OUR TEAM
Jeany Shipley
Jeany (Geanni), co-founder partner of DEI Talent, is Brazilian-Canadian with many years experience in the entertainment industry, having started as a model in Brazil when she was 15 years old and continued it after she moved to Canada, leading her to work as an actor, and now Talent Agent.
As a woman of colour, and parent to two queer children she understands the importance of diversity, tolerance and opportunities for BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, people with diverse abilities, and other minorities. She is committed to working towards greater representation across the industry in British Columbia. Jeany is proud to support local community causes, she sat on the Board of Directors of Connections Place, for three years. She is a member of the 100+ Women Who Care Victoria. As a Chartered Professional Accountant, CPA, CGA, Jeany plays a prominent role on the business operations and finance side of DEI Talent.
She is a wife, mother to two queer teenagers, a Shi-Tzu cross named Cinnamon, and a pandemic cat named Bean.
Partner - Talent Agent
Melissa Morimoto
Partner - Talent Agent
Melissa, co-founder partner of DEI Talent, started her career as an international model in Brazil and has worked in Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. While working as a model, she realized that eating disorders and body image issues were pervasive in the industry. As a result of these experiences she decided to study Nutrition. After getting her Master's Degree in Sciences of Nutrition, she then moved to Victoria with her family.
While settling into life in Canada, Melissa pursued her career as a model, actor and content creator in Victoria, allowing her to develop expertise in providing digital experiences that make an impact.
After two years immersed in these industries here in Victoria, she decided to get behind the scenes to start the agency with Jeany.
Melissa is half Brazilian and half Japanese, mother to two beautiful daughters, wife, nutritionist, and PhD candidate.
Rachel Pettigrew
Technology and Social Media Coordinator
Rachel is a UVic student who has grown up exploring Vancouver Island. When she is not working or studying, she enjoys creating various makeup looks, going out with friends, baking, social media, and travelling. In the future, she hopes to travel all over the world. Rachel is very passionate about mental health and hopes to one day work in the mental health field, either doing research or in a clinical setting. Furthermore, another of Rachel’s passions is playing and listening to music. Her playlist is a curated collection that spans genres and eras. Music fuels her creative process and often other artistic endeavours. Rachel is happy to have the opportunity to work with DEI Talent and has learned a lot so far during her time here.
Jenny
Jenny is the person who makes our lives easier, ensuring that our financial books are up to date. She takes care of everything bookkeeping. Jenny gets really excited when we throw an agency accounting challenge her way. A talent agency accounting is not black and white as most would think.
Jenny gets even more excited over spreadsheets and she is very adept at creating them. She actually Excel at them (pun intended!). To her there is nothing quite so satisfying as a well developed spreadsheet.
In her own words “she is not all weird”. She sings in a band and love performing. She loves camping with her husband and riding their electric bikes out for brunch on Sundays.