Rachel Ann Haugabook was 15 years old when she started her first paying gig as a spoken word performer, presenting her interpretive skills at poetry shows at the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas.
鈥淚 was paid to perform two to three pieces every Thursday night,鈥� she said. The venue served alcohol, so one of her parents always had to accompany her.
Today, at 31, Haugabook goes by . She transformed her name鈥攈er initials to form Rah and the Greek word for beauty, Kalon鈥攁nd she transformed herself.
She wrote her poem 鈥淢y Self Worth鈥� while a student at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Inspired by heartbreak, self-realization, self-worth and self-acceptance, she said she embraced authenticity and realized she had nothing to prove to anyone. Pretty high ideals for a 16-year-old.
鈥淚鈥檓 an old soul,鈥� Kalon said.
Kalon started writing verse around age 7.
鈥淚 have always loved expressing myself through words and through writing,鈥� she said.
Kalon has a master's degree in clinical counseling and works as a life coach, helping people recover from anxiety, grief and self-doubt.
The poem 鈥淢osaic,鈥� she said, was inspired by a women鈥檚 retreat she conducts to promote healing from intergenerational trauma.
鈥淢y poetry speaks to an awareness of this infinite love that is a part of each of us,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it speaks to connecting with the fact that you're never going to be who you were. So lean into who you're becoming and lean into it with confidence.鈥�
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