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Lydia Bielen is a stunning model who hails from Georgia, USA. She grew up in a small town with her mother, her 2 sisters, and her grandparents. She was a teenager waitressing at a restaurant in her home town when she was first discovered. An agent came in to eat, saw her, gave her a business card, and said to call them and she was assured that she would never work in a restaurant again – the rest you can say is history.
StarCentral Magazine recently caught up with Lydia to talk about her journey in the modeling industry and here’s what went down:
Could you please provide a background about yourself and how were you actually ‘discovered’?
My name is Lydia Bielen and I’m from Georgia, USA. I grew up in a small town with my mom, my 2 sisters, and my grandparents. I am very close with my family. Growing up, I loved horseback riding, art, reading and writing poetry. I was a teenager waitressing at a restaurant in my home town when I was first discovered as a model. An agent came in to eat, gave me their business card, and said to call them and that I would never work in a restaurant again. To this day, he was right.
What does it mean to you to be a model?
To me, being a model is an outlet of self-expression. You can become so many different versions of yourself on camera.
What sort of person usually follows you? Who’s your main audience?
A lot of my followers are other people in the industry (like models, photographers, influencers) or interested in becoming a part of it. I have a lot of young followers in their teens and twenties. They are mostly from America, Europe, and South America, but I get comments and messages from all around the world- I love to read them and connect with my followers.
What’s the biggest challenge to modeling?
There are a lot of challenges models face. Learning to deal with rejection, self-worth and maintaining sometimes unrealistic physical standards are the more obvious challenges. It’s hard to balance the rest of your life with modeling sometimes if you are constantly traveling, going to castings, and waiting to hear back from people. It takes up a lot of your time.
Have you always wanted to be in the modeling industry?
Before I was discovered I had never really considered becoming a model.
What’s your personal mission in life?
My personal mission in life is to help others in need and to help conserve the environment.
What has been the most memorable experience of your career so far?
Shooting for a magazine in the streets of Tokyo at night, it was freezing cold and people on set would run over to me with blankets between looks. But that city sparkles in a different way. It felt like I was in some kind of kawaii video game. I loved the fashion, the people were extremely kind, the whole experience was special.
Who have been the most interesting people you’ve met so far?
I’ve met some really interesting people on some of my travels. I’ve been to 30 countries now and met people from all over the world.
How active are you on social media?
I try to post at least 3-4 times a week. Although, sometimes I take breaks from social media and don’t post at all for a couple of weeks.
What is your favourite social media platform?
Instagram.
What will you advise other models who may wish to follow your footsteps?
Never stop believing in yourself. Don’t limit yourself based on other people’s opinions. When you believe in yourself, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve. If you can dream it, you can do it!
What are your future plans? Inside your career or out of it.
I want to continue to travel to more places. I would love to do a season in Paris. And outside of modeling, I am writing a novel that I hope to finish and publish in the near future.
The ‘LIGHTNING FAST’ Round:
1. Last good movie I’ve seen: Girl Interrupted, 1999
2. What do you consider beautiful and why? Someone who is unaffected by society and unafraid to be themself and live by their own standards.
3. What haven’t you done yet that you wish you could? I wish that I could go to space. Maybe one day we will be able to book a spaceship to the moon the same way we book a flight overseas.
4. Complete this sentence: “If I had no fear, I’d…” climb Mount Everest.
5. What is the one “flaw” you wouldn’t change about yourself? I tend to make really impulsive decisions sometimes which some people might consider “irresponsible”. I’ve literally been on the way to the airport, searching for flights on my phone, still, nothing booked yet. My family is familiar with me doing things like throwing random things in a suitcase the night before and leaving the country totally unprepared. However, I wouldn’t change this “flaw” because I’ve made some of the best memories of my life based on spontaneous, impulsive decisions.
Jason Harris
