John Economou had a dream; he wanted to become a world famous model. At just 19 he made the incredibly bold decision to drop out of college, leave home and pursue his ambition of fame and fortune.

John moved straight to California, but he found things tough when he arrived. He had nowhere to stay and no money to his name. On his first night he found himself shelter on a venice beach. All he had with him was a blanket, toothbrush and his trusty skateboard.

Economou explained his choice to move in an interview with the Daily Mail, he said: “I modelled my whole life locally in Milwaukee, then as I got older I knew that L.A. was the place to be and Milwaukee didn’t offer what I wanted… so I packed up a bag and moved to L.A. to live the hippie life, no rules, no nothing, just living free.”

Economou claims to have loved his life on the sand, but one day he got the opportunity of a lifetime and seized it with both hands. After going for a swim in the ocean he decided to chill out on the beach for a while. He happened to be sat relatively near to models Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid who were eating a picnic.

He said: “I was just chilling on the beach and watching the water, minding my own business and then I see these people come over. They looked all presentable and good looking… Then I saw seagulls swarming around the girls because they brought the food out and I started walking over there to shoo them away.”

The young looker obviously caught the attention of Jenner and Hadid. He began to tell them his tale of moving to the big city and it must have effected the two girls as they introduced him to modelling agent, Ashleah Gonzalez. She was part of the team at Two Management who launched the career of Jenner years earlier.

Even though John now has a very well payed contract with the agency he has stayed true to his hippie roots and still sleeps on the beach. He explains:

‘I like saying I’m on an adventure… My parents thought it was a little odd that I wanted to come and live the hippie lifestyle out here but they knew I’m super independent and super driven and motivated so they support me and believe in me. So I took that and worked my magic and made stuff happen.’

We wish John all the best in his career. It just goes to show that if you put yourself out there amazing things can happen.