leopold dutrey by monsieur kay part 2 / feature interview

1. Introduce yourself . Who are you? Where are you from ?

I was born on the 31rst of January 2000 in a French family in Lyon France, before moving to Chiang Mai Thailand with my brother and sister, thanks to our dad’s job. I grew up speaking English at school, and French at home, in an international environment. In 2010. We moved to small town in Ardèche. I attended French middle school, started artistic gymnastics, piano and drama classes. I eventually dropped piano and drama classes to focus on gymnastics when I moved to Grenoble on my own to attend a competitive international high school in 2016.

There, I went from first to last of my class. My level in German was comparatively so low I was the only one to fail the B2-C1 diploma. So, summer 2017 I spent a whole month on a windy German island in the North Sea called Amrum. My German not only became excellent, I believe it changed the course of my life, because I then chose to enroll in a highly selective Franco-German apprenticeship program. It was a dual degree in Business Administration in one of France’s top universities, the University of Paris Dauphine. I turned 18, I had become France’s national champion in acrobatic gymnastics, I had my baccalaureate with “mention très bien” (GPA 4.0 or German 1.0) and I found myself in Mannheim to start my university years, where everything changed.

2. You’re a model, creator and actor ?  Tell me a bit about your background.

The truth is, at first, I really just wanted to be a model. I never thought I would become a content creator and far from me the idea that acting agencies would trust me enough to add me in their portfolio of actors. It really was a blessing, but it all started with an 18-year-old not-so-confident French boy in Mannheim that loved being in front of the camera. I would quite literally smile at the results achieved. It was so genuine. I rediscovered myself. I had pictures that could never go away. They would stick in mind like a proof that I was enough. It was like a productive way to build confidence.

April 2019, I created a new Instagram account. No friends, no family, only modeling. Today it’s over 100k. I gradually had photographers all around Germany send DMs for test shoots. September 2019, I eventually was presented to a German photographer named Tee Jot Models that coached me to take Instagram seriously. He believed I could become an Influencer. He taught all types of ways to make sure to always have something to post. He would call me and say: “what are you waiting for to post today!” or “You must tell me stuff like that! How am I supposed to know otherwise?”. It went beyond coaching; it was personal development. He knew he could get me to 100k by the end of 2020.

it took me 3 months to believe him. I had to accept not to understand, but to apply the method anyway. It was hard, but being in Germany made it easier. My parents hated me being out there. My grandma even sent me a letter manifesting her disappointments and her concerns. The weird part is that I was bold enough to keep on going. I started TikTok. I grew methodically. I reached 100k on Instagram before December 2020. Summer 2021, I signed with Max-Elmar Wischmeyer, my current agent for the DACH region at Actors Connection. That’s when I started taking acting more seriously again.

October 2021, I signed with my current global artist management named /influx. Manuel Diaz, the president of /influx knew I had to professionalize my content to really start working with big brands.

The shift in my content strategy was drastic, painful, but lucrative. I started working with Dyson, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. That’s when I became a creator.

3. What is your favorite thing about what you do?

My favorite thing is sharing something I spent time working on and see it work on social media. I enjoy creating. I enjoy the results. Especially if my family is proud of it. The result could be come back with presents for them and see their smile. The reaction and connection with people either virtually or physically are beautiful.

4. What do  you love on social media and what not ?

I love the fact you keep track of your own life and others with a real-life diary with so many ways and formats to express yourself. Don’t like posting videos? Post a picture! Hate posting pictures? You can still send a message.I don’t like the fact that you can’t control your social media exposition. Like how cool would it be if you get to choose what type of content Instagram is allowed to show you, instead of being the victim of your desires and have poor and non-intellectually stimulating experience.

5. Did you ever make any bad experiences on your channels ?

Not really. Fortunately enough.

6. What is your biggest dream career-wise?

Be entrepreneurial. Collaborate with teams. Delegate tasks that others can handle, especially if they can do them better than I can. so we can build something great.

7. Do you have any hidden talents ?

I don’t think I’m talented, honestly. There are a few things I’m pretty good at that I enjoy and can make money from. I might get talented if I focused on one thing, but I love mixing different fields too much. People say I was talented at gymnastics or languages, but I just worked hard for those skills. It was all about luck, hard work, and some key decisions. My real strengths? Being bold, a bit delusional, disciplined, and confident. I believe in myself, and that’s been super helpful.

8. If you could wish anything or do anything, what would it be?

I would play in a Netflix series.

9. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

It’s not a combination but I love crunchy Thai bamboo worms.

10. What childish thing do you still enjoy doing ?

Monkey bars. When I see a park with, I need to try them out and swing myself to furthest one away. I loved them as a child. I was the best at them at recess at CMIS (Chiang Mai International School).

11. What’s the most recent show you’ve binge watched?

What if. It was my second time watching it. I usually never rewatch shows. But that one is just one season long, and I wanted to show it to a friend.

12. What skill or talent would you most like to learn?

Piano. Sing. Music.

13. What’s the best thing you’ve got going on in your life at the moment?

Just signed with Puga Images as a mother agency for modeling to develop my career as a model and get me signed all around the world.

building an agency of my own as my work in communication strategy and strategic partnerships behind the camera expands and scales up.

14. What’s your idea of a great day?

A day where I have control of my time. Respect my time. Enjoy my free time fully. A productive day where meaningful things moved forward. A day where I created something cool. Great thoughts. Great projects.

15. What is your absolutely favorite food you’re never get tired of ?

Honestly, I love meat. I never get tired of it and I’m sad if there is no meat for lunch or dinner.

frau niqii

editor-in-chief/creative queen

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