Episode: Every Detour Was the Direction — Loving the Journey, Episode 8

Blog: www.donnakunde.com/blog/rita-richa

Podcast Link: https://pod.co/loving-the-journey-with-donna-kunde/embrace-the-side-quest-rita-richa-on-finding-the-right-room

YouTube Link:https://youtu.be/FNGjHNz4l5w

Rita spent years in the wrong rooms.

The classroom that laughed at her Oprah dream. The corporate role at Tesla where colleagues had all been to the ER at least once from burnout and treated it as a badge of honor. The relationship and the life she had built around who everyone else thought she should be.

Donna introduced the concept of the right room during this conversation, and Rita immediately recognized it in her own life. The right room is where people celebrate who you are. The wrong room makes you question everything. And when you are in the wrong room, the clues are usually impossible to ignore, if you are paying attention.

Rita walked through the Tesla service shop singing Belle from Beauty and the Beast and got in trouble for it. She could not suppress who she was, even when she tried. Every room that did not fit her was quietly pushing her toward the one that would.

Rita did not take a straight path to podcasting. She took every other path first.

She filmed videos at a law firm using an iPhone 7 and a Walmart floor lamp and hit the deadline anyway. She took a spray tan job she was not remotely qualified for. She taught piano, got an English as a second language certification, and made silly YouTube skits in a red sequin dress for a law office audience of one. None of it looked like a plan. All of it was training.

When the right opportunity finally came at a podcast production agency that also should not have hired her, she had the instincts, the work ethic, and the people skills to make it work. Because every side quest had been sharpening something she would eventually need.

"Every piece of your life that you go through enriches your story even better when you are ready to share it." — Rita Richa

Near the end of this conversation, Rita coins a phrase that lands.

"Embrace the side quest. Saying yes is the side quest. And you can always come back and say no after."

This is the permission a lot of people need. You do not have to know what you are building while you are building it. The thing you said yes to that felt sideways, or unrelated, or not quite right is almost certainly adding something to the story only you can tell.

Rita did not launch Reignite Media because she had a five-year plan. She launched it because people asked her to — because she had spent a year building her show, showing up authentically with no immediate ask, and by the time she needed the business, the business was already there. The shoe fits differently for everyone. For Rita, it was always behind a microphone. A pre-K teacher saw it. A SiriusXM studio confirmed it. A podcast agency she should never have gotten hired at proved it.

If you are somewhere in the middle of your own messy journey, wondering whether all the detours were worth anything, this episode is for you.

Rita's story is not a highlight reel. It is the whole thing — the wrong turns, the panic attack at Tesla, the Walmart floor lamp, the Moana sob on the couch. And what comes through clearly is that none of it was wasted. The side quests did not slow her down. They made her undeniable.

The permission Rita would give you is simple: say yes to the thing that does not quite make sense yet. You can always come back and say no after. But the thing you almost skipped might be exactly the thing that makes you.

Listen to Loving the Journey wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with Rita at BippityBoppityBiz.com.

• Website: BippityBoppityBiz.com 

• Podcast: Bippity Boppity Business on apple.com — also on spotify.com

• LinkedIn: Rita Richa 

• Instagram: @bippityboppitybusiness 

• YouTube: @bippityboppitybusiness 

• Consulting: Reignite Media