We recently connected with Kandie Angel and have shared our conversation below.
Kandie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I first started modeling back in June of 2008. For the past 15 years, I have been working as a self promoted model, who has been working day and night to get my name out there. I have done hundreds of shoots over the years. During that time, I was doing it as a single mother trying to keep my head above water.
I have done underwater shoots, to live art drawing shoots. I have done fashion shows, runway, bikini, etc. I was married at the age of 20, so I never really experienced living on my own. In 2008, I was going through my first divorce, and moved in my very own place. That’s when I first started to pursue modeling.
From the very beginning, it was really hard. I didn’t know what I was doing, I was trading my time for photoshoots, and it wasn’t always a photographer that sent out the castings for shoots. Sometimes, I would get random guys trying to hire girls just to get naked, so I started really weeding through the shoots that I would accept. That’s when I figured out what to watch out for.
Some of the steps to building my career, was learning what to look for when it came to looking for paid photoshoots. For instance, you want to get reviews from other girls that the photographer has worked with that way you know you are working with someone professional.
I think one of the biggest hardships I have had in the modeling industry, is the rejection. The amount of rejection a model receives in this industry of work, is absolutely insane. They tell you things like, “You aren’t skinny enough, too many wrinkles, not tan enough, not thick enough, not tall enough, not short enough, etc.” The list goes on and on.
My tattoos also have a major part in me getting paid shoots as well. Most of the modeling I do, is to showcase my tattoos. However some of the shoots I do is for fashion and other types of shoots, which stop some artists from utilizing my talents because my tattoos become a distraction for their art/design.
I think I possibly would have been more successful in modeling if I put more time into it, but I chose to do the family life first. I believe if I would have known that I was going to choose modeling as my career, I might have chosen the career first. Life would have helped me to be better financially prepared for a husband and children. But at the same time, I have two amazing children that have filled my life with so much joy. My boys have truly become men that I am proud of.
I believe that life has a funny way of showing us when is meant for us, so I probably wouldn’t change a thing that I have lived through because it has made me the person that I have become right to this point.
Kandie, 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?
Becoming a model has meant so much to me. Its truly been my passion for the past 15 years. I always dreamt of being one of those beautiful people in the magazines that everyone thought was perfect and amazing.
Then I woke up one day when I was a teenager, and decided I was going to do everything in my power to be that girl in the magazine. I started working on my image, and how I came across to others. I started reading self help books once I went through my first divorce, and I started becoming disciplined in the things that I wanted to change in my life.
I started eating better, and exercising. I started learning to apply makeup more naturally, instead of looking like some crazy person on halloween. I started focusing on the things that I wanted to change in my world.
Recently I was in a Maxim Cover girl competition, that I managed to raise over $17,000 for the Wounded Warrior Foundation. It has truly made me proud of myself. I made it all the way to the quarter finals, which was the last two weeks of the competition. I try to prove to myself daily that I can do anything I set my mind to, and I refuse to give up.
For my fans/followers, be on the lookout for changes to come on my website. I am in the process of building a subscription area, as well as a spot for you to order merch, such a posters, tee shirts, and more.
Just keep watching, I”M NOT DONE YET!!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When I was a little girl, I grew up in a very abusive family. The verbal abuse that I received as a child is absolutely unreal to me. I truly don’t understand how people can raise children, treating them as though they are burdens in your life.
My own father walked up to me when I was 8 years old, and told me he never wanted me. With that being said, I always wanted to feel beautiful and loved. I had to learn to rewire my brain to believe that I wasnt ugly and unloved. It took me a long time to retrain my brain, and I had to suffer and endure some very hard situations, and very abusive relationships, to realize the things I needed to inorder to grow as an individual.
I was very ill when I was younger. When I was 14, I was diagnosed with Cervical, ovarian, and uterine cancer. I was told that I would die by the age of 20, never have children, and never have any kind of life if I didn’t take Chemotherapy.
I was told that if I wanted to live long enough to truly enjoy a life, that I would have to be on meds. I said HELL NO! I refused chemotherapy.
I refused being stuck at home with no energy, unable to get out of bed because I was so sick to my stomach from all the meds they are trying to put into my body, just to kill a disease that was already trying to kill me. At the moment, I didn’t know what to do, other than I knew that something needed to change.
I waited almost a year before I took action. I started smoking cannabis at the age of 15, to help control the nausea, the aches, and pains of my body. I started trying to cut things out of my diet, such as processed sugars.
I started looking at the people around me, and really paying attention to what was healing me, as well as making me sick. That’s when I decided to find ways to change my perspective on life. Instead of looking at it like I was going to die, I started looking for ways like to rid the negative people in my life. I started looking at it like, “how am I going to achieve all the things I want to get done before I die?” Being a model was on the top of that list, as well as being a mom, and traveling the world.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think the most rewarding part of this whole journey has been the process of learning who I am, and what I am capable of achieving when I set my mind to something. Teaching people to overcome obstacles, as well as being an amazing role model to my two children. Being able to teach them that you can do anything you set your mind to, as long as you believe in yourself and want something badly enough to work your butt off to get it. I also love the fact that I am able to inspire others along my journey as well, which is a very rewarding part of the process. Being able to inspire and motivate others, and being able to make others smile as well as brighten others’ days, even when you are not feeling like your best self; that is rewarding all on its own.
Contact Info:
- Website: kandieangel.com
- Instagram: @kandieangel
- Facebook: Kandie Angel
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kandie-angel-5b748b17b
- Twitter: @kandieskind
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kandieangeltube
- Other: All my social links are on my personal website, so go check them out..
Image Credits
Photo Credits: Cato Da1 Models & Photography Photo Credits: Bill Persons Portrait and Commercial Photography