Story & Lesson Highlights with Anja Meyer of All Los Angeles Area

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Anja Meyer. Check out our conversation below.

Anja, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Yes, not long ago I wasn’t able to get in and out of a car, as I couldn’t bend my leg at all due to a sports knee ACL injury! I was literally stuck halfway on the seat and halfway out the car; the Uber driver had to help me, and we were both laughing belly laughs about the situation. So yeah, recently, this year in June, I tore my ACL during kickboxing exercises, amongst other injuries to the knee, and I am currently slowly recovering. My days are evolving 100% towards the recovery of my knee, including physical therapy 4 times per day. That being said, I am proud that I am trying my best to stay strong, and I am getting better slowly. Every little progress moment, which is happening every few days or so, makes me proud. The knee gets a little less stiff and can bend bit by bit more, which meant I can finally dress and undress myself with less effort again compared to having to deal with a stiff leg; trying to put on pants was a struggle alone. For the first 3.5 months I couldn’t even walk, only limp, and now only since 3 weeks ago I can finally walk again short distances and slowly only. It is baby steps literally, and I actually feel like a baby learning to walk, as I have to watch others to copy the steps, as it’s been that long of limping and overcompensating that I forgot how to walk naturally. But being able to walk again is the best feeling ever. It brings me pure joy every single day now, the ability to go on a short walk, being able to leave the house to buy a pumpkin spice latte. That was unimaginable just a month ago. I wasn’t able to do anything really, limping around slower than all elderly people even, every step causing pain, for a long dark time of over 3 months. Another proud moment in this journey is that despite the injury, I still competed successfully in a big broadcaster competition throughout July, August and September, and I was named one of the top 10 Bigo Icons of 2025.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
As a veteran of the entertainment industry for over a decade, originally from Germany, I have been working as a model for numerous prestigious brands, ad campaigns and commercials in Europe, Australia, Singapore and Canada, and recently this year, in 2025, I have moved to the US, in Los Angeles, California.

Because of the way the industry has changed during the pandemic, I put most of my energy and focus into creating content for a social media app called Bigo Live, contracted by a modeling agency. Similar like my own TV show, I get creative hosting various broadcasts, talk shows, virtual fashion shows, live drawings, etc.

Over the past few years after Covid-19, modeling and acting projects picked up again after a while. However, Bigo still remains my main source of income today, and I even won multiple broadcaster awards and several international trips in the past few years. Those were such exciting and unforgettable milestones: I received prize money, paid flights, accommodation, and a trophy or a sash. This year alone I won a paid trip to Singapore in January for the Annual Bigo Awards 2025 to accept my award on stage, and in April I was flown to the Miss Bigo International Finale in Vietnam, representing the North America region at the global beauty pageant. Throughout July, August and September, I competed successfully in another big broadcaster competition, and I was named one of the top 10 Bigo Icons of 2025. This prize included a paid trip to Colombia with photoshoots and stage performances for the international finale. Due to my knee sport injury, I wasn’t able to travel sadly, yet I was able to participate remotely, and instead of the flight and hotel, thankfully I was able to pick a new iPhone 17 as an alternative prize. I joined the competition to inspire as a symbol of strength and determination, despite being injured and unable to walk, but yet competing, and sparking inspiration for each and everyone around the world and especially in my closer Bigo community to embrace your uniqueness with self-love, pursue your dreams fearlessly, and always believe in yourself.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Many things during my childhood made me feel great, and I discovered my interest in acting and performing as a teen in the school theatre group. Being a little shy, I enjoyed being on stage, expressing myself, and playing characters unimaginable in real life. The audience often complimented my performances and said they would never expect that of such a quiet person like me. For me, it was like transforming into somebody else, which was one of the most joyful and also powerful experiences. However, my earliest memory of feeling powerful really was actually only the feeling of independence from making my own money. Even the very first weekend jobs helping out at a grocery store or summer vacation jobs at a small café during high school times as a teen allowed me, for example, to buy an expensive pair of shoes that my parents wouldn’t buy me, or I would have had to wait until Christmas or the next birthday. I was able to make my own choices about what to buy, what clothes or shoes, and it felt extremely powerful to me.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
The tough times taught me to value the successes and the good times more and not take anything for granted. It really makes you aware to always count your blessings, no matter how big or small. Only through suffering do you realize the importance of celebrating the journey, the small wins and the progress you make.

Also, this question is really relevant to me right now, as I am currently going through very hard times. I try to believe that there is a reason for the suffering: to slow us down and focus on something we need to do that we are not doing, to focus on other things for the time being. I notice that health is really the most important thing; even with money, you can’t buy your health, and so I am focusing more on a healthy lifestyle than ever before. As mentioned earlier, in June, about 4 months ago, I injured my knee during kickboxing exercises. I tore my ACL, MCL, and LCL, amongst other injuries like bone contusions, focal meniscal capsular separation, pivot shift trauma of the medial tibial plateau, and Baker’s cyst. It was extremely traumatizing waiting for doctors’ appointments, and wait times just to get an MRI are very long, and it even took 9.5 weeks after the injury to get a first diagnosis. Even the doctors didn’t understand the delays in receiving the MRI results and tried several times to expedite it. The waits and being left in the unknown without treatment, being disabled and unable to walk, were extremely stressful, and I was crying almost every day. I was calling trying to get cancellation appointments for a doctor and/or physical therapist, as all were booked out weeks in advance. I spent many long hours in phone wait lines every week; often it took 2 hours of waiting on a phone line just to speak to a person at the health insurance that can schedule an appointment. My nerves were nearly at the end; I didn’t know how to deal with the phone wait lines anymore and just being told, “I am so sorry, but there is nothing I can do unfortunately. We have a shortage of specialist doctors at the moment. A lot of people have been calling lately as well.” For example, the doctor told me to start physical therapy ASAP and gave me a referral, but all physical therapists are completely booked up for the next 3 weeks! It caused extreme worrying, as I got told to start ASAP; however, there were no appointments for 3 weeks…

In the first 2-3 months it was so painful, and I could not even sit or stand up for long; I pretty much was just lying, elevating and icing the leg for most of the day, and it was the toughest time of my life ever being like a disabled person, and I was hoping that the surgery waitlist would finally come so the healing could start! But now I am much better. The fact alone that now I can talk about it shows that, for all of June, July, August, and half of September, I was in complete shock and distress, and trying to talk about it caused uncontrollable crying. I mean, I didn’t even know what I actually had until 9.5 weeks after the injury, and that alone caused so much worrying. I was just in survival mode and had to cancel several work events, as I wasn’t physically able to stand up or walk, which also caused financial worries, as the income was less, yet the expenses were unexpectedly higher due to expensive doctor bills. So I was trying to work as much as I could, which I was able to do in that situation to be able to afford the medical bills and rest and rehab the knee with physical therapy. It really was awful times; I had big plans for the summer, even to learn surfing and to visit my family in Germany in August, but none of that was possible at all.

Thankfully, for the past 3 weeks I could finally walk again for the first time without a limp. I feel somewhat normal again and, most importantly, feel like myself again and am so happy and grateful every single day that I can walk again. Now in October I could have got an ACL reconstruction surgery scheduled 4 months after the injury; however, the doctor and I decided to hold off for now to see how much further it can self-heal, as the knee stability has improved significantly, and then later on re-evaluate again. Honestly, after only being able to walk again for only 3 weeks now after the longest 3.5 months of not being able to, mentally I feel it just would be too much to handle to be back on crutches again after surgery. Because I felt like everything that I enjoy had been taken from me, as I love going for a walk and love being active, and from one unexpected moment to the next, I wasn’t able to do it anymore. The fear of crowds and people bumping into me is a huge limiting factor too to living life, as I wouldn’t just be able to make a step to the side and react; I simply would fall on the ground and be in danger of causing more injuries. There are lots of things I need help with, as I simply can’t do them physically anymore, like I need to ask for help carrying the laundry up and down the stairs, as the laundry room is on the first floor. Stairs are only possible with holding onto the rails. I lost my identity, as I am usually a very independent person, but I wasn’t able to walk or even stand very long and am physically not able to do many modeling projects and had to cancel work events, including the trip to Colombia. Through that experience I really empathize a lot more with disabled or elderly people now.

The feeling of time has been so different too; everyone around me is telling me that time flies by so fast and where the year has been, but for me personally the past 4 months since the injury felt more like a whole year long, as the days feel longer when I am suffering and I can’t do most of the everyday things that I took for granted before. The recovery is a very long process, and 9-12 months after injury is quite the norm. Not every day is the same; some days I almost feel pain-free and can walk even a bit longer for about 30 minutes, and I feel like I am progressing 3 steps forward. Then the next day, though, I get pain after just a short walk, and I feel like I am taking 2 steps backwards again. But I am realizing overall I am still moving forward 1 step and am progressing. I feel that I am getting stronger again, not just physically, as I experience lots of muscle atrophy in the leg, but also mentally; I am recovering my resilience again. Also, the successful broadcaster competition, being named one of the top 10 Bigo Icons of 2025, shows that I am a living example of staying strong no matter if it’s good times or tough times. Surely, slow and steady wins the race after all.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
They would say that living for joy and taking care of myself and my health with exercise really matter. Simple things in life, like going for a walk, or currently in the fall season, enjoying a pumpkin spice latte, are truly the things that make me happy. Also, they call me brave and strong for travelling, exploring and moving countries several times, oftentimes all by myself. They know that I love beaches, the sun and the ocean. My closest friends also understand that even though I value companionship, I oftentimes feel most at peace in solitude. They know that I am living life freely on my own terms like a free spirit and not doing what I was told to do or what society norms expect of me and that I can be very stubborn with having my own head and mind. Being loyal, honest and fair are crucial to me. Some friends even call me an angel, as I enjoy helping by giving advice and teaching things when I feel I can help.

Some friends understand that my identity lies in my work as a model, actor and broadcaster; it is more than just a job to me. It matters to me to do something for work that I enjoy doing because work takes the majority of time in the day. That used to be my belief system, and it still matters to me; however, lately it’s been shifting a bit as the world is changing as well. Some people create a lifestyle where they always just work a few hours here and there, more like part-time hours with full-time pay, through their businesses or creating passive income streams with investments, for example. Some people create mini retirements and travel frequently, and that has been very inspiring for some of my friends and myself as well.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
Yes, several times I have been mega excited, grateful and happy. It is mainly during photoshoots or commercials that it actually can happen that I am actually dancing to get into character or the required mood. The photographers were even playing music in the studio to achieve the right ambience to create the desired pictures; oftentimes in fashion shoots that is actually a technique to create a flow of posing. Those days definitely bring a lot of joy. I have been blessed to have worked for numerous iconic big-name brands’ ads and commercials; for example, sitting in the prototype of Singapore Airlines or filming for Siemens at stunning locations such as Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Actually most of the shoots are all exciting, as it’s often something new to learn; once I had to play tennis on set (I actually tried it for the very first time), and another time I had to learn archery, and for a Toyota commercial I pretended to be a forklift driver.

Also large events on the app Bigo are very exciting. Often it is head-to-head battles that require a lot of hard work and endurance, broadcasting over 15 hours per day on competition days. However, those national or even global competitions are also something I live for, and the amazing prizes, like prize money, paid flights and trophies, are the icing on the cake.

To be real, it’s not every day that’s exciting, though, as there are lots of mundane tasks like admin work, phone calls and emails.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.anjameyers.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anjameyers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anjameyerspage/

Image Credits
First main photo: Astra-Potsdam Alf Strübing

Bigo Awards, Miss Bigo and Bigo Icon: Bigo Live

Fermax screenshot of video commercial: Big 3 Media

LMN software commercial behind the scenes: H Visual Media