We recently connected with Samantha Bowens and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

Taking the path of a creative is the risk here. Moving to a city like Los Angeles, where you have never been before is a risk. Trusting those in the industry and community to help you along the way is a risk. Trusting that the things you want to aspire to be and grow in will benefit you in ways that the system doesn’t do for you, is a risk! Seeing a vision for yourself that might not be seen by others and thought of as a waste of time, is a risk! A risk that is worth it in the end regardless of the outcome, because it felt good to you. To have something that came from your person. Risking the human experience to the fullest, I think!

Samantha , 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?

I am someone who you won’t forget.
I really mean that in the least pretentious way.
It can be incredibly helpful to have the confidence to chase a dream like modeling. Still chasing it!
Skating originally put modeling in front of me. I grew up skating and just like learning anything after years of sticking to it you become one. In that sense the feeling stuck and others began to notice(as well as myself) what I a was capable of as an individual. The feeling radiated outside of myself. Movement is a big part of living and not just in a physical sense. The way you treat another human or just simply exist. It can be easy to lose yourself in this industry or in the world in general.
I think I am most proud of being who I am regardless of what someone else might want from me. Agencies see you, but they don’t give you the freedom to entirely be that person.
I moved to LA in 2021 and I was able to create in a lot of ways because of what others believed I was capable of. I was able to work with a director, do some back ground work, join a skate team, and even sign with an agency. And there is so much more that I would love to learn and do in the industry.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I am currently on the hunt for a more stable job. I feel like it’s a never ending game. Especially now that I will be providing for myself and my family here soon. I feel incredibly lucky to know that I have built something outside of the normal regime to succeed in this industry. The goal is to manage my own income and the lengths of what working can feel like.
At the end of all of this I want to be able to feel a sense of living more than I do trying to survive financially in a place where your lower class human and most creatives are meant to struggle

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I have a couple years under my belt, some how it all still feels like the beginning. I am back in Dallas which isn’t the capital of creatives, but I hear it is on the come up. I think having that push and even guidance from specific leaders and those with the platform and knowledge would benefit me. There are a lot of creatives out there trying to make it and I think it can also be a very distracting industry to be in. I think we could all be a bit more resourceful to one another and less competitive. At the end of it all we all want to make a successful career out of it but it has to be made and built into something first. I am so grateful for those that have supported my visions and have included me in their own

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/_samanthabowens

Image Credits

@jovianmoons

(Jaylen, dear friend and photographer in Dallas, TX)

@kaystackss

(McKayla Chandler, photographer/model/artist I was lucky enough to meet in Los Angeles)

Both phenomenal film photographers!