 What's up? My name is Sonali and today I'm with Navia. Hey guys. And for Vlogmas Day 10 I thought I would do something a little bit different. We had breakfast the other day and Navia's a signed model. So we were talking about all these random things about the modeling industry that I didn't know. Yeah And she was really shocked. Yeah Because there's honestly just so many things that people don't know of so today We're gonna be busting myths about the modeling industry. You want to start with your intro Just like where you're signed at and how do you got started? Yes So I started modeling about four and a half years ago acting was my first love, but it wasn't until Junior year of high school when I was watching I used to watch the victory secret fashion show religiously There was something about that one year when I was watching it. I was like just so inspired and mesmerized and I was like I want to do this. So I just remember Since then modeling was like my dream. I have to do it. I'm gonna do it And so out of high school when I think this was like my second year of college I'm like a year younger than everyone. So I was 18 at the time. And that's when I got scouted by IMG And it was very non-traditional I didn't get scouted at a mall or like anything like that which was something that I always dreamed of But I got scouted through instagram through there. Um We love your jeans. Have you heard of that? Yeah, it's called like we love your jeans and it's their scouting page So I got scouted through that The whole process took about a month, but long story short. They told me to Get signed locally and get experience. So I got signed locally to one agency And then I switched over to another one after my contract ended So I'm currently signed with saw agency in Atlanta and I have recently got signed to cgm in Miami So I'm signing two agencies and I've been working a lot. I've definitely Learned a lot these past four and a half years. So I feel like I have a lot of advice to give So let's get into the myths. I did a little question box on my instagram And we're going to go through those. So the first question is is it really as hard as they say to get signed? Yes and no, I think it kind of depends on the person really, but um I will say for me it was hard to get signed initially. I feel like there's like the stereotype where A lot of models like get signed instantly and then their career picks off, but I think The reality of it is that you have to do a lot of research on your part And what do you mean research like research as in look up agencies locally or any agencies you're interested in and then Look at their requirements. So all agencies have requirements And they'll have like what requirements such as like height requirements. I mean like those are the main requirements I'd say got it. Um, so then they'll have They'll have like a submissions page where you can submit pictures online or you can go to like an open call Got it. So I feel like I've had to research a lot and find out which agency is good And I've like always like follow them on instagram to see if I like them or not And yeah, so I went to a few open calls and met with different agencies and then yeah, so that's how I got signed Next question is how did you get started with modeling? So when I got signed to my agency, I learned very quickly that building your book is something super important like you have to do it if you want to go far in this industry and I was basically told to Book a lot of test shoots So a lot of people think that your agency sets up these test shoots, which in a way is true But in most cases it's the model that has to reach out to photographers and set out test shoots on their own and There's a lot of money that goes into it. This is where I was shook because I didn't I guess I did if I think about it Then I did realize that you do have to pay for your own Yeah shoots about your book because when I was getting into it That's why my mom didn't want to do it because it's a lot of money up front You have to pay for the photographers. You have to pay for hair Makeup and stylus and everything. Um, but I was I like hearing it from you. I was like, oh wait, that's a thing like yeah it's insane because a lot of people assume that Every photo shoot that I post I got paid for that where it was free. Yeah and no I paid for it out of my pocket and um It's hard, but you it's something that is necessary because the better your book is the more Job opportunities you'll get right basically and so and it's not like a one-time thing This is something that a model constantly has to do like quarterly. You have to update your book So but it's an investment. So You'll get back, you know, right you'll get it back in return, right? And so Talk about tfp because as a photographer, I am in some of those facebook groups So so tfp is a term in the industry and like the modeling and photography industry And it stands for trade for print essentially both the model and the photographer are don't get paid Yeah, kind of and they both are trying to work on building their portfolio Yeah, and it's honestly a hit or miss. I've done a lot of tfps and Half the time the photos were great. I was in love with them the other half. I'm like No, like it could be better, but I mean it's it's a learning process You learn every time you have a shoe and yeah, do you do you go through their like galleries and stuff like that? I do before so there are sometimes when A photographer will directly reach out to me and I feel like with all the experience that I've had so far. I kind of Know whether their photography photography is going to benefit me or not And then sometimes my agent if she really likes someone's photography and a photographer reaches out to them then She'll kind of like set up the shoot. Got it. Yeah. Next question is do you feel pressure that you have to diet constantly? I did to be honest. I did in the beginning And I was just like always insecure with my body and I feel like that's so that's inevitable Like I feel like everyone not even models like everyone in general goes through that but as a model Um, there's just like this pressure that you always have to look good and I definitely did go on diets and it wasn't necessarily like the healthiest thing But I've learned over time That and I mean also the industry is changing. So they're not as strict about You know body image and all of that like that's definitely getting a lot better even though it's slow But I did feel pressured at one point towards the beginning of my career Um, where when I would go to shoots. I like Would be scared to eat a meal before a shoot. So I eat after and like I wouldn't necessarily starve myself but I just was very very Like annual about what I would eat and like when and you know all of that Yeah, but I think now it's gotten easier because You really just have to focus on taking care of yourself So I'm definitely not into like dieting or anything like that. It's more of a lifestyles You know, so I eat when I'm hungry and I make sure you eat healthy But it's all about balance and I feel like you just kind of It's just like an experience everyone goes through and you learn from it So speaking about meal plans someone asked do they create a meal plan for you? Do they give you like advice about what to eat like? um Yes, kind of My Agent has never done that, but I've definitely seen other agencies kind of Give advice on like healthy foods to eat and like what not to eat What stuff to stay away from which is pretty much like sugar fried foods and stuff But they do they do make it important to you know maintain a balance They don't they're not like never eat this like Like you know, so it's like It's not I don't think it's common, but I've definitely seen some agencies do that The next question I have is the modeling industry seems to be moving more to body confidence. Is this true? Yes a hundred percent I would say is still kind of slow and they could go a little faster But it's going in the right direction and I think a lot of major brands such as skims Yes, I was just thinking about yeah airy Skims airy. I mean, there's so many brands and they include everyone. They're so inclusive. I think now that All of these models look like real people. They're not super tall super skinny with like unrealistic I definitely think it's moving in the right direction. The next one is not a question It's a myth, but they said a pretty face is everything. So what I have to say about that is that's not true at all I think I've definitely gotten a lot of Dms in the past and it's like really tall beautiful people and they're like I want to model like I Everyone says I look good like I want to get into modeling and the thing that I find a little off about that is You can look really beautiful and you can have all of the Physical requirements to be a model. Yeah, but if you don't have like the will and the determination And if you're not gonna put in the hard work, right? I think like there's no point It's a lot of work. I feel like a lot of people think like oh, you just go to photo shoots all day Sit around get your hair and makeup done and pose like yeah No, it's yeah, but like it goes through like a day in the life Like if you're on a modeling job, like what's what's the hard part about it? Like I personally don't know so I would like to know so most of the time the call times are super super early Okay, so I have to wake up really early and make sure I you know my skin's looking good. I like feel good and when I get there You know hair and makeup gets done and all that and it's not as Easy as people think and like people are probably going to be annoyed at me saying that It's a lot harder and there's just a lot of effort that goes Into when you're being filmed and like being on camera and posing is not as easy as people think No, yeah, there's like especially like if you're doing it in front of like this whole team I can't imagine the pressure of like every pose having to be like perfect Yeah, and you always like most of the time you're just having to redo the same pose until they get the perfect shot And it's kind of an all day thing. You're on set for hours and half the time Like you're not eating. I mean they have food on set, but it's like you don't have the time Yeah, you don't have the time to like sit down and be like, okay, let me take a break You're always on the go And I like back to why I was saying earlier like a pretty face is everything A lot of people think like okay like I have the face for modeling and they think like if you have the face and Your career career will kick off right essentially, but no you have to put in a lot of like time and investment into your book and There's a lot of work that has to come from your side And not just like your agency or agent Okay Yeah, and it takes a I will say it takes a while to get your first modeling job or to start getting jobs It took me two years to get my first modeling job. Yeah, and it was for um, it was called prom week at america smart Okay, okay. Do you know america's? I know that. Yeah. Yeah, and so it was for like Sherry hill and all these other Designers. Yeah, so it's like my first job and I was super super excited. Yeah, but it did take me two years And it's not gonna take everyone that long So, you know for some people they can get lucky and they'll get jobs instantly, but it really depends. Yeah, you just have to make sure you're Working on your book constantly. The next myth is that modeling brings in a lot of cash instantly Not true at all. I feel like if anything you're the one like Putting in yeah a lot of money. Yeah, so this is what not a lot of people know And I didn't know this either when I first started out. So basically when you get a modeling job Um, and I will say modeling jobs do pay well So like for a day job, it can range around to like a thousand thousand to a thousand five hundred or two thousand It really depends on the market when you do get a job. It can take up to 60 or 60 to 90 days or up to six months So you don't get that money instantly and a lot of times when you're traveling even though the client Says that they'll pay for travel and stay That money like for travel and stay that has to come out of your pocket until you get reimbursed This is what I was like. What so it's yeah, and it's all it's stressful at times because like I'm just a girl living in georgia like nannying like trying to support herself and like I feel like sometimes I don't have the funds to just Book a flight in a hotel for a job the next day. Yeah, so I definitely have to you like I've I've had to turn down jobs Some like a few times I've had to turn down jobs. Yeah, unless it's like a really big opportunity like, okay I will make it work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, but um, I think it takes a while for a model to fully establish yourself And I feel like I'm not Established yet like I'm still kind of working my way up to the point where I can just like full-time model and just be able to Not have to depend on like another source of income, right the next myth is that your skin has to be perfect all the time They want you to have perfect skin But obviously easier for the photographer Sometimes you just can't control how your skin. Oh, yeah, and I used to have really bad acne And I was so insecure about it always scared While you were like getting into modeling. Um, no while I was modeling I started with acne And so I was always scared like going into photo shoots. I thought it was really unprofessional coming in with bad skin Even though I did that's not so sad. No. Yeah. I mean, that's what I thought I was like so scared to like I was just like, oh my god. I'm so sorry They probably don't think I take care of my skin, but I have done everything in my power Yeah, to make sure my skin that page and she just does not want to be right sometimes So But I've slowly learned that like that's why there's photoshop. That's why people edit, you know shoots and stuff Have you ever gotten like a really bad edited photo and you're like this doesn't look like me So many times So many times like the like from your people that you book for portfolios or from like the jobs that you get um Both but most of the time I'd say it's Just photo shoots and not from jobs. Um, and the worst part is when they Tag me in a picture that they post And I've just gotten to the point where I've just like had to untag myself Which is like Honestly kind of bad like we all have our different angles and bad photos, but There's just some photos that I just feel so disrespected. I'm like, this does not look like me. Oh my gosh Yeah, so it happens I feel like I would do that too because like your page is a representation of you Yeah, so like an agency could go to your tagged photos and you know, so that's exactly why so with modeling your social media Is kind of like your online portfolio. Yeah, let's talk about your social media when it comes to social media um Our instagrams are kind of like our online portfolio So a lot of times clients will look at our instagram and that's how we can get both jobs Yeah, so I think it's really important that you Um, if you are interested in modeling to make sure you're maintaining a good presence online and nothing You know too inappropriate or anything like that. I honestly think it's so important to like express your opinions and where you stand But aside from that, I think it's good to just keep your Instagram clean and just make it all about you. Don't you know, don't try and be someone else Just make it all about you and like to make sure you're authentic about it Now I want to ask Navya some of my own questions because I am just kind of nosy and I want to know the dirty details So I feel like she's an open book. So for sure. Let's get into it So I want to know how much you pay for a shoot like a hair Makeup the talk for a situation because honestly before you told me about all this stuff I didn't even know you had to get hair and makeup like that's so dumb to say but like no I don't know. I didn't think about it. Um, so My first shoot that I've ever paid for out of well, my mom paid for it because I was younger So it was four hundred dollars. It was a photographer the makeup hair Silas and wardrobe And do they all usually work together? Do they all come up as a package usually or do? Yes, okay So in most cases they do come as a package Um, and at the time I thought four hundred dollars was a lot little did I know? Oh And I will say it depends on the market you're in like Atlanta It's a lot smaller market compared to new york la or miami and then miami, which I recently got signed to It's a lot bigger. Right. And so I've noticed that the photography Or a photographer is there a lot pricier, but I mean their work is good. So I get it But um, I went to miami a few weeks ago in november To build my book and one of the photoshoots I paid for which honestly tells me to say I paid nine hundred fifty dollars for it everything included. Yeah, okay, so it was like it was a swimsuit on the beach Um, I got the photos were bomb though. And yeah, no, they turn up all right because her photos are so killer Every time she goes also one question about that. Um, whenever the photographer gives you the photos How many do you get back like the edited photos and also how long is the shoot? Honestly, I would say between six to ten and The amount of time a shoot takes would be an hour to two hours So nothing more than that if it's just like a shoot for your book Okay, and do you get to choose your edited photos or do they choose for you? Um, yeah, in some cases I did get to choose my photos and my agent I will send all of the photos to my agent so she can choose the ones that she thinks would be good The miami shoot that I did I got to choose the photos. So, yeah, cool What has been the highest paying job? And then what has been your favorite job? So the highest paying job so far, um, was My re my most recent job that I had to fly to miami for. Okay. Um, and do they pay for your travel? Yes, commendations. Oh, yeah, because you got to remember. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And my favorite job I Would say adidas I worked for adidas last summer And it was kind of a dream come true because that was my first actually a two favorite job So the adidas job. Um, it was a day long job and you have the photos from that So funny story Adidas posted a sponsor post to that photo and it was like me and one of my model friends and I wasn't at the end of the photo The way I looked yeah, but I did get a lot of hate comments on that photo. So it wasn't necessarily about Me personally, but it was more so about the outfit or they were like the models like sickly Like are they even eating just comments like that? No, but like it It was kind of funny to me in a way because like I've never dealt with that like I've just never dealt with like hate comments like that and so it was like honestly very interesting because these people don't even know me Yeah, no, they don't even know me. So I'm kind of love like adidas didn't have me in that photo Okay, okay, but I never posted pictures But that was the only picture I saw because when we signed the contract, um, they don't really tell us Yeah, they didn't tell us where the photos would be or anything like that So it's kind of just like if you see it somewhere you see it and then you take a picture But yeah, okay, what's that other favorite job my other favorite job I recently booked a runway show with carolina herrera I don't know I think I've like heard of her Famous designer and I feel like I know of her. Is this in Miami? Well, it she's like base in new york. Okay, but it took place in Atlanta. Okay. Yeah So I remember my agent called me saying there's gonna be a runway show for carolina herrera this saturday Like I need you to be I need you to make sure like you're available But I don't know if you got the job or not. I'm standing here both to work right now And then the next day comes and she calls me saying I booked the job And it was it was exciting because runway has always been one of my dreams And I just love being on the runway and Yeah, it was a dream come true because that was my first ever runway show for a big designer Next question is how did you get the confidence? Like you said you were insecure about your acne Yeah, so like how did you freaking get the like you have to have so much confidence to model, right? No, for sure. So I think the more photoshoots. I did the more comfortable I got behind camera And that's honestly the only way but you got to fake it till you make it. Yeah Yeah, you gotta have confidence but I will say um The first few photoshoots I started doing I would look at the pictures and I'm like, wow like I did that Like I'm doing that and I think it kind of yeah, it's a fire under your butt Yeah, it really does and I think that's what's truly made me confident and I have also realized Each and every single person is unique and different In every way and that honestly sounds really cheesy, but I feel like I have features That set me apart from other models and vice versa So that's something that I that took me a while to realize and now I I'm like, I'm me and this is what I look like and I'm gonna do my thing on camera And you know, it my confidence didn't just show up overnight Like it's something that I had to work on and remind myself every single day But yeah, that's like something that helped me next question is how did you learn how to pose? Um Practice. Yeah, I it's it's a lot of practice and how like a trainer. Is that something? No, there are um runway training classes. I did take one when I signed to my first agency But with posing, I think the photographer usually kind of directs you in Away and yeah, actually you did help me that last time that we shot Yeah, I've shot with photographers when they don't like really direct me. I'm like, what are you doing? Yeah, it's kind of I like I direct so much that I'm just like Like I feel so awkward when they don't like even though I know how to pose. I feel like It's just something they should do. You know what I mean? No, for sure It's very helpful when the people on set direct me But I think over time like I said the more shoots you do the more comfortable and creative you'll get about posing And it's all about movement. You know, you really just kind of that's what I tell my friends. Yeah It just looks more like candid and yeah more genuine and not too like posed and not too stiff You know, and I will say the poses that feel really awkward or weird or something the best pose Yeah, like what is the hardest part about modeling? Um, I'd say the hardest part is rejection and how long it takes and I'm sure like everyone knows, you know, even if you're trying to get into modeling rejection is just a part of the industry that you're gonna have to deal with rejection what way rejection as in If you want to get signed with agencies and they reject you or like not getting enough jobs or like, you know When you go to casting calls and they don't pick you so I think rejection in all of those areas It's definitely hard and it kind of makes you question yourself worth almost. Yeah, um, but I think The more rejection you face you kind of become resilient and you you have to realize that It's literally not about you because modeling is a business at the end of the day And if they don't choose you it's not because they don't think you're prettier They don't don't think you're good enough. It's because they have a specific vision in mind and you just simply don't fit it But and I know that sounds harsh, but yeah, so every I always tell myself Every know that I get is one step closer to a yes last year. I went to New York and met with about like 19 agencies All of them said no to me and so New York has always been my dream And so I was I kind of didn't really I did take it a lot better than I thought I would but I was just like, what do I do now? Like I have to wait Like six months to a year before I try again Like what am I supposed to do because I dropped out of school thinking I was gonna move to New York I have this whole plan set for myself. All right, so next next question is Do you feel like you have an advantage of being Indian and brown now that diversity is a thing 100% I was thinking that because like I feel like at first Like at first it was kind of the opposite. Yes, exactly. Yeah, but now This is such a great time too. I feel like for people of color The industry wants to be more inclusive and more diverse and I feel like there aren't a lot of South Indian models. Okay in the industry. So I kind of Feel like I can sort of use that to my advantage. Like if I ever met with another agency or went to a casting it's like I am diverse. I have Qualities and traits that set me apart from Other people and I don't mean that in a cocky wear anything. I just mean like representation wise, right? Um, and in Miami, I feel like there are not a lot of Indian models in general Or like even just in full color like yeah anyone and so I'm super excited to kind of get into the market around this time and kind of be one of the Few diverse models. So it should be fun. Yeah, that's so cool That wraps up this video. I hope you guys enjoyed sharing more about her experiences Like I feel like that was probably the coolest video I filmed just because I love hearing about other industries Yeah, hearing people talk about Everything that they know on that industry. It's just really cool. You know, I had a fun time Kind of spilling the tea and everything. Um, I feel like we talked about a lot of stuff that Most people don't know feel free to follow Navya on instagram Like I said, her instagram is killing it My dms are always open like I always want to help and inspire people If you have questions or needed advice, like I will tell you everything that I know and what I did So that's awesome. Yeah, okay. Well, I'll see y'all in my next video. Bye