Meet Leyi Zhou of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leyi Zhou

Hi Leyi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After I moved to the United States in the Spring of 2014, I chose to enroll in a local private high school in the San Francisco Bay Area because the local public school district told me I was over-aged to go to a public high school. My high school life was not perfect as a first-generation immigrant, and I have received multiple challenges including cultural shocks, language barriers, social issues and even potential racism, as my previous high school did not have the most diverse environment. Therefore, I did not have any confidence in myself during high school years, and eventually chose to drop out from high school and transfer to a local community college in the Winter of 2015. Due to all the unpleasant experiences I received in my adolescent years, I had always wanted to prove myself to everyone that I deserved success at that time. After I entered the community college, one day I was shopping with my friend in downtown San Francisco in the beginning of 2016, I was scouted by a local hair salon owner who asked me if I would like to model for her hair salon. I actually did not take this offer because at that time I was busy with school; however, this unique experience had still planted a seed in my heart that maybe I could enter the modeling industry sometime in the future, as it would be a great chance to prove my value to everyone. Therefore, when I was applying to transfer to 4-year universities from community college, I selected a list of schools in the Greater Los Angeles Area as I understood that Los Angeles is the capital of the entertainment industry in the United States. Then, I chose Cal Poly Pomona among all acceptance letters I received, as I understood moving to LA would make me much closer to my dreams. In August 2021, I was finally getting ready to enter the modeling industry, and even though I knew nothing at first, I was taking whatever jobs possible including background acting and TFP shoots. Fortunately, I was able to receive my first paid modeling job in June 2022, and I have also received the invitation from the Stack Influence Platform for influencer campaigns in November 2023. Even though I have only been in the industry for 3 years, I am grateful enough that I have received so much help in my career and have made so many achievements and breakthroughs, as my high-school-self would definitely be happy to see all of these.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course not! Initially, the entertainment industry is very competitive, so at the beginning of late 2021, I did not receive any paid jobs and was only doing TFP shoots due to lack of experience. I have just received my first paid background acting job in the Winter of 2022, and I started to receive more and more paid jobs since then. Plus, I did not start my career at a very young age – in October 2021, I had just gotten my employment authorization and at that time I was already 24, while a lot of models enter the career at a very young age such as 13 and 14. Still, I do not really feel too discouraged even though I entered the world of modeling and social media influencing at the age of 24 – as we all know, entertainment industry can be full of temptation and even potential danger; however, entering this industry at an older age allow me to protect myself much better, and to be more careful when I am working and socializing with different people, especially for those I did not even know at the first time, or when I am dealing with anything related to a contract. Also, more life experience enables me to understand professionalism and responsibility better – a lot of younger people fantasize entertainment industry a lot, as if they can earn easy money and become very famous only if they are physically attractive or they love what they are doing (such as singing, acting, etc.) very much. However, same as other industries, entertainment industry also requires responsibility – you have to pay 100% attention to your work, and you have to listen to the directors and other staff carefully when you are on-site at a job; punctuality – you have to always be on time when you are going to work except for emergency situations, and you would need to communicate with the production staff very clearly regarding the job information and requirements; and perseverance – you will receive A LOT of rejections and that’s very normal in this industry because too many people are applying for a same job, and besides, not everyone in this industry is supportive so you need to be your own firm advocate for all the time. Furthermore, as I have mentioned above, the game of the entertainment industry is not fair, as some lucky people do receive more for whatever reason while others are still struggling to find a new job and to even support their lives. There are a lot of uncontrollable factors that can determine if I would get a job or not, such as my age (entertainment, especially modeling industry has a strong favor in young age), my height and measurements (I am not as tall as a typical runway model, my height is 5’3”), my ethnicity (yes, unfortunately it is totally legal for some jobs to require certain race or skin color), my accent (some jobs require you to have “standard American accent”), and even my “connections” (yes, you can definitely be turned down from job offers if you do not sign with an agency which I am not, or if some certain staff from the production basically do not “like” you for whatever reason), etc. However, even though sometimes these requirements can be very absurd and they DO prevent me from receiving a lot of jobs, I still do not give up because I believe all industry standards are created by humans, and they are not rigid as long as I can prove myself that I can finish this job well, and when you become more and more successful, you would even have the ability to “redefine” these unmovable standards. Finally, balancing work and college can be extremely struggling for me – and I am still struggling and improving my time management skills even until now! It is DEFINITELY hard when I am going to college and at the same time working in the entertainment industry, and for this reason, I do not sign with any agency because almost all agencies want you to receive as many jobs as possible, which I am incapable of doing so at this moment. Also, I have to even turn down job offers when there is a schedule conflict between the offer and my classes, and I must admit it is very sad every time when I turn down a job offer, as it means I just lose another amazing opportunity! Still, there are a lot of different opportunities in this industry, and sometimes it is even OK for me to skip several class sessions if I receive a really good job offer, as long as I do not have any exams on that day (and I just need to borrow notes from my classmates, haha)! Now, I am setting a lot of boundaries regarding time management. For example, for the Fall 2024 semester I only go to school on Monday and Wednesday with no jobs, and I can take job offers on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On Friday I have class in the morning, but I can still go to some jobs during the afternoon. Sunday right now is my own Sabbath and I almost never work on Sunday as I definitely need time for myself to rest and reflect! Besides, I am learning to be more mindful regarding applying and receiving jobs, as there are way too many different job offers every day, which can definitely cause me anxiety for a lot of times. Therefore, I always tell myself that I would surrender to the divine order and guidance, and I believe the perfect jobs would come to me when I am ready, so I just need to live in the present moment in my everyday life but not to worry too much about the future.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My name is Leyi Zhou and I am a model and social media influencer, and I am also a part-time college student studying electrical engineering in Cal Poly Pomona. From an ordinary college student who knew nothing about the entertainment industry, I just entered the mesmerized world of modeling and social media marketing by chance 3 years ago. Although I had to start to learn everything from the beginning, I was fortunate enough to receive so much help that I was able to work on a lot of wonderful projects after I entered the industry. Right now, I take all kinds of modeling and commercial acting jobs (except for anything related to nudity, drugs, violence, etc.), as well as Instagram and TikTok influencer campaigns for promotions. In the meantime, because of all the challenges I have experienced in my life, I am also very concerned about mental health awareness, anti-racism, women’s rights and the overall peace and justice in the whole world. I also have a blog about self-growth and mental health awareness which the link could be found in my Instagram profile, and I would be updating my blog more often in the future when I have more time. At first, working as a model and a social media influencer only meant money and fame for me; however, as I learned different life lessons, I realized it is very important for me to use the publicity and fame I have gained from my career to achieve more meaningful things, such as raising awareness to different social issues, and fighting for the less-privileged ones all around the world. I am a first-generation immigrant from China, and my whole family moved to the United States when I was 16 in 2014. I can speak English and Mandarin fluently and I have no problem understanding Cantonese, and in the meantime I am studying Spanish and I am currently at an intermediate level. My family resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, but currently I live in Greater Los Angeles County by myself with my cat as I am attending college and working here. The major social media platform I use is Instagram, as I also have a professional acting and modeling profile on the Casting Networks website. For most times, I accept jobs only from the Greater LA and San Francisco Bay Area because I still have to go to college while working, but I will be more than willing to travel across the United States if it is a really good job offer. I have worked on multiple acting, runway, commercial and print modeling projects, as I have listed all the projects I have worked for on my Casting Networks profile. The most highlighted project I have worked on is the main board model for the luxury jewelry brand IVI of Spring 2023, in which my photoshoots were highlighted and published on the official websites and social media platforms of the brand IVI. Currently, I am collaborating with Stack Influence and other influencer websites for paid campaigns and promotions, and I am also a major runway and print model for the Modello Magazine, a Los Angeles local fashion magazine which Alejandro Ruiz is the director. In this August 2024, I was very fortunate to receive a collaboration invitation from Groupon Los Angeles (you can view the promotional video on my Instagram), and I am very proud of it at this time because Groupon is a major well-known brand in the United States, as well as this is the first collaboration with big brands I have received! Besides, I regularly accept different jobs across the United States mainly from the Casting Networks website and by referrals.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Wow, this is a great yet challenging question for me! To be honest, I really love my life in LA as it is such a diverse and vibrant city! Before I moved to LA in 2021, I was living in San Francisco Bay Area with my parents and to be honest, I had already had the thought of moving to LA at that time not only because I wanted to enter the modeling industry, but also LA really has a lot of entertainment and cultural attractions which I really want to attend or visit! When I first moved to LA in the Summer of 2021, I was extremely attracted by the nightlife in LA because when I was attending the community college in SF Bay Area, I spent most of my time in school and did not really have a lot of interesting activities in my day-to-day life. I did try a lot of different nightclubs in LA enjoying music and dancing, and the most amazing experience I had was an underground rave party in the beginning of 2022 which I was invited by my friends, and even though I did not really remember the location since it was underground, the techno music they played was so badass and I would never forget this memory in my life! Besides, LA has a very diverse demographic so I could enjoy so many different cultural activities here, such as night markets, parades and carnivals, in which I can try different food from all over the world and I do love that! To be honest, even though I love LA very much, there are still some disadvantages about the city that I could not really ignore. Firstly, the safety in LA is definitely a major concern for me in general. There are definitely several cities in SF Bay Area which are also very unsafe, but besides these cities the safety in San Francisco Bay Area is in general not a big problem for me. However, as a single woman who lives by myself, I must admit I did have some unpleasant encounters in LA, so right now I am ultra-careful when I am going back home from school or work especially during late night, and I always carry a security alarm with me so that I can better protect myself! Also, the traffic in LA can be another major turn-down for me. Even though the metro system is very advanced within the area of downtown LA, commuting is still a struggle for me because there are always some parts on the road which are crammed, as not so many options of public transportation are available if you don’t really live in the downtown.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://app.castingnetworks.com/talent/public-profile/cd01800c-848c-11ec-981f-9301b1c5dde5
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yes_lz0625/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556263812901&mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC494XbIawn-fBVduFq0_czg/featured
• Other: https://linktr.ee/yeslz

Image Credits
Personal Photo – Alejandro Ruiz
Wonderful Woman – Alejandro Ruiz
2 Black-and-White-suit photos – Robert Smith
2 swimsuit photos – Maurice Samuels
2 workout photos – Maurice Samuels
A headshot photo – Bradford Rogne