Today we’d like to introduce you to Slesha Patel

Hi Slesha, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I started out as a dancer with Seva Dance in Kansas. We competed nationally and performed all over Kansas City at various events. I came off stage at a charity show we performed at, and an agent handed me a packet with a contract in it, and she said, “I really hope you’ll consider this path.” And if it wasn’t for her, I honestly probably would not have considered this path. Moments later, as I walked out into the lobby, there was a photographer waiting there, and he asked if he could pull me into a few projects he had coming up. That photographer ended up helping me build my initial portfolio and introduced me to the agency that I signed with first when I was in high school.
But at the same time, my whole life I thought I wanted to be a doctor. So I started medical school in a 6-year undergrad and medical school combined program at 18, but the modeling industry that is always something that has pulled me in. I’ve been lucky to have always been pulled into opportunities, and I don’t think it’s anything other than destiny. I think it was written in the stars. I think that even though I was a shy, ugly, tomboy-ish kid, I was destined for this world. Every point where I tried to turn away from it, something always pulled me back into it.
There became a point when I wanted to test out my marketability and see what the potential looked like for me in this space. Before I started my master’s program at Johns Hopkins for Health Administration, I had a small summer gap, and I decided to go to a modeling & talent competition. I ended up winning the whole competition as one of the only South Asians out of around 1,000 models. I won most fashionable and overall adult female model. At this competition, I had meetings with several top agencies from both large and mid-size markets. The problem with agencies of this caliber and size is that they often expect time commitment. Going into an accelerated master’s program with no breaks meant I was unable to commit the time required to sign with agencies, so I continued to try to model on the side of school.
A year or so after my master’s degree, I was offered a job working in fashion in New York City, so I moved to New York. After a few years, I sold my shares in the brand. Once I sold my shares, I had a chance to evaluate what I wanted to do next. Given my degrees, a career in healthcare would have been logical, but my last job was in fashion, and that opened me up to an entirely new world. The pandemic also gave me a lot of clarity on what my goals were, and I gained a newfound enthusiasm seeing the rapid shifts in the modeling industry. Ultimately, at the end of 2021, I decided to take my modeling career seriously. I signed with Voices And Models in Kansas City in December of 2021. Eventually, their sister agency, Arizona Model Management decided to become my mother agent and helped place me with True Model Management in NYC in Spring 2022 and Stewart Talent in Chicago Summer 2022. I had the best time flying back and forth between the Midwest and the east coast for bookings. After two years, I decided it was time to expand markets, and my agents at Arizona Model Management helped set up several interviews in Los Angeles, and ultimately, I chose to sign with O Models Agency.
A lot of people ask me what my end goal is because my career trajectory has been so volatile. The truth is, I don’t have a clear end goal. Every few years, an exciting opportunity will present itself, and if the time is right, I’ll go for it. Recently, I became the Talent Director & Model Coordinator with South Asian Fashion Week, and I’m loving being able to be both a model and have a role in the behind the scenes world of the modeling industry again. Some days, I tell myself maybe I’ll become an agent. Other days, I tell myself to just stay open minded. The only thing I’m truly confident in is that I know that no matter what, I plan to model until the day I die.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

I made many mistakes along the way, which limited my growth early in my career. Models are given very little feedback, so mistakes are inevitable. Because everyone’s paths and experiences are so different, even today, it’s common to see conflicting information online about do’s and don’ts and how to approach one’s career. Everything related to the modeling industry varies greatly depending on the market, the client, the project, the agency, the casting director, and all the other stakeholders involved.

I could have signed with my current mother agency when I was 18, but I didn’t. I was too trusting of the wrong people on more than one occasion, which ultimately led me down a path that limited me as opposed to allowed me to grow. The saddest part of this mistake is my dad warned me he felt I was making a mistake, but at that age, I wasn’t seeing what he saw. I think the only upside is when I did ultimately decide to take modeling seriously later in my 20s, I spent 10x the time and effort doing my due diligence, and I credit a lot of my success today in going above and beyond in taking the time to research. I’m incredibly grateful my mother agency never faulted me for choosing a different path and took me in with open arms a decade later. Looking back now, I realized I ended up where I was always meant to be. On a positive note, I think being a little older in this space has been a strong advantage. Life experience and everything that comes with growing up has helped me tremendously in the casting process. The modeling landscape has also changed tremendously since I was 18 years old, and because of that I have a better chance of long-term success now than I did before.
I do think my biggest takeaway from my modeling journey is it’s no one else’s decision to limit your career or make large decisions other than your own. You are your biggest advocate, and only you know what you are capable of. Even if you were randomly scouted like I was, it’s up to you to show others what you are capable of and to demonstrate your intentions through what you do have control over in this incredibly volatile industry. People, whether they be your family and friends or industry professionals, aren’t going to always believe in you day 1, but if you dedicate yourself enough to your craft, when things start to work and you start to see a little success, others will take notice and then you will start to get a little bit of that belief. The problem is that a lot of people give up before they give themselves a chance to see any success. The modeling industry is a little bit of survival of the fittest.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I model full time and am signed in 17 states across the US with various agencies. In my career, my agents know my goals are depth and variety in client type and work. They understand I’m playing the long game and want to do this until my body won’t physically allow me to work anymore. In my South Asian community in my hometown in Kansas, I’ve been dubbed the “poster-child” for the girl that left medical school to follow her passions, which is rare in our community. I suppose I can say I’m proud of taking risks, never settling, always continuing to allow myself to evolve, and try new things. Most importantly, being brave enough to make major shifts for my mental wellbeing.
In terms of what sets me apart as a model, I would never talk about this in a casting process or with a client because I know my place as a model, but I used to be a part owner of a small fashion brand. During that time, a part of my role was to book the models for our campaigns/ecommerce, and I ran the shoots day-of! Having this perspective has helped me understand how to be a professional model, bring the right energy to set, and deliver strong variety and the highest amount of usable content possible. I recently took on a role as a Casting Director and Model Coordinator with South Asian Fashion Week, and that gave me broader insight on how to put my best foot forward in a casting process. From both my time working in fashion and as a casting director, I truly understand the financial side of how a model’s role matters to any size production, and I can wholeheartedly appreciate the number of stakeholders that are relying on the content generating results for the client. I know when I’m on set, I’m there to do one job and to do it well.
As a model, I love being a blank canvas, helping create something that will generate great results for a client, and being able to bring my best to any set. The best compliment I can receive as a model is hearing the campaign I was a part of performed really well or that a client wants to have me back another time. Most people don’t know I also do a lot of work in parts (for my hands) and fit production (to help companies improve their garments pre-production).

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?

In life, I’ve had a complicated perception of luck. When I was a teenager driving 45 minutes to and from school in construction zones, I ended up with a lot of rocks hitting my windshield and nails in my tires. I felt this was a lot of bad luck in relation to cars. My parents would have to drive through many of the same construction zones to get to their jobs, and they never encountered the same level of car issues that I did. Initially I thought, “that’s life,” but eventually I began to wonder why it was only my life and my car that were having these issues. I chalked it up to bad luck.
In business, I live by the song “Remember the Name” by Fort Minor. The lyrics are “this is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain”. Although the song is about athletes, Tyra Banks always says models should think of themselves as athletes, so I can relate to it a lot. There are a lot of intangibles in the modeling industry. There is a little bit of “je ne sais quoi” in booking jobs. Getting consistent, well-paid bookings takes luck, skill, effort, dedication, and so much more. This volatility and uncertainty can be taxing on a model’s psyche. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time and energy building my own modeling philosophy and it’s heavily based on principles of destiny.
I met a modern astrologer, and he’s been instrumental in helping me shape my perceptions of destiny. His name is Tariq, and he owns Astrology Excellence. Tariq helped me shift my thoughts of “why me” to understanding that a planet, which correlates directly to what happened, was simply in a less optimal position than me, and the position of the planets is based on one’s birthdate, time and place of birth, so it’s completely different for everyone. I know it’s not that straightforward, but Modern astrology has helped me come to peace with everything from those repeated car troubles to all the positives I’ve seen in my career development.
Over time I started to link luck and destiny. Luck is tricky because it implies things are happening randomly. I find more comfort in destiny. My friend, comedian, and reality TV star, Anisha Ramakrishna shared with me what her mom always says, which is “What is meant for you will always be for you, and no one can take that away from you.” Embracing this sentiment alone can really allow anyone to feel more comfortable in their journey, regardless of stage. I also find comfort in the idea that “everything happens for a reason.” For me, I believe I’m on a path in life, and although it’s been incredibly volatile and anything but straightforward, every new venture reminds me of how my path led me here. It also helps remove any ill feelings related to comparing yourself to others. If I’m on my path of destiny, then everyone else is too. To me, we are all meant for many wonderful things in life, and we are all just on our own paths of destiny, but we experience destiny in our day to day as luck.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sleshapatel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slemyname
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/slemyname/100092484780755/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@slemyname
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@slemyname

Image Credits

All images by Mariam Gomez, London: https://www.mariamgomez.co.uk/