We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Shevchenko a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachel, appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?
Rachel is a child model and actor. She is now 10 years old and started modeling when she was around 2 years old. After 8 years in the industry, she became a real professional and very self-disciplined. It’s not easy to have great discipline, especially at such a young age. As a child, you wanna play or sleep in when you can. But Rachel has to do castings almost every week, occasional jobs, sometimes we have to do self-tapes early before school because most of them have deadlines, or we have to do self-tapes on vacations and days off, the only good thing during Covid all the castings were online, zooms or self-tapes and it stayed this way. When she was just starting 8 years ago we had to drive all around Los Angeles for castings, a lot of times after school during peak hours just for 5 minutes auditions, and also we had to have a printed headshot and resume. Thank God those days are gone now and everything is digital.
Rachel’s self-discipline comes from experience and knowledge of the industry, sadly from mistakes that resulted in missed opportunities, and from me, her mother. 8 years ago we didn’t know much about how the industry works and how disciplined we have to be. We learned a lot during these years and still learning. Rachel’s first agent is a very determined lady who knows everything about the business and has very strict guidelines. She was disciplining all the stage parents like we were kids but the reality shows that she was right. It’s a kinda first come first serve business. If you get a casting notice and decide to submit it on the last day chances are it’s probably too late and someone more eager than you already submitted and booked it. Some of the castings or jobs come last minute and you have to be determined and serious about what you do and ready to prioritize your career. We just did a workshop with an acting coach and one phrase stood out: ” You are gonna make room for your dream”.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Rachel is a child model and actor represented by the best agencies in Los Angeles ‘LA Models’ for modeling and ‘LA Talent’ for TV, theatrical, and commercial. Rachel has worked for brands like Levi’s, Nike, Nautica, Mattel, Nordstrom Rack, Dillard’s, Walmart, Amazon, Tutudumonde, MiniMaven magazine, Badgley Mischka, Sydney Evan, and many more, She has also walked a lot of runways: LAFW, NYFW, FIDM Fashion Shows and appeared in TV Shows: Telemundo Acceso Total Show and Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award.
The most exciting part about it for Rachel is that she gets to travel and do all the fun jobs and different fun characters, gets to meet a lot of inspiring professionals both kids and adults, and one of the main advantages is learning how to handle business from a young age.
Rachel is always learning and improving her acting and modeling skills, she speaks 2 languages: English and Russian, and does different sports: horseback riding, surfing, wrestling, and dancing. She is also an Instagram influencer and gets a lot of collaborations through Instagram.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think one of the most important things for a model or an actor is to have the right agent. If you don’t have an agent you will never even get an opportunity to audition for your dream project. Or if you don’t have an agent that is right for you, you might not get the opportunities you want either. It’s not easy to get an agent though, especially to find the right one. Lots of submissions never even get a response. It doesn’t mean you need to give up though, there is always a way. Rachel had 3 different agents during her career, and while they all are great agents, we feel like LA Models works the best for Rachel.
The second thing is discipline and work ethic. You can be the most talented and most beautiful person but if you lack business skills, for example, always late to jobs or always the last one to submit the auditions, you won’t go far. You need to know how to talk to people, how to market yourself and be on top of your game at all times.
And the third thing I think you need to love what you are doing. If you pretend to love something it’s going to show. You need to find in your heart what it is that you are passionate about and give it all you got.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
Most successful people whether they are actors, models, athletes, or anyone else, started at a very young age. Kelly Slater started surfing at the age of 5, Gisele Bundchen at the age of 14, Ben Affleck at the age of 12 and there are many more examples. So Rachel was signed with her first agent before she turned 2. It’s crazy to think about it but in California kids are legally allowed to start working at the age of 7 DAYS old. Behind every successful child or young adult are the parents. As Rachel’s ‘momager’ a lot of responsibilities lay on me. Of course, Rachel does the actual work herself, but the organizational aspects are still on me like emailing the agents, uploading casting submissions, scheduling, and negotiations, even her Instagram account is managed by me as kids under 13 are not allowed to use Instagram. Now when she is 10 I think I will start transitioning more things to her… Or maybe not yet.
It’s great to have a mentor who can guide you and push you when needed. I didn’t have anyone to guide me that’s why I started modeling very late. I wish I started earlier but we can’t change the past. But we can do our best today.
When you start earlier it becomes a part of you and flows naturally. And once you are a teenager or a young adult you are already ahead of anyone who is just starting out. Rachel is only 10 but already has a very impressive resume. It’s like learning a language, when you learn it as a child it’s your first language and you are a native speaker, and when you learn a language as an adult it will be your second language and most likely you will never get rid of the accent.
So our advice to everyone is to start earlier in life. It’s like a little cheat trick that gives you a big advantage and makes it easier. However, nothing is impossible. If you have something in your heart, go for it at any age, if you work hard enough it will come to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lamodels.com/RachelShevchenko
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelshevchenko/
Image Credits
Saene Esmee. Todd Westphal.
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