Hi, I’m Rianna Scipio and I want to tell you straight off the bat that starting this blog is scary. I know I should be used to this type of thing with years of experience in the bag but I usually work in a studio, with a crew and a script, a set and a budget, which might sound scary enough to some. But this is new, and new is always scary. I’ve never invited an audience into my personal space before and now there’s just me, this iphone, and all of you.  Well I hope it is actually “all of you” because I have no clue if this blog is going to work. And by that I mean I don’t know if it will be effective or where it will take “us”.

What I do know is that the times when my life has taken a major leap forward have come from taking an educated leap of faith. The first example was leaping from a council flat in London England, (or to some of you that’ll be projects and no we don’t all live in castles), and landing myself a job on national TV. That’s because I had the audacity to apply to the BBC when I was definitely out of my league and under qualified on paper. But I did my research, gathered some experience to prove that I was passionate and saw that I had nothing to lose, which I didn’t. And from that one decision all else has flourished. If I’d decided not to explore and take chances, I would have lived a life of unfulfilled potential and that’s not living, that’s surviving.

Now because I’m obsessed with the idea of living boldly, I’ve had a vision for the longest time that just by being myself and sharing some of my story and the stories of other individuals both inside and outside of the business, it might somehow encourage someone else to get out there and be seen. So here I go again throwing it up from the heart to see where it lands. Whatever happens I know I’ll have given myself the sweet satisfaction of carrying through on another dream, expressing myself creatively, which I love to do and crossing something else off the bucket list.

If you’ll stay along for the ride I’ll tell you how I went from the streets to national prime time TV and afterwards brought myself alone to Los Angeles in pursuit of another goal. I’ll focus evenly on the triumphs and the mess-ups I’ve had along the way, because there have been way more mess-ups than triumphs, I promise you.  And I’ll tell you how I learnt by bittersweet trial and error that courage is not the absence of fear, but that courage is to walk through fear with faith. Most of all I’ll tell you that it works out no matter what anyone tells you, if you just believe that you can and if you’re willing to learn new things and take bold strides ahead. Hopefully I’ll see you again tomorrow and just to make sure that you’re “all” suitably fired up, I’m going to leave you today and every day for the next 365 with a view of the beautiful sunset from outside my window in Los Angeles, California. And while you’re taking a moment to absorb that painfully beautiful vista with me, perhaps you can contemplate the equally stunning fact that only you can be the one.