Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Di-Jana Keyes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Di-Jana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
I believe I am happier & at my best with becoming both an artist & a creative director. I can’t imagine only calling myself an artist with no creativity. It’s like painting life with no meaning. I believe I do think about how can I make my creativity more productive to my daily lifestyle. I plan my projects around safe zoned days from traffic, holidays, work schedules, & LA Fashion Week. It can get difficult & exhausting having an over night job, modeling on a full time schedule, hitting the gym, training for marathons, & producing music. But I constantly have faith in what I do. It’s fun to be your own boss, insight yourself with skillful knowledge, & provide a difference in lives you’re surrounded by. I take what I do very seriously. I communicate throughly between designers, photographers, & models in which I expect the same energy back. I also create my own contracts, itineraries, time sheets for payment distributions, & budget records. It can become stressful in wishing that I had some type of sponsorship to cover what I can’t afford or would like to afford such as an onset make-up artist so that models can feel stress-free about arriving onset ready for production. But overtime I tell myself things will grow & work out in it best favor for me . Right now I’m only in apprenticeship. Meaning I’m still training in action upon how I want to be the boss of my own creativity . I’m always accepting risks, sacrifices, & win/lose situations to make a better outcome towards my greatness. Just about every production I’m left with a smile & little to no money til my next paycheck. However, if you’re a firm believer in religion. I can successfully say God has brought me out of the trenches because I preformed his work in the way he wants me too. In conclusion, I’ve taken on this position as an outlook from becoming “just a model” phase. I wanted to connect with other talented creators in a way to separate myself from other models. Its easy to go on casting calls & model in fashion shows but for what cost ? Modeling will not pay unless you’re signed to the top dogs. For now, I can’t imagine this being my everyday job because the income is not stable enough like my overnight job. However, I do make it my job to preform with prestige professionalism like as if I do get paid top dollars to operate at the highest performance you see today.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Yes. Well I am born & raised in Los Angeles, CA. I’ve always been active my whole life since I was four years old with cheerleading, acting, & dancing. Education was never really a focus for me. I became serious about modeling while in college back in 2014 after my dance team season had ended. By this time too my freshman year was ending & I wanted to become more serious about my school work. However, I still enjoyed maintaining entertainment on the side so I signed up for the school’s fashion show production hosted by the Black Student Union. I met a lot of interesting people & decided to take it more seriously as an independent model. I faced many challenges to become the model I am today. I challenged my appearance & asked my mother “am I ugly? Why won’t they choose me.” I’ve learned from my mother that I am not unattractive. I am beautiful; and that art attracts other people differently. I began to tell myself “what’s meant for me will be delivered to me by God & from God.” After the COVID outbreak was released I came back into modeling with a vengeance to began living my life accordingly & branch into the world of Hollywood entertainment. In 2017 I had to take a step back from modeling after realizing how much it takes to support yourself without an agent . In 2013 graduated high school homeless & attended college in the same way. I just knew I wasn’t going to be that miracle milestone story you hear about in the news because I had no resources to reach out to. I did conduct my research but I guess it wasn’t interesting enough for me to take a chance. So fast forward into 2024 I am proud of myself today because every year I have became a wiser individual. In 2021 I was just a model of seven years experience. Today, I am a model of ten years experience; & I know this because just about every casting call I’ve attended I book the shows within less than 48 hour responses telling me “congratulations!” I am also a creative director for my own photoshoots. I hand pick models for high fashion photography & publish the work into magazines. A lot of work has been featured on magazine covers bother domestic & international. Outside of modeling I also produce my own music. I shop around for beats mainly on YouTube & compose my own hiphop lyrics. It’s most definitely not easy, but being in the studio makes an artist critique themselves in the most challenging way possible & I believe that’s why I do it. Lastly, I am an aspiring actress. I recently have been taking voice over classes & will soon develop into my adult study scene classes. It’s exciting to become this multi-talented knowing all of this can bring in a heavy income. It’s also exciting to view everyone’s faces when they didn’t know you had all of this built inside of you. Although I must add it can never really be about the money but I do believe I get a kick out of doing an excessive amount of work to stay busy in a positive matter.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I believe right now I’m at that moment within the pivot of my life changing moment. Most of the time I feel like I’m living life too quickly & came into the game too late. I wish I could start a family right now but I’m all about finances. I view life in a way where if I grew up feeling limited then I don’t think it’s fair for my kids to be going through the same situation. The world is changing everyday. If I have the power to make change I’m going to do so. Every year or less than a year I seek new opportunities for myself. I’ve been trying to return to college for the longest. At the beginning of this year I finally made the call to handle my student debt with a pay off resolution. I also attended a black college expo to keep my mind focused while I attend a community college to get my college credits transferred to Xavier University or FAMU. I couldn’t make that move a few years back because honestly my money was not budgeted well enough. No one taught me too much of anything. I honestly viewed the signs God would toss at me. Whether it was a TikTok video, a reel from Instagram, or a random affirmation I decided to research fixing my credit to buy a house & develop my own business. My next step in the process is that while I’m in college I do still plan to model, act, & compose music. However, I cannot continue my dreams without an agency. I strongly believe that I have a huge road map in front of me & that God will line up those opportunities for me within the next ten years.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Social media of course drives my mission on my creative journey. Of course we must tell ourselves that what we see on the internet is not real, or at least the people don’t appear too real. Something about it all can be quite fake. But social media has kept me on my toes. People taking time out to create how they have seen the world & want others to go view those same perceptions keeps me alive & willing. I never thought about traveling to Seychelles until I saw the beaches. I remember as kid actually seeing those images but nobody ever gave credit to the country. Recently, I had a classmate create images of his trip to Japan for the first time; & now he comes back to America as a homeowner. Just that happiness alone is what I prolonged to discover for myself. I’m not going to lie I became a little envious after seeing his post. But it was a good envy because I know that in my heart I can, I want, & I will experience the same happiness he has received in due time for myself .
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dijanakeyes.com
- Instagram: @the.rose.gold007
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/onDSJJt3AFA
Image Credits
@westside_camera