8 minute read
Rachel Romu
Rachel wears Sky Cold Shoulder dress ($59) Available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca)
Q: Tell us about yourself?
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A: I grew up in the rural city of Thunder Bay ON. and spent my childhood training as an competitive gymnast. I also started playing the piano at a young age, because I admired my older brother as he was learning the instrument with my Mom. Most of our time together as a family was spent at our cottage that was just thirty minutes from home, and in Ft. Lauderdale FLA. each spring for a number of weeks. I moved to Toronto when I was eighteen to train for the Olympics, as I’d grown too tall for gymnastics and progressed to track and field. The summer of 2010, I’d represented Team Canada at the inaugural Youth Olympics Games, all the while keeping secret that I was in excruciating pain and beginning to suspect that there was something more serious than ‘growing pains’ going on. A lot has gone on between then and now, where I’ve had spine surgery twice, been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, began working as a freelance Digital Strategist, fashion model, Accessibility Consultant, and musician.
Rachel wears Sky Cold Shoulder dress ($59) Available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca) Socks are stylists own, Shoes are BIGTREE
Rachel wears Dress ($150) available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca)
Q: You definitely have a full plate on your hands between modelling, being a musician as well as an advocate for those with disabilities in the entertainment industry, how do you balance it all?
A: Balancing everything is a challenge, but I suspect my past as a student athlete has been a factor that has made it possible to manage. Prioritizing comes from focusing in on what I want to accomplish and stacking the list of To-Do’s with that in mind. I want to alter the way disabled people are viewed in this able-bodiedcentric society, so everything I do to a degree has this bullet as the primary focus.
Q: Can you tell us more about being an advocate and voice for the disabled community?
A: At the time in which I was battling doctors, as I’d had four bones breaking in my spine that were being dismissed and neglected (diagnosed as “anxiety” without doing any testing or investigation), Interview Magazine had published a shoot by Steven Klein with Kylie Jenner in a wheelchair. This bothered me to the core, as I was beginning to accept that a mobility device was going to be a part of my life; mobility devices and disabilities are not something you can put on as a costume and take off at the end of the moment or statement.
Q: What is something that you wish people knew or understood about being disabled in the entertainment industry?
A: I wish people understood the importance of making room for disabled artists and creators, as well as the importance of disability visibility in all walks of life. We exist, and it’s empowering for us to have people we see ourselves in, but also important for able bodied people to hear from voices other than their own.
Q: What interested you in getting into modelling?
A: Modelling came naturally to me, as my past in athletics has it so I am familiar with using my body as my vocation. I was scouted a number of times in my able-bodied teens, but it was only after there would be meaning behind it that I had wanted to get into it professionally. I spent a lot of time flipping through magazines while recovering from my various surgeries, the absence of representation was definitely alienating. Internalized ableism and shame had me shying away from photos with family and friends, so it’s been a big leap to step in front of the camera.
Q: What has been the most challenging and rewarding thing about modelling for you?
A: The most challenging thing is the culture of inaccessibility in the industry - people don’t always consider access when planning a show or shoot, so sometimes I show up and have to make due with more stairs than I really should be doing. The culture of inaccessibility also comes with coded language in feedback sometimes, such as ‘insurance liability’ - it doesn’t take being called a slur to know at times I’m being viewed differently because I have a disability.
The most rewarding thing is seeing people around me learn, and seeing others from the disabled community psyched up about the work I’m doing. I always feel like ‘we are in this together’, even to folks not in the entertainment industry, because the more able-bodied society becomes accustomed to disabled people being seen, the more we can exist comfortably literally everywhere.
Q: Music is clearly a big part of your life - when did your passion for music begin?
A: I started playing music when I was three years old; My mom was teaching my older brother how to play piano, and I’d sneak up to the bench after they were done and copy everything. I later learned to play bass, guitar, ukulele, trombone, and baritone horn, but I’d stopped playing music all together when all of my energy was being focused towards getting a diagnosis, as doctors didn’t take me seriously for many years. I even stopped going to see concerts and shows. It took being at a festival where I’d seen (now friend) Eric Howk on stage with Portugal The Man to have a sense of belonging in music environments again, and took him egging me on for me to go up on stage myself.
Rachel wears Dress ($150) available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca)
Rachel wears Loka Cold Shoulder Polka Dot dress ($85) available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca) Shoes by Alexander McQueen Necklace is stylist own, Bag available at Kitsu Boutique
Rachel wears Loka Cold Shoulder Polka Dot dress ($85) available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca) Shoes by Alexander McQueen Necklace is stylist own
Rachel wears Loka Cold Shoulder Polka Dot dress ($85) available at Kitsu Boutique
Q: What might you tell other women with disabilities who might doubt themselves or be nervous about pursuing their dreams/goals?
A: I’d tell disabled people that they deserve to be seen and deserve to feel like they belong, but ableism, both on an interpersonal level and an institutional level often makes that hard. Misconceptions around disabled people and our capabilities often has society treating us unkind, and those negative attitudes can be internalized. It’s taken a lot for me to feel like any of what I do is possible for myself, but it first took understanding that accommodations are valid, that I deserve to have those needs met, and that although it’s intimidating to communicate ones needs, it puts me in a position to prove the people who thought I was incapable, otherwise.
Top is Lohri ($98) available at Kitsu Boutique, Trousers are Maya Culotte pants ($45) available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca)
RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS
Q: Favourite place to be in the world?
A: There’s a secluded boat launching point on this river near my house back home - that’s my favourite place.
Q: Best childhood memory?
A: I’d spent a lot of time road tripping in the car, growing very close to my brother over Guitar Hero battles and horror films.
Q: Favourite colour?
A: Green
Q: Happiness is?
A: Feeling connected
Q: Beauty is?
A: Feeling in touch with oneself.
Q: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about the world?
A: I dream of a future where the world is accessible.
Q: Who is someone you admire?
A: I admire Jessie Reyez because she isn’t afraid to share experiences around trauma.
Q: Something you are afraid of?
A: I’m super afraid of doctors and hospitals, which sucks because I still have to interface with them often. All the years of not being believed has it so I don’t trust them with my well-being.
Q: Your guilty pleasure?
A: I love watching Dance Moms while eating a burrito in an epsom salt bath.
Rachel wears Ichi Can’t Dress ($79.00) Available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca)
Rachel wears Ichi Can’t Dress ($79.00) Available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca)
Rachel wears Romper available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca) Shoes by Big Tree, Bag available at Kitsu Boutique
Rachel wears: Tank is Luna chequered singlet ($50) available at Kitsu Boutique, Shorts are available at Kitsu Boutique (kitsu.ca) Necklace & socks are Stylists own.
