Today we’d like to introduce you to Geneva Dudley.
Hi Geneva, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name Is Geneva but all my friends call me Phae Creates, a 34-year-old Louisiana native, mother, licensed cosmetologist, content creator, entrepreneur, and community builder. Above everything else, I’m the proud mother of an amazing 14-year-old son who is autistic and truly my whole world. Motherhood is at the center of so much of what I do and has played a huge role in the woman I’ve become and the life I’m continuing to build.
Creativity has always been a part of who I am, even as a young girl. My first professional creative outlet was actually through hair. I graduated from Queen City College in Clarksville, Tennessee, in 2016 and became a licensed cosmetologist in 2017. Doing hair gave me an opportunity to express my creativity while also helping other women feel beautiful and confident, which I would later realize was a common thread throughout everything I created.
In 2020, I stepped into the world of content creation, and that’s where PhaeCreates was born. I began sharing pieces of my life and personality online, and what started as another creative outlet gradually grew into something much bigger.
In 2021, I branched out into creating handmade waist beads. Interestingly, that journey started with me. I began wearing waist beads as a tool during my own weight-loss and self-confidence journey. What was initially personal eventually became an opportunity to help other women. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of helping more than 500 women and counting use waist beads as part of their own journeys with weight management, confidence, self-love, and personal development.
Over the years, PhaeCreates has continued to evolve into a growing social media community across TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. My content reflects all the different pieces of who I am, so you may find me creating lifestyle and fashion content one day, sharing a product or TikTok Shop review the next, trying a new restaurant, traveling somewhere new, or simply bringing my audience along for a real-life experience.
One of the things I value most about content creation is the connection I’ve built with the people who interact with me every day. I don’t want my platform to only be about people watching my life—I want it to be a place where we can learn from, inspire, and encourage one another.
That vision is what led me to begin building the It Girl Collective, my online community for women. I wanted to create something more intimate than traditional social media: a space where women can connect, share resources and experiences, discover new things, support one another, and grow together.
When I look back, I can see how every chapter has connected. The young girl who simply loved being creative became a cosmetologist. The cosmetologist became a content creator. The content creator became an entrepreneur, and the entrepreneur is now becoming a community builder.
I’m still evolving, and I think that’s one of my favorite parts of my story. At 34, I’m not afraid to try something new, reinvent myself, or follow an idea to see where it leads. I want other women—especially mothers and women who may feel like they have to choose just one path—to see that you can have multiple passions, evolve through different seasons of your life, and continue creating a life that feels authentically yours.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. In many ways, the life I have today was built during one of the most difficult seasons of my life.
In 2020, after nearly a decade together, my former husband and I separated. Shortly afterward, in November 2020, I lost my home in a house fire. Our divorce was later finalized in 2023. Within a relatively short period of time, the life I had known completely changed.
I went from being a housewife to becoming a single mother, a full-time employee, and a new entrepreneur. Suddenly, I had to learn how to rebuild while also being responsible for providing stability for my son. There wasn’t a roadmap for that transition. I had to learn how to rely on myself financially, emotionally, and creatively while navigating some of the toughest moments of my life.
There were times when I was rebuilding my own life while simultaneously trying to build a business and a community that encouraged other women. That wasn’t always easy. I still had to be a mother. I still had to go to work. I still had bills and responsibilities. And I still wanted to show up as an example for my son and for the women who were beginning to look to me for encouragement.
But I think that’s also where so much of the heart behind PhaeCreates came from. I wasn’t creating from a place of having everything figured out. I was creating while figuring it out.
Those experiences taught me resilience in a completely different way. I learned that starting over doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve failed—it can mean you’re being given the opportunity to build differently. I learned how capable I was when I didn’t have the option of giving up, and I learned that sometimes your purpose develops in the same season that feels like it’s breaking you.
Today, when I talk about confidence, personal development, entrepreneurship, or women reinventing themselves, I’m not speaking about something I’ve only watched from the outside. I’ve lived it. I’m still living it.
The road hasn’t been smooth, but every difficult season has contributed to the woman, mother, entrepreneur, and creator I am today. And if sharing that journey helps even one woman realize that her hardest chapter doesn’t have to be the end of her story, then being vulnerable about mine is worth it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Through PhaeCreates, my work combines creativity, intention, community, and lifestyle. I handcraft intentional waist beads using colors that represent different purposes such as mental clarity, grounding, strength, confidence, and protection. Over the years, many women in my community have also come to view me as a spiritual guide and source of encouragement, which has made the connection behind my work especially meaningful to me. Beyond my waist beads, I’m a lifestyle content creator specializing in relatable content including food and restaurant reviews, fashion, beauty, travel, product reviews, and everyday experiences. I’m most proud that what I create goes beyond a product, post, or video—it creates genuine connection. What sets me apart is my ability to bring my personality, spirituality, authenticity, and intention into everything I create while building a community where women feel seen, encouraged, and inspired.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I’ve learned that sometimes the biggest risk is staying somewhere you’ve already outgrown. Starting over after becoming a single mother, building PhaeCreates while working full-time, investing in my businesses, and putting myself and my creativity in front of the world have all required me to take chances without knowing exactly how things would turn out. I’m a spiritual person, so I try to make decisions with both intention and intuition—I believe there’s a difference between being reckless and taking a leap of faith. For me, risk is asking myself, “What could happen if I actually bet on myself?” Some of the best opportunities in my life have come from being willing to take that chance.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.instagram.com/phaecreates/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmephaephae/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phaecreates/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@phaecreatestv
