The Spark: Livia Pillmann Takes Healing Global

Livia Pullmann Photographed by Nick Tamposi

“Multi-Hyphenate” takes new form in Livia Pillmann, who is adamant in adding “humanitarian” prominently to her laundry list of occupations.

“Doing something with purpose and that is soulful is more important to me than to look pretty. I became a model, but I never felt aligned with it. For me, it was an opportunity to travel the world, while exploring the depth I sought in life. Through the opportunity modeling afforded me, I was able to explore different cultures and also the spiritual world of healing. I also wrote, directed, and produced a short film. It was a really fun, new challenge for me. I’m writing another feature script, which is also tied into human trafficking. I feel very centered in what I’m doing right now.”

Pillmann, who is also fully embodied in careers as an actress and model (both very successfully), is putting her global network to use in platforming young women in need, specifically a miraculous group of Nepalese girls.

“When I went to Nepal on this humanitarian mission, I was so stunned by their stories. I was talking to this one girl— she was fifteen years old. She was forced to get married at thirteen. She moved in with her new family. Every day they woke her up at 4 a.m. and said ‘You have to go work.’ They made her a slave. She had to go to a construction site and carry heavy rocks at thirteen. She had three miscarriages, because her husband was sexually abusing her at the same time. She tried to go back home, but her parents didn’t have enough money to support her, so they sent her back to her abusive husband. I interviewed her, this warrior spirit. I ended up shooting a documentary on my phone. They don’t have much of a voice, so I knew it was my responsibility to tell her story.

She eventually ran away, ending up at this shelter for young girls. She got back her life. She now works at a bakery and is finishing school. I asked her where her bakery was and told her I’d see her there tomorrow. I went the next day, and she was crying, because no one in her life had ever shown up for her. This documentary came about as a very spontaneous project, but they are stories that need to be told. I’m really committed to helping them any way that I can.”

Livia Pullmann Photographed by Nick Tamposi

As we speak, Pillmann is weekending in her home country, Hungary, where she resided outside of Budapest, the cosmopolitan capital in which she now spends her short vacation.

“I was born and raised in a very small village with, like, 500 people in the middle of nowhere. I was fifteen when I was here in Budapest with my sister and I was scouted on the subway. They asked, ‘Hey, do you want to be a model?’ That was the fifth time. They kept coming back, so I was like, ‘Okay, fine. I’ll try it.’ I was playing soccer with the boys— not a girly-girl at all. I was a tomboy. Everything happened really fast. My first trip to Paris was when I was sixteen. I started modeling, and that’s how I explored the world. I have seen a lot of cultures. A lot of different people and situations. Growing up in a very safe environment in Hungary, then stepping out into the world and seeing ‘Oh my god. People live like this.’ It really opened up my mind to see what was happening globally.”

Following her Hungarian holiday, Pillmann is set to begin filming her most recent feature in Rome— in which she plays a Gia-esque starlet with a glittery past and a dark present— alongside Kevin Spacey and Eric Roberts. Always geared for a new challenge, acting is where Livia found her peace and her passion.

“It was kind of meant to be for me to arrive in LA. I was living in New York and modeling. I wanted to take an acting class, just for fun. In New York, they told me ‘The class is full. You can try LA.’ And they hang up on me,” she laughs. “So next thing I know, I get to LA and I’m like, ‘This is pretty nice!’ My friends in New York always said, ‘LA is so fake, why are you going there? You’re going to hate it!’ I went to see for myself and I loved it.

I stumbled upon acting, which was a really fun adventure for me, because there is more humanity in it. I love acting and storytelling. Telling stories that other people can’t tell is something by which I’m really inspired.”

Add to the list of Pillmann’s artillery: yogi and; healer.

“While I was modeling, I got into meditation and healing modalities— the contrast of the shallow and the deep. I went to India, did all the classes, and became a meditation teacher, through which I learned this relaxation technique called Access Bars. I wanted to contribute to these girls— not just financially, or through visiting— but I wanted to provide them with something that would lead to a better future. I taught one hundred girls in Nepal this relaxation technique that allows you to release trauma without having to talk about it. I’m going back this year, and I had the idea of teaching them this technique to the point where they are certified. One of the main problems is that they can’t miss school. Many of these girls work at massage parlors, really grim places, but there’s no way out. One girl was supporting her brother, sister, and mother. If she quit the massage parlor, her whole family would collapse. I thought I would get them certified and give them this opportunity to become independent.

“I posted a video about Access Bars, and received so many messages about others wanting to teach Access Bars around the world, you know, Mexico City, wherever it may be. That small action was able to create such a spark.”

Pillmann’s initial introduction to the young Nepalese women was through Protection4Kids, a nonprofit organization based in Italy for which she is an ambassador.

“Protection4Kids assists in emergency situations, like in Africa, or in Greece with the refugee crisis. We are focusing on helping kids in need. Nepal is one area to which we contribute, so another goal of the documentary is raising funds for Protection4Kids.

In Africa, we were assisting at a school where the bathroom was a five-minute walk down the road, and along this road there were human traffickers. We asked how much the construction of a bathroom would be, and it was $1,000 euros— $1,000 euros that would save hundreds of young children. With that money, we were able to make a massive impact.”

When Pillmann returns to Nepal later this year, once again showing up for the girls she’s guiding to a brighter future, she’ll haul with her a proper crew and equipment to document the journeys of these incredible young women. The project’s profits, once published, will feed back into the program to provide a sustainable lifestyle for Nepalese children.

“I want the profits of this documentary to go to these kids in Nepal, to build a school or something that will benefit them. There was a 13 year old girl holding a baby that was her own. She had no resources to have an abortion of any kind, but now she has a child that also requires resources. After that, I came back to LA and heard people complain about the smallest problems. When you put things in perspective, life could be so much harder. People asked if it was sad to be in Nepal when I returned, and, for me, it was happiness. I was able to be there for those girls. Just my presence communicated, ‘I care for you.’ Being the conduit between each of the worlds I work between is my greatest passion.”

Pillmann’s drive to ripple change does not end with herself.

“Coming from a modeling background, I’ve traveled the world. In every city, luckily, I have some connections. It’s amazing how, through people I’ve met, I’ve been able to cultivate a platform where I can give more, as well as gather like minded people in order to reach my goal. It’s a blessing. I’m thinking about beginning my own foundation, Spark a Light. It came to me a few days ago, that everywhere I go— globally— I could spark a light with these connections to help as many kids in need as possible.”

Livia Pullmann Photographed by Nick Tamposi

Written by Delaney Willet

Photographed by Nick Tamposi

Makeup: Marianne Tamposi at The Dragons Management