| Some women are go-getters. Some women are | | | | starred as a young woman trying to make it in the |
| business-minded. Some women use their struggles as | | | | United States, a storyline not too far off from the rising |
| building blocks for their success. Dirrty Records | | | | star's own life. De'Leon continued to make a name for |
| Founder/Filmmaker Lunden De'Leon is all of these | | | | herself with a host of subsequent movie and television |
| things. | | | | appearances, including the NBC sitcom, Just Shoot Me! |
| According to dictionary.com, an entrepreneur is a | | | | De'Leon's biggest break, however, came in 2003 when |
| person "who organizes and manages any enterprise, | | | | she launched her very own record label, Dirrty |
| especially a business, usually with considerable initiative | | | | Records. Upon the label's success in its home of Los |
| and risk." In a perfect world, a smiling picture of the | | | | Angeles, a second branch was set up in South |
| stunning De'Leon would accompany this impressively | | | | Carolina, where the entrepreneur still calls home. With |
| apt definition. | | | | an eclectic roster of artists signed to the label, including |
| The Barbados-born, South Carolina-bred Lunden | | | | Seattle-based punk band The Slumps and the British |
| De'Leon had her fair share of ups and downs before | | | | indie rock quartet, The Fades, whose music has |
| she came to be known as the powerhouse she is | | | | already been featured on the NBC hits "Life" and |
| now. After a brief stint as a Burger King employee as | | | | "Friday Night Lights," De'Leon proved that she was an |
| a teenager, De'Leon, who was bitten by the | | | | innovative force to be reckoned with. And people took |
| entertainment bug after seeing her gospel-singer father | | | | notice. |
| perform, decided to pursue her dreams and found | | | | What followed was a mention in New York-based hip |
| herself in Hollywood, homeless and with only $200 to | | | | hop magazine The Ave, vaunting De'Leon as "one of |
| her name. | | | | the most significant women in entertainment" and in |
| Through a roommate, who would offset things in | | | | 2004, an induction into the Caribbean Hall of Fame, |
| De'Leon's life in ways she could never imagine, things | | | | alongside reggae legend Bob Marley and acting great |
| began looking up. After attending a model calling, | | | | Sidney Poitier. Since then, De'Leon, who also received |
| De'Leon, whose motivation was solely to overcome | | | | her own day (February 7) in Los Angeles as |
| her "hungry and penniless" state at the time, the | | | | proclaimed by former mayor James K. Hahn, has |
| Caribbean beauty not only booked the audition, but | | | | made sure not to rest on her laurels. The year of 2009 |
| scored a one-year modeling contract the same day. | | | | marked the inception of Palmetto Film Studios, |
| Not long thereafter, De'Leon made her small screen | | | | De'Leon's film company, which distributes between five |
| debut on the hit series Vital Signs, - filmed in Los | | | | and seven films a year. |
| Angeles, but broadcast in Germany - in which she | | | | |