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Multi-Passionate Pro: Lesley DeSantis

Leslie just stand it is a way that but I've been talking about her so much I'm so excited to introduce you guys to her she's a model an artist a polarity therapists she's a massage therapist in training you could find her at when guinea pigs fly dot com because thie art that she does is like guinea pigs as historical figures and pop culture icons so like well if you want to see a napoleon guinea pig or luke skywalker as a guinea pig like you go to one guinea pigs five dot com it's oz its eyes um so leslie are you here with us? I am here hey, thank you for joining us some like so thank you for having me. Well, I love you, tio okay. Okay, so I've been talking about you just like throughout the whole course wake us good things all only good things. You know how much I adore you because like the fact that you have so many jobs and career titles and you still have a beautiful head on your body is like is like me and I see in the room every time I say let's lead to santa's who's a model and ...

an artist and a polarity therapists and a and a misusing training every goes like they're exhausting just hearing about it so tell him a little bit like give us a little taste of how you got involved in each of these things oh my gosh where do I start? Okay, so I guess r it was always something I just did ever since I was little and I after working in the corporate world for a while I was just like this is not working for me I need to be doing something creative so and I love any pig's eye doctor to getting pig in college so I decided I would paint getting pains I wanted some art on my wall that you're getting pigs I couldn't find any anywhere so I was like, oh, maybe I'll make some and then lo and behold people in like australia in the u k or by because guinea pigs are like god over there e yeah so that's kind of how art piece came to be I also do music and kind of the typical renaissance lady on dh then the polarity there the stuff was a kind of a new venture very new, right? Yeah super new tell us what that is first of all because I think that's so new that it's it's like the whole thing, isn't it? Yeah people have no idea what it is. Yeah, this is good for my elevator speech again admire this. Okay, so the way I describe clarity is that it is basically a gentle form of body work where you stay fully clothed on dit kind of merges acupuncture pressure points with energy, medicine and a little bit of beside all mixed together on an angle is to kind of help somebody come home to themselves and be more lined spiritually physically emotionally through the movement of energy block produced through their body wow that that's perfect you get an a plus in near polarity school elevators yeah clarity yeah and you're currently studying to be I'm a soused service yeah, the polarity was kind of part of the holistic massage program and I was most interested in the polarity but I thought it might be more ideal and marketable to also have the massage therapy license because I was thinking I might want to work with women who have like pelvic pain and things like that and in order to be able to like legally massage them I have to be licensed but yeah, we moved to portland, maine and I have been thinking about the healing arts and acupuncture and stuff like that but the acupuncture school is in massachusetts where I moved from and also costs like a billion dollars and I would have to get a master's and renaissance als don't always have a three year attention spans so I kind of looked for the next best thing and found it here andi thought it would be a great opportunity to kind of have a goal for six months be established in my new place of residence and make some friends so I still it's like typical renaissance passion I don't really know what I want to do with it, but you love learning about it you love learning about it and I want to just point out how leslie coach yourself and the like, the I don't even want to call them assumptions, the reality that you had of like, okay, if this is what I want to do, I need to get my masters and needs to be three years and it has to be this and that, and because that didn't work for her, she didn't say, well, I'm not doing this at all and just leaving it behind and being upset instead, she said, well, actually, how could I? Is there a different program? How could I do this? How would it work in the semblance of, you know, my attention span and my anxious level? And what what I'm willing to spend time wise, money wise, all of that stuff really interesting tell us a bit too, about your modeling because it's such an inspiring, fantastic story. Okay, so modeling was basically the big dream that I kept a secret pretty much my whole life. I remember being like elementary school and daydreaming about it, but I always felt like it was shallow and you know, when you're little it's all about like pageant and stuff my parents were like no, no, no you're all through middle and high school I kind of like to know a back pocket on dh then I graduated from college and I was just like still thinking about it but I was I didn't really have the guts to try I was like, no, it'll never work I'm too old because in new york and places like that they want people that are like fourteen on dh when you're twenty three you're like retire I was twenty five when I finally started I just couldn't take any more it was like, if I don't do this, I'm going to kick myself forever I'm gonna wonder so I set up a profile on like an online social media modeling site just for free and I took pictures of myself in my bathroom that like and that kind of look professional years to get a blank wall on dh I had a photographer contact me and within a week and he was really good and so I got a couple of photos from that shoot and then over time like two rears three years I kind of just kept working with photographers for free like exchanging time for prints on built a portfolio and then this is the joint story I'm sorry I don't know e I want to make sure you talk about the contest yes, okay, so I entered a contest in a mall where it was like, come do a runway contests and you'll win a contract of the molly aida easy, and so I did, and I won on dh. Then when I went to the agency, the guy was like, oh, you're too old, she went on and she went to go collect her prize, which was working with his agency, and they're like, oh, no, actually, you're too old, I don't want to die was the awful, and he was like, oh, I didn't even remember you honestly, like the other judges must have picked you because I don't even remember who you were, and I was just like, so what happened next? So after that I left and I was like, well, fine, if you say it like that, I don't want to be at his agency anyway. That's super unprofessional on, but I told them all, and they were like, we're never gonna work with him again because it was, like, legally, not, like binding, and he just was like, no, so it took about a year after that to get my courage back up, but I decided why am I trying to take a back door into this? Why don't I just go right to the best agency and just see I love you and what happens to a lot of encouragement from the husband of my friends and stuff, you know, because I was like, no, we got it you rejecting me? They're never going to want me there, I'm so eventually I just was like, all right, fine, like the week before christmas I went to the drop off day they'd like a drop off every week where you could bring your pictures and they'll evaluate you and let you know if they want to interview and I went and they interviewed me and they signed me break immediately don't we all want a class? I know we all want love I know a lot of glass here is this point I was like twenty seven, twenty eight, maybe intentional made obviously in the modeling world, yes, even older, I was just like, dude, like, why didn't I do this four years ago? But you know, everything happens for a reason, but yes, since then I've worked for like, life is good and timberland and I just want to, like, take all that stuff would be like you know, we have made me with another guy and be like, oh, memorable I don't really see a daughter too old, huh? Let me know if you wanna be a writer it feels really satisfying, tio no, that that was something I had a dream about no one else pressured me no one else is expecting anything and I kind of went after it and I got a few setbacks with and I just was like, no, this is really important to me andi was able to prove to myself I could do it. S so, like after that happened there sort of been like, anything I feel like doing, I'm like, well, if I could do that, maybe room is but I always get nervous. Of course I love that story I just love what you've done and when you decided to step into modeling and really kind of pursue that, what happens to your to your art artist stuff? What happens here when getting pigs fly stuff like, how do you manage all the things actually it's just a then a broader question is you talking about the other people? And I was really identifying with a lot of that stuff with the project based approach like I think that's kind of how I work, I have like a three month attention span for stuff and then I kind of walk away for a while and wait till I feel like coming back. So with the guinea pigs stuff, I really ramped it up for a few years, and then it's sort of self propelling, so my etsy shops opened my website has e commerce most of my orders come through, etc, and I also put stuff on society six, which has been, like, amazing, so if anyone artist and is like into that, like, great do that and yeah, the otters, so more than anything, I'm right, but yeah, so I basically just let that go on autopilot, uh, trying to manage my facebook page and when I I feel inspired up ain't something you want to put it up there, but otherwise I just kind of stayed on top of my list things, and when I get orders, I shipped him out and it's always with sort of the idea that if I feel like painting ten paintings suddenly, I will know otherwise, I just kind of let it go. I always say, like, if I actually tried, it would probably be really successful, but if it is successful but it's like I'm like, wow, this is successful without even touching it, like, imagine what I could do if I actually tried, but it just cecil for you, it your version of success right? Because it allows you to work within her own burst of energy and inspiration and she's able to kind of build that in and I think to especially with like more of a product based business you know, when you're when you're hot times are you know that like if it's time to ramp it up it's probably you know, october, november, december and january, february, march you could probably go do something else and no, you're not missing out on a lot of stuff, but loving you like this there are really cool supplement to a service based or something that requires like hourly time, especially if it's something like on society six you don't even like it's literally completely passive I just get a pound money every month for nothing it's fan so you know if you really are like, oh, I want to make art but I have no time I don't want to make prince I don't want to do anything. There are options out there for things like that where you could just like, get your burst of creativity out of you and then just let go. So the other because austin I have for you is like how do you know when it's time to pivot or explore something new or kind of maybe shelves something put it on the back burner and explore something else oh, this has been actual it's a frustration of mine with myself which I'm still learning to accept but I I just sort of like oftentimes they just like wake up in the morning and I'm like I don't want teo like all because I can feel it coming it's like a train I'm like no, no don't wasn't dress please like this was supposed to be the thing is finally stuck but yeah, I think when you feel like you're dreading doing something in any regard like it's time to think about other options it's not always an appropriate time to just like quit something if you especially if it's a job you're hired for but like I wrote a musical a few years ago and I haven't written one since and it's not because I'm not really inspired but it just took so much out of me by the time it was done, it was like, oh, I'm so proud of that that's done I checked that box now I'm going to do something else so I think either having a project based system where you you have a finite like okay, I'm doing of this freelance job for three months I could make it that long or I'm going to write this book, but then the second that book is done I'm done that's easier than sort of been ongoing thing that you have to nurture and I also love the piece of like it's not about then shutting down the thing that you were doing you know it's about kind of figuring out like you did with one guinea pigs fly like okay, how could I just make this a bit more passive how could I just put more like minimum effort in this but still keep it going just in case I mean you could have decided like the sharpest on this business is over I'm going to move on and that's a valid decision too but I like that you're not quick to do that because there still must be a part of you that says I'm gonna want to paint more guinea pigs I like this business I like what's got you know you you have more pros in the column then the cons and that I think you think kind of scratches a different itch it's like with that I get teo be wakened owner of a shop and I do inventory and business and marketing that's fun with a modeling it's like creative expression and I'm hired by their people on its high pressure but it's exciting and hung feel like confident and like I'm interacting with humans and stella with musical it's like a totally different nothing it's just you know I think when there's a variety it gives you such an option to choose what you'd like to work on on like you said finding a way to either passed something off to a person like, if, if I wanted teo, keep my antique shop over, but I just couldn't deal with it, like training someone to make the prints for me and manage all that shipping, you know, or finding a way like he said, teo, teo, you could like if you like their girl into the jewelry stuff, you know, she decided you wanted to have her shot, but she just do custom pieces and then train other people write, sometimes people shift, and they wanna have, like, a book or something that can continue to generate revenue for them that then supports the next thing they're interested in. Yeah, okay, and I have to ask you to how do you deal with the haters? Like, I know that you've gotten looks like, what do you do and all of those things? And, like, I should go back to an office like, how do you not internalize that? And still like b to your own drummer and do your own thing? It's really hard? I think thank you for acknowledging that. Yeah, I think over time I've gotten better about it because I've just come into my own a bit more and just been ableto show myself I'm capable of, but like it's hard when people are like, oh, what's the new thing this week I feel like you still doing that like a thing that you now hate that you used to like doing, and you're just like no and it's embarrassing, you know, to have them be kind of like, oh, well, don't worry, you'll you'll find you're saying you just haven't found it yet, and I hate it when people say that because it's like not everybody has a thing. Well, all of these things are your thing. Yeah, it's kind of like this is just like me experiencing life as a human and enjoying all the things that are laid out for all of us, like I feel like when unless someone is super super passionate, just about one thing and that's their deal like they want to be a veterinarian, they wanted to be one since therefore and they love it, but most of us have a lot of interest, and I feel like it's a shame, teo squirrel shot um, I don't know, I just don't feel like the way society lex is is conducive to being a human on this is why I love you and why we're here is that why you're here on creative like right now? So the last question I've been asking my interviewees is what would current leslie september twenty fourteen leslie say to office leslie when did you work that office toe from I guess two thousand six to two thousand eight was primarily the corporate uh, let's say two thousand seven leslie what do you what do you have to tell that? Leslie? Oh, my gosh, I just really girl just go I mean, like, the whole is cheesy, like it gets better thing. I mean, it's still hard in the moment when you're like, I have to pay my bills, how can I just, um, this this is like I'm tethered to this paycheck, but I don't know, I guess I would just tell her, like, just go for what you want to do and state job as long as you have, teo, but just like, trust that your interest they're valid and that you're capable of like, achieving what you really want uh, before amen and holly, they're saying in the audience so you could hear them before we let leslie goes. Anyone have any questions for leslie? Here in the studio audience are online taking great feedback from leslie leslie you've been a real hit with our audience, chaos now is saying was saying leslie is my hero and she's my god, oh, I don't think it's your mother, I think it is genuine feedback from our audience they're really loving it and of course they're loving the work could you put into our enrollment bonus as well? So michelle tell us about that when you are sleepy for the course oh wait you are sleepy for the course you'll get operation creative career chair which is the illustrated rhyming because I'm a creative weirdo career change workbook that I developed in made twenty ten that was just like all the word she's yeah, I mean I don't remember exactly what we work together, but it wasn't too far after that yeah, but you know it's it's all the worksheets that I gave my clients at that time so s so you'll get it for free if you are sleepy it's never too late tracy piece would you like nobody likes leslie you are an inspiration on a wonderful human being. Thank you are like weii not all in love with her do we not all want to be your best friend? And I know right she's my people she's all of our people right so she's that one guinea pigs fly dot com and you know I should have put her link she has a facebook page for her modeling so if you just look up her name leslie to santis on facebook, you should see a page that pops up this is like leslie desanto model you could see her gorgeous, gorgeous photos and I just obviously like I'm in love with that story that she put herself out there so late in life, right? Then we love that twenty five late in life for something uh oh my goodness, you know, she put herself out there, she started really small, she started with baby stuff. She started with telling photographers, you know, I'll work for you, you work for my portfolio well, work for europe artfully when then said, no, I'm done kind of, you know, running around, they pussyfooting around and I'm going to go and enter this contest and she won, and then that guy said, oh, no, I didn't take you, you're too old, I'm not I'm not letting you sign this contract like that would be the place where most of us would just go crawl into bed and never leave the bed and die in the bed crying and just ashamed, and she picked herself back up and you know, when I like that, she said it took a year, it took the wind out of her sails for a year and knocked her confidence, and then she was able to see it as that's, his problem and that his issue and I am still going to go and and just try right that's really what she did I'm just gonna try and who knows if that big agency didn't work out, she could've found a smaller agency or maybe she could have done a bit more independent work. Or maybe she could I've found her own marling gigs and, you know, local fashion shows something like that she still could have connected with that dream that she had for so long to be a models. So what do you take away so far in the segment? I want to hear it, jenna one thing I noticed is that, um, all of these n products air, so celebrated, I'm sure, like mainstream mate media would love it all of the end product's, right? And they could blow up and go viral all that stuff, but it sounds like people are so discouraged in the process to get to that point a and then all of these traditional teaching methods lead us down a different path, which really aren't as celebrated like maybe doctors and things like that that are really lifesaving. But it's, just an interesting observation has thank you, and I think that just shows that this stuff is hidden, right, so like it's, not something that is a spotlight on, so, you know, I like that you brought that up the media might see leslie story and they're talking about you know, her guinea pig shop, which is like so cute adorable or maybe they're talking about her modeling on the fact that like she signed with this big agency when she was really at the ripe old age of twenty eight but they're not showing the story up and told that and they're not showing the other facets of who she is and what she does and that's why we can't compare our insides with someone else's outsides and we have to know when we look on the internet were not always getting the whole story jennifer and like I've heard this so many times like you're crazy until you make it and then you're brilliant it's like it's like there's will be so many people who would just be like, oh, that is the dumbest wait way you just didn't really awesome with never mind that was that was great I feel I was saying that from the beginning I jump on the band again like after the fag yeah, absolutely any takeaways at from from our at home what they were really, really engaged with leslie I'm really impressed by her and her enthusiasm, so I've really read the comment yeah about what they thought, although they do want to correctly, they didn't they went she's her hero no hero and her gods payment my god as in is my hair, oh, oh, oh my god, she's, my era, omg exactly only been on the oh, they're people really amused that time, you know, twenty five she's considering herself well for modeling, but that's interesting, though, right? So like, you know, it was the people who are using the excuses of the location, but I'm not near where my industry is. Oh, but I'm too old for the thing that I want to dio, but not no, no, no, they're all excuses. They're all resistance. We could find a way to get there right? And we're thinking about how to do it instead of just saying I can't do it or it won't happen. Instead, if you replace every time you say, but I can't do this or this won't happen, just start saying, how could I do this? How could this happen? You're going toe able to problem solve and figure that out for yourself big time.