Rising Stars: Meet Richie Rogers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richie Rogers.

Hi Richie, 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?
So right now, I go to school for dance and the actual reason I started dancing is pretty funny. Growing up in public school, we were required to have a P.E. class and there was a choice of athletics or dance. All of the people who did sports chose athletics and I chose dance, solely because I did not want to run everyday in P.E. Another reason was because my older sister, Moriah Rogers, was also in dance and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity of possibly having the same class as her. But even though this was the start of me taking dance classes, I’ve always danced at home and socially, I can thank my family and Filipino family friends for that. My fun Tita’s always had me out on the dance floor! After that, I continued dancing in public school and realized I didn’t really like anything else. I didn’t really want to go to college, so I applied to a fine arts college, where I could at least dance. Now I’m about to graduate from that college, and I’m continuing to train in dance but also acting, modeling, and music. Anything creative is very appealing to me. I was never very good at expressing myself until I discovered these things and the more I partake in them, the better person I become. I have a lot of creative outlets, but I think dancing is really what opened me up to a lot of them, I feel it encompasses everything, from the music to the emotion – it encompasses life.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was definitely not a smooth road to be where I’m at today. Growing up, we couldn’t afford all of the classes I wanted to take, so I only danced in my public school really. It definitely became a culture shock coming from just doing things in Texas for the fun of it to training with intention in LA. I was honestly not ready for it all at the time and didn’t know what was going to hit me. I moved states by myself at 17 which was also hard, I struggled with change in general, being away from my friends and family, and I still struggle to this day with my mental and physical health. I think growing up in general is hard on everyone, finding myself, what I like, don’t like, and what I actually need to do in order to take care of myself was a struggle as well. Money is also still an issue, if you’re a student in LA, then you can probably relate. Being the only person in my family without a career in the medical field put a lot of pressure on me to do better and to be great. Although, now that I’m older and wiser, it doesn’t bother or scare me anymore. I don’t think career paths equate to intelligence or capability.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When people ask what I do, I never know what to say. I usually end up saying, “like everything”. One of my earliest forms of art was writing. I used to want to be an author, and even in elementary school, I was filling up notebooks. I stopped for a long time, but my notebook is back open and now I use that old love to write alternative/R&B songs. A goal of mine is to record and release some of these songs one day. The next thing I started when I was younger was modeling. Modeling was my first love and I’ll probably always do it. I started doing runway, I did shows in Dallas and Austin Fashion week. I love all aspects of the industry, I love to be the model, do wardrobe, makeup, concepts, and I even love being behind the camera. I also train in dance and acting. For now, I think I’m most known for modeling for different brands and doing music videos. I’ve been in music videos from pop artists like AJ Mitchell to rap artists like Cam & China. Being on music video sets are fun, and I’d love to continue, but also work on the creative side of it, like directing and being the artist. I think what sets me apart from others is my duality, my willingness to be the talent or the crew, in front of the camera or behind the scenes. When I said I liked this industry and wanted to be a part of it, I meant all of it. I think all of the parts use a creative side that I love to unlock. I want to do everything, if I haven’t done something, then I want to learn. Learning and growing is the only thing (besides food) that I’m hungry for every single day.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Trying is my definition of success, I don’t care about anything else. Trying can be the most difficult thing to do and it can also be the most fun, it scares and exhilarates me. A lot of people make goals and have dreams but never try at any of it. If you close your eyes and think of the person you want to be and then actually do things to work towards that, I say that is success.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richieg1rl/

Image Credits:
Cary Fagan, Jacob Medrano, Walter Watkins, Trevor Nitschke