I was born in Russia in 1999. Growing up I never thought of being a model because I was convinced that my looks are “below average”. The reason to that was bullying in school: my classmates were making fun of my height, strong facial structure and big teeth.
I felt like an outcast so I started to hang out with older people ( at the age of 15 all of my friends were 20-25). I lied about my age, saying I was 17, and everyone believed because I looked older than my age. I’m now grateful for that experience because that was the reason I started to think like an adult at a very young age.
I started to love punk music so I made 3 tattoos (2 of them dedicated to Green Day- my favorite punk rock band), I got an ear tunnels and colored my hair jet black. I always dressed up full black and worn black thick eyeliner. Which was the reason why my classmates bullied me even more.
So I was a really insecure teen until the middle of my year 16, when I got invited for a photoshoot by one of the local photographers in my city, St.Petersburg. He just wanted to take photos of me for my portfolio, and as soon as the photos came out I started to get a lot of new invitations for the photoshoots and soon, some small paid projects.
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My boyfriend at the time convinced to go to the model agency. I went and they told me that if I had natural hair color, no tattoos and ear tunnels, I would become a great model. And after hearing this, I was unstoppable. Within 6 months I half removed my tattoos, did a surgery to close the ear tunnels, got back to my natural hair color.
I then got into a model school called Sky Models. That model school was a partner of a model agency called Aurora Models. And one day the owner of that agency visited our class. That’s when I got discovered and signed with my first model agency.
Few months later, when I was 17 and had better model portfolio and real model job experience , I got signed with one of the best international model agencies in Russia- Tann models. I spent a few months working with them but they were obsessed with raising high fashion models. And my type was always more commercial. We all can agree that you can’t put a Victoria’s Secret model into the Gucci show- she just won’t fit but it doesn’t mean she is less of a model.
So they’ve tried to make all the models extremely skinny and pale. I was a slim girl my whole life: I was 176 cm tall and weight 58 kg. But they told me I had to lose around 5 kg.
So i started to work really really hard: I was working out 2 times a day, I cut off all the carbs and sugar and ate only protein for a month.
I lost 10 kilograms and my weight went down to 48 kg, which is an extremely unhealthy weight for my height.
However I felt really happy for my achievements and I went to the model agency for new snapshots. And what they told me was “you still have some fat on your tights”. it led me to a complete mental breakdown, and I gained 12 kilograms within 2 weeks, and for the first time in my life my weight was over 60 kilograms. I gained such eating disorders as bulimia, binge eating, early stage of anorexia.
I stopped modeling, I became depressed and was struggling with my health: my hormones were so messed up that I lost my period for months, my hair was falling off, I stated to get acne.
I’ve spent next 3 years on a dieting rollercoaster: I was gaining and losing a lot of weight every month. And that’s how I kept doing modeling: 1-2 months when I could keep my restrictions I was working, and another couple of months I was binging and gaining weight, feeling depressed and guilty every second of my day.
It all ended soon after I discovered intuitive eating. It’s a teaching of gaining your natural body wisdom, by re-learning to hear your body signals. I spent another year learning about it as much as I can- reading books, studies, all the information I could find. And at the age of 21 I was at my final recovery stage.
I got back to modeling, signed with several model agencies, traveled around South and North America and Asia. I started to post a lot on social media, sharing my story and my experience, and I gained 750.000 followers on TikTok and 157.000 on instagram.
I recovered completely and I started to get a lot of questions from people on how did I do that.
That’s why i just launched my Weight Loss & Eating disorders recovery Online Course, where I share all of my experience and knowledge about it. It’s one of the projects I’m really proud of.
I get messages from young girls every day, saying that they wish to become more like me: learn how to become a model, how to become an intuitive eater and how to grow their social media.
That’s why I launched another project that went successfully: Enero trip.
That’s a trip for girls, this time it was Bali, Indonesia. The idea of the trip was: learning about modeling. We did several photoshoots with professional photographers, a lot of fitness activities, yoga, and of course connecting with each other by fun traveling (you can learn more about the trip.
I got over 300 applications from girls from 18-30 years old from all over the world, in each application they had to share their story and why do they want to come to the trip. The trip has finished 2 weeks ago and it was an incredible experience, I will definitely do more trips in the future. That was another way for me, of how I share my experience with people who need it. Right now I’m signed with a few international model agencies: Dragonfly LA, Genetics management NYC and Modelzone in Mexico City.
Right now I’m completely independent and can live and travel wherever I want, doing social media and modeling.
I love doing what I do and I have a strong feeling that I’m going the right path.
I think I’ve answered most of the questions in my biography text. I’ll answer some more here and attach pictures. Please tag the photographer also when you publish- his name is Ricardo Solis.
What inspires me most in my work?
Meeting new people, traveling and being creative.
What motivates me in my achievements:?
I’m the type of person who compares myself only to the past version of myself. What motivates me is looking back at how far I’ve come, and realizing how far more I can go.
To be on trend with fashion today you must have?
I vote for the classic. Always. So little black dress.
Fashion icons for me?
I don’t have any in mind because I don’t follow anyone’s style. For me fashion is creativity that comes from within myself.
Being a famous model what makes you special?
I’m grounded. And I’m always reachable. I stay connected to my old friends no matter their social status, and I’m always open to share my experience with other people.
Which brands do you work for ?
Campaign for “Phillip Martins Italy”, Campaign for C.ALLA Lingerie and Swimwear Italy, Campaign for the famous Mexican Fashion designer Jesus De La Garsa, Campaign for a Jewerly brand Iconique, Finns beach club” Bali, Bat Norton” catalog and campaign for “Ivonne fashion” Mexico,“Beach Sisi” Bikini brand Bali based, “Bali Necklaces”, Catalog for the clothing store “Wool dreams” Russia, Krembo Jeans Mexico 2022 , “CALLISTA” Bali Bikini brand, “Marse Decolette” Russian designer lingerie store, Ongrowth” Russian street style clothing brand.
Television Coommercials: TV Commercial for ADES ( Coca-cola company) ,TV Commercial Genomma Lab, Main model in a music video of Vadhir Derbez.
What talent are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of my skill of drawing portraits and paling the guitar.
A few words about our magazine?
What I love about it is the whole idea: sharing the success stories of people from all over the world it’s the most inspiring thing that could ever exist. We all know that all of the stories start with an inspirational. Maybe my story will inspire a future world class star,
We never know.
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