Know Your Worth
Know your worth.
It’s something I’ve seen come up a few times in recent weeks in both my acting and modeling worlds. It’s about respecting yourself and your talents.
First, remember you are judged by the company you keep and the work that you do. I’ve sadly had to unfollow/unfriend a couple photographers recently. They do lovely work, but I realized that their values didn’t align with mine. One had nothing to do with a professional setting, however his behavior made me realize that if he didn’t respect women in his non-professional life, then that probably carries over into his professional life. The other photographer kept making statements that were homophobic and transphobic on his facebook which is problematic when you are working in a field where there are a LOT of members who belong to the LGBT community. Don’t be so thirsty for a photo shoot that you let your personal beliefs slide (this is the same if a photographer tries to get you to pose for something beyond your comfort zone). A good example of this is Shannon from America’s Next Top Model and her decision not to pose nude despite it meaning she might get eliminated from the competition.
Second, i personally live by the rule “fuck you pay me” which is a brilliant YouTube video. Can you pay your rent with "exposure"? I know i can't. Brunch on Sunday with exposure? If so, show me that place. Yes, doing trade jobs is good for building your portfolio (we'll get into how the TFP aka trade for prints food chain works in another post), demo reel (as an actor), etc, but there also comes a point when you should be getting paid too. You definitely SHOULDN'T be selling tickets to a runway show to be a part of it. Know your worth as a model and walk away from those things. If you need a little inspo or reminder on that one, follow No Pay No Runway on instagram. Yes, I still do plenty of trade work (again, this goes back to the "food chain" as I call it), but the key is to ask yourself in what way does it benefit you....is it good people on the project? is there a good message with it (like charity work)? is it mutually beneficial? I'm not against non-paid work. it's a matter of finding the balance between being beneficial and being taken advantage of. For example: I just saw a posting online yesterday for "unpaid extra work" where the extra would have to get wet and dirty for no compensation (oh wait....exposure and IMDB credit...let me roll my eyes at this one). You can't use extra work on a reel or resume so that's worthless. Your clothes are getting dirty & you're gonna have to wash them so you're actually looking at having to PAY to work this job. No thanks. Another example is hair salons who want "hair models" but you have to pay for the products or services at a discount. nope. pass. Know your worth....there are plenty of salons will not only do your hair for free but also give you product as well (if you are in cities like LA, NYC, Chicago or Orlando...Bumble and Bumble actually has a model file you can get on and they treat their models very well)
Remember no success is worth compromising your values/beliefs and time is money too. Know Your Worth.
It’s something I’ve seen come up a few times in recent weeks in both my acting and modeling worlds. It’s about respecting yourself and your talents.
First, remember you are judged by the company you keep and the work that you do. I’ve sadly had to unfollow/unfriend a couple photographers recently. They do lovely work, but I realized that their values didn’t align with mine. One had nothing to do with a professional setting, however his behavior made me realize that if he didn’t respect women in his non-professional life, then that probably carries over into his professional life. The other photographer kept making statements that were homophobic and transphobic on his facebook which is problematic when you are working in a field where there are a LOT of members who belong to the LGBT community. Don’t be so thirsty for a photo shoot that you let your personal beliefs slide (this is the same if a photographer tries to get you to pose for something beyond your comfort zone). A good example of this is Shannon from America’s Next Top Model and her decision not to pose nude despite it meaning she might get eliminated from the competition.
Second, i personally live by the rule “fuck you pay me” which is a brilliant YouTube video. Can you pay your rent with "exposure"? I know i can't. Brunch on Sunday with exposure? If so, show me that place. Yes, doing trade jobs is good for building your portfolio (we'll get into how the TFP aka trade for prints food chain works in another post), demo reel (as an actor), etc, but there also comes a point when you should be getting paid too. You definitely SHOULDN'T be selling tickets to a runway show to be a part of it. Know your worth as a model and walk away from those things. If you need a little inspo or reminder on that one, follow No Pay No Runway on instagram. Yes, I still do plenty of trade work (again, this goes back to the "food chain" as I call it), but the key is to ask yourself in what way does it benefit you....is it good people on the project? is there a good message with it (like charity work)? is it mutually beneficial? I'm not against non-paid work. it's a matter of finding the balance between being beneficial and being taken advantage of. For example: I just saw a posting online yesterday for "unpaid extra work" where the extra would have to get wet and dirty for no compensation (oh wait....exposure and IMDB credit...let me roll my eyes at this one). You can't use extra work on a reel or resume so that's worthless. Your clothes are getting dirty & you're gonna have to wash them so you're actually looking at having to PAY to work this job. No thanks. Another example is hair salons who want "hair models" but you have to pay for the products or services at a discount. nope. pass. Know your worth....there are plenty of salons will not only do your hair for free but also give you product as well (if you are in cities like LA, NYC, Chicago or Orlando...Bumble and Bumble actually has a model file you can get on and they treat their models very well)
Remember no success is worth compromising your values/beliefs and time is money too. Know Your Worth.