Monet the Free
LIFE EXPLORER. MODEL. ACTRESS. DOPE ASS COUSIN.
After many miskept appointments, I finally made good on my word and called Monet. I had been ambitiously making promises my future self couldn't keep. Future self as in the version of me that would be equipped to interview someone with a 13 hr time difference. Monet was in Thailand, and she wasn’t on vacation; she lived there. Five months ago, she decided it was time for an atmosphere shift. Admittedly the move was bigger and bolder than any prior, but East Asia was always in the cards. And anyone who knows her knew once she willed it, it would happen. South Philly born and Upper Darby raised, my cousin was no stranger to moving and adapting. She’d been bouncing around with family since age 7 or so following the loss of her mother and first moved out of her hometown to Harlem NYC, when she was 20 years old.
The move to Harlem wasn’t planned and it wasn’t very far from Philly but it was an environment change nonetheless. Her creative background in modeling enabled her to meet and build relationships with people who’d be instrumental to her journey. One of those connections allowed her a place to stay in NY while odd jobs and gigs kept her afloat. Those jobs were the catalyst to making a friend that would influence her next few moves. A simple road trip to Denver turned into a gateway to the “City of Angels” and with only $40 in her pocket, she made the fateful decision to stay.
“NO ONE WAS COMING TO SAVE ME, SO I JUST SAID, FUCK IT, I JUST LIVE HERE NOW. "
Monet did what she did best and adapted. Her first stop was the LGBT center to take advantage of the support services they offer to youth who find themselves homeless or disenfranchised. They provided her with the necessary paperwork that allowed her to get a state ID and find work. She started looking for ways to network and build new relationships and ironically stumbled across one she had previously formed. A familiar face and familiar Philly spirit was exactly what she needed to firmly plant herself in L.A. With a place to stay and assistance with her job search she made retail her bread and butter. With the job secured she was able to get her driver's license. Her leap of faith was paying off, things were good and stable. Now with all her necessities met it was time for the social and romantic part.
With an assist from Bumble, she shot her shot with a young woman who would go on to be the supporting character in her first serious west coast love story. Her story would take place in Beverly Hills and last 8 months. But heartbreak would not impede upon her journey. As I mentioned earlier, Monet is a creative and a model. She was already somewhat acquainted with the industry, and now she was living in the heart of it. Once she found her tribe, she found it to be a smoother transition than she had previously experienced. The gatekeeping wasn’t as aggressive, the hands were open and ready to help. She started auditioning and quickly became booked and busy.
Modeling and acting was the natural progression of things for her. Monet was a theater kid that used ANTM as free modeling lessons in angles and poses. Doing photoshoots with friends, experimenting with thrifted goods, and pushing the boundaries with androgyny fashions was the perfect prerequisite . She didn’t intend to move to LA, but it was where she belonged.
I asked Monet what kind of mindset allows her to take big risks and she told me she simply lets her spirit be free. “ I want to live a life where I’m like yeah, I did that. I enjoyed that and did all the things that my heart wanted to do.”
She speaks with such sureness and conviction in spite of the challenges and constraints often forced on black women. To thrive is typically reserved for the privileged but my cousin confronts and embarrasses the statistics assigned to her.
“I WANT TO FEEL ACCOMPLISHED, I DON’T JUST WANT TO DO THE REGULAR SHIT.”
Admittedly lack of understanding and support from those who can’t see the vision can be discouraging but she trusts herself to let her dreams and a little delusion guide her towards path.
The trek to Thailand was an initial shock but of no real surprise to me. I knew the U.S. couldn’t continue to contain the wanderer that is Monet. So she headed to East Asia. She thought up a place she could go where she could stretch her coin and simultaneously cross off of her bucket list and Thailand fit the bill. The climate wasn’t too hard of a transition since LA temps weren’t too far off from the Thai sun. She bought a one-way ticket and researched her accommodations options . Airbnb gets a bad rep in the States, and deservedly so. The fees are too high and feel like highway robbery. But Airbnb abroad is your ally and friend. She reserved an Airbnb for a month and was able to plot her next steps. She managed to make a pit stop in Bali because why not? Once she arrived back in Thailand she decided a student visa would be her best bet. So what does that process look like for an American? It looks like providing evidence of housing and a good reason for your stay. The Airbnb host who she previously stayed with, allowed her to come back and provided her with a lease. They acted as co-signers and verified her reason for staying. She signed up to study Thai at a local school, which seemed to make filling out her visa paperwork a breeze. After handing in her passport for emigration, paying for 6 months of school, and patiently waiting two weeks she was set. It wasn’t long before she’d be getting $7 dollar massages, walking along the beach, and working out of coffee shops. And it looked as good as it sounded via IG stories @Monetallen_.
As you should know from reading this far, Monet is not afraid to mingle. She found the group “Black in Phuket '' from one of her classmates, which helped her tap in with whose its and what's what around Thailand. She plans to start a travel blog documenting her experiences on her website monetallen.me and I will be turning my notifications on for the announcement.
I wanted to end our interview with a direct piece of advice for our readers by asking what we all want to know. What have all these experiences taught her, on her journey thus far? “ To be patient and do the work that needs to be done. There’s not going to be any shortcuts. When you feel negative or you find yourself down, try to remember it’s all temporary.”
“You either live the life you want to live or be miserable living the life you don’t want to live. Either way, it’s gonna be hard”
“Life is hard in general, so you have to pick the kind of struggle you want. One of them is rewarding.” She told me the month of May will be reserved for meditating on her next move. She follows the path of least resistance and trusts the signs that tell her when it’s time to move on and where she’ll be moving on to. The self-proclaimed queen of pivoting makes it look easy, but the reality is far removed from it. Dreams cost money, and as we learned from the writer's and actors' strikes, screen time doesn’t automatically translate to a heavy purse which can make you question your place. But how else can you find where you belong if you don’t arrive in the first place?
The path hasn’t been linear between unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances but taking steps sideways in order to move forward has helped her remain resilient, adventurous and most of all aspirational for those of us who need a visual of true freedom.
