Daily Inspiration: Meet Arisa Nango

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arisa Nango.

Hi Arisa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I moved to LA from Japan five years ago. The purpose at first was learning English and just experience a different life. After I moved, I had some photographers who asked me to do a collaboration portrait shoot, also one day, I was at LAX to pick up my friend and there was a model agent who gave me their business card and asked me to contact him if I’m interested to be a model. I ended up not contacting him because the agency was in Florida, and I was not able to speak good English. I was always interested in becoming a model but I was already in late 20s and thought it was too late to start as a carrier.
However, the moment made me think that I still have the potential to become a model, and realized that people don’t really care about actual age as long as they like the look. So I started my modeling carrier as a freelance model. Since then, my experience in modeling is amazing and I feel so grateful to have the opportunities and the environment.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was challenging to start a career as a model without knowing anyone in the industry. I started building portfolios as creating photos with photographers who reached out to me on Instagram, then searched casting websites that I can submit to the castings myself. It was slowly but I could have opportunities to work with many brands and people in the industry!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a model. I work for fashion brands, fitness brands, cosmetics and skincare brands and products/ brand commercials and runway shows. The biggest brand that I worked for is Nike, I’ve worked for runway shows for NY Fashion Week, LA fashion week. I have also done a billboard for a model development company The Model Experience.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
It might be surprising that I was not able to speak good English before I came to LA. As I moved here, I went to an English language school and started learning from a very basic level, practiced speaking and memorizing vocabularies whenever I hear something that I don’t know. Now when I meet people, some of them think that I’m from LA so I guess my English has got much better!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/arisa099_