Check Out Neha Mangipudi’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Neha Mangipudi.

Hi Neha, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Acting is something I was always passionate about from an early age. I hadn’t really done anything about it until quarantine hit. I was awkward and not very popular in high school. With a billion insecurities, my confidence was at an all-time low. When Covid hit, I thought about changing something. I got into fitness with home workouts and cardio to lose the extra fat I had, which eventually led to a couple of eating disorders. Through that time I started a long-distance relationship. I had learned so much in gaining my physical strength back and learning the actual truth about fitness and the key to staying consistent and trusting the process. This realization poured a sense of discipline into my mind.

That is when I decided to take acting seriously and concentrate on it. I attended a couple of competitions, and classes, and signed up with a few agencies. I had made great progress with my WhatsApp and Pokémon commercials. Throughout this process, I learned so much about the industry that I felt like I was in a good place. However, my heart took a turn when the person I loved most backed out on me and left. This spurred an episode in me, my family and I never thought I would go through. A bipolar episode hit, almost like how rue in euphoria went crazy and was abusive towards her family, that was me. I ran away from home, almost got kicked out, and broke a strong relationship with my family. It all went downhill right when I thought it was going up. My heart being ripped apart by someone was hands down the hardest thing I’ve had to go through. I still have not recovered from it and don’t think I ever will, it’s a pain that will stay with me and help me grow as a woman, I regret nothing from it. If anything it actually boosted my confidence in realizing what I actually deserve.

This situation set my standards high, and my priorities straight. I have never been so disciplined in my life. It taught me how to enjoy life and balance it with goals still determined to achieve. I have met such like-minded people, continue to grow my opportunities with Hollywood and Bollywood, and now have gained the physical and mental strength to achieve what I was meant to. Today I stand consistent with my training and audition a couple of times a week. It’s been a great little journey and has only just hit the tip of the iceberg. Still a lot more left to achieve and uncover about myself.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road was piled with rocks and annoying speed bumps. The one regret I have is not starting earlier. Though acting is for all ages, it’s something I enjoy and want to do for the rest of my life and as long as I can. Starting off it was difficult to figure out where to begin. I had started off with an agency here in Scottsdale, Arizona, without prior knowledge of how to go about things in the industry. I had my trust in the agency that had eventually put me down. I have received little to no auditions in the past three years that I was signed with them. They were an agency that would not let me go, even by terminating the contract, which angered and frustrated me and my family, but I was not willing to give up and let the situation go. I decided to take things into my own hands and start submitting myself to casting sites. I have done my research on other actors and how they made it into the industry. This helped me with my confidence because most of them didn’t really need an agent. After a while of submitting audition, after audition, I finally got the role for a worldwide, WhatsApp commercial. After the contract time with my prior agent had ended, I signed with another who had great reviews from friends that have been with them. However, that was not the end of the road.

A few months later I met with an emotional situation. I had lost someone I felt so much for, but not only did I lose this person, this person had hurt me mentally, and emotionally, which caused me to lose track of my progress, lose my discipline, and fall back. It took a while to pick myself back up, I had to take it day by day, and it wasn’t easy.

They were days that were way better than others. However, every day I still maintained to go to the gym, to keep up with my training, and to audition the best I could, which eventually led to me realizing my worth, and what I actually deserve, and that situation helped me set my priorities and boost my confidence into pushing me forward to succeed for better in the future.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a working actress. Acting is a career goal that has been set very early on in my life. Through social media, I have presented myself as an actress, model, singer, and athlete. Something I’m most proud of is my mindset. It was an asset that I had learned from my parents and life experiences. I come from a family of business and performance. Being raised in an environment like this caused me to automatically think differently than others. When someone enjoys their life working a 9-5, my mind honestly just loops in confusion. The world is a bit botched and I see it. Though some may enjoy that every day, work till you die life. I prefer something more exciting. Another thing I am most proud of is my determination and stubbornness while maintaining my humility. Being stubborn can be helpful in some ways, though it has its cons by being stubborn for the wrong things, the pros would be being stubborn for the right things. When I set my mind on accomplishing something, it will be accomplished. I wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle and achieve a certain body physique, I wanted to travel to London and Panama, and I wanted to advance my skills in order to receive bigger and better opportunities.

All of those goals and objectives, plus more have been completed. There are times when I speak on this and feel a little too overconfident. However, I do have my insecurities and I do feel like there’s so much more to learn from them, and who knows, maybe what I know isn’t even right. Something that sets me, apart from others, is the fact that I’m still at school. School is very valuable in my culture and in my family, and I feel like that is something that needs to be accomplished for them. It’s definitely not easy being busy with acting, traveling for specific roles, auditioning, and training at the gym, while attempting to complete my BA. I think that a balanced lifestyle that includes a determination to accomplish certain objectives, hanging out with friends, and also spending time with family is the right life and it can be hard with college and everything else going on. However, I feel like that is what stands out in me, the fact that I can separate them and concentrate on each one while I’m working on it.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I think the best mentor for anyone is a mentor that had achieved what you want to achieve. My parents have been my mentors and are the people I can turn to when personal situations arise. Their ways have always worked. It took a while for me to understand why they say some things. However, for every wrong turn I made, they had warned me and predicted the outcome, which always ended up coming true. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone you physically know. I have a few I look up to and follow with what they say, Prakash Raj, Viola D’avis, Denzel Washington, John C. Maxwell, Simon Sinek, and many more.

I listen to podcasts, and interviews, and study what they say. I take into account every detail and try to place it into my life. My mom has been a huge role model for me. Knowing what she has gone through in her past yet still stands strong with a smile on her face and more love to give than ever. She has not only shown me what true love really is by sticking with me through my ups and down but she is the reason I’m still going strong in the industry. Pushing me every step of the way. I know, with her on my side, that’s all the support I need.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neha_mangipudi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nehamangipudi/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nehamangipudi8458

Image Credits
Colby Wilkerson and Chioke Hart-Kelly