Today we’d like to introduce you to Monique Williams.
Monique, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Dallas, Tx by way of OakCliff Texas. I was raised in a family of 5, two brothers, mom, and dad. Growing up, I had to go through many heartaches and trials, being molested, depression, and hardships.
In school, I was known as the “shy” kid, quiet, stayed to myself a lot. At the age of 6, when I was molested, I went through a lot of different emotions. During this time is when I found peace in music, it helped me to cope a lot with the messages behind every song. That is when I found I had a voice, a powerful one that delivered a story as if it was your own.
At the age of 13, I started to see myself in a different light. Here I was growing up, maturing faster than those I went to school with. While in school, it was hard for me to get through it. I finally broke to my mom and told her about the time I was six, the reason being because I was being molested again by my cousin. I transferred from a lot of different schools, went to counseling, had to relive that six-year-old tragedy all over again.
As I got older, I always wanted my life to be kind of a fairytale. Meet the prince, have the family, be happily ever after. My life was backward; I had my first child at the age of 21 when I had my first real relationship. I got married to my love that I went to elementary with. There were a lot of things up and down in our relationship, I mean, who doesn’t have those problems. It’s the way you recover that matters.
As the years went on, I developed my love for modeling again. It came naturally for me. It’s a form of art that allows me to be anyone I want to be, creative styles, dolled up. I came into contact with a lot of people doing this. I reached out to the old model of Da Kandy Shop as I heard she had a modeling team. She told me I could join, I was so excited, the talk sounded good, and it was exactly what I wanted to hear.
Working with Da Kandy Shop model and her team was exciting and a new start, I thought big things were coming. She got me a shoot with photographer Mylanephotography, he shot some amazing images, captured me perfectly. When everyone saw that picture, they were in amazement. Although some people were, some people were not. My sister that I grew up with reached out and gave me a heads up to be careful. We had a talk. I listen to what people tell me, then I observe for myself. After I spoke with her, another Kandy Shop model reached out and warned me the same about this woman. Still, I wasn’t listening. Things didn’t work out with her, and I feel a manager is a manager only if they are doing managerial duties.
There have been plenty of people reaching out to be my “manager,” they have the same talk “ I can get you here, get you this, get you that” but actions don’t align with the words being spoken. I have shot with amazing photographers like Calvin Brown Photography. I must say he is one of the best that I have worked with thus far. He made me see a person that I have never seen before, breathtaking.
I got to where I am today by being me, a woman who looks at herself in the mirror and knows who she is and who she belongs too. Staying humble and appreciative for every little thing, every little opportunity that I am blessed to be connected to. I don’t do this modeling for clout, although that is where most are leading to.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
This biggest struggle I have to say has been balanced, be it family, work, just life in general. Finding time to do the dream that you want and making sure to focus as well on family is a struggle. But, at the end of the day, I hope when I reach my destination, I can say it was worth it.
Please tell us about Drea.
I am a professional model, and that word is used very loosely by most. I pride myself on being professional and again humbled by everything. I am driven, I know where I see myself landing, and I’m not stopping until I reach that point and more.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would not listen to every little thing that came to me. I would trust my gut more than I trusted the compass that came with my dream. The fact that I held on to what some people told me and “promised” me wasted a lot of time.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 4696716326
- Email: lovellystarr27@gmail.com
- Instagram: Lovelly_drea
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreathamodel/
- Twitter: Beautydrea2
Image Credit:
Shot by Melo
Calvin Brown Photography
Mylanephotography
Travis Smalls Celebrity Photographer
SANTAE
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