Trendsetters to Trendsetters Magazine

At first glance, the new journey that I am on is recognizable from learning from my past mistakes.

In order to make it in the modeling industry, you need to quickly learn from the mistakes one can simply make in this highly competitive and fast-paced business.

Mistakes and bad decisions can undoubtedly make or break you in this driven industry. Either you will learn from them and put the necessary preventive measures in place to avoid future ones or you don’t and might find history repeating itself. What I learned is not to be a repeat offender of lessons learned, but rather acknowledge, correct them and keep it moving!

Although modeling was something I’d always dreamed of doing as a little girl living in Denver, Colorado, it didn’t come to me through traditional means. In fact, I refer to my entrance as a stroke of luck, being in the right place and doing the right thing at the time. What I mean by a stroke of luck, is one day I was on Facebook and saw an ad that Midwest Black Hair Magazine was looking for Hair Models to feature in an upcoming publication. Now, mind you at the time I had absolutely no modeling experience other than flipping through fashion magazines at an early age. I submitted my photos to the publication and to my surprise, my photos were selected and published in their upcoming edition. Soon after, I became their feature model making the front cover four times, gracing the back cover, inside cover, centerfold, editorial spread, along with being featured on advertising campaigns for Midwest Black Hair Magazine. What was non-traditional about my start was the immediate recognition I had acquired without being affiliated with a Modeling Agency. By being a feature model for Midwest Black Hair Magazine, it helped jump set my modeling career by being featured in numerous print publications, websites, blog posts, music videos, promo model for marketing/advertising companies and landing a national ad campaign for SONIC Drive-In.

Keep in mind as a freelance model there was no modeling agency to represent me. Not being represented by a modeling agency means you are responsible for booking your own gigs, finding your own photographers, hairstylists, makeup artists, and wardrobe stylists for your photo shoots. What I found to be most challenging as a freelance model is working out the financials when landing a booking for a major gig. When you have an Agent, they negotiate the finances for you, the royalties, the particulars, and preferences and close it out by carefully reviewing the contract, paying special attention to language and clauses. Early in my career, I wasn’t being fairly compensated for the gigs that I was booking. Shifting me to sign on with a modeling agency out of Texas. However, not long after, I discovered they didn’t have my best interest at hand, so I parted ways and returned to freelance modeling. I believed, if I wanted to make it in this industry representing myself, I needed to negotiate and manage my own contracts.

I am now on a new journey in my modeling career which has taken a major turn. After doing a national ad campaign for SONIC Drive-In, I started to branch off into the world of acting. After gracing the pages of Midwest Black Hair Magazine, you can now spot me in National Geographic T.V. Miniseries The Long Road Home Episode 6 playing a Goldstar Mother and you can catch me in several commercials. I absolutely love this new journey that I find myself on. I can both model and be an actress which makes me versatile in this industry. And while like many, I’ve had my share of trials and tribulations. I am closer to the top where I am confident, I will remain for some time, all as a result of learning from my mistakes, persevering and keeping it moving.