We recently connected with Jjanga Weir and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jjanga, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Before I became an influencer, I was a dancer at night and hair stylist by day. I was an exhausted single mother, raising my kids while being the sole income that also was helping care for my mother at that time. I found myself so depressed to keep living an exhaustive loop of work that made me unhappy and stressed out more and more by the days. I survived a lot but I knew I had to leave this survival mode I was stuck in. I knew deep down there just was more I was supposed to experience. That’s when suddenly the pandemic started and all the clubs and hair salons were shut down for months. During that time I tried not to panic and sat with myself on how happy I truly was. Sure I got to have quick money but was it worth it? Long story short, no. I remember writing in my journal for the first time, which at the time I ad no idea the word for it, manifestations. I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish and the dreams I wanted to experience. The first one being, becoming a model like I had always dreamed as a child of becoming. I started with that dream and within a few months was signed in Chicago, NYC, and not long after LA. I opened Miami Swim Week while pregnant with my last baby, modeled for big names like SavageXFenty on campaigns with celebrities and mega-influencers. At those moments I knew just how capable I was of making my dreams happen. It was an insane risk to switch up my entire life but I believed in myself and through all that I also became a large influencer showing others just how capable they are to bring their manifestations to fruition.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a stay-at-home mother I wear many hats! I’m an influencer, a vlogger, a confidence coach, as well as I help others find the mindset to manifest their dreams. MY favorite thing to do other than loving my family, is to help others shine. Seeing someone else glow from however way I have helped them is a fulfilling feeling I can’t replicate anywhere else.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My hardest lesson to unlearn was to stop working so hard. I know it sounds so counterintuitive to what we’ve been drilled to believe our entire lives that if you work hard you’ll get everything. That couldn’t be furthest from the truth in my experiences and many others that I have helped learn to work consistent, easier, and also learn to relax. When I was a model I would over work myself and was severely underpaid for how hard I worked, I was burnt out. It’s really why I chose to leave the industry (that’s a whole other story) but I sat back and realized that it wasn’t working for me. I was working hard on something that didn’t work well for me, when in reality it should be the opposite. I should be able to work with ease and the outcome comes with ease and happiness. Too many of us are forcing a future we wouldn’t actually enjoy once we receive it, that’s why it wasn’t working.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

So about 6 months ago I decided to finally stop being a model. So many were curious why after I had come so far and broke so many barriers in the industry. Here is why: models are severely underpaid and disrespected for how much physical labor we actually endure on top of how much we make the companies with our bodies. During this journey I shared it all on Instagram and TikTok which I quickly grew a large following, it truly got to a point that the companies hiring me as a model would turn around and want me to make social media content and pay 5x more than the modeling job. It’s then as a mother as well I realized I could be a full time stay-at-home mother and make more in the comfort of my own home with my own creative twist, rather than travel on my own dime and make barely anything after paying out to an agency and taxes. I have zero regrets and honestly I see so many models shifting this way as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/jj.anga

Image Credits

Professional headshot is by Monica Henriquez