We recently connected with Valerie Reyes and have shared our conversation below.

Valerie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

College is surely a rollercoaster ride. I’ve been active with participating in a lot of extra-curricular activities even when I was residing in Manila. At the age of seven, I was already encouraged to take art & homemaking workshops, voice lessons and auditions for modeling & acting. I’ve started to be exposed to model by doing ramp, print when I was sixteen years old and always dreamed to be part of newspaper and websites. Living in Vegas gave me a lot of possibilities even when you had to cope so hard with diversity in my first years of moving in. I’ve competed to a lot of pageants since 2015 and made sure I’ve had the best tips from different coaches. It also became a smart way for me to reach out with my family and friends overseas when they wouldn’t know that I’m moving to America. I wish I would have grabbed more of the first prizes I’d ever need then to the next contests. The best thing is that you get to learn more about fashion and be more stylish also through confidence. When I was diagnosed of diabetes, I’ve lost my self-esteem. You can only have difficulties when people tend to judge you besides the disability and when the contest fee was too pricey.

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?

Valerie Reyes
I moved here in the United States back in 2010, first lived in Las Vegas all the way from Manila, Philippines. I almost had a degree in Communications then started taking Nursing when we lived here and go back to square one. Back in schooling at Manila, I’d be an active participant for theater, dance, debate, visual arts, focus in filmmaking, technical productions and photography. Currently, I just had to adjust minors & be active in pageantry and poetry. I also used to work in a lot of call centers and usually, I can do troubleshooting while in phone calls and make the best solution to others’ problems with strategies. I’m unique in a way that I’m very optimistic especially in every hopeless cases possible. I’m also passionate with what I do especially if I’d be so interested with it. I’d be very proud to say that I’ve entered lots of fields and be very efficient with my experiences. I just want my clients to know that discrimination is not always a part of our discussion especially whenever we try to cooperate.

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

I’ve started working when I was 16 years old. Back then, I kept on blaming my parents for being so irresponsible and so uninterested to raising the family. When I was in Manila, I didn’t even appreciate the money that I earn because of all the toxicity in which I was exposed of at a very young age. When I moved in Las Vegas, the challenge of adjusting with diversity was fun because I gained friends and learned a lot from time to time.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It’s always the support from the people that makes me look forward to with what I do, whichever that is. When people appreciate what you do, it feels so honorable and you even try to never regret it. When you get the flattery along a stressful day, it’s priceless.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: exc.lusivie
• Facebook: Valerie Reyes
• Twitter: knightpriestess
• Youtube: sentimentalizedful
• Soundcloud: avielity

Image Credits

Rio Hotel Las Vegas, Bonneville District