We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maya Dukaric a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Maya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I wish I had gotten into content creation and influencing years ago when it first started! I was almost scared to post online! In high school, I started to post on YouTube and create a YouTube channel! My first video did so well and got over 5000 views. But coming with views also came with some hate comments. I remember walking into Highschool the next day and everyone was commenting and making fun of my videos… I truly enjoyed being in front of the camera, but I was annoyed with hearing all the comments. But entering university and post grad I am way more confident and do not care what other people think about me posting content! I wish I continued in high school and did not care what other people thought of me, but that is the life of being a young teenager!

Maya, 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?

Hi, my name is Maya Dukaric. I just graduated from the University of Calgary with an undergrad in Law and Society. Growing up, I was a competitive tennis player and trained with Team Canada worldwide. I still love to play tennis and love to incorporate any physical activity such as running, yoga, pilates, and hiking. After taking a break from tennis, I was scouted as a model in Calgary, Alberta, when I was 15 and have been in love ever since. At the age of 21, I travelled worldwide for modelling, such as in New York, Milan and Greece. One of the best and most memorable experiences I have had as a model was walking in Milan and Greece Fashion Week in the fall of 2021. Now fully graduated, my goal is to travel with modelling and focus on becoming a working influencer.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A story from my journey as a model that illustrates resilience would be the constant judgement, critiques and rejection in the modelling industry. Every day you are being looked at your physical appearance, Your hair, skin, and nails. body, style and how you act. your whole image is being looked at by everyone, Including agencies, brands, photographers and social media especially. To get any job in the modelling world, you have to fit certain criteria of the brand, and that means we are always working on ourselves. We could be the most skinnest and gorgeous humans alive, but rejection can still occur. Even being a girl who is 6ft1 I have been told I am too tall to model for certain brands. But no matter how many times I have been told I will never be good enough, or all the no’s I have received, I have kept going and I would not be where I am today!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

There is one goal or mission I would love to accomplish in my creative journey! That is to one day have my own business and run it all. Growing up with a single mom, she has been my inspiration and role model because she has her own business and was able to raise three children on her own. I strive to be like my mom one day and having my own business would mean the world to me. I have a lot of ideas in mind but its all about the journey and I cant wait to see whats to come!!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayadukaric/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxfOguRyM3Q
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@mayadukaric26