This versitile blonde can go from the girl next door to
Grace Kelly-esque sophisticate with little effort. Aside from
her good looks, she has aggressively pursued her career and
is now signed by four agencies in NYC.
PM: What types of modeling have you done?
KB: Local fashion and television
PM: How did you get started in modeling?
KB: I got into modeling Januray of 2000, after taking
a class at The Learning Annex here in NYC. I met a fashion
stylist/consultant there giving a class on "How to Make $250
Being a Real People Model". From there I contacted the photographer
she worked with and had my first test shoot.
PM: How did you find pictures for mail-ins?:
KB: The fist pictures I took were professional pictures.
The stylist/consultant I worked with took care of helping
me pick my pictres and had comp cards made. I figured I would
start off with a bang if I was going to really get into modeling.
I started off with a mass mailing to about 50 agencies here
in NYC back in 2000. Just last year I went on open calls to
about 4 big agencies here in NYC. They were semi-disappointing,
since no one signed me. It was even worse when one agent gave
my portfolio a very negative critique in a very crowded waiting
room during an open call.
PM: From the time you started going to agencies, how long
did it take you to find representation?
KB: I found one agency in 2000 after I did my first
comp card mailing (about a month). In January of this year
I decided to do another mailing to see if I could expand my
agency relationships and was taken on by 3 other agencies.
PM: What was your very first paying job and how long did
it take you to get it after you found an agency?
KB: My first paying job was modeling an outfit for
Turnstylz.com on New York News Channel 4 for a feature on
the company that dealt with plus size clothing for young adults
and teens. That was in the summer of 2001.
PM: How often do you work?
KB: I get calls for open calls and casting calls frequently,
however working full time does make it hard sometimes to accept
jobs last minute.
PM: What are your long term goals in the industry?
KB: My long term goals in the industry is to work as
long as I possibly can. Like everyone, I want to make it big
and rub elbows with the stars and live in a penthouse in on
Fifth Aveneue. However, I want to be apart of the growing
awareness as long as I can even behind the scenes. I also
want to continue having fun!
PM:
Is being a plus size model as exciting as you thought it would
be?
KB: It is and isn't in a way. It is a business, just
like any other corporation. I am the CEO of Me, Inc. I hustle
to my casting calls and make sure I am on time for my assignments.
I am working on building a great reputation as a model and
as a person so that people want to work with me. That is the
business aspect of it...I think the exciting part is getting
that call saying they loved you and want to use you!
PM: What advice would you give to the aspiring/beginning
plus-size model?
KB: Just like everyone says to me, "don't give up on
it". You get depressed when the calls don't come in and you
ask yourself, "why am I doing this?". You have to keep at
it. I always remember the day that agent worked me over in
that waiting room and remember that I didn't cry then, why
should I start now???
