Rachael - DOOMEDNYC

When it comes to owning a business and presenting yourself online on social media, it’s been really a challenge because people don’t want complexity in that world. They want simple digestable little snippets.

It seems this subject really spoke to you.

The moment you told me the premise of the project I was like HELL YES! I would say my complexity and depth has been a blessing and a curse.  The diversity of my interests has allowed me to cross so many boundaries.

The Healer in me has allowed me to connect with some truly special souls. To see deep into the hearts of my fellow travelers.

The Tom-Boy in me has given me the confidence to do things women “aren’t supposed to do”. To pursue a business in a male dominated industry.

The Bohemian Goddess in me has allowed me to enjoy the beauty of the divine
feminine.

The Mother in me has given me the gift of unconditional love and self-sacrifice, things I didn’t realize the importance of until I made the crazy transition.

The Entrepreneur in me has struggled to present my perspective in a world
that wants simple digestible snippets via Social Media.

You mentioned that people don’t like complexity, they like little snippets. Why do you think that is?

Well I think it’s a combination of things really. We’re all trying to juggle so many different things and then you add in the distraction and immediateness of social media. People, sadly, just don’t have the time to digest complexity. If they can’t process it quickly it gets put in an ‘I’ll come back to it later’, and I think most people intend to but maybe
never really are able to.

You have a beautiful home. Thank you for letting me in☺

Thank you! Rollin was 3 months old when we moved in here. I was a new mom and “nesting’ hormones were strong. It was important to me to make this place feel like ‘home’ and not just a rental. I took 5 days to custom paint the whole apartment.

This room is my studio, it was supposed to be my sons room, but just recently I had to take it over. I had this huge studio here in Greenpoint for the past 5 years, but I just recently lost it due to structural issues in the building that housed me.

So what do you miss?

Actually I was thinking about it last night and I had a really really good answer about what I’ve been missing and now here we are and I’ve completely forgot.

Lol. So  you miss your MEMORY then ☺

HA Yeah, my brain functioning properly. Baby brain is something fierce.

The thing I miss the most is the freedom. I’m mostly a lone wolf rider and have always really enjoyed being able to just do what I want when I want to while on the road! It’s a much different life style now.

What I truly miss the most is the textural, senses overload that happens when you’re on two wheel, the full immersion into the landscape.

…Still working-ish, my focus has been on my most recent studio transition and really getting ready for baby no. 2. However, I’m just about to release a fall campaign along side a limited edition collection that I’m really excited about sharing!

It’s a little bit of the the worst timing for me to have a baby as now till the new year is when my business is hands down the busiest time of year. But it was the same when I had Rollin, my first. With his birth I was working while in labor and was back in my studio after just a week of recovery so somehow I figure it all out.

How did you start doing what you do? What do you love most about it?

With the leather work, I was gifted some tools and leather scraps in College and just
started making things. It was all things for myself in the beginning. I was
planning my final portfolio project at burning man and was making bags and
costumes. After moving to New York I started riding motorcycles and again
made things for my own journeys.

I am also a certified yoga instructor, I did my training in India where the Dalai Lama lives. I started practicing in 2003, right after I graduated from college. I had given up my apartment and was making plans to move to New York. Out of the blue my boyfriend at the time was diagnosed with cancer. The next six months I lived this in-between life, I would stay with my boyfriend during the week then on the weekends when he had
his son I would drive four hours to stay with my mom. So essentially I was living
out of my car with no real space for myself. Yoga allowed me to have something
that was mine and helped me to stay strong through a very difficult time.

Wow! Are you planning to teach yoga? Why did you decide to get certified?

I did teach for about a year and a half, unfortunately I was in a motorcycle accident and shattered my humerus. I continued to teach for a few months dispite not being able to practice myself, however after a delayed recovery I decided I needed to keep that energy for myself and focus on healing. Five years later I’m finally back to my own practice and slowly getting back into teaching.

It was never my intention to teach, I had just quit a crazy stressful job and really just needed a reset. I loved yoga and was really looking to deepen my practice. I didn’t actually think I would enjoy teaching, but I really fell in love with it. And as it turns out i’m not half bad at it either :) I had a pretty steady group of regulars!

And tarot reading? How did you get into that?

Well really, I’ve always been interested in Astrology. My grandmother had my chart
done for me when I was first born which I now have tattooed on my back. Studying the stars and how the energy flows and pulls us has always been something I’ve enjoyed. Tarot has been an extension of that practice. It started out with following a moon chart and eventually I added in a tarot
practice with it. Really just trying to figure out what the hell is going on in
this crazy world and a few practices that I’ve found helpful.

Did you continue riding after your first kid was born?

I  started riding after like seven months with my first baby and actually took a ton of solo trips on my bike last summer! For my own sanity it’s important that it’s something I continue to do. I always say I’m a good mom, because I get breaks from being a mom!

How are you feeling? Are you having a good pregnancy?

Great! Yeah!  Way different. Way easier. I mean with Rollin (my first) I wasn’t active and I got really fat I gained a ton of weight and was just really out of shape. And with this pregnancy… I mean part of it is, I am chasing a toddler, as you know what that’s like, so your lifestyle is different. But, I’ve also made it a point to keep going to the gym for most of the pregnancy. I was like I am not going down that road. And my
labor with Rollin was insane. It was so long and awful. I was like I am gonna
do whatever I can do now to not have it be that bad.

That is great! But you still mentioned you feel like a whale☺ Which is probably unavoidable after a certain point in this metamorphosis. And you are 35 weeks pregnant… I think you look magically beautiful. How do you feel emotionally?

Thank you! I feel like a goddess. 

I know all women experience this transformation in different ways, and let’s be honest every pregnancy is completely different from kid to kid. SO who knows what lies on the other side for me, but for now I’m in a really great place, enjoying every little moment before things change.
Knowing the chaos of TWO BOYS is just around the corner and who knows what that
is going to look like.

How did your life change after becoming a mom?

It didn’t really change as much as I thought it would immediately. It’s been more
of a gradual adjustment.  Rollin was an easy baby, he started sleeping through the night at like three weeks old. Now he’s a crazy toddler that needs sooooo much attention. Little by little I’ve had to give up more of my time and more of my energy, but it’s something I’m
happy to do I love being a mom.

Do you ever get unsolicited advice about what you should do or not do as a mom etc?

Being a mom, being a pregnant woman, for some reason our culture has decided that when a woman becomes pregnant or has children they suddenly become public property. Fair game for comments and judgements. My new favorite response is “no one
asked for your opinion, why don’t you keep it to yourself.” Something I was
far to shy to say with my first! But this time around I have no problem telling
someone to eff-off!

When did you start riding?

I started riding in 2012, it was a little out of the blue for me. My husband
(boyfriend at the time) wanted a bike and started shopping for one. At the time
I was so busy with work I couldn’t have cared less about it. Every night he
would talk about this bike or that one and I just had no interest what-so-ever.
Fast forward a few months, my work slowed down and he finally bought a Dyna, I
asked him to take me for a ride. He said ‘get your own’! In the most loving
way, he knows me all too well and knew I would never be happy on the back. I
got my permit a week later and a week after that I bought a Sportster, never
having been on a motorcycle before.

What do you hope this article/pictures will show or help people understand?

That it’s perfectly fine to not fit in a box. :) I think I’ve spent a long time
trying to downsize my personality to fit in. I’m finally to a point in my life
that, well truly I’m just to tired to care! But also I want to ride motorcycles
with my boys and go on fancy nights out with my girls. You can wear leather and
lace, you don’t have to pick just one. Besides, the more you explore the more
interesting life will be.

Why do you call your business DOOMEDNYC?

Why DOOMEDnyc, well the truth of the matter is the meaning for me has kind of shifted and changed over the years. In the beginning it was about “being DOOMED to be an artists;” see when I was in my early 20s I intentionally did not pursue a career as an artist.
Tying my financial standing to my artwork was not a relationship I was willing
to pursue. Instead I became a studio manager, a producer I was the person who
organized and made other people’s creative visions a reality. At first I
enjoyed it, but eventually I was miserable standing on the sidelines. I’m an
artist, I always have been, I would never be happy in life running away from
what was meant to be my path.

While all of that still rings true, sometimes now I feel like I’m DOOMED to be stuck in New York! I’v been here ten years now and while I love it here, I miss nature. I grew up in Colorado and spent the majority of my time outdoors. City life has been fun,
but I’m ready to raise my kids the way I was raised. While I can do what I do
anywhere, my husbands work is here in the city and I can’t help but feel a
little trapped.