Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anya Shevchenko. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Anya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I am very happy as an artist, a fashion/runway model to be exact. Of course, it’s not an easy path but I have no complaints. I don’t wonder how it is to have a regular job, I know so because I had one before I started modeling. I was an IT business analyst/project manager. I was unhappy then and I couldn’t understand why. Because it seemed like I got everything the system and everyone around me expected from me. I finished high school as an A student and then got a degree at Moscow University, and got a well-paid IT job. That’s what they say: finish high school with good grades so you can go to University, then get a good job and work 9/5 for 40-50 years until you retire. I wasn’t happy so I decided to follow my heart. I happened to watch the “Eat, Pray, Love” movie lol, quit my job bought one one-way ticket to Bali, and started searching for myself and happiness. It took me years but I found it. I wish I had known all these things at a younger age but there was no one to guide me in post-soviet Russia. I don’t think the search ever ends, I think we search and make adjustments all our life. If we don’t excel we are dead souls. So I hope sharing my experience will help other lost people. I found that working a regular job is realizing someone else’s dream. I wanted to fight for my dream. I feel like we need to find whatever it is in our hearts that we are passionate about and go for it. So I did. My dream is modeling and high-fashion runway shows. I also love surfing and hip-hop dancing but I don’t think I wanna take these hobbies to a professional level. You know when you are truly happy, you can feel it. I was so happy walking the runway show at NYFW. It is only 2 minutes walk but you get the whole runway audience to look at only you. For me the whole world stops during those seconds, and all the worries and self-doubt go away. This is the time to celebrate your hard work, show off what you got and just enjoy. I work very hard to be where I am. I am on a lifetime diet, work out all the time, no alcohol, I am in bed by 9-10 pm for my beauty sleep, very healthy lifestyle, also life gets crazy busy being a single mom of another model, so I sacrifice going out and lots of other things for my commitments. And if things get tough: in the water, everything just goes away, the ocean is my happy place and peace. So having learned my lesson I started my daughter’s modeling career at the age of 2, now she is 10 and a very successful child model. I told her that she has to pick 1 thing that is in her heart and give it her all. And I strongly advise everyone else to do the same no matter how old they are or where they are in their life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a fashion and runway model. I love what I do and wouldn’t trade it for anything else. Thank God and my parents my height of 5’10 allows me to do it. It’s very strict at runway castings, they measure our height and if you are shorter you get turned around.
I am your blonde blue-eyed runway model type with a bit of hips. The body measurement standards are around 32-25-35. So my hips are a little bigger 38-39 inches (I got it from my mama and the squats), even though I usually diet hard before every February and September runway season. So it is up to the designer whether they like my hips or not. After years of modeling, I learned to accept myself as I am and also not to take rejection personally. It’s a cruel world out there and you need to learn how to deal with it emotionally.

Every model’s dream is to walk NYFW and I still can’t believe I get to do it. Another big modeling dream is to see yourself on a Times Square billboard, which also came true for me. A little Anya in a small Russian town with a population of 50000 people couldn’t have even dreamed about it. It’s an amazing feeling when your dream comes true, then you sit happily in it, and then you find the next dream to achieve. My next dream is to walk for more high fashion brands like Gucci, Prada, Versace, and of course Victoria’s Secret.
Another thing that sets me apart: I take it very seriously, I give it 100% and am ready to outwork everyone else. I am always prepared, on time, and ready to do whatever it takes. I study and learn all the time too. I am currently getting my Theater arts degree with an emphasis on Acting. I watch a lot of runways and study other models’ walks all the time. There is a certain runway walk I like, for example, Candice Swanepoel’s walk. I have studied different runway walks enough that I can see all the little things people don’t notice. For example, here is a funny fact: a lot of models move their right arm more than the left one. Maybe it has something to do with their right arm being the main arm or carrying purses with it.
Also I work out all the time, am very athletic, and have lots of special skills that could help to book a job like surfing or dancing.
I am thinking of maybe doing more acting since I am almost done with my degree.

Also, I have my very own mini-me, my daughter Rachel, who is a child model. She is 10 now but started modeling around 2 years old. So maybe one day we can book a movie or a commercial together where she can play the younger me, or I can play the older her. We are signed as a family with LA Models.

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

I think it’s very hard to start a model as there are almost no resources available. There is no college degree for a Model. The closest one to modeling would be an Acting degree but a very different skill set is required for that. There are maybe a few Instagram accounts that claim to be Model coaches that charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for their courses. Another thing there is no Model Union. There is SAG union for movie actors and Equity Union for Theater actors, but nothing for Models. And I feel like models do need protection, they are the ones often being taken advantage of. The biggest scam is “collaboration, you will see a casting or a request to work for free. No other professionals work for free. If I call my housekeeper and offer her to come clean for free, do you think she would? But models are expected to work for free until they make it big. None of the castings are paid either, only if you book then you get paid. There are some other situations that models could find themselves in that I don’t even want to discuss here because I always try to stay positive. Thank God I have never encountered anything like this but I have heard about stuff from other models.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

My favorite book ever is not modeling-related but more of life lessons, it’s called Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I think it gave me all the answers to the questions that I was looking for. I even got his board game Cashflow which we play with my daughter. Of course, it’s mostly financial advice but there is a lot of information about life, lifestyle, and how the system teaches us to be employees and work for someone else’s dream, rather than entrepreneurship and our path. If you think about it in school there are no business lessons, no taxes lessons, no life journey lessons, no relationships lessons, nothing about the importance of choosing the right life partner, no making connections lessons, no money lessons, no driving lessons, we learn nothing useful in life, all we learn is how to get into a good college. So if your parents didn’t teach you those important lessons then you become an adult without basic life knowledge. Then we go to college and learn how to be an employee. Because of this lack of guidance and only having a poor dad and no rich dad I was lost as a young adult but I am very blessed that life led me to where I am and that I was smart enough to accept those lessons and challenges and create my own path. I came across this book during Covid and it was such a blessing. I decided to risk it all and invest my money and debt the way Kiyosaki is teaching. I am so glad I did, I feel like I owe Kiyosaki now and I need to meet him in person and Thank him. I hope I get to do that one day. I also owe everyone around me that supported me in this journey.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anya.shevchenko_/

Image Credits

Photos: Angelina Venturella and @dreamstatemuse
Retouch by @ma_retouch