How to Help Your Daughter to Become a Successful Model

Your daughter’s modeling dreams come true faster if you fully support her along the way. As part of the castings for Fashion Republic Magazine, we are in touch with parents regularly. There are a couple of things we noticed many parents are overlooking.

In this brief post, we list several crucial steps you should take for your daughter’s modeling career. These suggestions are based on the experience and discussions with child/teen models and their parents. They are proven to help jump-start successful modeling careers.

Having an Instagram account is not optional, it’s necessary

We come across many child and teen models who don’t have Instagram accounts. This is one of the main reasons why too many aspiring and beginner models struggle to make it in the industry.

Casting directors, fashion designers, modeling agencies, magazine editors, and other professionals in the fashion industry would like to check a model’s Instagram page if they consider her for their projects. If she doesn’t have an Instagram account, her name is crossed out right away most of the time.

A step as simple as creating an Instagram account and uploading a few photos of her can go a long way when it comes to booking modeling jobs and finding agencies.

Once you create an Instagram account for your daughter, make sure:

• Account is public, it’s not private. Everyone should be able to see her timeline without needing to send a Follow request
• There are professional photos in the account. 80% of the photos and videos on her Instagram account should be professionally taken visuals. This will be her professional portfolio. The remaining 20% can be amateur photos and videos taken by a phone, showing her casual life.

If you hesitate to show her photos publicly, open two accounts: One public account for modeling-related work and one private account for personal life. For more common mistakes models make on Instagram, check this post out: 6 Common Instagram Mistakes Models Make and How to Avoid Them

Have her comp card and model digitals ready

Every model should have a comp card and model digitals.

A comp card is a page that shows a couple of her professionally taken photos along with her measurements and her (or your) contact information. A person who reviews a model’s comp card can quickly have an idea about how the model looks in different settings and if she is a good fit for the project.

Model digitals are photos of her wearing a black outfit (For example: Black jeans and a black top) and posing from different angles in front of a white background. These photos show the model’s features without any distractions such as colorful clothes and busy backgrounds. It helps industry professionals to figure out if a model’s appearance is well suited for a project.

You can post her comp card and model digitals on social media and submit them to projects. You can also print them out if you go to in-person casting calls (model calls).

Create a modeling resume, even if she doesn’t have any experience

Fashion professionals would like to see model resumes to have a quick idea about a model’s experience, training, measurements, and contact information. Model resumes help busy agents and directors to go through model applications quickly and shortlist the ones they consider working with.

There should be three sections in a model resume: Brief info about the model (name, location, height, weight, eye color), experience, and training.

Even if she doesn’t have any experience or training, it’s still a good idea to have a model resume. Many productions don’t accept applications if there is no resume attached.

As she takes more modeling courses and does more modeling gigs, make sure to keep her resume updated.

Enroll her in a modeling class

We have come across many parents who would like to find modeling jobs for their daughters even though their daughters don’t have any modeling experience. This is the case for many adult aspiring models as well. Many adults don’t think they need training to become a model. They would like to book a photoshoot or other types of modeling gigs right away to start their modeling journey.

Even an experienced seasoned model needs training for continuous improvement and learning new perspectives. In the highly-competitive fashion industry, aspiring and beginner models should prioritize training, even more, to have a good start in the modeling world.

An aspiring model should have some kind of training in at least one of the three major modeling types: Runway, print, or commercial modeling. The more modeling types a model is trained on, the more opportunities and high-paying modeling jobs she can book.

Modeling training is not for just teaching modeling. It can also help to make connections in the industry. School staff, modeling instructors, and classmates can contribute to your daughter’s modeling career in the long term, if not in the near future.

Even if there are no in-person modeling classes in your area, there are online modeling courses such as Modeling Master Course to help you and your daughter learn about modeling at your own pace and place.

Summary

In a nutshell, these are mandatory steps for your daughter to succeed in the modeling industry:

• Have an Instagram account that is public. Post professional photos so it looks like her modeling portfolio
• Have a comp card and model digitals ready
• Have a modeling resume and keep it updated over time
• Take a modeling class regularly to keep improving skills and make connections

Once your daughter has all of these fundamental materials and training, she is ready to apply for modeling jobs and modeling agencies.

We recommend you create a profile for her on casting sites and start submitting to modeling jobs. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to search for modeling agencies in your area. In addition to a search on Google, you can find modeling agencies on Instagram as well. Follow our newsletter to find out about modeling opportunities in the United States.