Tag: healthy model

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A Model’s Unfiltered Thoughts on Agencies

Photo by Annika Forslund

I’ve been quarreling with myself on this topic for months now. I have provided you with plenty of info on modeling agencies in the past. However, I feel there is a missing element. Bias. Today I will impart my bias in regards to the topic of agencies. Today I will open up.

While I have not had a horrendous experience with agencies, like some, it has not been particularly pleasant either. Often, agencies have felt very intimidating, even bully-like.

A model is hardly ever allowed to be herself. She is scrutinized in detail. She is never good enough, always expected to fill in this role of the unattainable. As a society, our beauty standards are warped. They are unrealistic. Yet, young girls are expected to conform. This is what it feels like to be a model. Moldable.

At age 15, I was told I had too much baby fat. My legs have been called doughy. Some people have told me I can’t “make it” due to my size. That I have to conform. I have been pressured and harassed about my skin, urged to see a dermatologist I couldn’t afford, for a problem that was occurring because of my genes, and because I was unhealthy. Being with an agency has always been a stressful experience for me. I was always pressured one way or another, bullied strategically, bossed around, and strung along waiting for my paychecks.

This is my bias. And the experience is not too different from those girls around me.

Girls. We are women, young women. Yet, why do I keep calling all models girls? It is because even I feel diminished as a model sometimes. We are girls. Young. To be manipulated. Some never grow up. Some never learn. Some girls grow up learning from this industry and are left wondering what is wrong.

Agencies not paying their models has become a norm. Clients paying months after a job. Sexual harassment on jobs, and bullying. How can they get away with this?

For one, the industry remains wildly unregulated. On the other hand: we let them. A year ago, I decided I no longer wanted to be taken advantage of by a shady company with only their own interests in mind.

Unfortunately, a model can’t advance her career much without an agency.

To be fair, I have had a lot of exciting moments with my agencies. I have been in Mercedes-Benz fashion week. I have booked huge, lucrative photo shoots. I have been given the chance to book career-changing campaigns. I have been in Anna Wintour’s office building. There are always the plus sides. I often found myself in exciting jobs and opportunities I wouldn’t have gotten without an agency.

Without having been with the agencies I have been with, I wouldn’t be where I am as a model today. My portfolio is strong. My experience is strong. From the platform of being signed with an agency, I have been given the opportunity to expand and grow, not only as a model, but as a woman.

Here’s the thing. We can change this. Together. The fashion industry doesn’t have to be a harsh reality, but a positive environment.

My experiences in the fashion industry have pushed me to create a revolution. I want to promote positive change and health. Poor, low quality living is generally secretly applauded by many industry peers. Young girls loosing too much weight is celebrated! This helps perpetuate and encourage eating disorders among young girls across the globe.

So I need your help. Soon, I will be launching a crowd-funding campaign for We Speak, the agency of the future. I’m creating a healthy branding system for retail and fashion brands to use to encourage healthy living, and healthy women.

If you help fund and promote this mission, you are contributing your piece of a huge undertaking and fashion revolution. The industry has made small movements to a more positive industry, yet the experiences detailed above are still very much alive. Are you ready to roar?

www.facebook.com/wespeakny

Be Fierce!!

Briauna Mariah (:
Founder of We Speak
(917) 274-7324

P.S. We are on the lookout for experienced, healthy models in NYC! Email briaunamariah@gmail.com for submissions (our email system and site is currently undergoing construction!)

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Model Diet: Beef Broccoli Lentil Soup

Ok, the combination of ingredients described in the title might already sound a little weird to you. I was skeptical at first because I know usually broccoli is chopped up fine and in a thick, cheesy, creamy soup. But I just went with it because I love broccoli and I wanted some yummy soup for the crowns to soak up juice in.

This is 100% my own recipe and I found it to be sooo yummy and satisfying. This recipe is for one model-sized serving. Continue reading “Model Diet: Beef Broccoli Lentil Soup”

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Cheap and Healthy Lasagne Rolls

Who said lasagne has to be expensive and hard to make? I love to pull recipes from SkinnyTaste.com because they are all health conscious and there are tons of options, including “Skinny” desserts.

When I find a recipe I would like to try, I hardly ever follow the exact directions, mostly to cut on cost. Living in New York is expensive and you have to cut where ever possible. This is why I cook my own meals. Sometimes they are amazing and sometimes they might have needed a little more guidance. When you cook often enough, you can learn what you can skip out on and substitute ingredients with to make a meal cheaper and to go farther.

This lasagne roll recipe has been calling my name for a few days so I decided to get the ingredients while grocery shopping. I really like these because they are easy to store and they are perfect little serving sizes. Continue reading “Cheap and Healthy Lasagne Rolls”

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Healthy Skincare is a Model Essential (Part 2)

Oliver Villafuerte is a superb makeup artist and esthetician in the Seattle area who provides professional services at Milagros Aveda Salon and Spa. I highly recommend him  for any of your MU/facial needs. He provided me with amazing facials once a week for a month before my big move to New York City! Oliver was amazing enough to provide a ton of great information to share with you. 

Skincare and MU. This is what Oliver has to say:  Continue reading “Healthy Skincare is a Model Essential (Part 2)”

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Healthy Skincare is a Model Essential

As a model, skin care is very important. Your body is your asset and you need to take care of it. 

While I’m not an expert on skin, I can say that good exercise, healthy eating, and lots of water is an essential start to healthy looking skin. But lets go into more depth, I know you want to know more! So keep reading. I get my skincare advice from the pros, so why not give you the info straight from the source?

I work with a lot of skin/makeup professionals on a daily to weekly basis.

Ashli Danielle is a superb makeup artist and hair stylist in the Seattle area who does bridal, commercial fashion, and editorial styles. I highly recommend her for any of your hair/MU needs. Ashli was amazing enough to provide a ton of great information to share. 

Skincare. This is what Ashli has to say: Continue reading “Healthy Skincare is a Model Essential”

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Biking in Portland, OR

Did you know that Amsterdam is the bicycle capital of the world? 40% of the traffic flow there is from bikes. You know what’s even cooler? Portland, Oregon is the second bicycle capital of the world. Seattle doesn’t even make it on the top 10.

So, what a great exercise and method of getting around, right?! I went outside today and got my bike ready. Okay, yeah, maybe not so much! One thing Seattle and Portland do have in common is the climate: RAIN! Ever since I’ve been here, it has rained every time I decided to step outside.

I have been biking to town several times (5 miles each way), for fun and for the exercise and I went to the store once (2 miles each way). I attempted a trip to the store today, got a few blocks, and got soaked. This has been the only time I am truly disliking the rain. I never got to bike much in Seattle, so the rain was never too much of a bother. In fact, most of the time I kind of enjoy the rain. Continue reading “Biking in Portland, OR”

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Black, Green, White and Fruit Teas

My uncle has the most amazing amenity in his home. The kitchen has an additional faucet that pours out 190 degree Fahrenheit water (near boiling). Guess what that’s perfect for! TEA! And I LOVE tea almost as much as I love Lady Gaga. Well, okay… hmm… maybe not almost… but I do love tea. Maybe more like a deep infatuation.

Anyways, I was bent on writing a blog about tea. About the health benefits and yadda yadda, but you know what I realized? I realized I don’t know anything about that aspect. So I did some research. You know what I found out? I’m lazy. I do not want to do another “research and write about it” type of thing. Too much time and reminds me of having to write essays in school! Plus, I always feel like I’m just repeating everything I just read about. Continue reading “Black, Green, White and Fruit Teas”

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Meal Planning: One Cucumber Per Week

I’m sitting here, wondering what is in store for me when I leave for Portland on Friday. I’m extremely excited to work and connect with people in Portland.

What originally inspired me to make this trip is the fact that I’m getting so many emails from my agency, Ryan Artists, and I haven’t been able to make it to more than 3 castings. I almost feel as if there is more going on down in Portland in terms of the fashion industry and modeling, than there is in Seattle.

There are more reasons to justify this trip, too. One reason is that, recently out of high school, I haven’t had the chance to live out on my own yet. Living a month “on my own” in Portland will be a great learning experience.

And I’m already learning some things. Like, say, how DIFFICULT IT IS TO MEAL PLAN! My family never really meal planned before, but we’ve been doing it for at least the past year now and it SAVES a lot of money and it’s easier to EAT HEALTHY. Continue reading “Meal Planning: One Cucumber Per Week”

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Exercising = Feeling Good, Looking Better

A few months ago, I began a daily exercising routine. The plan originally stemmed from the desire to expand my modeling portfolio into fitness to reach specific industries such as Portland, but it’s also just a great thing to stick to for a healthier lifestyle. And let me tell you, it feels great. I hope you’ll give it a try!

I can say that I impressed myself with my persistence in “getting fit.” And it has paid off. I feel really good and I’m more toned, so it’s definitely helping with my overall model figure. Really, the only thing to it is persistence and knowing how your body works. I hope you give this a try and impress yourself! Exercise and eating right are the only things that will bring you great physical health.

This may not be how fitness instructors would put it, but I have talked with one about my routine. And how I put it is if you’re running and feel the burn in the areas you’re toning, you must be doing something right. If it weren’t as simple as that, I probably wouldn’t be doing any exercising. Continue reading “Exercising = Feeling Good, Looking Better”