We recently connected with Kharyzma Raphael and have shared our conversation below.

Kharyzma, appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

Yes, I feel like I can be misunderstood as an artist at times.

I am gifted in many areas, and depending on what field I’m working in at the time a person meets me, I realize that they will place me in a box. For example, if a person meets me at a time when I’m focusing on dance training, they will place me in a “dancer box”.
Not all people do this, but most of them have in my experience. As they get to know me over time and witness me doing things outside of that box, it becomes difficult for them to understand how complex I am artistically. For goodness sake, I’m still trying to understand my own complexities! There are several layers to me as an artist and it’s impossible for me to showcase everything at once. So, I go through different cycles of creative expression.

In the earlier part of my life I trained in vocal music and went through a period of recording original music that I sang, wrote and produced. Music comes very natural to me. Then in another period of my life, I wrote, produced and worked on my own film projects. I also acted in independent films and commercials. I appeared in music videos and I did a lot of theatre.

In my most recent years, I’ve been focusing on dance, my social media outlets and being an entrepreneur in fashion and cosmetics. I really love social media because it allows me more freedom, versatility and creativity as a performing artist. I’m able to share more of my gifts with my followers, and they just get me.

I never place limits on myself, but I realize that the majority of others will adamantly try to project their limitations on me.
It’s like when they see me exploring something new, they get triggered. It’s usually people who are either limited in their personal development and skills, or just envious people. On the flip side though, I do meet other creative people who are muli-faceted and when I share my next creative adventure, they’re super supportive and excited for me! I cherish those people, because they’re not easy to come by!

I’ve learned that the only things that matter to me are the creative assignments that God gives me to fulfill at different times of my life.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked”. Luke 12:48

This means that people are responsible for what they have been given. It is expected that people who have been blessed with wealth, talents, knowledge, or time will use those gifts to benefit others. (Google)

Not everyone has been blessed with more than one gift, or many talents. The ones who are, have more responsibility to serve and help others.

People in general can be very fickle. One day they love and adore you, the next day they’re trying to tear you down.

So, I’ve grown to realize that I will be misunderstood, and that’s OK. I just need to remain confident in myself and my gifts and talents. If I inspire the people that are meant for me, then that’s success for me!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a performing artist. I sing, dance, act and write. I started my training at F.H. LaGuardia HS of Music & Art & Performing Arts, The “Fame” school. I was a vocal music major there. I started my vocal training in classical music and from there I studied gospel and contemporary music. I graduated from the theatre program at Brooklyn College with my BFA in Theatre, with a concentration in Acting. I also have an Associates degree in Theatre from BMCC.

I currently take classes at Broadway Dance Center in Jazz, Street Jazz and Hip Hop.

The creative entrepreneurial part of me started my fashion business in 2014. I have a YouTube Channel, Kharyzma4u. I started doing natural haircare and hairstyling tutorials, DIY sewing tutorials and vlogs. My subscribers loved my sewing tutorials so much. They became my first customers. At that time, I was designing and sewing dresses, swimsuits, leggings, bags and hair accessories like satin bonnets, headbands and headwraps.

Since then, my business and brand Kharyzma4u has expanded into fashion and cosmetics. My business is still in the process of growing. My YouTube channel has expanded into videos ranging from fashion, beauty, lifestyle, dance, social media and influencer content creation for other brands.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative artist is my ability to inspire and help others. I’ve learned that when I allow God to direct my path, He blesses me. I’ve had people from India, Africa, London, just to mention a few who have reached out to me to say that my hair tutorials helped them with learning how to care for their natural hair. People from all over the world have reached out to me to share how my sewing tutorials or OOTD “Outfit Of The Day” videos brighten their day. I have people who love my dance content and tell me that watching me dance makes their day or just seeing how much joy that dance brings me, makes them happy. It’s very rewarding to know that if I just use the gifts that God has blessed me with, I have the ability to touch, help and inspire others.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience on social media by sharing my gifts and talents in hairstyling, fashion and lifestyle. Posting consistently with content that helped people is how I did it. At the start of my journey on YouTube, I shared my knowledge on how to care for natural hair, how to sew, how to make smoothies and anything that I knew how to do that could help others learn how to do it as well. People pay more attention to you when you offer content that can help them. After my audience grew, I branched out into filming vlogs. In the beginning, I filmed show business vlogs showcasing my auditions and sharing my life as a performing artist in NYC.

I’m gifted in many areas, so it’s very easy for me to teach on different subjects that I know. It’s a blessing from God. The great thing about that is that I can shift my content whenever I need to. Social media is constantly changing, so you have to be able to shift gears when necessary, in order to stay relevant.

Most people will suggest for you to niche down, however, that’s not really possible for me. I have a mixed audience. A mixed audience does slow down the growth of your channel, but that’s OK. I’d rather have a few people who resonate with my content, rather than a whole flock of people who are just subscribed.

My channel just happened to start growing faster in 2024 when I became more consistent with posting daily content. I reached 10K subscribers finally in September of 2024. As of March 2025, my channel has 15K+ subscribers and it’s still growing! “How To” content and entertainment content in my experience has helped me to build a following. Being my genuine authentic self also helps. I understand that there are not many women who have my unique fashion sense. My styling is definitely not the “norm”. However, I don’t think it’s too far out there either. I tend to gravitate towards girly styles, the color pink, and youthful fashion. Sometimes I’ll do a preppy style of dress with eclectic accessories. Sometimes I’ll do a classic look with neutral tones and add a pop of something trendy, sort of like an “old money” mixed with “new money” look. I switch things up a lot! I understand how that separates me from others and it may not be everyone else’s cup of tea, but I really love it! My advice to others is to know what your gifts are and know what makes you unique and share that. Capitalize on what distinguishes you from the rest. Don’t pay attention to naysayers because the very thing that they will criticize you for will be the very thing that someone will copy and then make it a trend. Keep being yourself and improve over time. The people who are for you will gravitate to you and that will be your following.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kharyzma4u.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kharyzma4ustyle
• Youtube: youtube.com/kharyzma4u
• Other: Etsy.com/shop/kharyzma4u For Hair Accessories, Custom Fashion Cosmetics & Hair Accessories Instagram: @kharyzma4ufashion

Image Credits
Dance pic credit is Kayleen Bertrand @kayleenmariemedia 2 photos of me all in black with big hair and big hoop earrings: Fred Tracey III @fc_tracey All other pics Kharyzma Raphael