Meet Jessica Monroe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Monroe.

Hi Jessica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Youngsville N.C. I always had dreams of modeling and especially acting at a very young age. I would submit for the next Disney child star on the Disney Channel but never got a callback. By the time I was nine, I fell in love with basketball and that became my first love.

In middle school, I made the team but there was a play with my favorite teacher directing that I wanted to audition for. The audition was strictly improv and I amazed myself at how well I performed. I landed the leading role. Juggling learning lines and keeping up with games was too much for me so I chose to give the role to the understudy. In high school, I strictly focused on sports and obtained a full scholarship to play basketball at UNC Asheville. In college, I had a few extra hours to pick some classes I was interested and you already know, I was looking at acting. I had a wonderful acting professor. I fell in love all over again with the art. At least this time, acting was penciled out in my day so it would interfere with basketball. When I graduated and moved back home, I told myself, “this is MY time to do what I wanted to do”. I received my degree and that’s all my parents wanted before venturing on the unbeaten path. I started looking on Craigslist, Facebook, everything to find gigs or casting calls to get started. I landed my first show in Raleigh at Solas. It was a great experience and I wanted more. At these fashion shows, I would attend I networked with everyone from the hairstylist to volunteers to obtain more information on the industry and local scenes.

From there, photographers reach out to me because of my look. After about seven years, I wasn’t signed with an agency and gave up trying to do it on a professional level until I found a tumor on my thyroid. I had it removed and it was benign, thank God. That experience propelled me to give it another go and do as much in my power to get signed. You only live once so don’t give up on your dreams, right? About a year later, I started modeling again and became really good friends with a photographer, Terrance Jones, that saw potential in me and wanted to help me reach my goals. We took amazing pictures together in different photography genres. One day he sent me a link to sign up for a Burt’s Bees casting call. I didn’t think it was legit because it wasn’t through an agency but by my surprise, it was legit. I was called back and was attending my first campaign shoot. There, I would network with everyone and there was one stylist that snapped my picture when I wasn’t looking and sent it off to one of her friends at an agency. Within the span of a week, I had two of the top agencies wanting me to sign. I did sign to one of them and I love my agent to this day. Right now, I’m working on doing more acting stuff. I’ve teamed up a company called Eaze (/ˈēzē/) Day Ent. where we would shoot short films anywhere from horror to PTSD awareness. They gave me an opportunity to showcase my range. That’s pretty much in a nutshell, my story as of now. I’m hoping to get back to big film eventually whether it’s extra work again or a speaking role!

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?
Not really, I had a cancer scare before I was really signed that propelled me to give it my all to reach my goals.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My full-time job is a Documentation Control Specialist. I really like this role because as a part-time graphic designer, I love details and being as accurate as possible. I work for a start-up called Titan Medical where they develop surgical robotics. This hit home for me because I had to go under to have a tumor removed from my thyroid.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Never let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.

Contact Info:

• Email: JESSICA.MONROE10@GMAIL.COM
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_jesslovely/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/J.Stallion

Image Credits
Ernesto Javier Photography Terrence Jones Photography J “Slim” Robertson Cherie Lynne Preston Magnum Justin Jacobs Jessica Bratton Aubyn Photography