Looking back when I was young and filled with anticipation to travel, to be photographed in major magazines and to explore my self autonomy, I never imagined my dreams would take me from the small town I grew up in to Tokyo, Paris, Munich, NYC and Los Angeles. I was only 17, in my last year of high school when I tagged along with a friend to a local modeling agency. Unfortunately, it was the unscrupulous type that will tell every aspiring model who walkes through their doors what they want to be hear.
Excited and wide eyed, I went home and practically without coming up for air, informed my parents all about them and how they were going to manage my career toward becoming the next top model! Well I did eventually achieve success but not from their coaching or representaion. After months and months of waiting for a chance to show off the expensive portfolio they put together for me, I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.
I researched out the top agencies in the biggest city closest to me, Los Angeles. My homework lead me to Nina Blanchard. The Nina Blanchard agency was considered to be Ford Models of the west coast. Why? Because Nina and Eileen Ford were like two hens in the same hen house in the mid 80's. They worked together, sharing their models and many of Nina's Models were also repped by Ford in NYC.
I drove up to Los Angeles with a friend to meet with the infamous Nina Blanchard Agency during one of their open calls. I was shy, nervous and armed with my horrible pictures my parents had over paid for at my previous “agency”.
The agent I met with, within seconds of our meeting escorted me back to meet with Nina personally. Wow. I was elated and trying hard to curb my enthusiasm. I thought I would burst. This was it...my moment to impress or flounder in the sea of vying models who stared me down with icey eyes as I walked passed. Nina, intimidating and extremely poised, looked at me like a cat might eye a canary. She looked me up, then down, side to side and finally back to center. She asked me all kinds of questions. How would I get up to LA for castings? (LA is over 2 hours from my hometown in San Diego). Who would pay for the test shoots I needed to jump start my career? On and on, all sorts of questions. I began to see my dreams fade into oblivion before they had even a second in this lifetime to shine. She sensed my despair beginning to show on my face and to my shock and astonishment, blurted out, “well it's settled then..you will come to live with me”. “What?, Me? Live with THE Nina Blanchard!” my jaw dropped. She said there was no other solution and walked me back to the agent whom I first me with. She told her to confirm the details with my parents and then it was all set.
Nina lived in the Hollywood hills, just off Mullholland drive. I remember my mother driving me up a week later and helping me to settle in. Me and mom looked around wide eyed. Wow, I couldn't believe I was going to live here. Growing up we never went without but I come from a very modest and moderate upbringing. I felt like Cinderella. Her Spanish style home was gorgeous and had the most magnificent views overlooking all of Los Angeles. Also living with Nina were a few other aspiring models and Tia Carerre. At the time, Tia Carerre was well known soap opera actress starring on General hospital. She is most widely known for her roles in Wayne's World and True Lies, 1994.) It seemed like winning the lotto but then I began to see the high price of struggling to develop a successful career, not that I minded. I knew Nina only had our success and safety at heart. We were not allowed out after 9pm without a chaperone. We were never allowed any junk food. Her personal chef made us only healthy meals and the junkiest of junk food you would ever find in the gourmet kitchen was a box of wheat thins. Since I couldn't drive, I had a personal driver who took me around on castings. He was fun and like my own personal cheerleader as well. Whenever he dropped me off at a casting or audition, he rooted me on. After a day of castings, we would swing by the agency, pick up Nina and battle the traffic going back up into the Hollywood hills. Life was grand, like a dream.
I wish I could say that the fairy tale story that had developed with Nina giving me my first big break had evolved into her managing my success in the industry but sadly it did not. In the mid 80's, the time of blonde and blue eyes were all the rage and I definitely did not fit that bill. I rarely booked a job and after many months of a frustration resulting from a valiant effort, Nina Blanchard and I parted ways. I had felt like the wind was knocked out of me the day they told me that they would continue to represent me but they needed to give my space in Nina's home to another hopeful model. They believed that the potential they thought they had seen in me was wrong. I was basically “let go".
When one door closes, another always opens. I have always believed that and still do. After crying my eyes out and laying around listlessly I decided it was time to stop nursing my wounded ego. I sent in some photos from the many test shoots I had done with Nina to Elite Model management also in LA....and well....the rest was history. I was called up a week later to meet with THE John Casablanca and without hesitating I was there! A few weeks later, I landed in NYC, unpacked my suitcase in my new home, a models apartment for Elite New Faces. It was not nearly as glorious and glamorous as Nina's house, in fact, couldn't be further from it but to me it was just as heavenly. I somehow I knew I had arrived and the future would take shape just as I had dreamed it would.
