Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rebecca-jo Dunham-baruchel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rebecca-jo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always known I wanted to pursue a creative path. Since I was a little girl I dreamt of creating art in many disciplines. It’s such a dream to create art as an adult.

Rebecca-jo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was scouted for modelling when I was a teenager and was lucky enough to have a full career in modelling, I was able to build off of that career and start my own model management company. During the pandemic lock downs my career as a model and modelling agent was on a long pause and I knew I needed to pivot my career and change it into something that was more fulfilling to me. I had become disillusioned with the modelling industry before lockdowns but never had to space or time to explore what would truly make me happy outside of the only industry I had ever worked in. I started creating content and exploring my personal style online, without the confines and restrictions of being a model and looking a certain way. People began to reach out and ask me for styling services and wanted to work together on content and my career began online and has grown into a full blown career. I’m most proud of inspiring others to be their most authentic selves and explore expressing themselves through fashion and personal style. In 2022 my best friend, Rashelle Campbell, and I started a sustainably focused accessories brand. Small Town Boys has become my newest creative outlet that is so deeply tied into female friendships and the power of women working together and expressing themselves.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In my view the best way you can support artists, creatives and the the creative ecosystem is buying shopping their products and sharing their work when you can’t financially back their work. Without the financial backing artists won’t have the time o resources to create, of course not everyone can afford to buy art and thats completely understandable. If thats the case then the best thing you can do for an artist is to share their work. The larger an artists reach is the more likely they are to reach potential clients and a wider audience.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I feel that a lot of creatives get into a mental loop where they feel that their content needs to be perfect or fit a certain aesthetic before they can post and this is the worst loop you can get it. I cringe when I see some of my early content but thats what the delete and archive button is for. You won’t learn how to create better content until you’ve created enough bad content. You won’t learn what resonates with your audience by not posting. Just post.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.smalltownboys.ca
• Instagram: @youthin.asia
• Youtube: @by.youthin.asia