Fort Myers Native, Rick Rhodes, brings not only his incredible perspective but his incredible fashion line to Fort Myers. His first fashion show will be at the Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center on November 19th!
Learn more about how Rick got his start and what lead him to the fashion world, and to mentor young kids and young adults.
http://RickRhodesFashions.com
(239) 237-9097
To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowrealty.com/
Barefoot Bungalow Realty & Property Management
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535
Fort Myers Native, Rick Rhodes, brings not only his incredible perspective but his incredible fashion line to Fort Myers. His first fashion show will be at the Sidney & Berne Davis Arts Center on November 19th!
Learn more about how Rick got his start and what lead him to the fashion world, and to mentor young kids and young adults.
http://RickRhodesFashions.com
(239) 237-9097
To learn more:
https://barefootbungalowrealty.com/
Barefoot Bungalow Realty & Property Management
9200 Bonita Beach Rd SE, Suite 100
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 350-5535
Welcome to the Live Your Best Life Barefoot podcast with your host, Mary Mouritsen and the team at Barefoot Bungalow Realty
Speaker 2:Good morning. Welcome to our next episode of Live your best life Barefoot I'm Ruth and I'm here with Mary.
Speaker 3:Hey everyone. Good to see. Well, good to be here,
Speaker 2:Mary. Let's hear about the market this
Speaker 3:Week. We had a really great time getting a house in Sanibel staged. We're so excited for that. We're very excited and it's really fun to see. There's an energy that happens in our market this time of year. You can kind of feel it start to build where the people are pulling in with all the racks of cars and, yep. Yeah. So the delivery trucks. Exactly. Yeah. So there's an energy coming. The people are coming. We have great houses still on the market. Once again, don't be discouraged. There's plenty out there. If you're looking to buy, we can find you a house. So yeah, it's still really good.
Speaker 2:All right. So today is an exciting day for us because Mary has been waiting and all week wanting to introduce this guest.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna let her introduce him. It's been like a month since I met him. So,
Speaker 2:And it's going to, he's Marys. I don't know if y'all know this, but Mary used to be a model way back when a hundred years ago. And so, and this person has her dream job. So Mary
Speaker 3:He's living my dream and it's fun to connect with him so I can live a little vicariously. So we are so excited to introduce Rick Rhodes with Rick Rhodes Fashion. He is a Fort Myers native and he is bringing the fashion scene to Fort Myers. I'm so excited and I'm going to let him take it away a little bit so he can tell you firsthand all about himself. So Rick, welcome. Welcome.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Thank you guys for having me. Charlie, nice to meet you this morning. Ruth, you guys have been amazing. You guys came out to rehearsal and everybody loved you guys. It was just, it was amazing time. Had Doc Irvin from Dunbar, a couple other big name local producers that, you kn o w, y ou don't necessarily hear about. So on November 19th, wha t I' m doing is I'm releasing my high fashion line at Syd ney& Berne Da vis. So being at Sydney Berne Davis, it is, it's a milestone. It's one of those, you know, one of those first big steps that as a closing and cl othing designer, as a local clothing designer, for me, at least, it's huge. This makes me actually the first Afr ican Am e rican de signer to debut, host and pr e miere my first, you kn o w, m y line the re, l ike single handily,
Speaker 3:So cool. I just got chills.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And so being at this place, I don't know, I guess it's just a universe drawing me to it. So I launched my company November 26 of last year, so less than a year, after taking my first pictures on the steps of that place. Right. Wow.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 4:And so, so I took my first pictures on, on that, on the steps of that place and to now be inside debuting, it's grateful.
Speaker 3:That's a huge accomplishment and the energy, the energy the place has, but that you bring to the place when I was there the other night, phenomenal like it does feel very synergistic, right? Yeah.
Speaker 4:Right. It's, it's definitely in line. This is, this is something that I've always wanted to do. So it's been a long process. So to kind of backtrack and give people a clear view of where I've come from, what I've been through and, you know, potentially I'm going, so I'm from here. I grew up, Marsh Avenue, Brookside apartments, really just in the Dunbar community. You know, this is home. Then my mom married some, a g uy and we moved to Saratoga Springs, New York. And so this is ki nd o f t he, you know, these very secluded, exclusive places and lived th ere, lived Newport Rhode Island, which, you know, is huge for th eir, th e industrial age. You have, yo u k n ow, your Va nderbilt's, Carnegie's, all those families, th e K e nnedys a nd stuff that are in these places then,, l iving in Louisville, Kentucky, and then, I ndiana, you know, Louisville having, C hurchill Downs, Run for the Roses and stuff. And so, you know, you go through these places and you experience all these different, you know, cu ltures f ashions, and, and especially, you know, going to, you know, Churchill Downs, you know, everybody is, is d one up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. For sure. And owning it, they own it like that's.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for sure. For sure. Unfortunately growing up, I got in the midst of trouble, a nd I did 15 years, three months in prison. And this came about for me leaving home, me getting involved in the street life to take care of myself. And what happened was, is that I got in a fight in my house and what they did wi th is what they did was, e n ded up charging her for attempted murder, dealing marijuana and a gun charge. Wow. Fo r a fight in my house, we're fighting over money and drugs. And they said that I excessively, hu r t this guy. And so, at the age of 22, I was sentenced to a 66 year sentence in Indiana. Yes. And so in Indiana it's two do one. So it was 66 years do 3 3 years. And it took me almost 10 years to actually get back in c ou rt and actually figure out the semantics that were played on myself as a youth. Demographically in Lafayette, Indiana.
:the majority of the people that get the largest cases are minority men, minority women. But throughout this whole process, what I did while I was in prison was educate myself. So I got a bachelor's degree in Organizational Management from Grace College, an Associates in Th eology from Grace college, another Associates in Ge neral Studies from Indiana State University, a Vocational Degree in Computer Graphics, which I use a lot now, f r om Vincennes University and Department of Labor Electromechanical Assembly Certification as well. And self-taught myself in fi nance. So I was calling my mom on the phone and you can ask her right now, you cou ld as k her wh e n yo u see her on November 19th and she'll be like, yes, he was getting on my nerves, asking what the high, the low and the close is. And I'm just like, but yeah. And so really utilize that time to, to really make, make an impact on myself and, a nd so w th e seeds that I need to.
Speaker 4:Sow, moving forward, because when you go to that place, you, you fight with yourself because you have to deal with yourself emotionally, mentally, spiritually, physically. And for me, it was, it was me dealing with myself emotionally, spiritually. Growing up in an abusive home, which is why I said I left out and I went into the lifestyle that I went into because, the person, my mother married, you know, this guy was very abusive to me, and emotionally abusive to her. And I couldn't take anymore. You know, as, as a young adult growing up and trying to find your way, not only, you know, through your adolescent years, but having to come home and deal with somebody that, you know, that you feel like hates you and beats you for, for anything. It's a, it's a, it's a terrible thing. And so my thing is, is that getting out in the, in the, in the streets and, and literally doing the things that I was doing, I was still operating in the same f action that I'm operating in now. And so my thing is what I kind of give to the kids when I go talk to them is, you know, h ave the same hustle, right? If you c hange your life, have the same hustle, but do it in a positive manner. Right. And so that's my thing is that it's the same p rocess o f as h ard as how hard I work, but I do it in a positive manner. And so doing it that way you can wake up and, you know, you feel good, you don't have to worry about, you know, anything happening to you. R ight.
Speaker 3:Well, the fact that you were able to beat that introspective at that young of an age. And I'm huge on when I see success stories like yours, that it comes down to owning and a hundred percent accountability, and that is such an amazing role model for the people that your with and speak to.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for sure. For sure. some of the best things that has happened to me since I've been home is going to speak to the kids at juvenile detention center. Right. and I have several of the kids that I keep in contact with even after they got, even after they've left that place. And so going to speak to them, you know, my message to them was you have to maximize your time, right? Yes. It's emotional. Yes. It's you being away from your family, but you have more than enough time as I did to educate yourself. I wasn't reading all these different books. What I was reading was you're you're you're Dale Carnegie's you're yes. I was reading those, like the books that the books that were going to strengthen this, right? Reading your Robert Kiyosaki's, reading your, you know, your, your books that were going to be based on me moving forward based on me becoming a better person. Like once I hit, once I came back into society. And so I I'm, I i mplored that I, once I got home, that's those same steps that I rehearsed in really foresaw. Those are the same steps that I'm taking n ow, t his, even my logo, the small are encapsulated by the larger a rt. I came up with that while in my prison cell. And so as soon as I got home, that's one of the first things I did was wo rk, saving my money and trademarked it. And I knew this was going to be my life. I have a magazine cover that I did in 200 6 wh ile in computer graphics that says Rick Rhodes changes fashion. And so to have the forethought even back then, you know, it's just positive manifestation. And that's, that's how I'm operating now got home December 23rd, 2019, got back here, J a nuary 18th, 2020, and just really hit the ground moving.
Speaker 3:So how did you choose your models for your show?
Speaker 4:So this is a great part about how we chose. So we didn't go to any of the talent agencies or anything like that. What we did was reach out to the community. So we had an open cast call at the Luminaire Hotel, and also the great people at the Edison Mall Angeli and Brad put together. Gave us a room and we w ere able to do an open cast call there and got some great, beautiful people, of all cultures, all shapes sizes, and just kids that have had this dream to do this for a long time. And so that's what makes this whole process, organic that's what makes it, what you guys felt when you came in the ro om, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely. And it's what sets you apart because there's a whole circle of things going on behind the scenes, you have a beautiful product, you have an amazing space, but then also you have this component that I could see when I was there of these amazing people that may not have ever had this opportunity without you giving them this chance.
Speaker 4:Right. I mean, it's, it's on both sides, dealing with talent agents and stuff like that. It's a, it's a whole another beast, but what I've done is try to educate, you know, everybody that's in this process, we, we signed our NDAs, we signed our Molly contracts. I told them, I said, I don't ever want any of you guys to be in a position to where there's any gray area. I said, although I know a lot of you, although we may become, you know, very cool throughout this whole process, but I want this to be business, right. I want this to be black or white. I don't want you guys to ever experience the gray where you have to answer or have to ask questions. And so through this process, like I've literally sat down with groups of all of them and gone through this and made sure that not only dealing with room, but dealing with other people going forward, they know to, they know what to expect, and they set their own standards as far as what they should be, you know, involved with. And so it's just, it's a blessing all the way around. And so t hat's, that's one of the biggest things too, is that in this whole process, what we're doing as well, we're creating profile pictures, for all the models for, all the staff that's involved and we're loading those into our w ebsite. So during this whole process with all the traffic and everything, and then even going into releasing this on the YouTube series, as a documentary, we want those kids, we want those, you know, staff members and stuff like that, to still be able to elevate from t he situation and driving traffic to the website, through social media and stuff like that, t heir pictures their profile pictures an d s tuff. Those will have the links in them that will allow people to go to their social media or go to their talent agencies if they're represented by some in the future and allow them to continue con tinually to elevate off this process. And so this is just us trying to create as much opportunity as possible
Speaker 2:And documented your YouTube documentary you were talking about explain that to us.
Speaker 4:So this YouTube documentary is us from point A all the way from us going to having the open casting calls, this process through the show, a nd to the end result of everything. And so we're g oing t o do is, me and Jonathan, one of my best friends, he does a lot of camera work. And what we'll do is we'll chop this stuff up, put it in a series and we'll kind of release it through the publicity and stuff around it, r elease it on YouTube. And from there, once we get the v iews, all t hat stuff up, then we'll start shooting it t o t he film festivals and then shop it to Netflix to see, you know, hopefully pick up as a series. And this will go around telling, you know, this will tell, tell my story, in full and, you know, the objective is, to let this whole process be an experience for people, but also yes, exactly. And I remember TD Jakes, i n this book that he has, it s ays, let your he said, let your gift finance your purpose, right? So my gift is this clothing, but my purpose is to encourage, inspire and give people a piece of my Testament that will in some way, help them move forward and help them become, become better.
Speaker 3:Well, and I love that you not only, it's great to have somebody coach or teach you something, but to be there and witness what you've been able to pull together, like for the amount of practice that you've had, seriously, you guys were ready for the show. Yeah. It was really, really incredible what you've been able to pull together and what they have brought to the, like, I feel like everybody's bringing amazing things to the table. Just creating an amazing dynamic. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. For sure. For sure. And I'm, I'm, I'm happy and so proud of so thankful of everybody, what you guys witnessed as far as me thanking everybody, telling everybody I'm so appreciative them. That is what I do Every practice, because I know that, you know, you're taking time out of your life. You're taking time away from work. You're, you're trying to schedule, you know, this, that and other, and even one of my work, one of our models, J ulissa, you're actually holding her baby while she was walking. A nd so this is just a n organic process that we have like, no, such, such a beautiful girl, but single mother, single parent, but she wants this so bad. She b rings her child there with her Walking t he runway with h er child. A nd s o, y ou k now, let m e, let us hold the baby.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. And making it happen. But, but that speaks to you as well, because having been in the modeling industry for four years, that doesn't happen. Those allowances aren't made. And so there's an amazing give and takes that you can"t even articulate. How incredible when it comes together is because you feel it, you feel the components come together and you feel it, you feel they own it, and they're grateful for it and you feel your energy. So
Speaker 4:I think it's amazing. It's amazing. So, you know, just, just having those dynamics, that's, that's the best thing about reaching out to the community because you get everybody right. And you have those single mothers, you have those single parents that want this so bad and Hey Rick, can I bring my baby? I don't have a babysitter. Absolutely. Because I don't want you to ever feel like this will hold you back because there's single mothers, single parents that are working other jobs can't do that, but they make it work. And so that's the beauty of this. Like
Speaker 3:When you get it, you get that. Sometimes you have to get creative and scrappy and make it happen. Yes. Well, I'm so glad you're documenting all of this because we don't, we can't do it justice in these few minutes that we have, what, what you're doing like is beyond what, 20 minutes or whatever we have here can even articulate. So I'm excited to see the documentary, which brings us to tell us a little bit about where our listeners can get tickets for the upcoming fashion show. Woo. Fort Myers.
Speaker 4:So you can actually go to Eventbrite and go to Rick Rhodes. Last name is spelled R H O D E S and then go to fashion, look under your Fort Myers, Florida area or you can go to my Instagram. It is at Rick R hodes fashion, my Facebook at Rick R hodes fashion. And that wi ll h ave the event bright scanner. So we did a Q R code that goes directly to ev ent b r ight a s well. But, y eah, you can go to those places. So Eventbrite is our number one place. Here's shortly coming this week, we'll also be offering a promo, w here people can actually buy a general ad mission t icket and get also a 20% off. On e o f t he t-shirts, which I'm actually have bond, which actually is one of our first launches and stuff that goes through our website, which is again my name, but fashion with the S so it's a p lural version, d ot com. So RickRhodesFashions.com. Our site is still in the middle of being constructed with all this stuff, because we have tons of stuff that's going into it, tons of content and literally just building this thing like crazy. I've reached out to one of my friends that has graduated from MIT and this guy is, is doing an amazing job on this stuff. So, s o me amazing people that's involved with these things with this whole process.
Speaker 3:That is one thing I'm going to revisit the fashion show that you have that many pieces. It's also phenomenal, like a lot of models.
Speaker 4:Yes. But it's for purpose because it's just like, I tell them to, b ecause a lot of them are new to this. This is why we're doing this p ractice, this is why we're trying to make sure that we're in line our t ime a nd stuff is right. But the reason being, we have so many models because I don't want to do any dress changes. T hat's t he
Speaker 3:Thing
Speaker 4:Too, though. Yes, it is. Yeah. I want to do any dress changes because I don't want them to have that type of stress. Right. So having, having this, this runway, like I have it, which you guys saw b efore, r ight. So that's the first time, Sy dney B erne has ever done the runway like that ever. And so excellent. Th at's k i nd o f t railblazing in itself. And so I'm mirrored that I after, I believe it was a Valentino or C hanel show that they had overseas. Yeah. Yeah. And so I was like, I, I love that because it brings an ambience to the whole, to the whole, to the whole place. Once we go through this process, we'll also be having, Luna Muni, who is an a ward w inning violinist she'll be playing during this process. Chef Richard Smith, Chef Dro, he'll be doing the champagne a nd hos d'oeuvres to our VIP section and, Doc Ervin wi ll b e doing, you know, his, his thing outside on the red carpet, a mongst a few other people that's in the media as well. And Shorty DooWop wil l be doing the DJ through that process as well.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much for doing all of this and for coming on. And if anybody wants to reach out to have you on speaking engagements just DM or wh ats the best way to get ahold of you.
Speaker 4:Yes, absolutely DM me or you can call me at(239) 237-9097. And I would love to do speaking engagements. I would love to do that process. That's, that's actually, one of the reasons I have this is to kind of give more light to other people. So,
Speaker 3:Well, we're very, very, Blessed and honored to have you in our community and on our podcast. And to know you, we can't wait for your fashion show.
Speaker 4:Yes. I can't wait to see you guys there for sure. Thank you guys so much for having all the podcast appreciate you and I will see you guys. Okay. November 19th.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Live Your Best Life Barefoot podcast, sponsored by Barefoot Bungalow Realty to learn more about Barefoot Bungalow Realty go to www.barefootbungalowrealty.com or call 2 3 9 3 5 0 5 5 3 5.