More than Modeling: an Interview with Charlotte

[UNPUBLISHED:] Tell us about yourself. 

[CHARLOTTE:] My name is Charlotte. I am a model and I also go to school at The New School in New York. I just started at The New School this last semester, which was kind of weird because it was my first full time college experience but for finals everything went remote. I do modeling full time so sometimes it gets hectic but I think it's worth it to have something to do because modeling can get a little bit tedious, but it's still really fun. It really depends, sometimes it's really boring and tedious and sometimes it's awesome and I get to travel and see new places and meet new people. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are you majoring in? 

[CHARLOTTE:] I haven't declared my major yet but probably journalism, maybe minor in psychology. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How did you get into modeling? Were you scouted? 

[CHARLOTTE:] I was going to Redondo and I was working at a burger place. I hated going to school and I hated Redondo. My friend who was with the agency that I'm with now just randomly said, “I'm gonna get you to be a model. I'm gonna send your pictures” and he took a bunch of photos. I didn't really believe him but then the next day my agent sent me a text and told me to come in. I went into the agency with my mom that day and got signed. It was pretty spontaneous. I quit my burger job and I ended up going to Shores so that I could graduate early and not be in school full time, which I loved a lot. I liked that school a lot more than Redondo actually. That’s how I started. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How long have you been modeling for? 

[CHARLOTTE:] I think I was 16 and I’m 20 now so at least 4 years, maybe 4 and a half. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Did you know you wanted to pursue a career in modeling? Was there a moment when you realized this is what you want to do? 

[CHARLOTTE:] When I first met my agent he was talking about walking in shows for all these crazy brands and traveling. I had never left the US before so I was just so excited and I could not wait. I didn't ever want to pursue modeling per se but all the opportunities that come with modeling are really hard to like not pursue. It took me over two years until I was actually able to travel to amazing places and walk in amazing shows because for most people it's not ever an immediate thing. It takes a lot of building your portfolio for free and getting turned down. I still don't really want to pursue modeling so I'm going to school but it's a great thing to be able to have in the meantime. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What have been some of your favorite brands that you’ve worked with? 

[CHARLOTTE:] Probably Prada because it was my second show. I’ve always loved Prada and then I was in the campaign a year later after that. The campaign was randomly right next to my house in Marina Del Rey down the street, just an insane coincidence. Chanel is always really cool too because they serve champagne before the show and it's super fun and exciting. There have also been some editorials for magazines that are really cool, just to witness all the creativity that goes behind jobs and how specific everyone is about the styling and the makeup. Everything that goes into these few pictures is incredible. Just watching these geniuses is really interesting. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What is the hardest thing about being a model? 

[CHARLOTTE:] For me the hardest part is having to be away from home for a long time and being alone but you kind of get used to it. You meet a lot of people too, for example, pretty much every job I have now I'll know at least a couple people. I'll have mutual friends with a couple of people, so it makes it a lot less lonely. But at first it was really hard. The first season I did was awful because I didn't know anyone. I felt so lonely and girls can be really exclusive and it's hard to make friends. It was just really lonely but now I'm kind of over that and I guess I'd say now for me the hardest part is maintaining a good body and not just eating everything, especially in quarantine. Hard because I'm so bored. Most of the time, I just want to cook and eat but I have to remember that I still have to go back to work at some point. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] There seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding the modeling industry. What are your thoughts on that? 

[CHARLOTTE:] It's all true. Agents are really really really cruel. You just have to get a good one and look out. I've known so many and all those horror stories you hear are completely true. They can be exaggerated like all models are anorexic and throw up their dinner, that's not true, but it's definitely not rare, you see it and you hear about it. I think a lot of it is just some really shitty agents and casting directors out there but a lot of times casting directors don't really talk to the models like that, they talk to the agents. It's really the agent who is the middleman, we hear everything from them. The clients never talk to us directly unless we're on the job with them. If a shitty agent is telling someone they are not booking jobs for whatever reason the client says and they’re saying it in a way that is insensitive, which is what happens all the time, then that can really put a damper on someone's self esteem. I think the reason why it's such a huge problem is because a lot of girls are really passionate about modeling and just so driven, that's what they want to do, it's their dream. That's why hearing that is so difficult for probably most girls. I'm lucky because I don't really care as much. Obviously it still hurts and it sucks when agents are dicks. I go to school so it's not the end of the world for me but that's pretty rare because I think a lot of girls really care about modeling and don't want to hear that. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What’s your favorite thing about modeling? 

[CHARLOTTE:] Definitely traveling, I've gotten to go to some really great places. The fact that I've been to Paris more than five times is just insane. I never would have thought that would be a reality. Something that's more surprising is a lot of my close friends I've met through modeling which I never thought would be the case when I started modeling just because there are a lot of girls that are judgmental and exclusive. I have friends from Brazil, Russia, all over and it's pretty cool because I've learned a lot about the world through them, it’s just really neat. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How have your friends and family reacted to your success at such a young age? 

[CHARLOTTE:] Pretty normal, my mom has copies of every magazine I've been in and they're proud of me. My uncle will sometimes text me that he saw me on TV. For the most part they treat me the same. It's definitely cool getting to buy my dad dinner and buy my mom a car. That's probably my biggest accomplishment in my life. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Were they always supportive of you pursuing modeling? 

[CHARLOTTE:] Not really, my mom kind of held off on it. I'd be like, “Hey Mom, can we try to do it? Can you take me to some agencies? Can I maybe start modeling so I don't have to work at the burger place?” She was kind of hesitant but then it kind of came to me. I showed my mom this legitimate agency that reached out to me and I think even then she was kind of hesitant going in. She was like, “We're not gonna sign anything today, I don't know for sure,” but then luckily this agent, that I’m still with, my mom really connected with. I've been with him for five years and I actually haven't had any major problems with this agency at all which is rare, especially for our first agent. It was an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up and I think she understood that. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How has moving to New York from LA affected your career and you as a person? 

[CHARLOTTE:] New York is really awesome and it just has a lot that LA could never compare to. You see something every time you walk outside, there's just so many unique crazy people. It's so easy to walk around. I love New York. The high energy is a big reason why I decided I wanted to go to school too because I always felt like I wanted to be doing something in New York. That's definitely affected me as a person. I love New York and I still love LA. Sometimes I do miss LA a lot but I go back for work anyway so I never miss it too much. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How has COVID-19 and quarantine, especially living in New York, affected your modeling 

[CHARLOTTE:] I've been out of work for a while but I did do an at-home shoot for Zara in New York in my tiny apartment. They sent over a white background and it perfectly fit in the living room. We had to move all our couches into the kitchen. It's weird to not go outside that much in New York, it's not as busy, the streets are quiet. At night there's no one out which is really strange for New York. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Can you tell us what a typical shoot day looks like for you? 

[CHARLOTTE:] It depends on the shoot, every shoot is different. For ECOM you can expect a nine to five. Usually, with ECOM you have the same client over and over again and you know who's gonna be there, who might be there or might not. You know what the food situation is going to be like and if you're going to wrap at five or if you can maybe wrap at three. If you have a bigger higher-end brand job like a makeup campaign, you can expect that it's going to be a huge team. It's gonna be a longer day but there's gonna be a lot of breaks because usually that means there's more models on that and they can't shoot everyone at once. Sometimes it's nonstop working from nine to nine, 12 hours a day It sucks but it's usually not like that, that's pretty rare. If you're working for a new client it's interesting because you get there and you have no idea what to expect. You don’t know if it's gonna be a really long day, if you're gonna be shooting outside, if it's gonna be crazy looks with makeup or if it's gonna be complicated. It's weird like that but it keeps you on your toes and it's fun. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you deal with the pressures of being a model? 

[CHARLOTTE:] I just don't deal with it, I don't feel that much pressure. Fashion Week is a lot of pressure but I just try to remind myself that it doesn't matter because Fashion Week really doesn't matter. Last season I didn't do any jobs at all, I just skipped fashion week because it was my first semester at school and it takes up a month. After that, I got the Prada campaign so I remind myself that everything happens for a reason. There's no point in worrying about it and putting pressure on yourself, even though a lot of agents and clients will try to put pressure on you. I'm pretty good at not putting too much pressure on myself, for the most part. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How do you think Instagram models and influencers have affected the modeling industry? 

[CHARLOTTE:] I'm not really sure but I do know that if you have more followers, you can get paid a lot more. If you have more followers, you, a lot of times, don't even have to go to shoots. Brands will just send you stuff and you get paid a bunch of money for just selfies in their stuff, which is kind of annoying. For the most part, high end brands and even most like normal brands like Urban Outfitters and Gap are not gonna book you like that. If you don't have followers, they don't really care a lot of times. They like when you don't have a lot of followers because then it's like, “She's not as known.” So I don't think it really has affected the fashion industry in that way, but they do make a lot more money sometimes. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Are there any particular brands you hope to model for in the future? 

[CHARLOTTE:] It would be cool to do a Chanel campaign, I love their campaigns. I shot with Steven Meiseland for the first time, he was really cool. Makeup campaigns are always the best because the beauty shops are really great and they're really well paid so more makeup campaigns will be great if it came my way. I've always loved Vivienne Westwood. I don't really hope for jobs like that because there's really no point because you really have no idea, there's just so many brands and so many job options. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any advice or tips on how to look out for modeling scams? 

[CHARLOTTE:] If you don't have an agent, you have to be really careful with that. Make sure it's a legitimate brand. You can just tell by their Instagram and their website, if it looks established you're probably fine but it can't hurt to dig deeper and do some more research. Maybe reach out to another model that has modeled for them. You can even tell by hints like if they say they’re gonna pay in cash, that seems sketchy. But if you have an agent you're definitely fine because it's the agent's job to make sure that that doesn't happen and it won't if you have a legit agent. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to pursue modeling? 

[CHARLOTTE:] Make sure your agent is not sketchy, that you can click with him or her, and just make sure you get a good vibe from them because that's where the horror stories really come from. Especially in the beginning I wouldn't ever sign a contract for more than six months to a year. I would never sign a three year contract in the beginning just because you never know, even if you do really like the agent, things can change, agents can leave. Just be safe.