justdanella.com Blog

i am so effing tired, i wish you only knew. i have been sleep deprived for a few days now, maybe even weeks. the last few weeks have been insane, but i have learned sooooo freaken much, you will now know just how much.

well i did get my bachelors 2 years ago. in advertising. i interned at tbwa\chiat\day (top ad agency) afterwards, and i was very scared when i realized the type of life i was going to have with that kind of 9-5. some sort of life i didn’t really want, actually. but i was thrown into “adult life” so had no excuse for a shitty job, i had to work somewhere where i could be a professional….. i felt i had to pick what type of career i wanted, a serious job. i always loved being creative, and business like at the same time, so advertising sounded perfect for me. but after my internship and lots of research i did not want to venture into ad agencies anymore, which was what i thought i wanted while i was in college for all those painstaking semesters. oops.

then out of the blue, i got into the modeling life (talk about “serious job” huh), kinda talked into it by an amazing manager who wanted to represent me. he sort of convinced me to model (me? a college graduate fluent in 4 languages who wants to wear a suit almost everyday, work at a corporation, go to board meetings and wear glasses?) yes, me. when my then-future manager gave me a nice estimate of how much money he guaranteed me because of “that look” that i have (or had) (whatever) because he knew he could book me big jobs, and two of my closest girlfriends adi and silva told me i would be stupid if i didn’t model (and they go to USC), i said fuck it, i’m only young once. maybe i will try modeling for a few months, got nothing to lose.

honestly though, most would think “well, thats what aspiring actors/models TRY to do.. the acting/modeling as a serious job” thing. which sometimes seems to be 99.999% of the population in los angeles, or at least it seems so when you walk into a restaurant full of servers who are actually also actors.

problem is, i really had no idea my modeling career was going to be as serious as it got, and that it would become a real professional career and my only job only after a few days days of starting. two months after i began modeling, i was the main model for the lamborghini campaign, having a photo shoot with paris hilton, and walking the catwalk for betsey johnson and nanette lepore. i guess my manager was much better than i thought.
i was very happy i took the risk, and very lucky things went how they did. i was officially a professional model, my own boss in a way, and it was also my only job and only source of income. quite wonderful actually.
but i wasn’t satisfied. i had the need to do more professionally rewarding things. in my urge to make myself feel that i still had neurons [when people ask you "what do you do?" and you say "i'm a runway model", i believe in their perspective your IQ is automatically down by at least 20%] so yes, i enrolled at a french class in order to keep learning, which i am obsessed with. BUT then the teacher would get mad whenever i HAD to miss a project because i was shooting a national commercial for mercedes benz, or when i would have a photo shoot for BCBG and i HAD to leave early so i can get my legs waxed. he told me he would drop me out of the class if i kept missing days. and he did. i never liked french that much anyway.

what else can i do with my EXTREMELY UNPREDICTABLE AND IRREGULAR modeling schedule???? definitely something that does not have a set time. knit? paint? i can only do that so much.
what do i love? animals. i’m obsessed with animals. ok, i will try to save them. how about fostering? yes.
next thing i knew, i had 11 kittens in my house and i so founded athena kittens, my non-profit organization. i worked closely with shelters, and established other foster homes, saving literally a few dozens kittens within that year. and to this day i still do. i love them!
but of course that wasn’t enough either.

what did i do? i love clothes. sure. how bout starting my own company? bring it on.
so i put my savings together, the money i was going to buy a house in fall 2009 with, and in early 2009, i started trivelli. got nothing to lose except a shitload of money, right?
in one sentence, trivelli is clothing for women in their late 30’s through their 50’s, or even 60’s, with designs that i or girls my age would wear (well, most), but with a fit that is flattering to their bodies. most designers my age are designing for girls their age, so it IS very challenging to do this, but it is an incredible market with great opportunities as well.
most importantly, without the guidance of my parents i would be completely lost in my still relatively new business. my dad helps me with anything legal/paperwork/finance, the kind of things i can’t risk effing up. my mom is amazing emotional support and when i get design brain farts, there she is to tell me the print i picked is terrible and she saves the day.

i have my own office in pasadena, conveniently located across the street from in-n-out…. which was cool at the beginning but now not so much. i can only have so many chocolate shakes. and the fries aren’t salty enough.
i am now working on spring/summer 2010, and this collection i will show in las vegas, the biggest fashion convention in the US. soon you shall see what i have up my sleeve. i am extremely excited and extremely nervous at the same time. it’s like my boa, i love him cause he was still kinda little but now that he’s growing i’m scared he’s going to eat me.

before this craziness, i had met the most amazing man in the world, adam. we met at a photo shoot for vogue magazine. in between this craziness, we grew together and i fell in love even more. i didn’t really realize it before until this year, but i seriously am so lucky to have met him, he is truly perfect for me. and we are engaged. that means yes, i am also organizing my wedding.

so here i am, saving kittens, planning my wedding, designing a collection, and of course, sneaking auditions, photo shoots, runway shows, and interviews in between.

i have become EXTREMELY picky when it comes to auditions. if the job doesn’t pay, i don’t take it. if my agency/manager calls me with a booking, i have a minimum amount of money i do it for. and that amount of money i never thought i would set to the amount it is now. i have to, though, because my schedule is so tight. yes i own my own business, but i have 5 employees and plenty of contractors to pay to, so i haven’t taken $1 out of the company – modeling is still my only source of income, but so far so good.

for the last 3 weeks i have been putting this upcoming collection together for the vegas show. i am so lost sometimes because i get asked a million questions i sometimes have no answers to. seamstress: “do you want baby hem or merrow edge?” me: “i don’t know!!!” thank god for the amazing team of people i have, we are working together for this wonderful collection we all put so much effort into. but seriously, i have learned so effing much about fashion and owning a company, i think the equivalent of a 12 unit college semester packed in each month.

i’m struggling to find time to relax and not work, while taking care of three new foster kitties, and my auditions and bookings. but i find time here and there to write, hopefully less next time haha, but this is the big picture of my crazy but entertaining life.

phew that felt good.

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