We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Raquel Pomplun. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Raquel below.

Raquel , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path once I was in it. Don’t get me wrong, I have always had that side of me, a side that love expressing itself through art. However, coming from a family of professionals, it was hard to see a career there. I was in my third year of community college already over due for my transfer to a four year college to finish my major in Biochemical Engineering, where my GPA was not an issue but more how I was going to pay for school. I had already dabbled in modeling for a few years as a side hobby/hustle, but never a priority. So, I decided to pose for Playboy. With that money, I was going to finish school and be done. Yet, what is it that they say? Tell God your plans and he’ll laugh? Yup, that’s what happened. Once I posed for Playboy and became Miss April 2012, I then won Playmate of the Year 2013 and the entertainment world doors opened wide. I got into acting (which, again, was not strange to me for I have been in acting all highschool, dancing all highschool and collage and modeling since I was 16… I was a performing arts lover), modeling commercially, hosting radio and tv, and in the most recent years: stand up comedy. I always knew I wanted to have some degree of involvement in the performing arts world, but it wasn’t until I was in it that I made the conscious and determined decision to pursue a career in it.

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

As I mentioned in the paragraph before, I have been a true performer of the arts since I can remember. Trained in classical ballet, hip hop and modern dance, commercial and theatrical acting, hosting and most recently stand up comedy I like to say that I only need to sing to be the full package, however, the universe did not blessed me with that amazing talent. I have always been a creative junkie. Not only do I have quite of a resume on the performing arts but I also dabble in anything that is creative, from drawing and painting to make up, hair and even interior design. Being creative is part of my nature and definitely something that I don’t believe it will ever die in me. Currently, I get to channel that creativeness through my social media by creating fun content just to express myself or convey a message for the brands I choose to work with. Yes, I choose who to work with. That is one thing I always will apply in my work ethic: to work only with brands with who I feel identify and believe have something to offer the world and not just for the buck. Working that way makes the creative process more enjoyable, making it more creative and the best possible at the end for all accounts. At the end of the day, it is all about that, enjoying your work and being true to yourself as you do, something that took a few years and a few bumps in the way to learn and appreciate, but hey! It is all part of the process of this little thing called life :).

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is connection. Being able to create something that will convey any kind of relatable feeling wether that will make the consumer/viewer feel happy, safe, included and/or amazed is what fuels me. I remember in one of my Royal Ballet Academy certification tests I was able to make one of the examiners shed a tear, I was able to do that through movement of dance, that connection gave my love for the arts, performing arts, a whole other meaning… it made me question, if I can do this without speaking, imagine what I can do speaking? I can be an influence, a positive influence for this aching world. That has always been my sentiment, if I have a chance to fix you, I will, and there are so many ways this can be done, small or big, to just have that little positive influence. There’s already too. Much bad in this world and will continue to be, my goal is to combat that with light and positivity and that is just as rewarding to me as it is to eat a bacon topped doughnut :).

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I love this question! Very important! Coming from a Hispanic family/background, hard work has always been the number one solution to success right? Maybe, to a certain degree. Yes, you have to work hard, but most importantly, you have to work SMART. This is the lesson I had to learn, I really HAD to learn. Life kept shoving this lesson into me, night and day and I just didn’t want to learn. I had to unlearn first that hard work doesn’t always get you success in order to make space to learn and see how smart work is more effective than just hard work. Now, don’t get me wrong and think, “oh, I no longer have to work hard!” No, that’s not what I am saying, but rather work hard smartly so that way you don’t waste time and get to your goal effectively. If I would have learn this earlier, I would probably have saved a lot of hurtles and mistakes in the way. Still grateful of those lessons though, because there’s nothing more powerful than knowledge.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.pomplunation.com
• Instagram: @rpomplun
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/rpomplun
• Twitter: @rpomplun
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rpomplun
• TikTok: @rpomplun
• Threads: @rpomplun

Image Credits
Photographer: Oscar Rodriguez, @oscar.imagines on instagram.