We were lucky to catch up with Ellalise Cheri recently and have shared our conversation below.
Ellalise , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
There are a few things that I can contribute to the modeling world that differ from the average model. One is my passion and experience in health sciences which I am actually obtaining my degree in. A few years back while dancing at a professional level I fell really ill and almost died. No doctor could help me. I started researching information about the female body and how it works. I completely healed my body through a healthy and specific diet. I feel many women in the modeling industry don’t obtain the physique required through healthy habits. I would like to be a role model and advocate to help change that. I also danced to a professional level as a ballerina, and even won a few prestigious scholarships.. I feel in the modeling world, my skills obtained through my craft, such as poise, grace, determination, stamina and resilience will benefit me as well as the industry. For example in dance photography whether just esthetic or in advertising for brands, using a model not skilled in dance does not translate well .
Ellalise , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Ellalise Cheri, I am a 20 year old female who grew up and resides in California. The majority of my life was spent in a ballet studio and on a stage. I danced from the age of 7, and to a professional level in ballet. I danced an average of 4-6 hours a day, 7 days a week. I performed in many classical and contemporary ballets. When I was 17 I fell very ill, and my once very strong body began to emaciate and grow very weak which forced me to take a break from my rigorous dance schedule. At the time no doctor could help me. Nothing they had me do in standard western medicine seemed to help my body..it only grew worse. I was desperate to get my body back and return to dance so I started researching women’s health, and how the female body works and through an animal based/carnivore diet, and a healthy exercise plan I was able to completely reverse my health, even making my once diagnosed. celiac disease undetectable. Through this I decided to pursue my degree in Health Sciences. I also returned to dance but at that point decided I wanted to pursue a career in modeling. As I stated before I feel I can bring a few unique things to the fashion industry, One I love to advocate for women’s health. The physique required for modeling and fashion can be obtained in a healthy way, but far too often it is not which can be both dangerous and deadly. I feel there is nothing wrong with promoting a healthy physique, but the key word here is HEALTHY and I feel through the years this has been taken from one extreme to another. Second due to me being professionally trained as a ballerina over the last several years, this skill is highly desirable in the modeling world. Things such as poise, grace and resilience are needed in this industry. Dance photography not executed with a professionally trained dancer does not translate well and honestly to the arts community is quite offensive. It is a craft, and to anyone in that world, if you stick a model in pointe shoes, that is not professionally trained it can be quite comical and honestly a bit dangerous. I hope to contribute to the world of fashion.in a positive way and be a role model to many.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Through my journey a story I have that illustrates my resilience would be the year I fell ill I had several roles I was performing in Nutcracker. No matter how much I ate, being ill made my body not hold on to weight. Being in the ballet world where eating disorders are extremely prevalent my weight loss was not misunderstood, and I was brutally judged. This is extremely hard when you don’t understand what is happening to your body , and scared yourself. Add to that everyone telling you you are too thin, just put on 10 pounds, oh but don’t take any time off because we are depending on you to fill these roles and dance them perfectly and beautifully on stage. I remember having to get on stage dance two weeks every night knowing people were judging me and commenting on my current weight loss. I decided to rise above, and push through and dance my parts beautifully and to the best of my ability. Which I did. It’s funny some of those people still like to think I had something different going on than what I actually did, I realize that has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them. Through that career I learned that success comes with haters and honestly if you don’t have some you probably aren’t going something right. You are not progressing you are stuck. You should always strive for progress and honestly kinda have a don’t give a F*** attitude about what others think. If you do you won’t make it .
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn to care what people think or else you will not achieve your goals and you will not progress. That’s a fact. The best thing you can do is be your authentic self, no matter what that is. People can spot inauthenticity from a mile away.
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