A New Zealand woman is making waves in the modelling and film industry, and through her years of hard work and talent has become one of the most sought out young face in the community.
Sabby Jey comes from a Tamil family originally from Sri Lanka settled in New Zealand and has also established a successful venture under her name with six people in her team.
Ms Jey is a social influencer, has been the face and model for several fashion brands IN Australia, New Zealand and India and has a keen interest in the Tamil film industry, Kollywood in India. She has signed with Gail Cowan Management and has been auditioning for commercials, television, web series and films.
Sabby recently appeared in a Tamil film Karthikeyanum Kaanamal Ponna Kadhilayum, a love-story- drama now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Like many, she started her journey into the glamour world with stars in her eyes and some obvious disapprovals and apprehensions from her family but eventually strived to make her mark in the industry. She has now established herself as a newcomer in the glamour world, a young force to be reckoned with who now has even bigger dreams and aspirations for herself.
“…now I would say my parents are super proud and supportive and my family love seeing my modelling photos. The community has actually been amazing with so many of my friends and acquaintances telling me they love what I do and admire me for it,” Sabby told The Indian Weekender.
Adding to her CV besides acting and auditioning for roles on the big screen, Sabby has a list of events, shows and brands where she has been featured.
Some of her most recent and notable works include modelling for Maybelline Fit me Foundation Campaign 2019, modelling on Great Wall of China for Judy Gao Couture 2019, Key Opinion Leader for Huawei Mobile for the Huawei P30 and Nova 5T, nominated for Westpac Business Awards, and becoming one of the top South Asian influencers in New Zealand.
“I want to see my dreams come to life; they are the first things that I think about when I wake up and go to sleep.
Buzzfeed, a popular social media site named her as one of the top South Asian social media personalities to follow.
“People think I am driven, I am not, I am just impatient, and I want to see accomplish what I want for myself sooner rather than later,” Sabby asserted.
On her entrepreneurship front, Sabby has started her venture Sabby Jey Social in May 2018, a digital marketing agency with a team of six currently. She offers social media strategy, page management, web development, branding material, email marketing, copywriting and project management for digital work. She has been providing marketing services to over 25 Kiwi businesses since her start.
Trying to manage time between her passion and business- Sabby juggles the time devoted to both- making ample time for work and auditioning during day hours and pursue her passion for acting and modelling during weekends and evenings.
While in Chennai, she has met several A-list Tamil actors including her idol Vijay who she considers one of the reasons that led her to choose acting as a vocation.
Sharing her experience in Kollywood, Sabby says “It wasn’t as hard as I thought to get work or to audition for significant parts. People in the industry were very accommodating and caring, making sure to advise me and give me guidance on my career.
“Actors and directors were so humble and nice and very amused by the fact I rocked up alone to India to pursue my dreams; it doesn’t happen very often.”
Sabby asserts that although accommodating, she did go through her share of the challenges of being a newbie and accepted as a foreigner and not aware of the industry standards and practices initially.
“I do feel the acting training wasn’t as challenging there hence why I have been training in New Zealand for the past year,” Sabby said.
Sabby wants to convey some advice to budding actors and models who dream of making big in the glamour world.
“You will need the patience to wait for your break and consistent work. Hustle hard, train, pursue work in different countries, improve your skill range, take care of yourself and most of all don’t get discouraged,” Sabby added.
On shuffling between two crucial aspects of her professional life, acting/modelling and business- she said: “there is no rule book on how many careers you can have”.
Sabby is currently branding her company and have her official launch soon this year, and at the same time, she will continue to audition both in New Zealand and India while doing her modelling and influencer work.
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