Ariel Lavi hosts the famous model for an interview about her career.
Hello Lexi! How are you?
Hi! I’m doing amazing thanks, hope you are doing well!
What exactly do you do for a career?
Right now I’m building my content creation & modeling up. I plan on building my instagram account up even more, I just recently hit 100K, as I want to be able to get to the level of influencers so I can use my instagram to get sponsorships for my content creation. I’m also working on other platforms like TikTok, X (Twitter) and Youtube but those two are very far behind in comparison and still deep in the working process.
What was the process for you to find what you wanted to do?
Well before content creation became my reality, I used to just be a model (or aspiring model). I started modeling when I was about 14/15 for the bikini brand I had, Kaleiia Bikinis. But when I was 17 I had just recently moved into the Camps Bay area of Cape Town and I wanted to really take up modeling and become serious about it. So my best friend became my manager to help me out with it and with his help I kicked my personal brand Lexi Kaleiia off. After that photographers around Cape Town started noticing me and I did a few collaboration shoots, the big ones are @loopphoto & @migalvanas (instagram handles). Photographers from all over the world started contacting me, like @sebazpictures & @harrylhgfx ,and that’s when I realized I could build something for myself. Along with my incredible passion for modeling I found the passion for content creation and that became my drive. Now I am 19 in May 2024 and I’ve been in FHM South Africa, as well as FHM USA, I’m also working on another publication in FHM USA and I’m competing in the MAXIM Cover Girl Competition along with building up my presence on YouTube. I love what I do and I have massive plans for taking this to the next level in the near future.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is the fact that I can do it outside, I do the majority of my photoshoots in nature and on beaches and I get to travel for my job. I plan on traveling more soon as I want to really level up my content creation game! My passion for what I do is super strong, many people have tried to break it down in a sense but I won’t ever let that happen!
Can you tell us about your job?
What I do requires a lot of endurance and drive from me as a person, I have to constantly come up with new & creative ideas, I have to keep consistent with my multiple platforms, I have to manage everything I take on and put out there in the most productive and positive way I can. It gets really tough sometimes as life gets in the way and personal situations can affect this in a negative way as well.I could never have done any of this without my best friend and manager Tj, he has been there from the beginning helping me manage and deal with a lot of the tough situations I faced (and still currently face) as a model and content creator. He also helps create and edit my content.
But my job is incredibly exciting and I absolutely love doing it ESPECIALLY because I will soon be able to travel to new places in South Africa to do my content creation. I also plan on taking this global, meaning I want to travel to many places all over the world which has been my biggest dream since I can remember! My job allows me to connect to amazing people from all over which is something I’m so grateful for as I am very extroverted and doing what I do is one of the biggest forms of expression I have in my life and so it’s an incredible outlet.
What is your greatest success so far?
Personally my greatest success has been my publication in FHM USA, I have an article and a feature in the February 2024 edition of the magazine. FHM is one of the biggest magazines in the world and the fact that I have a feature is still mind blowing to me, it feels incredible to accomplish something I used to dream and constantly think about as a young girl.
What do you want the audience to know ?
I would want anybody reading this to know that it is never too late to follow your dreams and ambitions, if you are passionate about something, if it drives you, if it brings happiness into your life then it is worth fighting for. Even if the road ahead looks bumpy and even if you can’t even see the road ahead I encourage anyone to follow their dreams as long as you know for sure you will do whatever it takes to get to where you want to go for as long as it makes you happy.
Where are you from?
I am South African, I grew up in the suburban part of Cape Town called BloubergStrand. That is where my parents owned and ran the guest house I grew up in, which is the sole reason I have such a funky, undefined and interchangeable accent.
What are some of the challenges you faced along the way?
Modeling and content creation is not for the faint of heart, especially because of the content I LOVE creating, which a lot of the time is in my Kaleiia bikinis as I am very proud of them and I also feel at my most comfortable in a bikini. Not many people understand that but then again that doesn’t matter to me. I try my best to live my life for myself as I only have one and I don’t plan on wasting it on how somebody else prefers I live. If I can make myself happy, I will, I’m wild, free spirited and adventurous! But that doesn’t mean that I handle the over sexualisation well, I love looking and being and feeling sexy, that’s just how I am, but I used to struggle with being over sexualised a lot. I’ve considered multiple times to give up on modeling because of this but I got back up every time stronger and even more resistant to people over sexualising me. People can get nasty, disrespectful and rude in real life but especially over the internet and on social media, it’s something that is difficult to deal with but I would never let something like this stop me. I always keep myself safe and that’s the most important thing.
Another thing is, the key to my job is to not have it as a separate life to my ‘personal’ life, the two must be one, otherwise it becomes too complicated and messy. I’ve had the mentality where content creation and modeling was just one part of my life that I didn’t mix or bring into my personal life but after some time someone helped me realize, if i keep that separate from my ‘personal’ life all I’m going to do is break both down. You can’t live two lives and expect both to work out, right? If you put the same amount of effort into both you are essentially splitting yourself mentally and physically in half (which is not possible) thus halving your productivity and wellbeing, both ‘lives’ are just going to come crashing down on you. At least, that’s just my perspective on it from my personal experience.
What does it take to be a successful model?
At the point where I am right now I don’t consider myself to be a successful model, I have much bigger plans and goals I still want to take on and make a reality. Although some would see me as a successful model, I would only see myself as that once I reach one of my biggest goals which will be to model for Guess, Mugler and Versace. I know I am a great model because I was trained well by myself and my Tj and I do want to help other people and teach them everything I know as I go. But there Is still a lot of room for improvement in my modeling and I plan on working really hard to reach and push to the best of my abilities.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
In the next five years I want to be able to say that I am still happy and passionate about my career as a model and content creator. I hope to be successful in both aspects. I hope to have traveled a decent part of the Earth and to have been published in FHM USA and MAXIM magazines along with many others. I also hope to have by then modeled for a lot of big brands and done a lot of collaborations in social media! But I also would love to have both my YouTube channels be successful and profitable.
What advice would you give to a young model ?
To try your best in this line of work and in this lifestyle because if you work hard and you push yourself and sell yourself, people will see you. They will actually see the effort you are putting into this and they will respect it. I doesn’t matter if agency after agency declines you, just keep going as long as you enjoy what you do and as long as it makes you happy. It’s also not just up to agencies, if you can’t find one, create your own content and become a content creator. I will also never turn an aspiring model down in seek of some help. Your dreams are possible because they are in your hands
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Who is your biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration is actually this couple, they are called @silkyrontheroad you can find them on instagram and youtube with that handle. They are on a 10 year honeymoon world trip and they are the kindest & coolest people probably out there. They travel and create awesome content and they love doing it. They actually got me much more into traveling and content creation through youtube, they make it look like so much fun and I am a sucker for adventures and nature! So they were the people who made me realize I want to travel so much more than I knew I did before and make amazing, next level content for my platforms. They opened up a whole new world for me and I’m so grateful for that.