We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Teleonte Smith-Tasco a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Teleonte, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I went through a period of time in modeling where I felt that I was being inauthentic.
I was trying to keep up with the latest trends. By doing so; I was presenting myself in ways that strayed away from who I am and what I represent.
I had to take some time away and reflect on the content I was presenting thus far and consider how said content was portraying me.
I came to realize that the content I was presenting was coming across as forced and others would be likely to see that.
With that in mind; I found a way to take the current trends and put my own spin on them.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a signed model. I do editorial, commercial and occasionally runway work.
I have not been as active as I have been in previous years but that will change.
As of now, I am focused on my health and becoming the best version of myself.
I am starting to get back into the swing of things and put myself back out there.
I want people to be on the lookout for new material!! I plan on having a new photoshoot within the upcoming months.
I’m excited to get to modeling and show that I still have that drive.
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?
Determination, courage, and patience would be the three things that were the most impactful in my journey.
Those three qualities in addition to others were the driving force that kept me going.
There were tough times but overall I am pretty satisfied with the outcome of my journey.
Advice that I would give anyone starting out in this business would be to just keep pushing forward.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
The only challenge facing me right now is myself.
I can be my own worst enemy at time.
I still have my doubts and insecurities; I don’t think that will ever go away.
What I can do is work on not letting those things hinder me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/teleonte
- Facebook: Facebook.com/teleontes
Image Credits
Model @teleonte HMua @itsjoeyjoelle Fashion Stylist @itsjoeyjoelle Model Coach @model__coach Photographer @itsjoeyjoelle Retoucher @malinua.retouch
