Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheyli Fuentes.
Sheyli, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all started the summer of 2017. I was going through a phase where I wasn’t happy with myself and who I wanted to be. I was just about to start college but I knew deep inside I wanted more than that. I was always a creative person but I never found something I liked where I could put my creativeness into but something I always admired was models. I use to LOVE seeing how beautiful they could be and how beautiful the whole concept of it was. As I was growing up, people would always tell me I should be a model but I never had the confidence or the guts to be that. One day I pitched the idea to my friend that I wanted to start modeling but I really thought me as a model? I could never. I don’t know where to even start and I have no type of connections. He encouraged my idea and told me I didn’t need anyone to start that he has a camera and to come up with an idea and we will have our own photoshoot. That’s exactly what I did and let me tell you I fell in love with the whole process and myself. That is when I knew this is something I love to do and want to keep doing. It was really hard at first to get people to take me serious. I’d get discouraged because I’d go long periods without having a shoot but that only made me want to try harder. So I would just have my own photoshoots but as I did more shoots and the better I got people started noticing me and how good I was at what I loved to do. Things just took off after that and I started working with others and more photographers. We would come up with ideas and put it to life. Now I am where I am today because of it all.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I wish it has been a smooth road. Figuring out my body, my face, and what to do to make myself give off the whole vibe I need to give off took a lot of practice. I would sit in front of the mirror every day practicing poses and facial expressions to get it done right. I am an independent model at the moment so I have to plan the whole process myself. Photoshoots are A LOT of work. First you have to figure out what kind of shoot you want to do, then on how you look, how your makeup will be for that shoot, how your hair will be, your outfit, and the photographer like who would want to collaborate with you because you are a college student so at the moment not much money to go book one. Finding ways to make an idea come to life is really hard so much goes into planning a shoot and making it all possible. I would go long periods even months without a shoot because I just couldn’t make it happen at the time. Which would make so discouraged like is this really what I am supposed to be doing? but I don’t know I loved the process and I always make anything happen once I set my mind to it so I would never give up.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a model but not a runaway model. I specialize more in photoshoots and videos shoots. People book me because they need a model for a photoshoot they want done or a video shoot that requires a model. I am the most proud of me because I am good at what I do I know how to pose in front of a camera and give the vibe I need to give off for that shoot. What sets me apart from others is my shoots and the kind I do I know how to switch it up and keep people on their toes.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I were to start over, I wish I would’ve had more confidence and less self-doubt in the beginning. I wish I could’ve of shown myself where I am today back then because I could have never imagined I’d get this far. Other than that I am happy with how everything has unfolded.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 4693590702
- Email: Sheylif@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sheydivine_/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_sheydivine_
Image Credit:
Photographer @catvtakesphotos for the set of pictures of me in black hair. Photographer @elijvhsmith for the set of pictures of me in purple hair.
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