Rebranding "That Girl"

She’s That Girl is a school project first and foremost, but it is also a passion project.

You see, there’s a lot of who I used to be, and who I am now, all over this project. I wanted to get the website and socials up and running before I vulnerably introduced myself because I wanted my audience, that’s you, to see what this is going to be before I fully pitched my motive behind it. Is that backwards in marketing? Kind of. But sometimes a brand or company wants the product to be seen first, hook the interest of the customer, so that then the customer does their research on their own. That way, opinions are generated individually and not based off what the brand advertises.

So now that you’ve read a few blogs and seen a couple TikToks and Instagram posts, I want to pitch to you who I am, and what She’s That Girl truly is.

She’s That Girl is a passion project that I strongly believe in and is my dream outlet for an opportunity to minister to girls and gals around the world.

When I was a wee-little baby, I was adopted. I was less than two-days old when I arrived at the home of Kevin and Lynn (and Laura technically, my sister who is 3 years older) Rust. I was raised to be a Rust. Strong-willed, hard-headed, passionate, and strong. I was raised to be fearless, confident, and driven. I was raised to stand firmly on the truth of Scripture and the Gospel. I was raised to know first and foremost that my life purpose was to glorify God and live out His will for me. But here’s the part no Southern Baptist, small town girl tells you:

I struggled with all the things I was raised to be. I struggled with it deeply, internally and externally.

I accepted Christ at the age of 5, but I wrestled a lot with my identity. I didn’t know who I was. It all began in middle school. I was starting to grow up and so often I heard my friends be told that they resembled their parents. Once I had a teacher tell me I couldn’t do a genetics assignment for science class because I was not genetically related to my family.

Disclaimer: I did it anyway :)

I didn’t know, and still don’t, any medical history, whose eyes mine resemble, where I get my height from, who cursed me with so many allergies, and who’s to blame for my bad eyesight. I had an incredible family, but there was something in the back of my head for years:

“You know why you were given up for adoption, and you understand, but who are you?”

Moving up to high school I continued to struggle with who I was. Imagine how little about yourself you knew at 15, now amplify that and you’ll get my 15-year-old brain. My sister and I have always been very opposite ends of the scale when it comes to personality, so I didn’t think I could model myself after her; and my mom is the most incredible person in the world, but at 15 your mom is NOT cool, so I couldn’t do that, right?

I began to seek out my identity through the horrible crystal ball of High School. And finally, I found it, rephrase: what I thought it would be; I’m going to be the girl who is loved.

I sought this love out from teachers, from a job, from achievements, from leadership, from compliments, from boys, from friends, and it constantly failed me.

I learned the following:

I’m not academically impressive, just an average student;

I was one of a hundred employees at my job, and wasn’t the only one who worked hard;

I didn’t, and wouldn’t, achieve everything I wanted;

being Student Body President doesn’t mean that much outside of homecoming and college applications;

compliments are rarely genuine;

dated my way through high school and yet never had truly experienced real relational love;

and my friend groups changed yearly, and I never felt unconditionally part of them.

Everything I was chasing failed me. I sought love and approval and went to bed every night empty, unfulfilled, used, and broken. I gave everything I had for the sake of being loved, and received nothing in return. I had no self-worth, no passion, no drive, no confidence, and no joy.

That’s when the change started happening – out of my control kind-of change.

The summer after my junior year of high school was a major turning point. My parents recognized the massive spider web I had gotten myself caught in. They saw the shackles I couldn’t unlock and the chains that weighed me down. My father looked at me one day and said:

“It is my God-ordained job as your father to step in and free you. Let me free you.”

I broke down. I’d been silently screaming to be freed for so long but was so lost and broken that I didn’t know how to truly ask for help. I was the prodigal daughter who resented her parents and the life they lived so much because I didn’t know the way back home and was jealous of the peace my family had.

I didn’t fully surrender until mid-way through my freshman year of college.

It took a long time to let go of the burdens I was carrying so tightly and learn to live in freedom.

It took a long time to learn that my worth came from being a child of God.

It took a long time to rebuild my relationship with my parents.

It took a long time to heal.

But here I am. Almost 22 years old, in my final semester of college.

This is what it all comes back to: I sought out my worth and identity in places that were not holy or God glorifying, and began to reflect the image of the world instead of the Most High God like I was intentionally and intricately created to do.

But now, now I’m learning.

I now desire to model my life after my mom, she wakes up every morning and makes a cup of coffee and spends time studying scripture, her advice always leads back to Jesus, and her sole desire is to see her family glorify God.

I desire to be like my sister, a voice for the young, a driven 25-year-old who is passionate about raising the younger generations to be brilliant world-changers.

I desire to be like my dad, a fisher of men, a project-oriented servant, a helping hand, a teacher.

I now desire to model myself after Jesus, a servant, a friend of the friendless, a trend-breaker, a voice for the voiceless, dining with the rejects and hanging out with the diseased.

I am becoming a full-blown Rust. I see the fruits of my family’s labor in my life, the seeds they have sewn through prayer and service. I see the fruits of the Holy Spirit’s activity in my life.

I am strong-willed. I am passionate. I stand unwavering on my beliefs. I am driven. I am confident. I am fearless and strong. I am a child of God.

That’s where She’s That Girl comes in. On social media and in our daily lives we are taught to reflect an image of what the world wants us to look like. Perfect bodies, expensive shoes and workout sets, idolizing celebrities, organization, and perfection. I am here to uproot that. I am here to blow that up with a God sized dream.

This summer I interned at a church called Long Hollow in Hendersonville, TN (shoutout to my intern besties reading this right now). The head student pastor, Wil Moore, spoke to us one day about our God-sized dreams. What do we want to do/be part of that will only be successful if God is in it and behind it?

My God sized dream is to see the beautifully and wonderfully made women of the world chase the Kingdom of God instead of the image of the world. My God sized dream is to promote modest attire that is fashionable yet God-honoring. My God sized dream is to promote taking care of our bodies because they are a temple of the Most High. My God sized dream is to see confidence rise in women because we are not forcing ourselves into a mold we were not created to fit.

My God-sized dream is to see the daughters of God start to act like daughters of God.

This is a journey that I am beginning with you. This is a journey we are going on together.

We are stronger united than alone; we are built to be in community. We were created to be in relationship.

15-year-old Carrie was insecure and seeking.

17-year-old Carrie was broken and empty.

22-year-old Carrie is strong, full of purpose, and passionate.

22-year-old Carrie has a God-sized dream.

What’s yours?