range is for more extreme avant-garde Museum pieces
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.I-WearbyRaqui.com
- Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/iwearbyraqui
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/I-WearbyRaqui
Image Credits
Jennifer Hudson, Kiki Wyatt, Kirk franklin, Fantasia
