The Story Behind How I Built Ra Beauty with LeToya Luckett-Coles

If you’ve ever watched something come together and thought, that looks effortless, this conversation offers a more honest look at what you didn’t see. The years behind the moment, the failures that came first and the internal work required to stay steady when everything on the outside feels uncertain.

This episode was recorded live on the night Ra Beauty launched. The kind of night that is supposed to feel celebratory and seamless. Instead, it began with no power, no clear answers, and the very real possibility that the entire event could fall apart. But what stood out wasn’t the chaos, it was the calm.

In this conversation, I reflect on what allowed me to stay grounded under pressure and why that steadiness had very little to do with confidence and everything to do with how I had learned to build over time. This isn’t a story about pushing through or holding it together at all costs. It’s about what changes when you stop forcing outcomes and start trusting what you’ve already built.

Behind every “overnight” moment is a long arc and Ra Beauty is no exception.

I share the story of my first beauty brand, the one that didn’t work. The disappointment of shutting something down that once carried so much hope. And how that experience quietly reshaped the way I approach creation, leadership, and timing. What looks fast from the outside is often the result of years of unseen preparation, recalibration, and restraint.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆

As the conversation unfolds, we explore how urgency becomes a default operating system for so many high-achieving people. How pressure masquerades as productivity and how calm is often mistaken for complacency when it is actually the result of discipline and internal trust.

I speak candidly about what it takes to build something without burning yourself out in the process. How learning when not to push can be just as important as knowing when to act and why leadership doesn’t have to be loud, frantic, or performative to be effective.

This episode pulls back the curtain on what real steadiness costs. The boundaries that have to be built long before the spotlight arrives, the internal work that allows you to stay present when plans wobble and the difference between reacting to a moment and responding from experience.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Rather than framing failure as something to move past quickly, I treat it as formative. The earlier business that didn’t survive wasn’t a detour, it was part of the foundation. It clarified what mattered, what didn’t, and how I wanted to build going forward.

We talk about how easy it is to mistake speed for success and how often sustainability gets sacrificed in the process. Ra Beauty wasn’t created in a rush, it was shaped over time, informed by lived experience, and guided by a commitment to not repeating old patterns of self-override.

This isn’t a conversation about perfection or control, it’s about leadership when conditions aren’t ideal. About staying grounded without needing everything to go smoothly and about what becomes possible when you stop measuring yourself by how hard you’re pushing and start paying attention to how aligned you feel while building.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀

If you’re rebuilding after something didn’t work.

If you’re tired of urgency being the price of success.

If you’re learning how to lead without abandoning yourself in the process.

This episode offers a different reference point.

Not for doing less, but for doing what actually lasts.

Because the most meaningful work is rarely created in a moment.

It’s created by how you show up when the moment doesn’t go as planned.

Let’s stay connected! If this conversation resonated with you, make sure to follow along on Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts for more episodes that blend Sol, strategy, and healing. Your support helps us spread these messages even further, and I’d love to keep this journey going with you.