I didn’t see this coming.
I’m sure many of you reading this have gone through huge life changes because of the pandemic. Because same – one particular event really has changed everything. I vividly remember being nine months pregnant when the whole world shut down, wondering what would happen to my career moving from New York to Austin, Texas where I barely knew anyone and would be isolated at home with a newborn baby.
Little did I know this would be the push I needed to actually step into the life I’d always dreamt of.
Looking back in hindsight, I lived for my career, and I surrounded myself with people who needed me to stay relevant because their income also depended on me being in the fashion industry spotlight. This was true even my friend group, many of whom I’m no longer connected to because I don’t live the life of glitz and glamor anymore nor have the same access to events and prestige that I think attracted a lot of their attention. Now I look around and I have some of the most grounded and genuine friendships and relationships I’ve ever experienced in my life – the types of relationships that don’t depend on what you have, but instead, on who you are.
Don’t get me wrong, this shift has been hard, and there have definitely been months where I felt lost, where I felt like I might need that relevancy to still feel important and validated. I’m so grateful that I was able to communicate and share this with my partner Philip because without him this would have been a much harder transition. Life used to look like non-stop photo shoots in beautiful exotic locations surrounded by teams of people getting glam, attending events and red carpets, and living in the hustle and bustle of New York City. But as lockdown went from seeming like a short term blip into a long-term reality, life looked very different and I couldn’t be more grateful that it forced me to reevaluate many aspects of my life.
The modeling industry drastically shifted to content creation from home with no in-person shoots or events to attend. Luckily I had already invested so much time, energy and love into my social platforms, so the transition was much easier and I was able to focus on earning income from online brand partnerships instead of in-person photo shoots. It felt pretty scary having to rely on that as my main source of income since Phillip’s income also halted, but had bills and mortgages and of course our very cute but pretty expensive lil baby. So it pushed me to work smarter not harder, because I was adamant that I was going to be a present mummy while not losing track of my career goals which also fulfill me. That’s when I realized it was time to start my own businesses in order to not rely on social media or the unknown of what modeling would look like in a post-pandemic world.
I got to work creating the Self Funding Planner (Insert self funding website here) as well as meeting my business partner and building my body care brand Saltair (insert link to saltair.com). It was scary investing my life savings into something I’ve never done before but I’ve never felt so passionate or excited to create and market something that I believe in so much and that I owned. After years and years of promoting other people’s products, I was finally in a position where I could have my own. I can’t wait to give you more insight into how I started my businesses from scratch – trust me, it’s not a smooth journey to launch, distribute, and make them a success.
These last couple of years have been a great reminder of how short and precious life is and how nothing is guaranteed. I hope to be a support and resource for you if you’re trying to navigate a shift into entrepreneurship, social media or brand building. Let me know questions or topics you’d like me to discuss in the comments.
Thanks for still being here even with all the shifts and changes – I’m really grateful for you to be on this journey together and sending love always,
Iskra XOXO
