Her Story
About Shi
Shi Melendez has built a career in the entertainment industry since her youth, working in movies, music videos, and modeling. She hosted New York Fashion Week for two years and is a pageant queen on her third pageant. Shi Melendez enrolled in acting and modeling classes with John Casablancas, which inspired her full commitment to the industry, and completed acting classes with Mannequin Modeling Agency to build structure in her craft. She balances her professional pursuits with family life as a wife and mother of five, emphasizing mental health, positivity, and staying true to herself. Shi Melendez values patience and resilience when navigating the many faces of the industry and advises others to view rejection as growth rather than loss.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shi
01What do you attribute your success to?
Balancing beauty and parenthood has always been my number one routine. In this glamorous world of fashion, there exists a silent world of a Model Mom that's not spoken about enough. I balance my career aspirations with the demand of raising my family and raising my family the right way. But is there really a right or wrong way. As you continue discovering your family there wil always be lots of lessons to learn and journeys to walk
Modeling taught me discipline in maintaining a professional image, building a versatile portfolio, and networking. It sharpened my ability to adapt to different looks, styles, and personalities, which is valuable when transitioning into acting. Some don't realize modeling and acting go hand in hand.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received is if you get a no, it's okay, take that as growth. Take that as a constructive criticism. Don't ever beat yourself up over a no, because you may not be what they needed at that time. You may be what they need the next time. For me, it's the best advice that I've gotten in the beginning, that I've kind of always stuck with, and in my experiences, it has helped.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would definitely say my advice would be to stay strong, stay who you are, because without being who you are, you will be lost, and that is not you. You don't want to be the lost you, you want to be the real you. So I would definitely say to, be strong and continue to be yourself. Don't allow the industry to change about you.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say one of the biggest challenges would be the many, many faces of the industry, just, overall the different individuals that you work with, you have to be patient, stand your ground, be happy, not only for yourself, for others as well. And don't take no as a loss.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My values and my work and personal life that's important to me are definitely how I am when it comes to my mental health. So, if I feel like it's something that is going to stray me away from being positive and not only my entertainment setting of what I'm doing, but also in my home setting, it's a no for me. I don't move along with it, because I want to stay positive. So it's important for me to do the things that I know would be on a positive note, so that my mental could stay positive, and I'm always gonna be a good wife, a good mom, and nothing is changing my focus on that, because it is easy to lose focus when you're in the entertainment industry. I stick to things that don't allow me to lose focus on, you know, my family, which is very important to me.
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