We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vitalii Pleshkov. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vitalii below.

Vitalii, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My mom always supports me. If I wanted something to try she always let me do it. I remember when I was a child I wanted to take ballet classes and my mom never said to me that it was not for boys. I spent at ballet school five years and my parents never missed my dancing performances.

Vitalii, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got involved with fashion (modeling/acting/styling) accidentally. When I got my bachelor degree as an engineer and manager in the Fishing industry I could not find a job. My friend gave me advice that it is good when people can do something with their hands. I decided to become a hairstylist because I have some friends and they were my teachers. I didn’t like to work at the Barber Shop because most of the time I had to do what customers wanted and it was only about money, it was not about creativity, freedom, fashion, and beauty. I am an artist, and I like freedom more then money. I left the Barber Shop and started to work as a hairstylist with fashion photographers. I loved it so much. It’s a different world. It’s the world that gave me a new life, interesting people and opened a lot of doors. Of course, my friends who are photographers took so many excellent pictures of me. One day these photos were seen by one well-known agency in Moscow and I was invited to work with them. It was a big surprise for me because I am not a tall man. I am only 5’9. They told me that they liked my look and with my good proportions I look tall on the pictures and videos. It is so funny when people see me first on TV or my pictures. They are very surprised because they expect to see me tall and big man in real life. I love to surprise them. I remember when I did my first big work as a model/actor. My face was everywhere and I expected that everyone who would see my work would like it. However, some people said negative things behind my back. I was so upset. I didn’t understand why people were brutal when I did nothing wrong. One famous Russian actress gave me advice to be strong and not worry about other people’s opinions. She told me, “It is normal that some people do not like you. Everyone likes candy, but you are not candy.
I have been working as an actor/commercial model since 2005. I moved from Russia to the United States in 2013. America has become my second home. I found new friends here. Sometimes I feel like I am in Russia because the climate is the same and a big Russian community lives here. For example, if you do not have time or an opportunity to go back to Russia because you miss home so much you can take a subway to Brighton Beach where almost everyone speaks Russian and where you can eat Russian food. Furthermore, New York is a very beautiful city with different cultures. However, I realized that I would never be American because If you want to be American, one must be born in the United States. But I love America and America is my lovely Stepmom now. I am proud that I am a Russian who is trying to be a good citizen and pursuing a dream to be a good actor in The United States.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Never give up on your dreams.
As a child, I lived in a small town with 2,000 people and no opportunity to be a professional actor. I lost my dream to become an actor. However, I was able to participate in theater experiences available at school. When I later moved to Moscow, I became a commercial actor unexpectedly. A manager of the largest talent and modeling agency in Moscow saw my photos in my partner’s photography portfolio and wanted to work with me as a model. This event changed my life and allowed me to reconnect with my desire of being an actor. I was presented with opportunities to perform in commercial films, music videos, and several movies. After more than fifteen years of experience in the visual entertainment business, I decided to achieve my childhood dream to become a professional actor and I took
acting classes at The Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

First 25 years of my life, I had problems with stuttering. I was a boy who looked very much like a girl with stuttering and dyslexia. Not only kids and some adults bullied me. But everything changed when someone gave me the book Reality Transurfing by Vadim Zeland. This book changed my life. I decided I didn’t want to be a victim anymore. I started focusing on positivity.

You should take as a lesson in everything bad that happened to you, it makes you stronger. Improve yourself. Remember, people treat you like you let them treat you. This is my philosophy now.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/vitaliipleshkov