Many of you know Dovanna Pagowski from her engaging and artistic Instagram page, but did you know Dovanna was part of the infamous stardust days at Studio 54, where nothing and no one was too weird; where Bianca, Mick and Andy partied with Halston, Sinatra and Streisand?

“YOU COULD HAVE A MAN IN A WEDDING DRESS, NAMED ROLLERINA, ROLLERSKATING BACK AND FORTH ON THE DANCE FLOOR WITH A TIARA AND A WAND. THEN YOU’D HAVE PRESIDENT CARTER’S MOTHER THERE AND SOMEBODY BEHIND THE COUCH, DOING INCHES HIGH PILES OF COCAINE… IT WAS INSANE!”

Dovanna Pagowski is a reflection of her Latvian heritage and a mother who encouraged her endless curiosity about the world beyond her doorstep. Dovanna is still that 70’s, Bohemian free spirit, but she’s now a savvy, New York City realtor, plus she’s re-entered the modeling world as part of a recent Diane von Furstenberg ad campaign.

“I grew up in Michigan as a first generation American from Latvian parents. I often think about people whose families came out on the wagon trains. We didn’t do the stage coach thing. I had a very European lifestyle, growing up in a very midwestern town. We didn’t match the people around us.

“Friends would come over, and I’d say, ‘Do you want to stay for dinner, and they’d ask, ‘What are you having,’ and I’d say ‘duck,’ and they’d say, ‘I think I’ll go home,’ because they only ate hamburgers.

“I would read magazines and I remember seeing early Deborah Turbeville pictures in Vogue and thinking, “Who’s the person who took this photo in the steam room? I knew there was a bigger world out there.”

When asked about her BA in Russian from Wellesley, Dovanna says, “Don’t ask me what I got from that except I knew I should never be intimidated by people who came from different backgrounds. They had an incredible museum and art history program, and my senior year, Irving Penn, Susan Sontag and Man Ray spoke there. It opened up this whole new world for me. That’s how I got to New York. It was the summer of ’77.

“When I came to New York, I would work three lunches a week, as a waitress, and pay for everything. I just wanted to see the world and meet everybody, and I did. I did both Studio 54 and the Mudd Club, uptown and downtown, and I got to meet people who could tell me incredible stories.

“People would see me perched somewhere in Studio 54. Maybe I was wearing a crazy vintage dress with a crinoline under it. You could have a man in a wedding dress, named Rollerina, rollerskating back and forth on the dance floor with a tiara and a wand; and then you’d have President Carter’s mother there, and somebody behind the couch doing inches high piles of cocaine… It was insane!

“At that time, people of influence liked to have young people in their homes, so I used to show up at dinner parties on Park Avenue. It was so much fun. People did not care what your parents had done for a living. They just cared that you had style; that you had interesting things to say; that you were a good listener. That’s all they wanted. And in return, you got to meet the world, and that’s all I ever wanted.”

After her Studio 54 days, Dovanna’s vagabond lifestyle took her to Europe and Japan as a photographic and runway fashion model, posing for the great photographers like Richard Avedon and Robert Mapplethorpe.

“At one point I think I had keys to apartments in London, Paris, Milan and NY. You just take it with a grain of salt and realize how fleeting it is. You’re the cat’s pajamas. Everyone wants you at the party. You might be the Persian vase there and look beautiful, and they might not speak to you, but everyone wants you at the party.”

Part of what makes Dovanna Pagowski a good realtor is her keen eye for people. “People ask me what do you specialize in… what areas of town? I specialize in people. I think people are fascinating, and I bring everything back to their motivation. What motivates them to do what they do? After that, you can figure everything out.”

Like her mother, Dovanna has instilled the same curiosity and love of life in her daughter. “I tell my daughter I grew up with baseball diamonds. You grew up with the Met. Walk it like it was your mall. Get to know every room of the Met as well as the rooms of your home, and that will be your education.”