NEW YORK: Soho
You’re too fat. Too tall. Too short. Too ugly. You have the wrong look, the wrong style. Welcome to the world of modeling. Although the world has changed, the antiquity of the fashion and modeling industry has not. A new platform threatens to disrupt the way the industry works by shifting control away from the agencies and over to the clients and talent that they book. Sandy Kacura, the mind behind My Style Blox, has been a model for the last 14 years working for agencies such as Ford, Elite, and Next and knows first hand what it’s really like to work in the industry.
Sandy for Hamptons Magazine
“While I am on jobs I would talk with the talent about the industry. We would talk about where we find work during off seasons, how agencies treat us, how we are still waiting for a check from a job we did 6 months ago… literally we are at the mercy of our agency. That’s why I think this is so important, things need to change, that’s why I built My Style Blox.”
Agencies have the industry under lockdown. It’s not like there are ample options for clients to connect with talent, but My Style Blox is giving them the ability to hire models, photographers, makeup artists, stylists and more, all from one platform. By cutting agency costs by more than 65%, allowing clients and talent to professionally review one another and surfacing important statistics such as the social outreach a talent offers. My Style Blox aims to be a better marketplace for the industry to operate in.
“We deserve better and now we have all the tools to build successful careers all on our own.”
A true story about Sandy…
“Beginning a career in modeling can be a very scary venture. Just wanted to share my story with you so you know where I am coming from. I was 18 years old and decided I could do this all on my own. I went to an open call at Ford in Los Angeles. I remember being so nervous and scared, I had no idea what was going to happen. I met with the head booker and she loved me…but here was the catch, I had to chop off my long beautiful blonde hair to above my shoulders because apparently they already had a girl with long blonde hair and they needed a blonde girl with short hair.”
True beauty
“So not knowing any better and trusting that the booker knew exactly the best thing for me…I chopped it all off. And they also didn’t like my first name, they thought it was too California girl so I was to go by my middle name!! You can only imagine how fun that was. I was then sent on tons and tons of test shoots which cost anywhere between $350 to $600 per shoot. And you think, oh great they will pay for it, but what I didn’t understand was that was to be all paid back once I started working.”
“So off I go to my first paid shoot, Seventeen Magazine. Funny the client wanted long blonde hair so they attached extensions in my hair. And to top it off they kept calling my name and I wouldn’t be responding because I wasn’t used to be called my middle name. About 3 months later I got my first check from Ford, which was exactly $0. I still had thousands of dollars I owed from website fees, printing pictures, portfolio book charge, fedex fees, test shoots, and travel expenses. The fees never ended. I even had one well paying client go bankrupt a month after the shoot so I never got that money either. Sounds like a dream doesn’t it?? Haha…”
“So lets fast forward 14 years. I am lucky to say I am still modeling and have learned the ins and outs of the industry. My hair is long again and I go by my real first name. Needless to say, my bookers throughout the years didn’t know everything. You really learn from working as a model, what clients want from you. And what works for one client doesn’t necessarily work for another. You really have to own your look…whatever you choose it to be. There are millions of clients out there, and trust me someone is looking for your look.”
“This is why I have built My Style Blox. It is a foundation for all the freelance talent that either wants to start out in the industry and doesn’t know where to begin or the well established talent that would like to manage their career on their own. I have given you all the tools from top photographers or makeup artists to shoot with to start out your book if you are a model. Or if you are a new photographer or makeup artist, you have plenty of top models to choose from to start making your portfolio top notch. And the best part is…. it’s free and it’s for everybody. Our motto at My Style Blox is We see the beauty in everybody! Become apart of the movement and change in the fashion industry.”
To learn more check out: www.mystyleblox.com/
