I love that my career includes being a model, an influencer and an activist. All three sound so bougie!
A lot of people have come up to me and asked if I’m a model, and I always shied away from it. Now, I consider myself a full-time baddie! I owe a lot of credit for opening my eyes to this world to one of my best friends, Emily, who I have known since kindergarten. After high school, we became much closer and even back then she was already right into the Instagram world. We started going to places like Byron and just taking photos and seeing what happened, so it all evolved pretty naturally. We’d do day trips, get some gorgeous shots, tag the brands, and they took notice. It took a few years for me to really get into, because I was transitioning at same time. My friend was sure of herself and knew who she was, and she skyrocketed, whereas I was still figuring out who I was, what my style was, and taking breaks here and there to focus on myself.
Emily was with my now-agency, and Jill, who I like to call the mummy agent, called me two years ago. At that time I hadn’t even really started my influencer work. Jill was like, ‘Riley, I see a bright future, we want you here in Sydney, we see you doing incredible things’. Hearing her say that was such a huge boost for my confidence, which I didn’t even realise I needed. And I knew I was ready to make big changes, so I broke up with my now-ex and moved to Sydney.
So many opportunities come my way now. The more open I am to what’s possible, the more good things come to me. As soon as I transitioned, everything came together – I am pretty, and I look pretty in clothes, and I was so ready for it all. There was no calming me down once I got here… I am so hyper excited about finally getting my life and my work started. This industry is super competitive, but a great thing about that is now I am able to see really quickly who is in my life for the right reasons, whether it’s friends or guys. People show you their true colours so easily by whether or not they’re happy for your success, so now I don’t need to waste any time figuring out who the good ones are.