Five Tips to Be a Successful Fashion Model

I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of great models over the years. This Spring, I had the pleasure of working with a young model. Rachel Sargeant is a model that has natural beauty and intelligence. She is also a young lady who understands that these attributes are not enough to reach success in the fashion world. Here are five attributes that other aspiring young models can learn from her:

1. Passion: a model must be passionate. When I met Rachel, I was struck by her enthusiasm and thirst for the fashion world. Agencies and photographers want to work with models that enjoy the photographic experience and want to participate in the creative process.

2. Attitude and Commitment: Rachel has a great attitude. She is committed to the journey to be a successful model. At a young age, she understands that it's a long road to success and she has made a commitment to the journey. This includes willingness to travel and leave friends and family behind. A model must have a good attitude and be open to the photographic process. This includes being open to experimentation in order to get the right angle and the right shot. After all, it takes a lot of hard work to capture the right image and it makes a big difference for agencies to work with someone who willing and unafraid to experiment.

3. Self-confidence: as a young model, you need to have self-confidence. Successful models set goals and are not afraid to go after them with a persistent fortitude. Rachel struck me as one who is comfortable in setting goals and not afraid to go after them with a determined purpose In the world of modeling, there are a lot of models and one should consider herself lucky if she is working with someone who is helping her though the creative process.

4. Self-love: There's a lot of pressure in the fashion world from staying thin and fit to alcohol and drugs. Here is an analogy. When you board a plane, the flight attendants are required to demonstrate what to do in case the oxygen masks drop from above. The first instruction is to put your mask on first. This is especially important because if you don't take care of you first, you will not be able to focus on your fashion career. As an aspiring model, you need to put yourself in a position of power. Rachel understands the importance of resisting peer pressure including staying drug and alcohol free.

5. Self-examination and continuous education: great models are not born, they work hard at what they do. As a model, you will make mistakes, your attitude will change and you will grow. If you don't take the time to examine yourself and your attitudes along the way, you will become stagnant. Rachel impressed me by wanting to constantly learn. She politely asked what I was looking for and she delivered. She wanted to be part of the process and constantly asked "what is it that I can do better?" She was very helpful and creative, and made good suggestions I was very pleased with the end results.