Female: Hi, I am with standing here with Dorian. He is a model here at the Bella Agency. Hi, Dorian, how are you?
Male: Hi, good. How are you?
Female: So, how long have you been modeling?
Male: Now about three and a half years.
Female: Three and a half years and what got you into this crazy business?
Male: I was scavenging in the streets in Chicago not by a real agency but by a scam agency.
Female: Tell me about that.
Male: I was walking down Michigan Avenue in Chicago and someone walked up to me and said, “Are you a model?” And I said, “No.” That was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard and then she said, “Well, you should be a model.” I come to this casting call or whatever on Saturday.
Female: So, you were really excited about it.
Male: I got a little excited. I was just a little skeptical so I called my best friend who told me that it was a total scam but that I should really do it. And so he gave me the names of three agencies in Chicago that I should do open calls and that means fifty bucks that I can lose out on this.
Female: And you wanted fifty bucks.
Male: I wanted fifty bucks.
Female: So, you actually had a friend that steered you away from that scam and said, “Okay, here it would to one avenue” and you started in Chicago. Did you originally think you could model in Chicago?
Male: No.
Female: Where did you think modeling—
Male: New York, not in Paris, somewhere else.
Female: So, okay every one thinks I am going to move here but you are trying and you were not able to do quite successfully in your home town.
Male: Yes.
Female: And you decided after a while to come here.
Male: Right.
Female: Do you have great stories or funny stories about any thing that you have done as a model?
Male: The story that comes to mind is actually the first gig that I booked here at my lot right when I signed up and maybe a month went by and I want to cast in for particular shoot and I have never ever thought that they need models for. I never thought about—
Female: And what was that?
Male: Carnival cruises and it was the best nine days of my life.
Female: Oh, my God! Nine days and it is really on a cruise ship.
Male: A nine-day cruise and we shot I think six of the nine days. The cruise is amazing and it is a vacation and work. So, if you told me three years ago about some models and some about medical people here.
Female: And this is the job people are dreaming about.
Male: That goes out to judge for the people once they hear about it.
Female: So, you know, pretend that you are talking to somebody that is like you when you are just starting and you are stopping a friend from that scam out there. What suggestions would you have to someone saying, “I want to do what you are doing?”
Male: Do not give up, be ready to take rejection and do not take rejection personally. The industry is very fickle and you never know what any one is looking for at any given moment, looks changed, what client wants some changes. So, if you really want to do well in this business, you really have to really come to stick over a long period of time and taking rejection and would be willing to learn and grow in the process as well.
Female: Exactly. Well, thank you so much.
Male: Thank you and good luck.
Female: Thank you. This is Cristina Dehart of exploremodeling.com.
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