Models I Love - Interview with Model Tessi Le'Anne



UtopYA2014 provided me an avenue of meeting many wonderful and talented authors, bloggers, and models. As a matter of fact, meeting all of these great people and wanting to help support them is a HUGE reason that I began this blog. One of the beautiful young women I got to meet during UtopYA was the lovely and talented Tessi Le'Anne. The first thing that stood out to me is that Tessi has such a bubbly personality. She was always smiling and said hello to me whenever she saw me. I never would have guessed that we would stay in touch after the conference last June, but I'm very pleased to say that Tessi and I have stayed in contact and that I can consider her a friend. Over the last several months, I've learned that she is even more beautiful on the inside than on the outside (and that's saying a lot!).

So with this in mind, you can only imagine how excited I am that Tessi agreed to be featured as the first model interview for my blog! I had a few questions for Tessi and asked her to share a glimpse of her modeling life with us. I was also able to obtain several beautiful pictures she has taken as part of some of her photo shoots. I hope you'll agree that Tessi is a very multifaceted talent; her photos are beautiful and many of them took my breath away.




Just a little disclaimer before we get going. As with all the wonderful models I hope to interview for my blog, their photos help support their livelihood. As such, they are providing their photos for the use on my blog with permission. Please do not copy, use, alter, or otherwise steal these photos. I do not condone photo piracy of models or book piracy of authors in any shape, form, or fashion.

I hope that any authors reading this will be just as impressed with Tessi's work and will consider her for future work. If you see something you like and think "Hey, she would be great for my next book cover!" then I hope you'll reach out to her and see what stock photos may be available; you may even choose to commission her for a cover idea you already have in mind! Contacting Tessi is easy, just reach out to her through her K. Keeton Designs or K. Keeton Designs Facebook Page. She is available for both custom book covers and stock images so make sure to contact K. Keeton Designs if you're interested. If you would like to contact Tessi about other modeling jobs other than book covers, please reach out to get on her Facebook page Model Tessi Le'Anne


And if you want to stay up-to-date with Model Tessi Le'Anne, here are some of her social media links:


Facebook - Model Tessi Le'Anne
Twitter - @tessileanne
Instagram - Tessi_leanne 



To find out a little about Tessi's life and career I asked a few questions. 


Me: What made you get into modeling?

Tessi: I got into modeling after I took my senior pictures in 2007 and people started seeing them and asking me to do shoots here and there...I didn't really get into it until 2012.

Me: How did you get into modeling for book covers?

Tessi: I started modeling for book covers after Grant Mroz, a fellow cover model, saw images of me that a mutual photographer posted and introduced me to Kelsey of K Keeton Designs in November 2013. Kelsey invited me to a shoot to meet and observe how she works and we hit it off. The rest is history. =)








(Grant Mroz will be my next featured model interview in an upcoming post. You don't want to miss my interview and pictures of this great guy!)





Me: What has been your favorite shoot so far?

Tessi: So far my favorite shoot would have been a steampunk themed shoot I got to do with K Keeton Designs and MJR Photography. I was originally there to assist with another shoot and the model couldn't make it so it turned into a play day. Kelsey made some random costumes and used her Hair and Make Up skills to transform me through a series of looks: a crying-broken girl, flying in a trash bag dress, a puppet, and steam punk theme.




Me: What are your modeling goals?

Tessi: As a model I have goals of people I would like to work with or shoots I would like to do, but my ultimate modeling goal would be to be signed with an agency. So yea...that’s something I currently have in the works.
 Me: Who has been the biggest influence for you?

Tessi: My family has been the biggest influence on me. I had been approached in 2012 with some amazing modeling opportunities that, being the oldest, I had to put on hold to do what needed to be done for my siblings. Now that they are grown and own their own, I'm finally tackling my modeling dreams and seeing where I get. My family still remains my biggest supporters.





Me: So a lighter question . . . if you were given three million dollars, what would you do with it?

Tessi: 3 million dollars...hmm let’s think about it. If I had 3 million dollars I would:
- pay off my house, my car and any other debt I might have.
- Make sure my siblings are provided for and set up a couple lump-sum amounts to be given to them at certain points in their life.
-Help my Uncle Lee finish his new house.
-Buy my best friend Rachel a new car and on a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando ;)
-Pay off my boyfriend, Nathan's, land and start the building of our dream house, build a greenhouse and buy a few more boar goats to add to our herd.
-Invest some money in gold, or whatever currency is sound at that time.
-Give some money to causes dear to me like the Orphan Foundation of America, and maybe do something for some local, deserving foster homes.
-And for myself, let’s be honest, I'm a total girl...I would allot myself an amount of “play money” for a shopping spree, new furniture, and an airbrush make up kit. The rest I would save...you never know what life will bring your way.
Me: So in your free time, what types of books do you like to read?

Tessi: Growing up my favorite books were by C.S. Lewis.  Not for religious reasons, I just loved the creativity and the ideas in his writing. Now, my favorite types of books to read are murder/mystery/fantasy/supernatural.




Me: What is your favorite junk food?

Tessi: My favorite junk food would have to be cherry Pull 'N' Peel Twizzlers...or no bake cookies.  You can't go wrong with no bake cookies. 

Me: If you could work with another model, male or female, who would it be and why?

Tessi: I work with both female and male models regularly.  Some I have never met until we show up to shoot. My favorite person to model with would have to be Model Nathan Weller. Since we are dating there are no awkward lines to worry about crossing and he is great about making sure my hair isn't in my face and that I'm "seen" by the camera.

Me: What is something people would never guess about you?

Tessi: Something that people would never guess about me would be that I went to school to be a Criminal Justice major with a minor in Law Enforcement, however, I've never worked in that field.  I currently work in the banking industry, training banks on system use and balancing. 




Me: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Tessi: If I could live anywhere in the world, I would want to live in Mexico.  I think the beach life would suit me well. =) 




Me: Finally, if you were not modeling, what is your dream job or is this your ultimate dream job?

Tessi: If I were not modeling or couldn't model as my dream job, and money was not an issue, I would like to open my own little businesses.  How cool would it be to have your own strip mall?? If I had my own strip mall, I would open the coolest coffee shop, a comic book store (Conquest's Comics, pretty legit, right?), a boutique to sell my crafts, sewing and other things in, and a florist shop.  I would hire people to manage them for me, but I'd be able to pop back and forth and spend my days at whichever place I wanted----that would be my ultimate dream job.

(I admit, this last one would be very awesome . . . as long as I didn't have to pay for my purchases!!)

I hope you enjoyed my interview with Model Tessi Le'Anne as much as I enjoyed getting to do it! All her pictures are gorgeous, but more importantly, she has a beautiful soul, and in this day and time, finding a person with a beautiful soul is one of the best things you can do!

Please help support Tessi by remembering to "Like" her facebook page! And if you're interested in any of her work, don't forget to reach out to K. Keeton Designs or K. Keeton Designs Facebook Page!


A very special shoutout and thanks go to MJR Photography for the use of Tessi's "Steampunk" pictures featured above and to K. Keeton Designs for the use of all the other photos in my post! 

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