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On February 14, 2013 at 3:30pm, I had a life changing meeting. The night before, I made sure I got a full night’s sleep and that I woke up feeling rested. I wore a new pair of light blue denim jeans, some turquoise flats and a solid colored turquoise tank. I curled my hair and did my makeup in my natural, everyday makeup look. I made sure I was early enough to grab a bite before walking into what was the best meeting of my career. I prayed, told myself I’d do my best and be myself, and had confidence that whatever God wanted to happen, would happen. I put it all in His hands knowing that He would show me signs if this was the right opportunity (and timing) for me. Needless to say, I walked into my meeting confident and left with the exact outcome I desired. After all, I wanted it more than anybody I know. A lot of my colleagues (photographers, models, stylists, etc.) tell me I’m one of the hardest working people they know. I’m truly a go-getter in every sense of the word. Also, one of my early quarter goals for 2013 was to build a team to maximize my opportunities for the year ahead. It feels amazing to cross it off my list! I worked SO hard to get to this point in my career. It was time. Time for the next chapter.

As you can tell from the headline of this blog entry, I am proud to announce that I am now commercially represented by one of the TOP commercial agencies in all of LA! To top it off, I was offered a contract on the spot! My favorite part is that I signed with a top agency in only TEN months of living in LA – less than a year – which is an honor because I still feel like a newbie to LA and the industry. I set a deadline for myself to land an agent by the last day of February 2013, and I made it happen weeks before my deadline! I have never been more proud of myself. I feel so accomplished. I feel like all my hard work is finally paying off. I feel unstoppable. I feel blessed beyond measure. I’m on cloud 9 – I’ve wanted this for SO long. It’s an indescribable feeling to know there’s people out there who believe in your potential and are willing to give you a chance. It’s amazing to witness a dream of yours come true right before your eyes. This is only the beginning and I truly feel like the timing is perfect. Landing an agent has been my goal since moving to LA and I did not give up on my goal, no matter the obstacles I faced along the way!

It’s true when they say “Sometimes the struggle is what makes success even sweeter”.  It wasn’t easy landing a (top) agent in LA. I had to work up to this point as nothing has ever been handed to me in my career. Throughout the process, top managers and model friends of mine have told me how difficult it is to get signed with a top agency (or an agency in general) in LA – they almost made it seem impossible. After all, LA is the most competitive market in the world when it comes to the entertainment industry – especially modeling and acting. Millions of actors, models and directors move to LA to pursue their dreams, but there’s still tons of unsigned talent. During the early years of my modeling career, I faced a lot of rejection and was told I didn’t have the right look and that I was too short. But did I let that discourage me from chasing after my dreams? Not one bit. Being an East Indian model once was a disadvantage, but has now proven to be an advantage which is a blessing because I’m very proud of my cultural background and love to represent it in a positive light in any way that I can.

To get to this chapter, it has taken many sleepless nights, failing and picking myself back up again, tears, trial and error and most importantly… it took a lot of faith and belief in myself to keep going. I had to remind myself to keep believing even when no one else did. I first stepped foot into the modeling industry at age 16, and from that point until now I’ve done everything on my own. I’ve never had an agent, manager or team supporting me. When I lived up North (up until April 2012), I was offered 6 agency contracts from top modeling/talent agencies in San Francisco. I politely declined all of them because I knew I would be relocating to LA, and boy am I glad that I waited.

Everything about the meeting, my rapport with my new agent, our conversation – everything – just felt right. I’ve learned how important it is to listen to my gut and pay attention to God’s signs and I feel very, very happy with my business decision. 2013 is an amazing year already and I can’t wait to see what else God has in store! If you’re reading this, thank you for supporting me along this journey. It hasn’t been easy, but it has proven to be worth it. Xoxo!

Check out my video below on how I lost 20 lbs in 2 months the natural and healthy way and how I’ve kept it off for almost 4 years. Subscribe to my channel for more videos on healthy eating, fitness, beauty and inspiration!

I had the best birthday ever celebrating with my family and closest friends in NorCal. I drove home from LA to celebrate with the people who mean the most to me, and it was such an amazing night. Every year I have a theme for my birthday party – one year it was “Sex and the City” so all my girls dressed up in fabulous dresses and there was pink decorations and pink drinks everywhere, the year after that it was “Peacock Party” so everyone wore the colors of a peacock and I had decorations to match as well as blue and green drinks, last year it was “Glitter and Glam” (self-explanatory) and this year it was Black & White Affair! I wanted something classic and timeless for my milestone birthday. Below are photos from my last three themed celebrations as well as photos from this year’s extravaganza! The celebration was held at my parents’ house and included homemade Thai food made by my mom, Taboo, great music and company as well as a cake with a photo from my FHM Malaysia spread which is on newsstands now! The quote from the spread said “I’m thankful for great genes – my mom still looks like she’s 30!” which I thought was very fitting for a birthday cake photo as I turn a year older! The night before my birthday, I received tearsheets from my 7 page spread in FHM Malaysia (I’ll do a separate blog post on it!) which was one of the best birthday gifts ever because I thought it was a one page feature but I had SEVEN pages! The photos look great and I love that the interview has substance and my fans can really get to know me and what I stand for. Pick it up now if you live in Malaysia! xoxo

Enjoy the photos!

Black & White Affair:

Glitter and Glam Party:

Peacock Party:

Sex and the City Themed Party:

“She’s sexy… and she knows it. Trust her to know all about her sex appeal ‘cos the LA-based but full-on Indian Ruvi Bazaz damn well knows where it lies. Where? In going all out to get what she wants. ” That’s right! I love this part of the write-up – they are definitely on point and know how much of a go-getter I am! MAXIM India has named me as their Hometown Hottie for their November 2012 issue. This is such a surreal feeling and I still can’t believe it! I’ve flipped through pages of MAXIM Magazine ever since I was a teenager and admired the beautiful models… and once I started modeling one of my main goals was to be published in it. It’s my “dream magazine” because of that reason… and the fact that India is my country makes it the best of both worlds for my first time being published in MAXIM. My first time in FHM was the India issue and same with Maxim… I love my country and my roots! I’m honored to be on the pages next to the superstars of Bollywood such as Lisa Haydon (who’s on the cover of the issue I’m in), Kareena Kapoor and many other powerful and talented women that I grew up watching in Bollywood movies. When a fan of mine told me the issue was out on newsstands in India and he saw my photo in it, I literally cried tears of happiness because one of my dreams had come true. Thank you to my amazing team for a wonderful shoot and I hope you guys enjoy the write up in the feature and get to learn a little more about me. I’ll leave you with this: “All our dreams can come true; if we have the courage to pursue them.” And this: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” I hope my accomplishment inspires you to pursue your goals and dreams full force! If I can do it, YOU can do it! Impossible is nothing. God is good ♥

Inspiring Words for Women

Self-explanatory Do the unthinkable and surprise everybody!

Happy Friday everyone! I love this quote because I believe it’s so important to wake up and thank God for being alive and healthy, for Him giving us another day and another chance to enjoy this beautiful life. So many people out there are fighting to live, so many people are ill with disease, so many people won’t get to see another day. Waking up and being healthy is such a blessing in itself and we often take it for granted. Every morning when I open my eyes I thank God for another day. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed so praise Him for each day you wake up. Enjoy your weekend

This quote reminds me of the verse from the song “Moment For Life” where Drake says: “I’m really trynna make it more than what it is, because everybody dies but not everybody lives”.

That lyric, along with this quote, are very meaningful to me and really made me question things. Too often, people go through life with such a routine approach – wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed. Do it over again for the rest of the week. 

People work, work, work just to pay the bills but what about taking the time to smell the roses and really enjoy life for what it has to offer? This was once me – I felt like life was passing me by without me actually “living” it to the fullest, and is one of the reasons that I chose to work a career that I love, one that allows me the flexibility of taking time off or a vacation when I need to and having the freedom to make my own schedule. It allows me to have time for things I am passionate about and people I care about.

So many people don’t truly “LIVE”. They just exist – it’s like they go through the motions while letting life pass them by. They go through the motions just to make ends meet, but its so important to take time for yourself, do what you love, chase your dreams and do the one thing that scares you. We only have one shot at life, live your life the way you want to and do what makes you happy! For me, “living” versus “existing” is doing what I love as a full-time career, pursuing all my dreams and passions, traveling the world and being able to support my loved ones. Leave a comment about what “living” versus “existing” means to you!

I saw this quote and wanted to share it with you guys because it was so inspirational to me! I didn’t previously know about all these failures of these now, incredibly successful people, but it just goes to show that the only way you WON’T succeed is if you let your failed attempts bring you down and halt your progress. Each of these people kept going and didn’t take no for an answer, didn’t listen to what people told them their potential was, didn’t believe the “norm” and “standards” – they ignored all of that and just went for it. The only way you can fail is if you give up… so never give up, used your failed attempts to push you to go even further, and you will achieve whatever it is you want! Impossible is nothing… the words themselves say “I’m Possible”!

As children, we all have dreams. One of mine was to be on the cover of a magazine. Little did I know, God heard my prayers quite clearly and with hard work, persistence, the support of family and friends as well as an amazing team, one of my biggest dreams has now come true. DSS Magazine is my first magazine cover ever and is internationally sold, featured next to Vogue, Vanity Fair, etc. on Zinio. DSS features exotic travel destinations, the latest gadgets , entertainment news and much more. I moved to LA only one month prior to shooting this cover. I arrived in LA in April 2012 to pursue my modeling/acting career and in May, I booked the cover for the July 2012 issue.

DSS Magazine is the most powerful lifestyle mag in Spain and one of the most powerful in Europe and is sold on all the top online newsstands all over the world – Zinio, Magzter, iKiosk and more. Not only was I blessed with the opportunity to be on the cover, but I also got a 17 page spread inside! Not 5-6 pages, 17! That’s unheard of! God is incredible.

Thank you to my amazing team: Christian, Tamanna, Laura & Alyssa for helping me reach a milestone in my career – a goal I had since the beginning. Thank you to the staff at DSS for all your hard work in production and a great interview, thank you to my family, friends and fans who continuously support and encourage me, and most importantly, thank you to God for hearing my prayers! To make my family proud & inspire others to chase their dreams is all I ever wanted. This accomplishment is proof that if you can dream it, you can do it. Don’t follow your dreams… chase them!

The day was perfect from start to finish. I slept early the night before to make sure I was well rested, got up around 6am for an 8am call time, jumped in the shower and headed to the studio in downtown LA for hair and makeup. I arrived and met up with my photographer Christian and got all settled in. Shortly after, my wardrobe stylist arrived and we began fittings – everything she pulled looking amazing, she did such a good job taking my brief inspiration for the shoot & making it her very own. Everything fit snug & the colors she chose really popped against my skin.

Once fittings were done, I got in the hair & makeup chair and began the beautifying! My MUA was actually a dear friend of mine for the past seven years but we didn’t get a chance to work together up until now! Its amazing how the stars aligned though because I was so happy I was able to get a close friend of mine on board for the cover shoot. She used an 18 hour makeup which was much needed for a day in the desert! My hair stylist did a full, voluminous wavy look on me which stayed all day through the heat – she rocked it!

After hair and makeup was complete we head out to the desert. We got some music going and startin’ rockin it out. The outfits looked great, my photographer knew all the right angles, and the raw images looked killer as we looked through them! We wrapped a little after sunset, and the drive back was so relaxing. Even though we had been in the desert for eight hours, we weren’t as tired and drained as I thought we’d be. We were all happy and full of energy all day which I loved! We listened to some slow jams on the way home & reflected on an amazing shoot. My stylist even said it was the best shoot of her career and she’s been doing this for years now! Everyone was really happy with the results and the team worked together so well which was nice since we hadn’t met before! This was definitely the best and most fun shoot of my career and I’ll never forget the experience.

Below is a collection of BTS pics as well as the final pics that made it into the spread!

If you’d like to pick up your own copy to see the ENTIRE 17 page spread, you can get it on www.zinio.com just type in “DSS Magazine” in the search box on the right side, its on stands as we speak!

Hair & makeup done! Ready to head to the desert!

Collage my MUA made from the shoot

My lovely hair stylist & I

The lighting was gorgeous... perfect day in May

In my zone