Daily Inspiration: Meet Samone Rae-anne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samone Rae-anne

Hi Samone, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
If I take a moment to think about where it all started, it was in Boston at Wheelock College sometime in November 2015. It was my first year of college, and I was doing too much. I was a double major in psychology and education with a minor in theatre, on the dance team, was the vice president of my class, had two jobs, one on campus and one-off, and was trying to maintain a social life. That is, I ultimately worked myself into the ground and burned myself out. So I dropped out. I felt so much shame and guilt around what I saw as my failure. I moved back in with my parents, got a job at one of the local hotels, and had to figure out what was next. Returning to school terrified me, so I volunteered to do Disaster Relief instead. Now, this was right after Hurricane Irma and Maria had done their damage. So I packed my bags, left my Lowell, Massachusetts hometown, and moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, to join the AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps Program. That’s when things kicked off for me. I traveled around the country with a team of people I had never met from various backgrounds. We lived in hotels, responder camps, libraries, and other arrangements. We traveled around the country in a 15-passenger van with only a few essentials. We worked with federal, state, local, and volunteer agencies of various disciplines. The experience was so positive that I stayed on for a second year. After my second year volunteering, FEMA asked me to come into the agency full-time. I was 21 when I got that offer. My life now felt like I had some direction and security. I had a full-time gig with benefits, paid travel expenses, and a mission I could get behind. But something was missing. The creative things I grew up loving. Music, dance, and acting. So, as I traveled to different states for work, I would join a local studio (if there were any intact) to continue to grow my skills. I have taken pole classes, voice lessons, acting classes, and many others across the country as I traveled for work to keep my creative side fed.
Eventually, in 2021, during the lockdown, I discovered a love for painting landscapes as a way to process everything I had seen in the field (hurricanes, volcanoes, tornados, rolling hills, mammoth mountain ranges, beautiful oceans, etc.) and to unpack the emotional turmoil I was facing watching the news and going through a less-than-peaceful breakup. Also, in 2021, I began my modeling journey, taking the opportunity to practice social distancing while still finding a way to physically /creatively express myself.
Now, living in Los Angeles, I still do every single activity, including my work above, and I teach yoga publicly and privately.

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?
The road was not smooth at all. Nor did I expect it to be. Having so many things you love to do is a double-edged sword. Especially when you lack the discipline to complete a project, it wasn’t until I did my volunteer years that I developed my project management skills and learned how to break things up into bite-sized steps to help me become more organized. But even more of an obstacle was my self-doubt, shame, and guilt around the school situation. It ate at me for years. I had this crippling feeling of inadequacy that slowed me down. It wasn’t until I began painting that that feeling began to melt off me and onto the canvas, where I could confront it and reflect in real time.
After about three months of self-facilitated art therapy, I got into pole fitness, a fantastic outlet for rebuilding my connection to my body and a great way to rebuild my self-esteem. Rather quickly, after starting my pole and burlesque classes, I began to feel more comfortable sharing my art again.
I started recording my painting process, auditioning for acting gigs, doing photoshoots, singing in public, and writing short stories /poetry.

Once this creative boom happened for me, I also began to see an improvement in my day job work, and things started to come together for all areas of my life.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have been working on quite a few creative projects. Splitting my time between co-writing a television pilot, building the world of a graphic novel series for young adults, working on an abstract landscape series inspired by all the natural disasters I’ve supported and my current emotional adventures in life, acting in and producing a short independent film and the production of a podcast (more to come on this in the new future).

I’m very excited to share these projects with everyone. I’ve been shy about my voice, and I am looking forward to finally sharing my point of view!

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love how much there is to do around Los Angelesand how every neighborhood has its own feeling to it. I’ve lived in 6 neighborhoods(Hollywood, Melrose ave area, Sawtelle Area, North Hollywood, Downtown, and Miracle Mile) in 3yrs so trust me I would know (lol).

I dislike how long it takes to get around town. However, I knew what I was signing up for when I moved here.

Pricing:

• Private Yoga Classes – 100.00 p/75min (plus mileage if I’m traveling)
• Semi Private Yoga (2-4ppl) – 65.00 p/hr
• Reiki Session – 55.00 p/hr

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samonecobb.com/portfolio/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/its.me.samone/profilecard/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Image Credits
Kori Elise
Frank Zavala