Stephanie Pekic

Who:

Stephanie Pekic -- @stephpekic -- 5'8” -- from Virginia.

Where:

New York City

Agencies:

Crawford Models

Directions USA

- Did you always want to be a model? Tell us about how you were discovered.

I've loved the art of photography since I was a kid. I remember planning a "bridal" shoot with my cousin when we were about 9, using our  white dresses and sneaking my dad's fancy camera. My dad was the one who first sparked my interest in photography. However, I never initially saw modeling in my future. My start came when my sister was doing a photoshoot for her VA-based boutique, @ShopBittersweet. I admired the models' confidence in front of the camera. One of the models sent my photos to my now mother agent (Directions USA) around 2020, and I signed with them in North Carolina. I balanced gigs with my corporate job after finishing college at UVA and working remotely in Richmond. Luckily, I was able to relocate to NYC with the same company. Eventually, I decided to take a leap and focus solely on my artistic passions—modeling and acting. Now, here we are! I signed with a NYC agency this past summer. There's still plenty of room for growth, and I'm super excited to see where the next few years take me! It's been an amazing journey so far; living in NYC and following this dream feels surreal. I'm immensely grateful for all the experiences and people I've met along the way.

- What are your favorite forms of self care and why?

I have been focusing on health and wellness more than ever before and have found so much happiness and peace by prioritizing it. One thing for me personally was finding a workout that I can stay consistent with. The endorphins are huge for my mental health - I have been loving pilates and yoga. I do try to incorporate some weight lifting as well and that’s made a huge difference for me physically. Also, I love to cook healthy meals no matter how tiny my NYC kitchen is - makes for a fun (?) challenge. My goal this year has been to cook more frequently, although dining out in NYC is quite irresistible. Also, just finding the right people to spend time with is super important - being around friends, family (and pets ) that genuinely love and support you is an irreplaceable part of my self-care formula :) I feel overwhelmingly grateful for those people in my life.

- What other passions do you have aside from modeling?

Acting is another huge passion that I’m diving back into as of recently. I am back in class and working on a couple small projects right now! I also started growing a marketing company this past year and it’s been awesome helping small businesses in NYC get started / grow.