Jada Lanai shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Jada, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
Honestly, I’m most proud of building is myself. With the amount of no’s you receive in this industry( a lot) is and can be very emotionally draining. You start to lose confidence for your skill and then slowly you rebuild yourself with words of affirmation, journaling and understanding that your time or moment will come to you when its time. I learned really early on in the industry that no’s do change your judgment, but it can also help you realize, time and time again that you have to believe that your yes is coming.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jada Lanai, I am a writer, author, actress and model. Lately I have been working on everything, this year is continuous working and sharpening my acting skills. This entertainment industry specifically the side of acting has been so trying, with AI trying to change the artistry and community of it, I’m glad that we have been fighting to have our voices heard on how important humans are. This past year, I’ve graduated and received my Associate’s Degree in Theatre Arts, which is truly exciting, I’m overjoyed for the next chapter in my life. As a writer, I have been working on countless novels and I have also been dabbling in writing television and movie scripts, I’m so excited for this new journey in my writing and hoping for new opportunities with it.
Coming up last year, I had my LA Fashion Week Debut with The Model Experience, it was an amazing opportunity, I worked with photographers, other models and an upcoming fashion designer RichTrendSetter. The whole event really shaped my understanding of how much work runway modeling is and I’m hoping for more opportunities like that in the future. I also was able to collaborate with some of my friends to make a Halloween short film called Nightmare on Benny Street for our college, it was an amazing experience. I really got be a part of acting on-camera and do some work behind the camera. Creating films puts me on such a high, I love the community it gives you and crazy things you have to do to make the film work.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
This is a pretty big question, I would say my mom. I’m really hard on myself, I put myself on a pedestal of where I should be and the expectation is just higher. I think my mom brings me down from the high perfectionist place and breaks down everything for me. My mom saw my talents very early on and my ambition and she knew the artist I was growing up to be.
As a performer in this industry, times are tough, especially today and my mom reminds me of who I am, what I bring to the table. Also explains how God knows the plans of my future, for I just have to trust him and to not lean unto my own understanding.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
If I could say one kind thing to my younger self, it would be you are enough and to always be yourself unapologetically. Another one I would add is to never try to change yourself to please others or do not dim your light.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
A belief that I am committed is always believing in myself, keeping my faith, and never wavering. As for a project, I’m committed to consistently working on my craft with constantly writing new material, pushing forth with my acting career and never letting my artistry die.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing?
As of right now, I would regret completely stopping this amazing art form, it’s tough but once you get to actually play a part and evolve into learning more about yourself. It is a completely beautiful feeling that you never want to stop or come down from. You meet so many interesting and amazing people in the entertainment industry and creating that community can be simply wonderful. So with that I will keep pushing forward.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jada.lanai/
- Twitter: https://x.com/thejadalanai
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejadalanai/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JadaLanai
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jada.lanai?lang=en
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jada-Lanai/author/B09PXBZCZP?ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=122e4fd5-5360-4ed6-ba61-d371f0c70d1c
Image Credits
Shaveta Reid
Flavio Gallegos
The Model Experience x Fashion Week Festival
