We recently connected with Iyanna James-Stephenson and have shared our conversation below.

Iyanna, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

After pursuing a pre law track for eight years throughout high school and college, I decided to take a break. I planned on taking my LSAT, scoring high, and getting into Harvard Law School, but I did not have any desire to do it following undergrad. I felt burnt out and uninterested in yet another intense three years so soon. Instead, I decided to apply for teaching positions nearing the ending of my senior year. I applied for Chungdahm Institute that placed educators in either South Korea or China. Because I had no connection to either country and I decided not to do any research on it, I left it up to chance. I chose to have either option be available to me, which left a 50% probability of me being placed anywhere, in either country. By the grace of the universe, the company placed me in South Korea.

I graduated Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and a NEXUS minor in Law, Public Policy and Human Rights May of 2015. By August 2015, I was half way around the world.

I was in South Korea for 13 months. I spent half of that time loathing the intensity of the experience. It heavily weighed on me that I was the center of attention, at all times, any day I chose to leave the house. I started to enjoy my solitude, and upon my arrival, I even stayed inside of my apartment for a week.

The latter half of the year was much more liberating. I realized that I had to find comfort and find home where I was made to never feel comfortable or familial. I befriended three women from the U.S. who became my best friends. I traveled everywhere I could at any time, I visited China and The Philippines, I met up with alumna from Mount Holyoke overseas, and I reunited with a great friend of mine whose family had moved back to South Korea.

By going out, dancing, and sharing energy like I always do, I met a Russian Fashion Photographer, by the name of Sasha Don. Sasha took the first professional photos of me and submitted them to my first fashion film festival. Afterwards, my reunited college friend referred me to her photographer contact in Seoul. After seeing my photos, they offered to book me for my first professional paid photo shoot as a muse.

I negotiated my pay, took a speed train from Busan (closed to where I lived) to Seoul, woke up at 6 in the morning, went to hair and makeup, got adorned by a team of make up artists, was escorted to the studio where I was scheduled to shoot, got dressed by the wardrobe assistants, was tended to hand and foot throughout the entire evening, and shot four different looks for the Claude Wedding Studio.

It was exhilarating! I felt like such a diva and a cherished artist. Anything that I needed or wanted was mind and it really felt like I was born to produce art in this way.

After those photos, I took that experience and foundation, moved back to Miami, Florida in January 2017, and committed myself to my modeling career.

Iyanna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Iyanna The Model, I use all of my artistic gifts to uplift, empower, and inspire. My focus is on freedom, expression, and the freedom of expression through the body.

Whether I am using my fingers and mind to write, my limbs and my head to dance, my figure and my poses to model, or my feet and my legs to walk runway, I am always expressing and advocating for the authentic self, my authentic self, and the promotion of everyone’s most authentic self around me.

I have been hired as a:
Muse
Writer
Performance Artist
Dancer
Creative Director
Filmmaker
Facilitator
Motivational Speaker
Makeup Artist
Event Coordinator

Just to name a few

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society should support artist monetarily. Culture does not exist without art, and out of every chime, saying, trend, dance, or style, the creator receives almost nothing for it, and they rarely, if ever, receive recognition. Society should pay artist for their impact, as opposed to what they consider to be a tangible amount of work, and they should set artist up to be able to easily create an entrepreneurial life.

Society can also create more spaces for artist to integrate into other aspects of our ecosystem by providing platforms in places that art is usually not seen or experienced.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Success happens with support, love, and encouragement. Many non creatives, especially those who are family members do not support their children who are pursuing the arts. Out of fear, doubt, and self restriction, they try to limit their children in the name of love, safety, and support. What they do not realize about the journey is that, reaching the point where they are proud of their artist child, and they are happy with their choices, requires for them to dramatically change the way they perceive and support that journey.

The way they would support a lawyer career or higher education for example, should be the same energy they use to put behind being a painter, filmmaker, actor, and model. Only then will that person be able to reach the heights that their parents are criticizing they haven’t gotten to, while simultaneously creating an unfavorable environment to thrive in.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iyannathemodel.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/iyannathemodel
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iyanna-james-stephenson/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/iyannathemodel

Image Credits
Haley Parker Joey Rosado Stevenson Jean Chioma Obiegbu Learon Coleman Bernard Holley Olly Vento Saloni Agarwal Alexis Carballosa Dar Balthazar Roberto Ligresti Leonid Gurevich Shirley Gordon David Maderich Armani Je’ton Rentia Woodland Yamen Hama David Dalrymple Wiederhoeft Michael Alfonsin Tekne GBGH Val Stern