The Love Intently Podcast Episode 64

“I think it's really, really, important to define the self unattached to anything else. Who are you when you're alone? Who are you with your thoughts?” -Riley Blanks

What truly defines us? Is it our job, gender, sexual orientation, skin color? Or is it our values, beliefs, actions, and traits? Riley Blanks has grappled with this question all her life as a biracial woman, who was on track from the age of 5 to be a professional tennis player, but now is a professional photographer.

Riley’s story is one of embracing her uniqueness, her beauty and her pain. She founded her photography business and storytelling platform, Woke Beauty, to express her passion for storytelling and showing women of all ethnicities how beautiful and amazing they truly are.

In this episode of Love Intently, we dive into the topic of identity and how Riley has learned to define herself and embrace all her sides. She shares how Woke Beauty was born out of her struggle with mental health, and what makes Woke Beauty stand out among other portrait photography businesses. She discusses her process of how she sets boundaries around what vulnerable stories she shares to a larger audience and what she keeps private, as well as what inspires her creativity.

Lastly, she shares her romcom-style way of how she met her now fiancé (she thought he was gay at first!), and how their deeply loving relationship has remained strong over 11 years of growing and changing together.

Key Topics Discussed in This Episode

• How Riley struggled with identity growing up and how she defines herself now

“I think there's this dance between the backstage, like behind the scenes, which I think oftentimes is what sort of cultivates your personality. And then there's this front stage, like how you actively live your life. And I think they kind of affect each other.”

• What is her business Woke Beauty all about and what inspired her to start it

“I've really worked to actually make the camera more of a witness and less of an active participant and to build a relationship between the client and myself.”

• What makes Woke Beauty stand out from other portrait photography businesses

• How she recognized she was in a season of depression and got out of it

• How Riley sets boundaries around what to share and not share publicly

“I believe that it's really important to experience your experience and then to share it. I think sharing while you're experiencing it can be dangerous.”

• How she gets inspired and sparks her creativity

• How is the recent events between COVID and black lives matter has impacted herself and her work

• The RomCom worthy story of how her and her fiancé

• What has kept their 11 year relationship going strong

What does Love Intently Mean to You?

“I think it's letting go of demands. It's letting go of requirements and expectations. It's contributing, it's intending to contribute. It's giving humbly, it's giving graciously. Even if their style of giving is different than your own.”

Resources Mentioned

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Becoming by Michelle Obama

All About Love by Bell Hooks

Connect and Work with Riley Blanks

Website: https://wokebeauty.com/

Podcast: https://wokebeauty.com/podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rileyblanks/ and https://www.instagram.com/wokebeauty/

Connect with Sophie and Love Intently

Take the Find Your Attachment Style Quiz to learn about your love language and attachment style to strengthen your relationship and love with intention.

• Follow @love.intently on Instagram

• Follow @sophkwok on Instagram

• Subscribe to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify

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