MODEL SECRETS

Kristin Shockley is a creative director, stylist, producer and the force behind Lustre Theory, a creative agency that focuses on inspiring brand content, working with fashion, products, editorial, and events.

Recent publication and features

The New York Times
People Magazine
Flower Magazine
En Forme Magazine
Distinction Magazine
Virginia Living Magazine
Style Me Pretty
Wedding Sparrow
Weddings & Honeymoons Magazine

Kamla-Kay is a professional agency-signed model in the USA and Cape Town, South Africa. She has modeled for brands such as The Ritz-Carlton, Disney, Stella McCartney, David Beckham, Atlantis Bahamas, IT Cosmetics and Ashley Home Store to name a few.

Kamla-Kay is also a modeling coach for all ages where she teaches aspiring models through her social media channels and private masterclass course how to increase their odds of getting agency signed, avoid scams and build a strong model portfolio. Her content also includes posing tips and classes for those struggling in front of the camera. Kamla-Kay released her ebook “How to Become a Model” which can be purchased directly on her website KamlaKay.com

Maranda Vanelli grew up in a small town in western New York and she started modeling when she signed with her mother agent Mazza models when she was fifteen. About a year after she started modeling, she signed with Fusion models in New York City when she was 16.

She is now 18 and living in New York City, modeling full time and she absolutely loves it! Due to the pandemic she didn’t really start working until last summer but since then she booked her first campaign for Steve Madden and have been doing a lot of ecomm.

Maranda's clients: ASOS, Claudia Li, DKNY, Greedilous by Tilda, Love Shack Fancy, Macy's, Nasty Gal, Netaporter, Steve Madden, Tony & Guy.

Jeanette Shustack-Allred is a photographer currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She specializes in fashion and beauty product photography. In 2016, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in photography from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Shustack-Allred’s work reflects an influence from both fashion and graphic design. She utilizes bold color and patterns within her work, which gives her photographs a distinctive sense of elegance. She plays with dynamic color combinations that highlight relationships in her subjects. Her skill with interpretive lighting creates dynamic geometric elements within the frame. Shustack-Allred has her hand in every part of the production of her imagery. She conceptualizes the models hair, makeup and wardrobe for her projects. She also is involved in the photo styling on set, building backdrops and creating accessories, like headpieces, that she uses in her photographs.

Shustack-Allred incorporates fashion and beauty into her personal work as well. She creates photographs with social themes such as women’s empowerment and environmental issues. Her past series Common Ground and Celebrating Women explore some of these subjects. Shustack-Allred is currently working on a project that investigates recycling and reusing materials, with a connection to fashion. She will be studying recycling in general and then tying it to reusing materials in the fashion industry.

Along with fashion and product photography, Shustack-Allred also has a background in graphic design and videography. For thirteen years she worked in the U.S. Army as a Multimedia Illustrator. Here she designed products like logos, page layouts, and posters. Knowing this, you can see how she is influenced by graphic design. Her time in the Army is also where she learned video editing. Shustack-Allred continues to explore video in her current work. She now films and edits her own videos, as well as creating animations with still images. As in all of her imagery, she ties in fashion elements into her video work as well.

Runway Coach Mandy Dyonne is a trained dancer, choreographer and dance instructor. She has walked as a national and international model for many fashion shows including the New York Fashion Week and Amsterdam Fashion Week. She knows first hand the skills and mindset needed to become a successful model with a great walk.

She has coached models for the Elite Model Look, NEXT, The Society, One Management New York, Fusion New York, Silent New York and has collaborated with Alexander Wang, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Tony Cohen and Emporio Armani … among others. Mandy is also the runway coach and judge for Holland’s Next Top Model. With her Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Amsterdam, Mandy knows how to coach and tutor on a psychological level. And above all? She’ll give you the skills and confidence to rock the runway and radiate on camera!

Todd had over 39 years in the industry as a model, he worked in London and New York. He has worked with models, magazines, and photographers throughout the country.

In this episode we share initial steps you need to take to become a model.

Tiara Young is an international model. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she began her career as a model at the age of 17, and was the first woman of African-American descent to appear in Charlotte Tilbury campaign.

She walked for various designers at Paris Fashion Week like Vivienne Westwood and Devastee, and she did showroom work for Elie Saab & Louis Vuitton.

She appeared on magazine covers, including Harper’s Bazaar UK, London Evening Standard and Stylist. She also has been featured in Vogue.

Tiara’s modeling work includes advertising campaigns for brands like Nordstrom, Newman Marcus and Barneys. Beauty campaigns include brands CoverGirl, Maybelline, Charlotte Tilbury, L’Oréal Kerastase & La Roche-Posay.

Matriarch Model Management, an exclusive international mother agency founded by a mother-daughter duo. Matriarch specializes in finding new faces and seasoned models with the intention of helping them develop the skills needed to reach their highest potential in the modeling industry both nationally and internationally.

Eric Granwehr is the Image Director at APM Models in New York, NY. The past 10+ years of his career have been spent observing, learning, growing and adapting within this always-changing industry. From studying photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, to interning at a top modeling agency in the early 2000-teens and to now, being the right-hand-man to the owner of an agency with two decades in the books, Eric has been quietly climbing the model agent ladder.

Eric joined the team at APM in 2014 and has slowly but surely reimagined the branding of the agency from top to bottom. What began 25 years ago as a under-the-radar agency packed with showroom and fit models, is now a place where clients can find a diverse board made up of talented individuals - each bringing something different, unique and exciting to the table. Clients come for the incredible talent, but stay for the comfort, the ease and the enjoyment they find when working with us at APM.

In his spare time, Eric can be found at rehearsal with the Grace Chorale of Brooklyn Heights - a community choir he joined just over a year ago that will hopefully be having in-person rehearsals again, outdoors, this coming May. Either that or playing video games at home in Brooklyn with his boyfriend Trevor, and his two cats, Diesel & Gingham.

Mattia Baldi born in 1983 in Rome, Italy is an Italian commercial and fashion photographer. After graduating with best marks in painting at the Academy of FineArts Mattia decided to focus on photography in 2004 obtaining a master degree in studio photography at the SRFC in Rome. Since then Mattia has worked for clients like ENI, Pepsi, AIA, Facebook, RDM, and in the last few years with WPP on the client Ford shooting many successful advertising campaigns both as photo-editor and as lead photographer. In 2019 Mattia started his own photography studio business working in Singapore, Shanghai, and Bangkok where he’s currently based. The book “Casting - a book about women” it’s the expression of feelings and hopes sum of years of working in the deep fabric of the media industry, Mattia is a represented artist of the TICC, Thai Italian Chamber of Commerce.

Alex Collares was born and raised in San Paolo, Brazil. She started modeling at the age of 24. She went to Thailand on her first modeling contract, and she fell in love with the country. She traveled to Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Hong Kong for modeling jobs while in Asia. After years of modeling she transitioned into a management role. She is currently a Director at Zoom Evrika Model Management in Thailand.

Sara Kondal is an International model and Founder of SK ART OF EVENTS, an international luxury event, advertising and PR production Brand, specializing in high-end Fashion, Art and Charity.

From early age Sara was passionate about languages, art, fashion and traveling. She started modeling at the age of 15, and it wasn't long before she embarked on the international scene. Sara appeared in such prestigious magazines as VOGUE, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, L’Officiel, Prestige, Thailand Tatler, Bangkok Post, The Nation and more. 

Through modeling she found her passion for events production. She co-produced and casted for Haute Couture Fashion shows while modeling in Barcelona, Paris and Bangkok. Soon after she started producing charity and non-profit events on her own, and that's when her production brand SK ART OF EVENTS came to life. 

Graduated in Modern Literature and Linguistics at Sorbonne University in Paris, Sara speaks 6 languages fluently.

Tasia Mitropoulos is a makeup artist, licensed esthetician and lash artist, based in Baltimore, MD. She started doing bridal makeup in 2014. She has since grown to do all different avenues of makeup, including music videos, SFX, fashion, editorials, etc! Her clients included Under Armour, L-Officiel Russia.

International cover girl and American model famous for her million-dollar smile, Beri Smither represents modern ageless beauty. Originally from Salem, Oregon, Beri was discovered at the Elle magazine studios in Paris by Carine Roitfeld.

Beri has appeared on the covers and worked with countless magazines including: American Vogue, British Vogue, Italian Vogue, French Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. In 1998, Beri appeared in her first Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Beri’s advertising campaigns include Chanel, DKNY, Armani, Versace, Gap, Target, Clairol, Forth and Towne, Nine West, & Revlon.

As the nature of fashion, entertainment, and advertising continues to evolve, Beri continues to model full time and currently resides in New York City while mentoring young women and parents on the business of the fashion industry.

Thank you for your support.

Sondra Hoffman, head booker at T•H•E Artist Agency, talks about modeling opportunities in the DMV area.

Sondra has been with the agency for over 10 years. She has started as an intern, then worked as a personal assistant to the owner, and currently she is Booking Director.

T•H•E Artist Agency website:

Walk through any store and you will see Ashly Covington’s hands on everything from the product packaging of Reynolds Wrap and Hamilton Beach to book covers for the Eat This! Not That! series. Turn on the TV and you can catch Ashly’s hands pouring bottles of Miller Lite, scrubbing toilets for lysol or making pies for Pillsbury.  Ashly’s hands have appeared in numerous magazines including Cosmopolitan, Voque, InStyle and O Magazine.  She has been the celebrity hands for Brooke Shields, Charlize Theron, Adrianna Lima and, oddly enough, Andy Samberg.

For more than 25 years, Paul Fisher has represented some of the most famous faces in the world such as Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Carla Bruni, Monica Belluci, Carre Otis, Eva Horzigova, Brooke Burke, Kimora Lee Simmons, and currently manages some of the most important models in the fashion industry today such as Julie Hoomans and Marjan Jonkman. Paul’s models have generated over £300m in model bookings for prestigious brands such as Versace, Prada, Gucci, Yves St Laurent, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Chanel, Tom Ford, and Dior. Paul is the star / host of the HIT TV series ‘I Can Make You A Supermodel’ and online series ’72 Hours – Supermodel Challenge’.

PART 1 

Kim Alley’s fashion career began in Richmond, Virginia in 1980. At the age of seventeen, she was scouted by the Ford Modeling Agency in New York City, and when she arrived, she stayed with Eileen Ford for several months to compile her portfolio.  Traveling through Europe as a fashion model, Kim set the stage for her success by landing high profile campaigns for Lancôme, Evian, and Benetton and was featured in such top fashion magazines as French Vogue, Italian Vogue, Italian Bazaar, and American Elle.

Kim’s career transformed in 1995, when she was asked to work at Paris USA Models in New York, this time as an agent. She continued to work as an agent for other well-established companies in New York, such as Bryan Bantry, APM Models and Elite Models for another ten years. In this capacity, Kim successfully managed the careers of many celebrities, stylists, photographers and models.  With over 30 years of experience in the fashion industry, Kim Alley is now dedicated to helping people with their desired goals with their internal wellness at the heart of her objective.

Dr. Sheri Bias, SPHR, is currently owner/operator of Liquid Talent Group based in Richmond, VA. She has been involved in the industry for many years with accomplishments of casting for feature films as well as Corporate client productions. Her client list includes such organizations as Walmart, Pizza Hut, GEICO, Bon Secours, NASCAR, YMCA, H2OBX and many others.

Liquid Talent Agency – Full Service Agency representing some of the best Actors and Models.