Badass Women (002): Noelle Reich

I think inspiration runs in a circular motion so here’s to hoping I can inspire all the incredible gals as much as they all inspire me. Badass Women is a series about capturing that positive energy and spreading it. Wanna help? Read about these cool girls and share their features with the women that inspire you!!
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What is your relationship with beauty?
My relationship with beauty has been extremely transformative. I think you can tell a lot about a person by where they find and acknowledge beauty. I started out thinking of beauty as the usual idea of a pretty face, very superficial. But over the past years I have noticed I use the word “beautiful” to define so many things… when people speak about ideas that come from their hearts, when I see an exceptional display from mother nature, when I see vulnerability and bravery in people… I think those are the types of things that are beautiful. And I think that's a shift of thinking that everyone really needs to go through at some point in their life.  

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
I take a big old stretch, and then I sit up and set a mantra for the day. I do some meditations by repeating this phrase three times to myself, matching words to breath.

Name 3 things that inspire your style:
Travel and culture, my mood, vintage randomness.

If you could give advice to yourself as a ten-year-old, what would you say?
I think I’d tell my ten year old self to not be so afraid of what people around her think. I’d tell her to be her outgoing, goofy self no matter what, and to trust her intuition and not be afraid to break boundaries and try out everything that excites her.

What’s something you can’t live without?
From a material viewpoint, my journals - they are my therapist, keeper of secrets, and the place where all my creative ideas have first taken form. I write everyday, so flipping through them is like revisiting times and places that are very dear to me. People I love, moments I want to remember forever, tricky emotions - all those things are contained in their pages. Plus, I’m notoriously sentimental, haha.

​Other things include the love of my family and dear friends, a good frolic by the ocean, and the warm California days that are my definition of home.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up between San Diego, California and Zurich, Switzerland… this was the most wonderful blessing. Both of these places were outdoor playgrounds for me - I’d get lost in nature and in my imagination whether I was by the beach, at the barn with horses, or picking berries in our garden. We never had TV or electronics growing up which I think was one of the best choices my parents made. I hope to do the same thing with my children - to let them get lost in the word and in their mind and to remain detached from all that extra noise for as long as possible.
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​How old are you?
I’m 19.

What are you passionate about?
Oh gosh, so many things. I’m incredibly passionate about spirituality and kindness, health and wellbeing, and creativity and individualism. So many things make me light up inside. Passion manifests itself in different ways in my life. I feel it during a yoga practice, while I’m writing in a coffee shop, when i’m cooking dinner with a friend, when I’m digging my toes into the sand. I think a lot of people have this belief that passion has to be this wild and loud feeling, but for me passion often comes in a quiet way - as a feeling of gentle contentment that says “this is where you should be right now. Soak this up.”

Talk about the most challenging thing you’ve overcome, how did you do it?
The past years since I graduated high school have been some of the most challenging for me. I don’t think that people tell you it’s okay to be a bit lost and to not have everything figured out. I certainly didn’t and still don’t - but now I know that being lost is part of the adventure! Personally, the conventional college experience was not serving me in any way. I decided to step away from it, which was terrifying, because it meant exploring uncharted waters. Letting go of this idea of who people wanted me to be (and who I thought I would be) was incredibly liberating, but it also made me get to know myself in a way that I never had before.

I traveled to Bali, which awakened a sense of spirituality and deep appreciation for the world. When I came back, I began to dive into everything I really loved - writing poetry, practicing yoga, learning about holistic health, painting, taking pictures, styling. I made the choice to explore many avenues without expectation of what they would bring me, instead of focusing on one thing. It led me to some incredible things - I opened up my own online vintage platform with my best friend (astervintage.com), I start my training to become a yoga teacher this week, I’m constantly exploring artistic expression, and I head out to the job of my dreams this summer - working on the creative team at the Free People headquarters.

Very long story short, my journey has been about making my life what I want it to be. I still fear the unknown and question what my future will be like, but that’s just natural. I’ve had to deal with judgment and raised eyebrows when I say I won’t be attending traditional college, and that my dream is to find a job that allows me to be creative, help people, and travel the world. But I’ve learned that intelligence isn’t only defined by a degree, that kindness is the most powerful act you can commit on a daily basis, and that I can truly create the life I have always dreamed of. I am constantly growing and evolving in so many different ways, and I want to help people realize not only how important this is, but how powerful the process of feeling a bit lost can be.

Coffee or tea?
Coffee, always! Black with a splash of almond milk and a stevia :)

What quote inspires you the most?
It’s short and sweet: “You are entirely up to you.”

What song makes you feel like you can accomplish anything?
Anything by bad Suns, random, but they just make me dance… and being silly makes me remember not to take things too seriously!
would recommend heartbreaker and daft pretty boys.

What’s your advice to young girls that dream of taking the road less travelled and paving their own unique, creative driven path?
My advice is to trust the process… It’s not going to be a smooth road to what you want and dream of achieving. But embrace every experience and emotion - whether it’s confidence and excitement in a new idea, or one of those days where you feel nervous and small. You will learn and grow so much! Don’t constrain yourself to one idea, the most limiting thing in the world is the thought that you can only be or do one thing. And remember, nobody is an overnight success. Keep going - anything you do with passion will eventually take off! You have to put yourself out there.

Follow Noelle on Instagram: @noelleraible + make sure to check out https://www.astervintage.com/ for groovy vintage threads and lovely blog posts!!

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​Noelle photographed by me.