ABOUT US
Journey With Rita exists to empower women to build resilience, reclaim their strength, and navigate life’s challenges with courage and confidence.
Founded by a mother and cancer survivor who has guided countless women through life during and after cancer—through peer support, advocacy, writing, and public speaking—this organization was born from lived experience and deep personal insight. Through her research and reflection, Rita identified key principles that help women grow, adapt, and thrive, and she is committed to sharing that knowledge through actionable guidance, inspiring stories, and practical resources.
"One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else's survival guide."
- Brene Brown
We promise to:
Inform: To share the foundational principles that build resilience — offering wisdom, insight, and guidance from thought leaders and everyday heroes around the world. Through honest conversations and meaningful reflection, we provide tools that illuminate your own path forward.
Empower: To introduce simple yet powerful practices, daily habits, and mindset shifts that help you navigate life with strength, clarity, and confidence. True resilience is built in small, intentional choices made consistently over time.
Inspire: To share stories of courage, perseverance, and transformation — reminding you that even in life’s most difficult seasons, growth is possible. When we hear how others have walked through adversity, we are reminded that we can, too.
Resilience is not a destination. It is a journey.
As Oprah Winfrey said,
“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”
And that is our goal — to help you find your way to stand again.
Meet the Founder
Rita Naffas is a mother, wife, interior designer, and women’s empowerment advocate based in Los Angeles. She lives with her husband and two children, who remain her greatest inspiration.
After building a successful decade-long career in corporate consulting, Rita felt called toward something more creative and deeply personal. Following the birth of her two children — and after overcoming a life-threatening illness — she found the courage to leave the corporate world and pursue her passion for interior design. She is the Principal of Rita Naffas Design, a Los Angeles–based interior design studio known for creating sophisticated spaces with soulful layers and timeless design.
Rita believes that design is more than aesthetics — it is transformation. Just as a home can be redesigned with intention and vision, so can a life. Reinvention is always possible.
Rita has been featured in Forbes, Real Simple, Authority Magazine, amongst others, and she has served on executive boards and councils for several nonprofit organizations. A passionate advocate for women, Rita is dedicated to supporting those navigating unexpected life changes — reminding them that even in uncertainty, strength can be reclaimed.
Only one month after launching this organization, Rita faced another profound challenge: she lost the ability to move. The experience of relearning how to stand, walk, and navigate daily life reshaped her perspective in ways she could never have imagined. What could have broken her instead deepened her resilience and clarified her purpose.
That chapter inspired the launch of the Journey With Rita Podcast, where she speaks with everyday individuals, thought leaders, and experts about resilience, reinvention, and rising through adversity. Through powerful, honest conversations, she highlights one essential truth: every story carries a spark of strength — and every journey can teach us how to rise stronger.
Today, Rita continues to share the lessons that helped her redesign her life — through her podcast, writing, design work, and speaking engagements — empowering others to transform not only their spaces, but their lives.
“I joined an exclusive club. It wasn’t by choice and initiation was pure hell, but it has led me down an unexpected and unique journey.”
- Rita R. Naffas
Making An Impact
June 2023
“I recently launched an organization journey with Rita, dedicated to informing, empowering, and inspiring women to build and cultivate resilience. This topic is near and dear to me. I would love for this to start a movement that will bring positive change to people.”
June 2022
“Cancer is such a personal battle, and everyone handles it differently. I don’t judge anyone who decides to battle this disease privately. But Cancer is such a heavy burden to carry alone.”
November 2020
“Those currently battling cancer have it harder than any of us can imagine. They are fighting for their lives amidst a pandemic- with kids at home, with very little to no help, and surrounded by an additional level of fear and uncertainty.”
October 2019
“We wear mother’s guilt like a badge of honor. The moment I realized there is no medal or badge, just the realities of life; everything changed…. I had no choice but to let go. And when I did, I became a whole person again, even through something as shattering as cancer.”
“There is something unbelievably surreal about being faced with one’s mortality. It is the ultimate humbling experience and the absolute understanding of what truly matters in life. “
-Rita R. Naffas