We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Slesha Patel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Slesha, sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
Historically, it wasn’t common to share mental illnesses publicly or to friends, family, and employers due to the assumptions people were historically making about those that struggle mentally. Although we have a long way to go, I love that we are seeing a shift that people are being more open about their mental struggles.
As soon as I was ready to share, I have been open and transparent about my mental health struggles. I spoke extensively about my mental health history and did a thorough written and video interview, which is also available on podcast via The Indian Standard. Since then, I’ve been on podcasts such as Accidental Experts, a podcast started and run by Bryce Hamilton, currently voted the top clinical social worker in my home county, Johnson County in Kansas.
The philosophy I’ve always had is if I develop a strong understanding of myself and my mental health struggles, then I can find a way to “get around it” and to make it my superpower. To provide some context, I have personally struggled with anxiety and depression and am a suicide survivor, with my last attempt being in early 2020, pre-pandemic. I spent most of 2020 recovering and studying, spending most of my time analyzing every aspect of what I was dealing with and understanding who I am at my core. I realized, even on my worst day, I am reliable and I have a killer work ethic. If someone is depending on me, I will always deliver—in fact, this is partially where my anxiety stems from. I tell myself when I feel anxious, it’s essentially a powerful feeling of “I care deeply.” This sentiment creates a feeling of responsibility, which goes hand in hand with my intrinsic work ethic. I treat my anxiety the same as I would butterflies before a big opportunity—I wouldn’t have those if I didn’t care, and if I didn’t care, it’s time to move on to something I do care about doing.
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?
I am currently a full-time model, signed with multiple agencies in several different territories, but I have had a few other entirely different careers in my past. Those roles were in completely different industries, allowing me to experience the similarities and differences across different sized companies and to embrace the cultures set by their core elements of mission, vision, and values.
In one of my past roles, I was a part owner of a small fashion brand, and during that time, I was responsible for booking the models for our campaigns, lookbooks, ecommerce, etc., and I ran the shoots day-of. Having this perspective has helped me understand how to be a professional model (professional being the key word here), bring the right energy to set, and deliver strong variety and the most usable content possible. 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 love spending time researching a company and fully immersing myself in their brand story, down to the smallest details of their branding and understanding their customer. I love being a blank canvas, being a part of a team that creates assets that will generate great results for a client, and, most importantly, bringing my best to any set. The biggest compliments I can receive as a model are 1) hearing the project I was part of performed really well, and 2) getting re-booked with the same client. Achieving both is the ultimate testament to a model’s genuine alignment with a client. Being booked by a broad variety of clients is, for me, the ultimate goal and challenge. I love leaning into my versatility and looking like a completely different person in every project.
My past experiences and success as a model led me to have opportunities in so many other areas of the industry.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
In a previous interview with Bold Journey, I talked about three qualities and skills I think are most impactful once your career gets rolling, but it’s nice to have the opportunity to answer it again for those that are early in their career.
1. Self-evaluation: to thrive in this industry, it’s important for models to be self-aware. You have to look at yourself in the mirror both internally and externally and get really clear on how you think you fit into the industry today and what the reality of your abilities are physically and financially. I think a lot of people don’t know there is an investment in every career, and modeling is no different. The modeling industry in every city can vary greatly. For example, I started my modeling career in Kansas City, which is different than modeling in NYC, which for me has been quite different than modeling in LA.
2. Following your gut: As much as I like to research, everyone’s path in this industry is completely different. Sometimes the only thing you can do is follow your gut. There aren’t necessarily right or wrong answers in creative fields because there aren’t necessarily a set of cookie cutter paths to follow. Sometimes you just have to trust yourself and take a leap.
3. The power of choice: You’re always in control of your choice. These choices could be anything from deciding if an opportunity is financially worth it or not or how you might react to whether to take certain opportunities based on what they’re asking you to do or to wear. Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. Draw boundaries for yourself ahead of time because that’s the best way to be prepared and know how you’ll handle situations when you come across them. There is rarely an opportunity that will make or break your career, and no opportunity is your last. Know that it’s always an option to scale up or down based on what you have going on in your life.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I think the main challenge I am facing is one most creatives face—I am in the strategy phase more often than I thought I would ever be. Being in a creative industry means you must be nimble and make adjustments to the plan depending on world events, the economy, and industry trends. Additionally, with every new level you achieve, there are new elements to consider. I am constantly researching and re-evaluating for myself, with my family, and with my agents. Regular re-evaluation is survival in this industry, and the farther you get into your career the more complicated it gets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sleshapatel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slemyname
Image Credits
All images by Bryan Whitely.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
