We live in an age where influencers stand as advocates of different societal issues. Influencers have the power to compel people to see and support their cause or advocacies. One of the rising influencers today is Leilani Angelique Sheffey, more commonly known as Lani or Lei.
Leilani Angelique Sheffey, or Lani, is a strong and independent young woman. She loves being an outgoing person but still has a hint of shyness within her. However, Leilani possesses the countenance of being friendly to all overall. Even when Lani was just about six or seven years old, she had been dreaming about building her brand and had grown up doing pageants for about three years. Being skillful and gifted in the industry allowed her to work, but she wanted her mother to be a stay-at-home mom, which wasn’t an option then.
The passionate young woman is out to conquer the world and help others do the same. Lani or Lei is a very competitive young woman and is very confident in how she projects herself to the public. The young influencer believes in her ability to contribute significantly to the table. However, she knows that being an influencer is not merely having the best social media page or the most trending video. Instead, being an influencer requires so much depth and quality of life.
“I went to college to become an English writer and to possibly teach writing and reading to the less fortunate,” recalls the influencer. “That’s always been my goal, and I like to present it whenever I meet with any company.” While Lani admits that she has dreams for herself, she does not see them as a hindrance to helping others reach their dreams. Lani is a lover of the stories of people. She finds meaning and purpose in knowing the stories behind their gaze. Lani went to school to study creative writing, and during her free time, she would write short stories and story ideas that possessed the quality to be used by either Disney, Dreamworks or Sony.
Lani believes that her ability to engage in multiple different hobbies and generate ideas could help with her career and helps teach others to make significant contributions to their company. Lani grew up in Houston but was born in Seattle, which explains her perspective in life, a little mix of southern hospitality and northwestern free spirit. She believes in the saying that “if you can dream it, you can do it.”
As Lani grows her reach and following, she hopes to attract more African American women, the entire LGBTQ+ community and the African community. In addition, she is looking forward to meeting more darker-skinned women within the African American and LGBTQ+ communities.
She has been building her brand and name since she was fifteen to become a model. Despite the slight setback from COVID, she has continued to pursue her goal and fight for it. For the young influencer, the primary motivation comes from not only proving people wrong about having to know someone within the industry or having money to become a model. She believes there is more to modeling and being an influencer than having a pretty face; it is about hard work, dedication, and confidence.
