Recho Omondi’s Candor, Curiosity, and The Cutting Room Floor

• A childhood of dual worlds:
  Recho grew up in small Midwest towns while spending every summer traveling through Europe and Kenya, giving her a uniquely global perspective from a young age.
  
  
• Raised by a single Kenyan father with big expectations:
  Her dad — an afropolitan ER doctor — emphasized reading, travel, ballet, theater, and intellectual curiosity, shaping her worldview and ambition.
  
  
• Independence born from the absence of a mother:
  Without a maternal figure at home, she learned self-sufficiency, adaptability, and emotional self-navigation — traits that now show up in her confidence and presence.
  
  
• The pre-med years and the turning point into fashion:
  Initially on a pre-med path, she realized fashion was her true calling after immersing herself in magazines and secretly visiting SCAD during spring break.
  
  
• Her fashion label as a crash course in business:
  Running her own brand for seven years taught her everything — production, trademarks, operations — a real-world business school built through trial and error.
  
  
• The Cutting Room Floor’s origin story:
  The podcast was born from frustration with how designers were misunderstood and siloed. She created the space she wished existed — honest conversations with the people themselves.
  
  
• Her stance on confidence and imposter syndrome:
  She has never experienced imposter syndrome; every room she’s entered has felt right. Her self-assurance stems from upbringing, birth order, and early exposure to diverse worlds.
  
  
• The recurring themes she sees across all conversations:
  Capitalism’s exhaustion, the tension between humanity and technology, and the truth that fashion is really about culture — not clothes.
  
  
• Her critique of fashion media and Vogue today:
  Recho believes American Vogue has lost its edge and that Anna Wintour should have passed the baton around 2010 — while global editions and independent magazines remain strong.
  
  
• What’s contemporary now:
  Kindness — not niceness. In a world overwhelmed by speed, noise, and digital disconnection, genuine empathy and presence feel modern, radical, and necessary.

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Notable Quotes: 

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• “One of the biggest influences on my upbringing was growing up in these very small towns but having a very global perspective.”
  
  
• “Without even knowing it, my perception of the world was global. I knew early on that not everybody lived the way we were living back home in Illinois.”
  
  
• “There’s never been a room I didn’t feel worthy of. Every room I’ve ever been in, I’ve thought, ‘Oh, finally.’”
  
  
• “Designers felt like the forgotten child. People forget that the reason we’re all gathered here is because of the people making the clothes.”
  
  
• “I didn’t want to talk about people — I wanted to talk to them.”
  
  
• “When I got on a microphone, I wasn’t trying to be anybody else. It was actually the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
  
  
• “Fashion isn’t really about clothing; it’s culture — how people move, speak, gather, and show up.”
  
  
• “Instagram feels like sitting in bathwater. TikTok feels like a new town — democratic, funny, nonjudgmental, and alive.”
  
  
• “Kindness is the most modern thing. Niceness is whack, but kindness is powerful, chic, beautiful, elegant.”
  
  
• “If your desire can rise to meet your belief, that’s manifesting. It’s biblical — ancient people have always known how to do that.”