Today we’d like to introduce you to Aurora Amara.
Hi Aurora, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Denver, Colorado. The city, mountains and lakes made it a beautiful place to start life and I am very grateful for this! My mom had me in gymnastics and pageants when I was little. I attended a modeling school and modeling expo in Texas at one point too! But my modeling career didn’t quite kick off until after high school. One of my best friends and I decided to launch a jewelry company called Bella Luna 1 year after I graduated.
I was feeling a lot of pressure at that time to do great things like my family always expected of me. After all, I had tested into a “Gifted and Talented” school from 3rd grade to 8th. It was disappointing for them that I wasn’t going down the path of being a doctor or even going to college at all! It was very apparent to me that there was the “normal” way to do things and then there was the way I wanted to do things.
I felt a lot of resentment toward traditional education systems for a long time and to this day I still feel a certain type of way when people ask if I’m going to school or what do I do for work like those are the most important things about a person. I understand now that this is just the programming that our society has been built on. But it has always given me even more of a reason to thrive in the freedom of the lifestyle that I have created for myself and do my best to inspire others to live a life that makes themselves happy, even if it means disappointing those closest to you.
The jewelry company came and went, it didn’t quite turn out as successful as we had hoped. It was one of my first big “failures” that really taught me a lot and I am still learning from it! When my business partner decided to go to college, I supported her decision. I intended on keeping the business running without her but I realized how much I had relied on her for a lot of things.
Some parts of my life became unstable and I realized I needed to build my skills up. Skills that could support me from anywhere. Bella Luna had given me a strong modeling portfolio, and a platform on Instagram that made modeling feel almost second nature. But that wasn’t enough. I love art and technology so I thought, why don’t I start learning about graphic design? I started taking some online courses. My second time attending a college course online. It was horribly boring! There have been a lot of times in my life where I have felt lost, confused and not sure what to do next. This was one of them. I experimented a lot with myself, different ways of being, ways of portraying myself. I felt very sad about my first business venture turning out to be a failure. I love to read and I look up to people who are persistent at nurturing their success. I knew that failure is just part of the equation when it comes to success, so I had to keep trying. A lot of my journey has been about gratitude and being present. There has been a lot of struggle and confusion but these two ideas are my rocks, my roots that help me stand tall, even when I feel weak or insecure. I’m still experimenting. Every day I wake up and try to remind myself that it’s a new day and a fresh start, affirm all the ways I am great and life is a blessing.
I have been in Texas for only a couple of months now since my partner and I decided to be digital nomads. I am still taking online courses, leaning toward digital arts and illustration now. Thank goodness for YouTube and Skillshare and all of the people who share their knowledge in creative and engaging ways on the internet! I’m carving my path as a model and my goal is to be internationally published and really make a name for myself in the modeling world. When the modeling days are over, hopefully my digital art side of things will be more pronounced! I definitely have more goals for the future but those are all being figured out still. At the end of the day, I just want to make the most of every day and help as many people as possible do the same.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t felt very smooth for the most part! Of course, there are times when it feels like everything is going right, but every challenge is an opportunity for growth! Some of my challenges have been things that seem out of my control, like the way other people act or being rejected when it comes to brand work. But it comes down on focusing on what is important which is doing my best to improve myself day by day and to just keep going. Keep finding reasons to feel grateful. Being hard on myself and putting too much pressure on myself to be great or comparing myself to others who seem to have everything can be a struggle too. I just have to remember to recenter myself. Awareness is a very important aspect of growth, if we aren’t aware of what we are giving attention to and how it’s making us feel, how can we change that?
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been a fan of Abraham Hicks for a long time, if you’re familiar with her you’ll know that she speaks a lot about the law of attraction and manifestation. About living life in a way where you understand that you are a magnet for everything you desire when you match the frequency of those desires. What I’m getting at is that life has so much more to do with mindset than circumstance and one of my main goals in my “work” whether I am modeling, making jewelry, creating digital art, or publishing books is to fuel myself and others with a mindset of gratitude. I believe my work and purpose is to live a life I love and inspire others to do the same.
I love expressing myself creatively. Lately, my biggest creative outlet has been modeling. I shoot many different genres as a freelance model. I book my own gigs and get my own brand deals. I love networking with other creatives wherever I go, Instagram and Model Mayhem have been huge help in this and I’m super grateful for the opportunities I’ve had and will have with all the amazing artists out there!! One of my favorite things about modeling and photography in general is that every single shot is different. Before shoots, it is normal to create a mood board to generate the feel for a shoot and to find poses or scenarios to replicate. But no matter how hard someone tries to get a shot that looks exactly the same as another shot, it’s impossible. Everyone has a different body one way or another and as time goes on so does the world, never a moment passes exactly the same as the last. Once I realized this, I realized there is room for everyone in this world. Space for all of our successes. And it doesn’t matter how different we are, when it comes down to it we really are just the same. We are all one. One of this world’s many beautiful paradoxes.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I’m not happy all the time! Everyone has emotions and expresses them differently. I like to present myself in a way that is very bubbly and “positive” most of the time. And I have been called out for being preachy about positivity. But I do have hardships to overcome like everyone else and I’m not perfect nor do I think I am. I am passionate about feeling good so that’s the message I like to put out there. That doesn’t mean I feel good all the time. But I do believe that our souls and bodies are trying to talk to us when we don’t feel good or something feels off and that those are the times for introspection and spending time with oneself.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/AuroraAmara
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aurora_amara_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010595767814
Image Credits
Sara Kane, Twice Twice, Shoot Bobby, Art is You, Kyler Knuckson, Danny Singh, JBS1 Photography, Rick Gallina
