From self-doubt to global icon: Rhea Jacobs redefines beauty and success

As a young girl, Rhea Jacobs would flip through the glossy pages of fashion magazines, captivated by the flawless faces staring back at her. But somewhere between the high-gloss spreads and her own reflection, a question lingered in her mind: Could she ever be one of them?

“I dreamed of becoming a model,” she says now. “But there was no one in those magazines who looked like me. And sometimes that becomes your validation. You start to believe that spaces like that aren’t meant for people like you.”

However, that did not stop her from dreaming and one day, pointing to a model in a magazine, she asked her mother hesitatingly, “She’s so beautiful, mum. What can I do to look like her?”

Her mother’s response would become the defining philosophy of her life. “There’s already someone like her, Rhea,” she said. “This world needs someone who looks like you.”

Today, Rhea is much more than the girl who once doubted she could belong in the pages of the very magazines she adored. An award-winning model, Global Ambassador for Marc Jacobs Beauty, author, content creator, TEDx speaker, and mental health advocate, Rhea is also the founder of wellness brand Rhe that is dedicated to making emotional healing accessible.

Her journey from self-doubt to self-acceptance has not just redefined her career but has quietly started shifting conversations around beauty, identity, and well-being in the region and beyond.

“It was truly my mother who shaped me. I had a lot of dreams, but I didn’t know I could achieve them,” she tells me when we meet in Dubai for the interview.

Dressed in a pair of black trousers and a grey top, a stylish jacket completing her look, Rhea has an air of quiet self-confidence. Hair neatly tied back, her subtle make-up with just a flourish at the edge of her eyes adding a discreet sparkle to her face, she smiles as she hands me her latest book Rhe of Purpose. “This is my second journal after Rhe of Light,” says the 32-year-old who has been named among the top 100 most influential Asians in the Middle East.

Born to Indian expat parents, Rhea grew up in a household where ambition, resilience, and kindness were daily lessons. Her father worked in administration while her mother, a fashion merchandiser, often brought home fashion magazines - unwittingly sparking Rhea’s first love affair with beauty and style. “I’d flip through those magazines, thinking, ‘Wow, that’s so empowering.’ That’s what gravitated me toward this space.”

While her father was a “realist like me”, it was her mother’s encouragement and her grandmother’s no-nonsense realism that taught her to challenge her self-limiting beliefs. “My grandmother would often tell me ‘You need to achieve something. You need to be your own person.’ That too shaped my vision,” Rhea says.

Pursuing her passion, she studied fashion design aspiring to become a designer and start her own label. But life had other plans.

Just out of college, Rhea discovered that Marc Jacobs was inviting hopefuls from around the world to model in the brand’s latest campaigns. She applied — one among more than 100,000 — and to her absolute delight, got a call inviting her to New York to audition for their global ambassador program.

Until then she had barely 800 followers on her Instagram page — “mostly my mom’s friends commenting ‘So cute, beta!’ — where she posted her student projects and designs. “I had never spoken in front of a camera before,” she laughs. “But I said yes to the audition deciding to figure how to do it later. In fact that’s something I often do - first say yes to a challenge, then learn how to do it.”

Rhea flew to New York with her mother, stood among some 25 shortlisted women, most of them experienced and from the West, and delivered her audition. The only Asian in the room she kept her fingers crossed hoping to make it.

“After the auditions, they took us to a room where Marc Jacobs himself was sitting. He was so humble treating everyone the same, from his managers to the guy who brought him his ashtray. That taught me so much about humility,” says Rhea.

Expectations were high when Marc said they were going to decide who would get the role. “My whole family knew I was there, so I was really hoping I’d get it.”

And she did. Rhea was one among four ambassadors the brand chose from around the world.

“It was a defining moment because I realised the importance of embracing your individuality. I was chosen for who I am, not for my follower count although I do believe that Insta helped bridge the gap. I believe you should never let a number define your worth — whether it’s your bank balance, followers, or achievements. Your foundation should be your values, your ‘why’.”

Instagram-perfect moments and high-profile campaigns followed, but a few years later, Rhea faced something most people didn’t see — crippling anxiety and unresolved grief. In 2019, she lost her beloved maternal grandmother - her staunch supporter. To cope with the pain, she began immersing herself in work.

“In our culture, grief is not something we’re taught to process. I used to say, ‘My work is not what I do; it’s who I am.’ So I just kept going.”

Then the pandemic forced a pause. Alone with her thoughts, Rhea began to unravel. “I’d wake up in the middle of the night feeling on edge. I wasn’t myself. My mom told me, ‘Okay, now that you know there’s a problem, how do we solve it?’”

A friend suggested yoga and meditation. “I tried it; nothing.”

Someone else said advised journaling. Sceptical at first, Rhea gave it a shot. She intended to write a few sentences but ended up pouring out 11 pages of thoughts and emotions. “It was like cleaning your house and finding a box from 20 years ago you didn’t even know existed,” she says of journaling, which became her therapy, mirror, and eventually, her mission.

What started as a personal practice grew into Rhe, a brand that offers guided journals and tools for emotional growth.

Rhea emphasizes that Rhe is not a substitute for therapy. “Instead, it is a friend who asks you the questions you’re afraid to ask yourself.”

Her books - Rhé of Light, and Rhé of Purpose - available through her website and major retailers like Virgin Megastore and Borders, cover topics like grief, burnout, and inner-child healing. They’re filled with prompts that encourage readers to reflect deeply.

“One of the prompts that helped me was, ‘What does my inner child need to hear to heal?’ We carry childhood wounds into adulthood. If you don’t heal those, you can’t invite the amazing things you deserve into your life,” she believes.

Before putting together the journals, Rhea did extensive research- reading up research papers, books, and interviewing experts. “I don’t claim that this is a substitute for a psychologist. It’s not a psychology book; it’s a companion, a friend who won’t judge you,” she makes it clear.

While her focus has expanded into wellness, Rhea remains active in fashion and beauty. She’s collaborated with top-tier brands including Bloomingdale’s, Tiffany & Co., Mugler, Swarovski, and Chopard, not to mention major fashion magazines.

In an industry driven by comparison and perfection, Rhea chooses authenticity. Her growth isn’t measured by likes or followers but by her own personal evolution. “My growth is measured by who I was three days ago, not by comparing myself to others,” she says. “There’s already a blueprint for the industry - tall, blonde, blue-eyed models. But I’m a five-foot-two Indian girl trying to make her mark. That’s my USP.”

Rhea is candid about the emotional toll of being a public figure in the digital age. “In a regular job, no one comes up to you and says, ‘You look horrible today.’ But online, you could face that daily.”

ADVICE FOR YOUTH

For young people entering the fashion/beauty social media space, Rhea advises building relationships that are authentic, not transactional. “We work in industries where people often want to associate with you because of your position or following. Time is the only real indicator of who’s genuine.”

Her inner circle remains small and honest. Her mother is still her first critic and biggest supporter. “If I’m doing something wrong, my mom will tell me straight. That’s love - that’s someone who wants you to grow.”

She stresses the importance of separating one’s self-worth from online validation. “Don’t seek validation from social media. Don’t measure your growth by numbers or by what people say about you online. This industry requires a thick skin. Know who you are first. Otherwise, you’ll be shattered by every comment - both the good and the bad.”

Rhea remembers how she faced several issues related to self-worth - a result of being bullied during her childhood. “I’d tell friends I wanted to be a model, and they’d say, “Come on, no.” It took a lot of work to unlearn those beliefs that were never about me; they were about the limitations of the people who said them.”

Childhood, she believes, is the blueprint of your entire life. “Your relationship with money, yourself, your goals, even your career choices can stem from childhood experiences. If you have faults in that blueprint, you need to heal them. Otherwise, you can’t invite the amazing things you deserve into your life.”

REDEFINING SUCCESS

For Rhea, success isn’t about material things. It’s about impact. She hopes to continue redefining the conversation around mental health, especially in communities where vulnerability is often stigmatized.

“Until now, wellness has been marketed as something only the elite can access - retreats in the Himalayas, expensive programs. But I want to show that wellness can be done with a cup of coffee, a notebook, and ten minutes of honesty.”

Rhea is grateful that her books are making a ripple of difference in the community. Recently, after one of her talks, a young girl approached her and said, “My childhood pictures look exactly like yours. Hearing you speak made me realize it’s okay to look like me.” For Rhea, that was one of the most meaningful moments of her career.

“I never had that growing up. I never saw anyone like me. So to be even a small part of changing that narrative is fulfilling.”