Conversations with Angela Martini

Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Martini.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Shkodër, Albania. When I was ten, I moved to Switzerland and was separated from my mother. I arrived not knowing anyone, and I didn’t understand then that the move might be permanent. I had to adapt very young. I spent a lot of time in my imagination, and looking back, I think that’s where my love of stories began.

When I was eleven, I visited my uncle and cousins in New York and remember thinking, “This feels like home.” At 21, I came to the U.S. to pursue modeling, starting in Miami and later working in New York. Modeling became an international career, and representing Albania at Miss Universe in 2010 was a defining moment. I placed sixth—the highest placement ever achieved by an Albanian contestant at Miss Universe. But I knew I had more to do than stand in front of a camera.

I became a certified life coach in 2017, wrote Love. Hope. Light. to share my mother’s story and what her resilience taught me, and moved into producing. I also founded the Angela Martini Foundation. Then I became Kyree’s mother, and that changed my life in a way no career milestone could. It made me think differently about love, purpose, and the kind of future I want to help create for him.

Today, I’m creating across different areas. I recently started my YouTube channel, The Bigger Picture with Angela Martini, where I’ll share my vlogs and my short films. I’m also working on other projects, with more to come. I like having the freedom to keep creating, exploring, and seeing where each new idea takes me.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, my road has never been smooth. I’ve lived in so many places—Albania, Switzerland, Italy, Romania, and the U.S.—and more than once I’ve had to start over and build a life in a completely different place. I’ve faced challenges in my family, in my marriage, in my career, and in becoming a mother. I don’t need to go into every detail, but my life has had some truly difficult and unexpected chapters. At times, I’ve carried other people’s challenges alongside my own.

I’ve never been someone who hides from challenges. I face them, even when I don’t know how things will turn out. I don’t think life is meant to be a smooth road for anyone. Even when people look happy from the outside, we don’t know what they’re going through. I don’t think we fully understand what this life—or this reality—is, but I believe we’re here to learn. Challenges can teach us, change us, and show us what we’re capable of. That doesn’t mean they’re easy or that they don’t hurt. It means I try to take what I can learn from them and keep moving forward.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My career began in modeling. I worked in New York, did fashion campaigns, and took part in Miami Fashion Week. Representing Albania at Miss Universe in 2010 was another defining moment: I placed sixth, the highest placement ever achieved by an Albanian contestant. Modeling brought me into the public eye, but I never wanted to be defined by one title or one field.

Over the years, I’ve written Love. Hope. Light., become a certified life coach, founded the Angela Martini Foundation, and moved into producing. I’m especially proud of The Fusion, a short film that began with an idea of mine and became a real project.

I recently started my YouTube channel, The Bigger Picture with Angela Martini. That’s a new chapter where I’ll share my vlogs and short films. I’m also working on other things, with more to come.

I’m curious, and I want to experience different things. I don’t believe we’re meant to stay in one field or live inside one box or one version of reality. I want to explore different places, people, and careers—even things that take me outside my comfort zone. That’s how I learn about the world and keep discovering what else I can do.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Authenticity is essential to me. I don’t say things just to please people, and I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not. I’m resilient and disciplined, and spirituality has been the biggest tool in my life through everything. I still don’t know exactly what this life is, but I’m always trying to understand its game.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angela_martini?stkn=MTc0Z2w5M211NDg4cg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@angelamartiniofficial?si=W_6zYhUccGp4wS2B

Image Credits
The dress is by Alisa Dudaj; I don’t have the photographer’s name.