An Inspired Chat with Bella Sparks of Douglasville

We recently had the chance to connect with Bella Sparks and have shared our conversation below.

Bella, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Traveling has honestly been the most fulfilling thing in my life lately. When I’m not working or modeling, it’s what I’m most focused on. I’m very grateful and blessed to have friends who love traveling just as much as I do. In the past two years alone, I’ve been to Puerto Rico, Chicago, Amsterdam, PCB, Panamá, NYC — and as I type this, I’m sitting by the pool in Aruba. A Sagittarius through and through.
Any opportunity that comes up for me to catch a flight, see a new country, or switch up the scenery, I jump at it. In my opinion, there’s nothing like being in a position to travel and experience so many different cultures and places. It genuinely fills me with such a deep sense of peace and joy. I feel like while you’re young, you should absolutely get out and see the world.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hiiii! For those of you who don’t know, my name is Bella Sparks. I’m a model, travel YouTuber, and piercer from Douglasville, Georgia. I’m a jack of many trades (master of a few) and wear many hats.
My whole life, I’ve always wondered what my career would be. I dreamed of being a marine biologist, a lawyer, an author, and even a professor. After a while, I realized—why follow just one path? There’s only one life we get, and I want to spend it doing not just one thing I love, but all of them.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I went through a lot as a little girl, and sometimes the only thing I felt I had any control over was my thoughts. There were so many times when I would find myself crying in my room, and the only thing that relieved that feeling was imagining myself in the future. I imagined a whole life for myself—everything from the countries I would visit to what I’d be doing, and even being able to express myself the way I wanted to.
Sometimes, for hours, I would picture myself on a beach somewhere with amazing friends, having the best time. I would imagine myself modeling for fun, or filling my days with things I enjoyed. It brought me so much inner peace, and sometimes it was the only thing that could calm me down.
Looking back, I definitely feel like that was a form of manifestation or even meditation, because here I am in my 20s, in a different country with amazing friends, booking shoots for when I return home. Whenever I think about my younger self, I feel so much warmth in my heart—the same warmth I felt back then when I imagined the life I have now.
It’s interesting to think about, especially when you fall down the rabbit hole of time not being linear… but that’s a whole different story. Everything Everywhere All at Once.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I feel like throughout the years—especially the more recent ones—I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that we play a big role in our own suffering, almost as much as we do in our own successes. Negative thinking and beliefs don’t do anything for you except make it harder to enjoy life and appreciate your victories.
A phrase I’ve always resonated with is, “When you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.” I heard it while watching the movie Sing a few years ago, and it stuck with me. It’s very true: when you’re at a point where you feel like you’ve exhausted all your resources, energy, and emotions, it’s important to remember that even though life feels extremely difficult and stressful in the moment, these experiences are necessary. They’re what make your successes feel even more meaningful.
I feel like the struggles are essential for character development, as well as helping you recognize the polarity between the lows and the highs.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
There was a time when I felt I had to be the same person my entire life, out of fear that any type of growth or change meant that who I had been all along was a fraud. I’m not sure why I used to feel that way, but in my mind, if I had been one person for this long, I had to be her my entire life… right?
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned and come to terms with the fact that we were never meant to stay the same version of ourselves forever—it’s actually impossible. So many life experiences are meant to change us internally for the better, and if you go through them and come out the same person, you aren’t experiencing them the way they were designed.
I’m not the same person I was five years ago, a year ago, or even six months ago. Through all of my many different eras, I have to treat each version of myself with the same tenderness as I do who I am right now. I’ve grown to love every version of who I am—or was—because without any one of them, I wouldn’t be who I am today.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
In all honesty, there have been quite a few times when I’ve tried something new and anxiety starts to fill my body, making me feel like I’m out of my depth. But in reality, all the best things in life are on the other side of that fear. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging when you feel overwhelmed, but you also need to remember that stepping outside your comfort zone is what pushes you into rooms that are better suited for you and toward opportunities that are more aligned with who you are.
You can’t be afraid to do something you’ve never done before—something that might make you feel like you’re in a little too deep. That’s usually where the growth happens.

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