How to Become a Commercial Model

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Amy Erinberger and I'm a commercial model in Portland, Oregon with Option Model Management. And I'm here to tell you a little bit about how I got started in modeling, what my first jobs were. When I was five years old, my mom and I were walking through our mall and I was offered a job as a runway model. And that is how I got started at the Yonker's Fashion Show I think for Christmas. I know it's a grand beginning, but from there I did my mom's friend's hair catalog and had my hair kinked into funny shapes. It was the eighties so I still have those photographs, and we shot pictures and it was great. This began my love for modeling and although I didn't get paid much for these jobs if at all, it did begin my start. And I looked into modeling after that and educated myself by reading magazines and cutting out pictures and trying to stay aware of fashion and what was happening. And then I went through a school and I did pay to attend classes and was given information, how to apply make-up, how to take care of my skin, how to walk, and those sort of things. It was very helpful to me. It gave me confidence. I was only twelve, and I certainly didn't have any mentors in this field. So it did help me in that way. And I gave a warning earlier about some of these agencies that claim to want to represent you but want to also have you pay them for information and classes. And just be really sure of what you're getting yourself into. Because they can be very expensive and a lot of this information you can learn form your fellow models and agents that are legitimate. I didn't actually start really making money as a model until I was about sixteen years old and I went to New York for a big convention. And in New York, it was called IMTA, from that point I got discovered by several agencies. Some of them wanted to see more work from me and waited a little bit before they signed me on, and some were willing to have me come right away to their countries and work. And I did this. I went to Japan and that was really my first big experience with modeling was going to Tokyo and immersing myself in the model scene there. So that's where I began."