Many successful people reinvented themselves in a later period in their lives. Jeff Bezos worked on Wall Street before he reinvented himself and started Amazon. Sara Blakely sold office supplies before she started Spanx. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was a WWE wrestler before he became a successful actor and filmmaker. Arnold Schwarzenegger went from a bodybuilder, to an actor to a Governor. McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was a milkshake-device salesman before starting the McDonalds franchise in his 50s.
How does one reinvent themselves? What hurdles have to be overcome to take life in a new direction? How do you overcome those challenges? How do you ignore the naysayers? How do you push through the paralyzing fear?
In this series called "Second Chapters; How I Reinvented Myself In The Second Chapter Of My Life " we are interviewing successful people who reinvented themselves in a second chapter in life, to share their story and help empower others.
As a part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jacqui de Jong, an emerging actress and model uniquely distinguished by her background as a high-powered Wall Street corporate lawyer. Blending Old Hollywood glamour with a bold, maximalist style, Jacqui is redefining what it means to walk the line between intellect and creativity. Her journey, from growing up on a farm in Australia to earning a scholarship and graduating from Cambridge University in the UK, exemplifies her relentless drive and refusal to conform. Now, Jacqui’s making waves in the acting and modeling worlds, breaking stereotypes and proving that women can excel in multiple fields while staying true to their passions. Known for her daring fashion choices, Jacqui is redefining modern femininity with her unapologetic attitude, encouraging others to stay true to their dreams, take risks, and never settle.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up on a cattle farm in East Gippsland, Australia, riding motorbikes, swimming in lagoons and rearing baby calves. My favorite thing was to run out into the oat paddock in the middle of a summer rainstorm and feel the rain on my face and the fresh, lush oat leaves against my hands and legs.
Can you please give us your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Be fearless in pursuit of what sets your soul on fire” by Jennifer Lee. I saw this quote painted on the side of a building in New York City one day while I was in an Uber. It was at that very moment that I decided to only make decisions that genuinely make me happy, and so I decided to explore my creative passions.
You have been blessed with much success. In your opinion, what are the top three qualities that you possess that have helped you accomplish so much? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
Strong Work Ethic—I have worked really hard all my life to be where I am, which has involved a lot of sacrifices. Hard work every day consistently builds up to create something magical. See the beauty in the little steps along the way. When I left home at 13 years old to attend boarding school, each day since that moment I studied as hard as I possibly could because I always knew that one day it would all pay off. And now I’m here in New York City living the best life ever.
Spontaneity—I live in the moment, day by day, moment to moment. I don’t think about the future because the only reality is the present. We can misplace so much energy worrying about things that don’t exist, and so I find that zoning into the present moment, with an overarching belief that everything always works out, means that the energy I was once directing into worrying about random future events is re-directed to absorbing the lushness of the moment. I gain an enormous amount of peace from living like this, and also an ability to go with the flow of life and embrace spontaneous opportunities.
Humor—Life is fun and I try not to take it too seriously. I love to laugh and joke with my sister Isla de Jong, who is the funniest person ever. When you can see the joy in every moment, I find that I become less focused on “outcomes” or “results”. When I started exploring modeling, I decided to go to some castings for fun and with no expectations, which then led me to being cast in ten shows. “Absolutely nothing can make me any happier than I am right now”—Sara Landon.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about ‘Second Chapters’. Can you tell our readers about your career experience before your Second Chapter?
Growing up I was always very academic. I left home at 13 years old to attend a prestigious boarding school four hours away from the family farm. After that point, I won scholarship after scholarship to study law in Australia and at Cambridge University in the UK. I then moved to New York City and passed the bar exam and am a qualified attorney. Intellectually, this side of my life is very fulfilling and I am proud of all that I have achieved.
And how did you “reinvent yourself” in your Second Chapter?
I decided to explore modeling and acting. I grew up nurturing an extensive Barbie doll collection, which piqued my love of fashion. One day I woke up and decided to spontaneously attend some New York Fashion Week castings, and ended up getting cast in 10 shows without any experience. From that point, an avalanche of experiences have unfolded and every day is magical.
Can you tell us about the specific trigger that made you decide that you were going to “take the plunge” and make your huge transition?
It was really just a desire to try something new for the thrill, the rush, the fun. Whenever I drive or walk past cemeteries, I think to myself “make sure you do everything you ever want to try”, because life is short, and we are here to create a beautiful existence rich with a tapestry of experience.
What did you do to discover that you had a new skillset inside of you that you haven't been maximizing? How did you find that and how did you ultimately overcome the barriers to help manifest those powers?
The skillset I had inside me that I was not maximizing was confidence. Despite all my accolades and academic success, I lacked confidence. It was through modeling, and in fact, training to walk like a model that I really learned how to look people in the eye. I work with my runway coach in New York City, Da’rrell Belton, which has really changed my life. Acting is teaching me to say what I really want to say and use my real voice. One of the barriers I am overcoming is accepting that you will disappoint people through being truthful, and in doing so, you can find out who your real friends are.
How are things going with this new initiative? We would love to hear some specific examples or stories.
Everything is unfolding in perfect divine timing. I have walked in three seasons of New York Fashion Week and am collaborating with some independent brands. I am also working on some short film projects.
Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My mother Glennys, who has always nurtured my academic and creative passions. In my first year at boarding school I won a lot of academic prizes, and received a lot of recognition. So when I returned home to the farm for the holidays my mother wrote an article about me and took a photo, and had the article published in the local newspaper. Those little actions showed that she really loved and believed in me and I remember feeling so special.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started in this new direction?
I was invited to meet Martin Scorsese at a lunch for his film Killers of the Flower Moon. It was a very cool experience and he was so kind when I asked for a photo with him.
Did you ever struggle with believing in yourself? If so, how did you overcome that limiting belief about yourself? Can you share a story or example?
I think when you have achieved a lot of success in one area of your life it can be difficult to try to pivot and seek fulfillment in other areas. External pressures can worsen this. If you are thinking about trying something, those thoughts are in your mind for a reason and are very real, and you need to act on them. If ever I have doubt I remind myself of why I started pursuing my goal in the first place.
In my own work I usually encourage my clients to ask for support before they embark on something new. How did you create your support system before you moved to your new chapter?
I didn’t wait for the support, I took action and then the support came to me. In fact, the best part about my journey thus far has been the beautiful people I have met: astrologists, models, photographers, actors, accent coaches—all kinds of wonderful souls with unique backgrounds and stories. I think when you stay true to what makes you happy, the right people will find you in perfect divine timing.
Starting a new chapter usually means getting out of your comfort zone, how did you do that? Can you share a story or example of that?
Walking in Runway 7 New York Fashion Week without any training was a major comfort zone disrupter. I had these mega high platform shoes and I was wearing a beautiful blue cape ensemble designed by Valery Ebner. I remember feeling so awkward and out of place. In that moment, I just reminded myself that I was doing this for fun—without any emphasis on the outcome—which shifted my mindset from “oh, I need to walk well and successfully” to “oh who cares, I look cool, I’m wearing a fabulous outfit and I’m about to have so much fun, all these people came to see me”. The result is that I relaxed, my confidence shone through, which lent my walk fluidity and ease.
14. What are your "5 things I wish someone told me before I started" and why? Please share a story or example for each.
1 . Learn how to focus and work on building focus—I think building up concentration and applying it to a certain task is a critical skill when exploring new pursuits. For me, because I had studied a lot and been through many high-stress exam situations, I always thought that I had “good” concentration. However, when I started testing this in terms of learning about my body and how to relax for modeling and acting, I realized that perhaps my concentration required some extra work.
2 . Roll with what life is going to give you—Don’t stay stuck to a rigid plan. When something doesn’t align to your plan, there’s always a blessing behind it. It’s a redirection and you can own it and embrace it to create something so much better than the original plan.
3 . Always see the inner child in others—In exploring my creative pursuits, you get to meet so many new people and sometimes it is a wonderful experience, but sometimes not. In those latter moments, I have learned to not react, but instead try to always see the inner child in others. This has allowed to have patience, which in turn has led to some beautiful friendships.
4 . Live in the moment—I love my life and not knowing what is going to happen next. There is an exhilarating, thrilling freedom when life just unfolds, it happens.
5 . Embrace rejection—A lot of people around you, when you first start your journey, will tell you to “go for your dreams”, until you actually do. It can be very lonely when you start to succeed. Don’t see rejection from certain friends and family as negative things, but again, redirection. The right people will find you.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
It would be encouraging people to find their inner power in their minds to create the life that they want.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them. :-)
I would love to meet Isla Fisher! Confessions of a Shopaholic is one of my favorite movies in the world. My sister (who is also called Isla) and I have so many inside jokes and regularly trade quotes from this movie still. Isla Fisher has always inspired me by how effortlessly she blends classiness and comedy in her acting.
17. How can our readers further follow your work online?
Website: www.jacqudejong.com
Instagram: @jacquibabydejong
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
