Francis Mitchell is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans forcing Francis and her family to relocate and they moved to Dallas, Texas. Francis grew up in a two-parent household with my mother and stepfather. As a child her dreams were to become a singer and dancer. In overall she wanted to become an entertainer. In school she was on dance team, drill team, and was also a cheerleader. Watching entertainers on television, inspired Francis to the point to where she would repeat and do what she saw them do.
AMPS: What or who influenced you to become a model?
Francis: I would say my family, because growing up I had a slim figure. People would always tell me that I should become a model, because of how slim I was. I think a lot of it came from my ex-husband, because I dealt with a lot of mental abuse. It was mostly towards the end of our relationship. He said things to try to make me believe that I wasn’t good enough to do it or I wasn’t pretty enough, and I knew that wasn’t true. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do anything that I put my mind to, and I just went for it. The first networking event that I went to I was noticed, by a company called Slaya and Natalie Diaz reached out to me, and I was in a modeling show the very next day. And that spoke a lot. It was a reinsurance to me that people would try to bring you down and tell you negative things to make you feel like you can’t peruse your goals and dreams, and I proved it wrong.
AMPS: How do you balance being a mom and your career?
Francis: It’s a struggle sometimes, and it’s not easy considering I am a single mom. My kids are having to go through the separation and going back and forth between two households. They are currently home schooling. Trying to balance their home schooling, and working can be challenging, and I’m trying to balance my own educational courses, molding, acting, and everything. And it’s total is a struggle, but I’m make it happen. My kids have days where they do computer base work there are some days where we do more physical and hands on. There are different days out of the week whatever my schedule is with my day job, my molding, acting, and performing I separate those days from their school days.
AMPS: How old were you when you first started modeling, singing, and dancing, and how did it all start?
Francis: At 29 the same age that I am now. It all started towards the end of 2022. That’s when I started going to different networking events. This is something that I’m finally being able to do. I was in the ninth grade at W.T. White high school here in Dallas when I first started singing in the choir. We had an amazing choir teacher his name is Dr. Parker and I’ll never forget him. He didn’t just teach us music he taught us a lot more. I went from an alto to a soprano. Mr. Parker did these shows called showstopper Spring shows. He in coordinated acting along with the singing, so he made almost like those movies where you must sing and act. That was one of my favorite things to do and that helped me. Believe it or not I’m a shy person. I like doing things like that, but when I’m on stage in front of a lot of people I can tense up and get shy. Almost everyone at the school would show up for those shows, and those were the monuments where it helped you open a little more and you say this isn’t so bad and you just go with the flow. You do what you do, you act, dance, and sing. I remember one of my parts was acting as if I was auditioning on the American Idol. I started dancing when I was young and living in New Orleans and marching in parades. I also did it when I moved to Dallas at E.D. Walker Middle School, and now at the age of 29 was the first time that I’ve danced in real events. I did a modeling show back in February of this year, and I’ve done some extra roles in some movies, and I played a small role in a movie that they are putting a trailer together for now. These are my biggest events that I’ve done so far. Towards the end of last year, I started going to a lot of networking events. This is something that I’m coming to terms with and finally being able to do.
AMPS: What would you tell someone who’s going through or in a domestic violence situation weather it’s verbal or physical?
Francis: A lot of people think abuse is just physical, and it’s not. Abuse can be physical, mental, and verbal. I have dealt with all of those, and I just want people to know that it’s not just one it’s all three of those. If you are dealing with any of type of abuse just know that you don’t have to. There’s a way to get away from your abuser, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are hotline numbers that you can call to ask for help. When I was dealing with my situation, I could have called the police right then, but you start thinking about what would happen if you did. You start thinking about all these things that shouldn’t matter, because the only thing that should matter is you and your safety. if you can’t take care of yourself mentally, and physically, and you’re allowing this to happen how can you be healthy and be there for your kids? That’s what I had to come to terms with for me, and I went through a lot more. I didn’t tell anyone family or friends because I was more worried about them being judgmental about my relationship. Well, I finally spoke out and I got so much support than ever. You think people are going to call you stupid and ask what you were thinking and talk crap about you. I didn’t get any of that I got real support. When you finally come to terms of learning that you are worth more and that you need self-love and stop letting someone put you in a state of insecurity you’re going to be at peace. You’re going to feel so much better, and you’re going to start doing things that you thought you’ll never do, because you have more belief in yourself. When you realize that this is abuse and you don’t deserve this then you start making real changes in your life. From that point on when get into another relationship and if you start seeing the signs you’re going to already know and say to yourself that I don’t want to go back down that road no matter what they say. You’re going to keep it pushing and you’re going to learn from every incident that happened. So, I would tell anyone who’s dealing with abuse don’t be afraid to reach out, don’t be afraid to call the police or someone who makes you feel safe. Sometimes it’s hard to walk away and start over and get away from the situation, but it can be done and I’m a living testimony of it. I’m currently going through a lot as we speak, but I’m proud that I’m now drowning in those feeling of depression and abuse while trying to raise my kids and letting them see that. They see so much more happiness in me at this moment, so it’s worth getting the help and walking away.
AMPS: What projects do you have coming up that you can talk about?
Francis: I’m taking some message and therapist courses, because I’m working on starting on my own traveling massage and therapist company. These courses teach you sports massages, ludic massages, and other different things, and since I’m already in the medical field I already know a lot of this so it’s right up my alley. Even something as simple as a luxury massage. Once it’s up and running I’ll be putting that information out there.
Follow Francis: https://www.facebook.com/francis.sherri
http://instagram.com/imt_withri https://www.youtube.com/francissherri
