Okiki Podcast Episode 23: Celai West- Meet the World's Youngest Runway Model
When I first saw Celai on LinkedIn, I was blown away. She had an impressive video of her runway walk, and she was the youngest active LinkedIn user I had ever seen. She also stated she was a curly hair activist and the youngest runway model in the world! I knew I had to get to know this young lady and learn how at such a young age, she was able to make a statement about her natural beauty as a young African-American girl, rocking her natural hair and making such a huge impression on the fashion world with her personal brand.
Celai West, pronounced “sah-LAY”, is a quirky eleven year old STEMgirl who is making waves in the fashion, runway, vlogging and acting industry, all while proving you can never be too cool for school. She changed the industry standards when she became the youngest professional runway model to walk amongst an all-adult lineup in NYFW, at just ten years old. West can regularly be seen walking the runways along-side some of the best supermodels in the business.
Celai began print modeling when she was five, doing runway shows when she was six, started acting and became the CEO of her own t-shirt line, TheChattyChick.com, at seven, walked in NYFW for the first time at eight, had her first viral video at nine, earned her second viral runway video and co-authored her first book at ten. Now that she’s eleven, she will become the youngest show producer to produce a NYFW show this September with The Industry Fashion Show.
Celai has worked with major brands such as Target, Walmart, Amazon, Gap, Disney and Allstate and was the leading lady in Willy Williams’ music video “The Voodoo Song” that has been viewed over 18 million times! She also appeared in “I Am My Own Mother” which was selected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018.
Celai West was recently featured on Vogue Italia and Good Morning America, has appeared on two news channels, two talk shows, eleven magazine covers and published inside several magazine issues and newspapers. Many of her images, as well as videos, have been shared on social media in viral numbers, including two viral runway videos that have been viewed more than 25 million times collectively. Please be sure to check out her Press page.
After several unpleasant experiences with stylists who were unknowledgeable on how to style her hair while on set, Celai and her mom teamed up to create their own hair tutorials. They expected to help show styling and hair care techniques for ethnic textured hair but were pleasantly surprised to find that their videos were a hit and over six have received viral numbers.
West looks forward to continuing to break barriers while working hard in the classroom and prove that models ARE indeed smart too. Please be sure to subscribe to her blog to keep abreast of all the great things she’s up to!
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1) She was scouted at the age of 3.
2) She went from modelling in her town to getting scouted for New York Fashion Week.
3) She wants to inspire young ladies of color to embrace their natural hair.
4) She is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, texture activist, runway coach and aspiring fashion designer at the age of 10.
5) She wants to empower kids to know there is nothing they cannot do if they put their minds to it. She believes age should not hold them back from them finding their purpose.
Celai’s West Socials:
Website: http://celaiwest.com/
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http://celaiwest.com/?share=twitter&nb=1
http://celaiwest.com/?share=facebook&nb=1
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ABOUT FIYIN:
Fiyin Obayan is the founder of Okiki Consulting, where she helps business owners communicate their personal brand or company brand stories through video content, in order to communicate to their target audience.
She has been participating in video storytelling for 9 years starting with her previous Myspace Channel, and to her personal YouTube Channel. As an entrepreneur, She has learned to develop that skill for the social media and now specialized in using it for the LinkedIn platform. Through posting regular content from September 2019, She have gone from 1000 connections to 8000 connections on the platforms and gained clients and she wants to empower others to do the same.
Contact Fiyin:
Website: www.okikiconsulting.com
Email: info@okikiconsulting.com
Phone: (306)716-0324
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiyinfoluwaobayan/
Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/okiki