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Bo from Montenegro

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The Sunday Series is published weekly to share inspiring stories about our creative partners

Welcome to the 8th edition of The Sunday Series.

We created this weekly publication to celebrate our creative partners during Covid-19. We feel it is important to present the incredible talent we are honored to work with in our industry.

Our world is evolving, adapting, changing. As artists, we often look back for inspiration to propel us forward to new creative journeys. The Sunday Series is just that: a moment to pause, reflect, and talk with one another. Artist to artist. Collaborator to collaborator. Person to person.

This week, fashion Model and social influencer Bo Janicic shares stories of her childhood in Montenegro, love of ballet and how she was scouted during college on the streets of London (beware: usually a scam).

Campaigns and catwalks for Gucci, Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana soon followed.

Now residing in LA with her fiancé and chocolate lab Maxx, Bo keeps it real during Covid by cooking family recipes and researching her Chapter 2 post-quarantine.

A real treat, Bo also opens up her family album with heart-warming pictures of her childhood and her Grandma in Montenegro.

On a personal note, my mom (Judy) and her twin sister (Jody) turn 82 tomorrow, Monday, May 4. So I, personally, dedicate this Sunday Series to them. They inspire me daily.

I love you, Mama and Aunt Jody, forever and ever. Happy Birthday.

Bo Janicic 5th Street East

Channeling Golden Glow with Model & Social Influencer Bo Janicic

Bo from Montenegro

I first met Bo in the lobby of The London West Hollywood one year ago. She was there for a casting I was holding for an upcoming lifestyle shoot. I thanked her for coming, and we headed up to the casting suite to do what you do in a casting: gauge if the model embodies the vision and can bring the story to life.

In truth, I’ve never been completely comfortable with the process, although I’ve led castings many times.

I never want to hurt anyone’s feelings, and as a former dancer, I understand the nerves it takes to put yourself on the line to book work in front of complete strangers.

Today, in our social media obsessed society, where “photoshoots” are made with handhelds and “models” pose with duck lips and maximized backsides (thank you, Kim K.), you loose sight of the art of true modeling.

Good models – and Bo’s a really, really, REALLY good one – are artists

Models must be smart enough to assess what casting and art directors are looking for, nail it with an expression, walk, turn, or gesture, and be “comfortable” being stared at and talked about.

And they do this day after day. Year after year.

Solid Sense of Self

Models must accept rejection, not take it personally, and stay grounded with a rock solid sense of self.

Because beauty is subjective, even if you are blessed to have legs a mile long like Bo and a face that make people swoon with admiration mixed with awe.

Personality is Key

Bo booked the job not only for her beauty but for her genuine warmth, engaging smile, and positive attitude. So when we arrived on set a month later in May 2019, I dove in with questions, starting with Where are you from?

Fave Place on Earth

Bo said Montenegro, one of my most favorite places on earth. I knew it was going to be a fun shoot together. And it was awesome.

Now, a year later, in the midst of something so unpredictable and unfathomable such as Covid-19, I’m truly thrilled Bo agreed to a Sunday Series Interview to share her special brand of Slavic Sunshine.

Because we can’t travel to Montenegro (and Greece) right now, we can at least dream about them…on a Sunday

Models Bo Janicic (right) with Chad Masters for Vintage House in Yountville, Napa Valley.

(Note: Bo’s wearing my shades AND scarf 🥰 It was a fun shoot.)

Hotel Ownership Group: Brookfield Property Group. Ownership Representative + Production Art Direction by Brookfield Hospitality Vice President Jennifer Rutkowski.  Hair by Stormy B. Make-up by Beth Level. Wardrobe by Farasha. Still Photography by Boone Rodriguez. Still & Video Production by 5th Street East. Production Assistant by Beth JohnstonBrand by Gensler Lifestyle Brand.

The Sunday Interview

Anna Cheshire Levitan: Welcome to the Sunday Series! So happy you said yes to my DM request on Insta. What was it like to grow up in Montenegro?

Bo Janicic: Thank you for having me. I was born in a little town called Bar, a very small town with a large port (on the Adriatic Sea) in southern Montenegro.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: I’ve been to Montenegro! We took the road south from Dubrovnik and crossed the Bay of Kotor (Montenegro) on a ferry…I remember looking down at the little silvery fish – it’s so beautiful.

Bo Janicic:  So beautiful, and by boat is the best way to see Montenegro.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: Describe Bar.

Bo Janicic: A simple life. I loved it growing up there because it was very neighborhoody. All the kids from the building would come out, and one mom would watch ten kids running around, throwing rocks, screaming, shouting or whatever we did. It was a very free childhood in that way. Very lovely.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: Are your parents Montenegrin?

Bo Janicic: All the way back, baby. My brother did 23 & Me, and it was all Yugoslavian – maybe a little bit of Greek.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: What did your parents do?

Bo Janicic: Mom was an economist, and dad was in shipping, cargo logistics. We spent that first part of our childhood in Bar then Dad got other work opportunities. Because of the economy at that time, it was better to go abroad. So we ended up moving around a bit until we came to Greece and settled in Glyfada, a suburb of Athens. I lived there until I was 18 and went off to university.

Bo Janicic at her family home in Montenegro.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: From Montenegro to Greece – best of both worlds. Do you feel yourself to be a bit Greek?

Bo Janicic: Greece is such a big part of my identity, as I relate to being Greek with Serbian blood. I loved growing up there.

Bo Janicic for The Sunday Series by 5th Street East

(L) Bo Janicic on the islands of Paros and (R) Mykonos, Greece. Janicic’s family moved from Montenegro to Greece for her father’s work when Bo was around 8 years old. 

Anna Cheshire Levitan: You mentioned on our shoot that you studied ballet as a young girl.

Bo Janicic: Yes! Mom said I would try to mimic ballerinas at a young age. There were no ballet schools in Bar so my mom would always try to think How do I get my daughter to a dance school? Do we go to Belgrade? It wasn’t until we moved to Greece that I started dancing religiously.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: How long did you take ballet?

Bo Janicic: Eleven years. A long time!

Bo Janicic for 5th Street East The Sunday Series

(L) Bo Janicic lacing up her pointe shoes. Bo studied dance for eleven years (R) Bo’s first global campaign for Trussardi Eyewear.

Scouted on the Streets of London

Anna Cheshire Levitan: Take us from ballet to becoming a model.

Bo Janicic: I attended the British school in Athens so I ended up in the UK at Kingston University to study politics and sociology, my major/minor. In my first year, I was scouted on the streets of London. It was a bit of a scam. They would stop girls. Try to take your picture. Try to make you pay for the picture. It ended up paying off because I signed with a big agency.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: Did you leave the University?

Bo Janicic: No, I was very committed to getting my bachelor’s degree so I stayed. When I graduated (after three years), I moved to central London and started modeling full-time.

Maxx and Bo Janicic

Maxx and Bo Jancici

One Test Shoot & The Rest is History

Anna Cheshire Levitan:  What was your big break in London?

Bo Janicic: Funny enough, the first job I ever did as a model was a test shoot with some Italian photographer, and I ended up becoming the face of Trussardi Eyewear. I think my mom bought like 800 magazines because the ad was everywhere globally.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: How did you get to the US?

“There was one opportunity to shoot for Steven Meisel in the US, I think for DKNY, and I couldn’t get here because I didn’t have a visa. That was a super disappointing day, but it began the journey to find an agency to sign with in the US.” – Bo Janicic

Anna Cheshire Levitan: You eventually signed and landed in LA? How would you describe this market.

Bo Janicic: Less editorial and less runway than in London. At that point the e-comm space was starting to blossom so that opened a different door for everyone. I ended up doing a lot of local e-comm campaigns for LA brands and delving into the TV commercial and acting world. Which as we all know is prominent in La La Land.

Bo Janicic in Paris for The Sunday Series by 5th Street East

Model and Social Influencer Bo Janicic in Paris on a shoot for the clothing brand In The Mood For Love.

Insta w a Sense of Humor (+ No Duck Lips)

Anna Cheshire Levitan: I really like your Instagram. You have a POV and sense of humor. No duck lips, my pet peeve. Lot’s of cute pics of Maxx!

Bo Janicic: (laughing) I’m not twenty years old. In this day and age, if I were twenty years old, maybe I would do the duck lips thing, but I try not to take myself too seriously.

“Maxx living his best life and also a few images where he is tortured by me and forced to be a model dog.”  – Bo Janicic

Holistic Beauty

Anna Cheshire Levitan: So fast forward post-Covid. What’s next? What are you dreaming up during quarantine?

Bo Janicic: I’ve thought about this a lot. The holistic beauty industry has really stemmed my interest, now more than ever. I would love to create a body care range. Something raw, organic, cold-pressed, with oil from Zimbabwe. No artificial fillers. I’m enjoying the research process.

Anna Cheshire Levitan: Dreamy and sign me up! How else are you staying sane and grounded day-to-day?

Bo Janicic: Yoga. Hikes with Maxx. And COOKING!

Anna Cheshire Levitan:  I’ve got a lot of friends who are foodies, love cooking (and one who is writing a cookbook during quarantine). Please share some family recipes on The Sunday Series.


Bo’s Fave Family Recipes

“This is a delicious simple Greek recipe, that you will find in most tavernas if you go to Greece. It is typically an appetizer and usually fried but I prefer this baked version. You will find this version in some more modern or fusion Greek restaurants. It is fairly straightforward to make, and may I add, absolutely and utterly satisfying! I am including this recipe because feta cheese is a staple part of the Greek diet, and god forbid anyone lives without it!!” – Bo J.

 “Feta saganaki me meli” – Baked feta with honey

Ingredients:

  •  Authentic Greek feta cheese (I love the Trader Joe’s brand funny enough)
  • 1 phyllo sheet
  • 1-2 teaspoons of honey
  • 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon of Greek extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
  2. In the meantime, toast sesame seeds for one minute or so. Make sure to move them around or “shale pan” so as not to burn them. Do not overdo it. Give them a golden glow.
  3. Carefully spread phyllo sheet, and brush olive oil evenly.
  4. Place the feta in the middle bottom of the phyllo and fold the sides over. Then fold the cheese over until it is wrapped in and you have used up the phyllo.
  5. Brush the outside of the now “packed feta” with olive oil and place it, with the folded side on the bottom, on a baking tray or pan.
  6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes but ensure to keep an eye on it, depending on how quickly your oven heats up.
  7. Remove from oven and drizzle your honey and the sesame seeds. Serve immediately and enjoy!

 

Feta saganaki me meli – Baked feta with honey

Grandma’s Proja (Cornbread with Cheese)

“This is a typical Slavic recipe that my mom used to make for us when we were little. I have to be honest and say I have never attempted it but I simply had to include it in here because it is delicious. You can bake this as cupcakes or in a regular baking tray or whatever shape your heart desires. Again, yet another culture that enjoys cheese products very much. This is best served with some Greek yogurt (Fage Total brand cannot go wrong) or Kefir if you eat that sort of a thing!” – Bo J.

Proja – Corn Bread with Cheese

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups of white corn flour
  • 3/4 cups of white cheese (feta)
  • 1 cup oil (olive is great!)
  • 2 glasses of sparkling water
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons of salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 420 Fahrenheit
  2. Mix all the ingredients, using a whisk, in a large bowl.
  3. Oil or butter your tray or use baking paper. Pour your dough inside carefully.
  4. Bake on 420 Fahrenheit for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to not let over bake.
  5. Let cool for a bit and serve.

Proja

Proja – Corn Bread with Cheese


BO’s SUNDAY ALBUM

(L) Bo Janicic as a baby with her Grandmother Milica in Montenegro. (C) Bo’s mom, Senka, at her brother’s wedding. (B) Senka, Bo’s mom, as a little girl in Montenegro. 

(R) “My brother, Milos, before he was a serious young lad working in finance he was tortured by me!” (L) “Dad and I on his ship. When I was very young my dad used to be a Captain on cargo ships so this was my first ever trip to Greece age 2 in Thessaloniki.” – Bo J.

“Lastly, I love this picture of Maxx and me because it is at his first ever shoot which happened to be for US Vogue, shot by Steven Meisel, funny enough.” – Bo J.

 

Sunday Short

Short musings worth sharing

This week, while on one of our many family walks together with Beacon, our adorable cockapoo puppy, our son Joe (20 & home from college), posed a question to the four of us: what kind of bird would you be if you could be a bird…(Hunter said a hummingbird – perfect. Joe, a snowy owl, again perfect. Rich, an eagle – of course.)

I said a cardinal 

Two days later, we woke up to the sweetest singing in our backyard.

A cardinal couple flying around one of Rich’s citrus trees, and inside, this is what we found…

Be well this week.

From our family to yours. 

And Happy Birthday, Mom and Aunt Jody 

xo

(L) Judy Webb Cheshire (Anna Cheshire Levitan’s mom) and (R) Jody Webb Custer. High School Graduation 1956 in Staunton, Virginia. Identical twins born 8 weeks premature on May 4, 1938 in Columbia, South Carolina. The Webb Twins turn 82 tomorrow, Monday, May 4, 2020. Cherish Family.

The Sunday Series is published weekly by 5th Street East to celebrate, highlight and share inspiring stories about our creative partners and collaborators

Stay Happy

See you soon

5th Street East