Sonya Jess doesn’t just take stunning photos—she crafts entire moods. In this candid interview, the Ukrainian-born model and creator talks about the rituals that ground her, the “wish map” magic behind her success, and why she never leaves the house without looking her best. From early struggles with body image to the electric pull of house music and sunset beaches, Sonya shares a refreshingly honest take on self-expression, ambition, and the quiet power of creating your own atmosphere.
I don’t know if other people really overlook this or not, but I really believe in a force of a wish. No kidding. Every year I do a wish map (I hope this is how it’s called in English). Basically, I visualize what I truly want in every aspect of life to happen and create a board with pictures from the internet that corresponds to the dreams the most. It must be printed! It can’t live in your phone or laptop. And the more detailed - the better!
It may sound girly or stupid, but listen — it works!!! 90% of wishes I did last year already become a reality! And so a lesson I learned from this is DO NOT BE AFRAID TO DREAM BIG. And you have to MEAN IT. Like you have to want it with every fiber of your soul, otherwise it won’t work. Otherwise you don’t really want it that bad.
Oooo, that’s a good one! Well, to start I don’t like looking at my old photos that much! Haha! I changed A LOT! My face looks completely different with zero plastic surgeries. Mostly thanks to the braces I had — my lower half of the face is completely new thanks to them!
But coming back to your question… I guess my smile didn’t change. And so the energy behind this smile is the same. I always try to look positively on the world and learning to accept it as is. Key word is learning lol! So yeah, I’d say positivity is the same.
Honestly, I don’t set a scene much. Sometimes I can do a photoshoot in the bushes as long as I like how they look! So often it’s me finding a place I personally enjoy and I think the photo might be good here. Or say beaches — It’s always a win there haha!
I like shooting in bikini or swimwear, or in anything that highlights my body shape. As anyone can notice in my instagram, I never do photoshoots or even stories without my hair done, light make up and best clothes. well, I NEVER walk outside if I don’t look my best. I guess this is also a part of my Ukrainian culture. You will never ever find people in pajamas outside there!
Most of the music I listen to has no words, cause it’s electronic like house. But when it comes to an artist, probably Lana Del Ray hits some level beyond my comprehension. Something very deep like she gets it, you know? She does feel it! Not that I’m in that mood too often ha! But when I am, there is no one else who can sing emotions better.
Well, sometimes there are those rare house tracks that given the right conditions also teleport me to another dimension, but they are very rare unfortunately. They require too meny things to happen simultaneously like having the right people nearby sharing the moment, or beautiful view, like breathtaking, you know? Now that I’m saying this, I realize I need more moments like this!
Walking! The best thing to disconnect from the chaos of everyday life (especially social media). And grounding is a very good word to describe what it is. Because spending hours in social media or working on content really make you live in another world. It may sound weird when I say it, but this is really how it feels. And turning off the phone and just going outside returns you back on earth. Like every girl you see in Instagram is PERFECT. And it makes me think I’m not good enough. But when I go outside, I remember again that social media is fake haha.
Also gym. If I spend a day without a physical activity of some kind, I feel worse in all senses. So at least walking a treadmill up the hill or stairmaster is a must. This is the kind of things I learned through experience and no matter how tired I am, I WANT it. Cause I know how good I feel after. There is a joke saying: “There are two kind of people: those who like to rest after gym, and those who like to rest instead of gym”😄😄
That I cook and clean! And I cook veeeery tasty, you can trust me. I don’t believe in feminism in the form it became now and I think a woman should cook and clean. This is the base. Everything else the woman is, is built on top of it, if you will.
And I love this! I do it not because I have to or because someone told me, or because cruel society enforces this mindset… This is all bs! There is nothing comparable with getting home that is sparkling clean and welcoming and smells like lasagna! This coziness is what woman brings to the home.
And I’m proud of it! Most of my instagram saved posts are healthy recipes I want to try (I don’t believe veganism is healthy. so there is always meat in my recipes)
Oh, I wish I could travel Africa and Latin America! Sometimes the weight of the world is too big, and when it gets heavy, those are my first thoughts. When it’s really overwhelming, I just want to go home, you know? Become a little child again and hide in bed at my parents' house… But those moments are super rare.
Most of the stress is manageable, and some simple dumb doomscrolling for 30 minutes can recharge me enough to keep going. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a place to recharge in the US yet. I’ve only been here four months, so I’m still pretty new and haven’t seen much (I mean, I’ve seen seven states already, but just briefly).
Step by step, I’ll be working on rebuilding the routine I know helps—like a full day at a spa. That really worked when I was living in Thailand for seven months. Absolute calmness. Add a massage and I’ll forget about everything, haha!
Well, I love attention! Who doesn’t, right? Instagram specifically through photos and videos makes me feel like I’m beautiful, loved and needed. It’s a constant confirmation and it’s very addictive. If some photo doesn’t have that many likes it feels like I’m not beautiful. 🙂
So it’s hard to distinguish between model and person, because I am a model. This is my persona. I can’t imagine myself without modeling anymore.
I honestly don’t know what words cannot capture that camera can, but since we are talking honestly — camera allows me to catch the most beautiful moments. I usually do like between 50 and 100 shots so I can select the best one among them. It is what it is, this is how it works!
Oh my, oh my, oh my! We would have a veeeery long conversation lol! A very eye-opening one. You see, I feel like I was growing up blind and was figuring out this world all alone by myself in the dark. And little by little I gained some knowledge and experience that helped my guide myself. Cause life is hard!
I had to unlearn a TON of things. At some point I was overweight and then extremely underweight at that age. Everything I knew about nutrition was false. I still have some problems with my health because of it. Like stretch marks on the skin at some places, the elasticity and so on. Maaan, I would talk for 24 hours without stopping, that’s for sure.
I learned a lot through trial and error and made painful mistakes. But maybe I had to go through that to learn it? Maybe a 16 year old me wouldn’t listen to me older if there was no pain associated. So I wouldn’t be me then I guess. Well, it’s a very philosophical question… But still I think I would do everything to help her and share everything I know: sport, nutrition, human behavior, relationship…
I dream about having a perfect body. Like flawless! And I know it’s possible. It’s tremendous amount of hard work and dedication, but absolutely possible! If someone else can - I can too. And I don’t believe in “genetics” in this sense, I believe everything is possible! There is a good saying from Richard Bach: “We are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it come true.”
By the way, it’s not public, but I used to draw a lot when I was a teenager. I wanted to became an artist and was spending all my free time learning from one famous painter from my city. He would spend all his money he had for paints and was living in the attic. Just like in movies! I kinda don’t have time for it now or just lying to myself that I don’t have it. I’m afraid to start doing it again, cause it feels I’m too old for it.
