Today we’d like to introduce you to Yenis Monterrey.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a bilingual actress (English-Spanish), film producer, influencer, philanthropic, entertainment writer, and blogger on vipdiscoveries.com. I love diversifying my skills and for me diversification matters because the world is changing rapidly and it’s important nowadays like in the financial principle of investment: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” just like Oprah, Kardashians and many celebrities out there.
I love learning because it makes my brain happy and keeps me positive and proactive. I’m always improving myself and reinventing myself! I love having my own blog since I have my own space to share my passion with my followers creatively by connecting, and educating. I love sharing with my readers the brands I like and at the same time earning a passive income with the affiliates.
One of my biggest passions is acting and I have had the opportunity to be with a film at the Cannes Film Festival the world’s most widely publicized and most important film festival with a worldwide impact! This is something I have done for more than a decade with TV commercials or independent films in Los Angeles and Austin.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of my biggest challenges at the beginning of my journey as an actress was my accent. Since I’m originally from Venezuela, I was more skillful about writing in English since I used to be an Attorney in my home country, but I was a little shy to speak it when I came to the US as a communication student 20 years ago. In Texas, casting directors were very particular about my accent and I always told them that my accent is my trademark just like Sophia Vergara, Salma Hayek or Penelope Cruz. I never let them put me down because I had an accent. However, I pushed myself harder to improve my accent and I really did, but in Los Angeles the industry loved my accent. Another struggle that was actually very painful to me, was that I was told once by a casting director that I was very cute but a little too dark for a Latina role. I was very surprised and I stayed away from acting for a while, because was an injustice to me. The film industry needs to change since there is a lack of colourism in the Latino community. We just saw this issue in the recent film “In The Heights” that is playing now in theaters and HBO Max, which is about a Latino neighborhood in New York that is populated by dark-skinned Latinos and afro-Latino immigrants from the Dominican Republic; however, the film used lighter colored Latinos that didn’t reflect the majority population of the Washington Heights neighborhood.
We have only a few dark-skinned Latinas in Hollywood, but they aren’t identify as Latinas, but black such as Zoe Saldana, Rosario Dawson, Gina Torres, or Tessa Thompson for example. It’s hard for dark Latinos to get roles because of the color of our skin. This issue needs to change in the near future.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been very successful as a lifestyle Influencer on Instagram @yenismonterrey for the last three and half years. During the pandemic, I gotten very booked. I pay attention to detail and write meaningful captions. I use high definition images and scout beautiful locations. I have collaborated with amazing brands from all over the world from Sweden, France, Italy, Korea and many more! I have felt very blessed to be able to be creative on a daily basis.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I usually get contacted through my agent, email or influencer platforms. Brands want to work with me over and over again! I love delivering high quality collaborations. I love communicating with brands and giving them feedback about their products.
Contact Info:
- Email: yenisask@gmail.com
- Website: https://vipdiscoveries.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yenismonterrey/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yenismonterreyblog
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Foxactress
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@yenismonterrey?lang=en
Image Credits:
Yenis Monterrey
