My First Modeling Gig, Urban Outfitters:
More of an Adventure than a Made
About a month into being signed I got my first job option. It was with a jewelry company that wanted me to model for them at Leo Carrillo. One of my favorite beaches in LA. I was so exited. I told everybody, and everybody was excited. I put it in my calendar and counted down the days until that shoot. A few days later though I got another option in Pennsylvania, for Urban Outfitters, the same day of the shoot in Leo Carrillo. It was for quadruple the amount of money, with a plane ticket, and a hotel room. I didn't think i was going to do it for some reason. It would have been to good to be true. But here you are reading this. I ended up getting it and updating that same everyone that I was going to be flying to Philadelphia for the first time. Ended up having to cancel the other shoot after trying to figure out how to fit in shooting and then getting onto a cross country flight the same day. Also had to miss my dads birthday for this but we ended up doing something nice when I came back. He said get that cash.
A day before the shoot though I was detailing cars with Jimmy on a particularly hot and busy day. I didn’t feel so good in the morning and by the afternoon that same not-so-good feeling turned into me watching Jimmy detail the cars and me lying on my tailgate. I get home and discover that I have a fever. I didn’t know what to do. I knew I was sick because my hair hurt. I had over exerted myself working and got sick which is usually remedied by relaxing. But my flight was the next day and this shoot was about how much I made in profit the month before though. I knew I had to go and tough it out. So I did. I thought to myself I’ve never done this before but it can’t be as hard as polishing the face of a wheel on a hot day (it wasn’t but it also wasn’t easy).
Landed in Philly at almost midnight and made my way to the hotel they were putting me up at which happened to be just really really nice. I had never stayed in a nice hotel alone like that. Without my parents or friends or anybody else. It was surreal and a little confusing. And they must have saw the confusion on my face because they asked me if I was one of the models. They told me where everything was and how to get to my room, which for some reason had my name displayed on the TV across from the bed.
Taking it in was all a little difficult with the state I was in which was a mix between sick and giddy. So instead I went to sleep.
After waking up at some ungodly hour I shaved, packed a bag, and got to the Urban Outfitters campus in South Philly. A crazy 100-something year old navy shipyard that got tastefully yasified to be an all encompassing office for all the brands under URBN. I didn't know how to get in but I managed slip in with someone who worked there. I ate (a few of the) breakfast(s) that they gave to the models and met everyone who I was going to be working with that day. The photographer, the hair and makeup, the stylist, the styling assistant, and the guy who looked at the pictures and told us what was what. Everybody was awesome but wrapped up in all my nerves I failed to get the info of the photographer and other big cheeses who got me the job in the first place. I’ll find their info eventually and put it here.
After an hour of setting up we got started on the 70 or so outfits that we shot. 70. I had no idea. I had never put so many shirts, and shoes, and pants on in my entire life. I had also never modeled professionally before and I don’t think they knew. When they asked how long I had been doing this for I said, “not that long…”. Which was true. Either way we got through all the outfits and I even got told I was doing great for a model. It doesn't sound like the best praise as I’m writing this but I was happy. I was also feeling a lot better than the day before but it was still bad enough that in between outfits I would have to shake my head and do a couple hops to keep my energy up.
Fueled by one of the self contained restaurants they had on their campus, I left to find the Philly equivalent of a City bike. I was only here until 9AM the next day so I wanted to see as much as possible today before the sunset and I got too tired. When I found the first bike I realized that my next stop had to be finding an e-bike version. I was way to tired to hit all the spots I had in mind.
Once I found that bike though I was off. Went strait north on Broad Street through the city hall, passed by Love Park, and through some very east coast suburbs to the Schuylkill River Park trail that took me to, of course, the Rocky Steps. Ran up, ran down. Bossed out.
Only thing left to do though was get a Philly Cheesesteak. Biked to Woodrow's Sandwich Shop and got the craziest looking sandwich I’d ever seen. Handled it though.
Anyway got back home from this beautiful bittersweet trip and picked all of my pictures that I could find off the Urban website. Thanks UO. Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:
