Isobella Visits the NY BIKE SHOW

Here are some photos from the NYC Bike Show at the Javits Center in NYC, this took place over the weekend of December 30th.

Internet Castings for Models are High

Don't have an agent? No worries, a lot of modeling careers are launching right from the computer screen. Especially for petite models with personality, they can click into online talent casting websites for even film, music videos and commercials. Many of my modeling jobs and acting jobs I have booked right from the Internet. Of course I think working with the Internet does come with risks, but in Business Week I read recently that the movie Enchanted cast many of their lead players and roles off of the Internet. From seeing their photos online. I used the Internet to get my resume rolling from 2001, and before I had agents it was a way to research jobs, post my photos and get seen. Now I don't think you can rely on only one source but the Internet is becoming a trend to get a resume rolling!

Double Take, Dior by John Galliano

I wonder if Elle magazine and Vogue know they have the same demographics. When styling Victoria Beckham in Vogue and Kate Hudson in Vogue, inside both January issues each wore beautifully the white pants and tank with black sexy suspenders, I can't decide who wore it better because both women rocked it so well. It was the first time I ever saw the same outfit wore in the same month, in different magazines on two beautiful women so well. I also hope Victoria Beckham puts some petite sizes into her dVb clothing line.

Do you know Janice Dickinson

In a Metro newspaper interview I once said I would rather Watch Janice Dickinson's show The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency than watch America's Next Top Model, this is still true but I hate both shows! While watchign Janice Dickinson for a few minutes I can't believe how much she needs to make fun of others on set, at the shoot, the models, etc, just to make herself shine...then watching for a few minutes more I get really upset and have to turn it off, her attitude is so mean, her personality isn't with "a girl next door smile," -she is from the swamps of Florida and you would think with her acomplishments and status she would at least smile. On the show recently there was a girl who was told by Janice loudly to lose weight, and this girl had really beautiful hair, and really great skin, and she wouldn't ever be considered over weight, she would be great for a fitness magazine even. I can still hear Janice's voice yell " LOSE IT!"
I couldn't help but wonder " did Janice ever get told to lose weight," I recall in her first book called: No Lifeguard on Duty that she did, and I remember her thinking it was messed up, but now here she is telling a girl to lose weight? I respect she has worked hard and lived through a lot but I wonder if she will bring that to the screen. I don't find her that show inspiring, and I don't find it helpful. The show is more about her sass and rude personality, and yelling, than really helping a girl figure out her way in modeling, and since modeling is going more towards commercial it seems her spin on a modeling agency isn't really an up to date approach. Is that as creative as she can get? Only yelling at a girl to lose weight?

Being 25 and being a model, author, blogger, and podcaster and finding me

Because I look young I sometimes I don't know what age I am deep down. My experience with relationships and friendships makes me feel like I am 40 or 50 years old, but if you cut my head off I would be about 15 and my face fully put on makes me at most 20. In modeling it has come in handy because I can portray an older teenager or a college student, or a young professional, but being 25 means my days of not knowing my worth are over, I will never make the mistake of not running all the way through the finish line on or off the track. Being 25 is a good feeling because I am sure of myself, lived enough to give honest advice, and I can be counted on, but still I am not totally ready to define myself, and give myself one motto, title, opinion, or place in the world.

Inside Apple Store, Isobella Jade article feature by Katie Hafner

Inside Apple stores, a certain aura enchants the faithful
Katie Hafner in New York
December 28, 2007

IT WAS 2am but in the subterranean retailing mecca in midtown Manhattan, otherwise known as the Apple store, it might as well have been mid-afternoon.

Late one night shortly before Christmas, parents pushed strollers and tourists straight off the plane mingled with New Yorkers clicking through iPod playlists, cruising the internet on MacBooks, and touch-padding their way around iPhones.

And through the night, cheerful salespeople remained busy, ringing up customers at the main checkout counter and on handheld devices in an uninterrupted stream of brick-and-mortar commerce.

The party inside that store and in 203 other Apple stores around the world is one reason the company's stock is up more than 135 per cent for the year. By contrast, high-flying Google is up about 52 per cent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq index is up 12 per cent.

The popularity of the iPhone and iPod and the intended halo-effect those products have had on sales of Apple computers are behind Apple's strength. But the company's success in retailing, as other competitors struggle to eke out sales growth, has been a bonus.

Apple now derives 20 per cent of its revenues from its physical stores, and that percentage is growing. In the fourth quarter this year, which ended on September 30, Apple reported that retail stores accounted for $US1.25 billion ($1.42 billion) of Apple's $US6.2 billion in revenues, a 42 per cent increase over the fourth quarter in 2006.

As other electronics makers like Dell, Nokia and Sony struggle to find the right retail formula, Apple seems to have perfected it.

Not only has the company made many of its stores feel like gathering places, but the bright lights and equally bright acoustics create a buzz that makes customers feel more like they are at an event than a retail store.

The close attention paid to detail in the stores' designs, such as the maple veneer tables used for product displays, gives the impression that Steve Jobs, the company's co-founder and chief executive, himself approved every aesthetic metre of every store.

"Apple's retail offering is very compelling," said Andrew Neff, a senior managing director at Bear Stearns. "But the other key is the product. The retail concept ties in very much to the product."

But the secret formula may be the personal attention paid to customers by salespeople. Relentlessly smiling employees roam the floor, carrying hand-held terminals for instant credit-card swiping. Technicians work behind the so-called "genius bar" ministering to customers' ailing iPods, MacBooks and iPhones.

Others, designated "personal trainers", give one-on-one instruction and lead workshops.

Personal shoppers are available by appointment, and in November the company took the concept of personalised service to new levels, with concierge teams stationed throughout each store.

"They've become the Nordstrom of technology," said Michael Gartenberg, vice-president and research director at Jupiter Research, referring to the department store that is known for its service.

Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice-president of retail business, said he believed the high level of service played a large role in the success of the stores.

"The idea is that while people love to come to retail stores and they do it all the time, what they really appreciate the most is that undivided personal attention," Mr Johnson said.

The result is far fewer qualms among consumers about paying premium prices: $US30 for an iPhone case, $US200 for an iPod Nano, or $US1200 for a computer.

In December, Apple opened its third Manhattan store, in a three-storey renovated building in the meatpacking district on West 14th Street. With one entire floor dedicated to personal service, Mr Johnson's goal is to make the 14th Street store "the most personal store ever created".

Mr Gartenberg said people often first went to an Apple store out of curiosity. "Apparently a lot of them like what they're seeing in the stores, they like the experience and they go back to buy the products," he said.

The stores' architecture also makes consumers feel good about spending money there.

In nearly a dozen high-profile urban centres - including New York, San Francisco, London and Glasgow - the signature feature is a glass staircase. Some of the staircases go straight up and others ascend in a spiral skein that appears to be held in place by nothing more than Apple hype. A customer entered the 14th Street store last week with his two whippets. Their reaction to the impressive stairs was more fear than awe. When the dogs refused to climb the steps, their owner scooped both of them into his arms and carried them up.

Apple stores encourage a lot of purchasing, to be sure. But they also encourage lingering, with dozens of fully functioning computers, iPods and iPhones for visitors to try - for hours on end.

The policy has given some stores, especially those in urban neighbourhoods, the feel of a community centre.

Two years ago, Isobella Jade was down on her luck, living on a friend's couch and struggling to make it as a fashion model when she had the idea of writing a book about her experience as a short woman trying to break into the modelling business.

Unable to afford a computer, Jade, 25, began cadging time on a laptop at the Apple store in SoHo. Jade spent hours at a stretch standing in a discreet corner of the store, typing. Within a few months, she had written nearly 300 pages.

Not only did store employees not mind, but at closing time they often made certain to shut Jade's computer down last, to give her a little extra time. A few months later, the store invited her to give an in-store reading from her manuscript."Everyone is free to use the internet and do anything they want - within reason," said Paul Fradin, the general manager of the SoHo and 14th Street stores. Visitors spotted surfing pornographic websites are quietly asked to leave, and escorted out.

Visitors can bring almost anything they like. Jade showed up nearly every day with her full set of notes, and enough food to see her through a few hours of writing.
Meanwhile, Sony's flagship store on West 56th Street, a few blocks from Apple's Fifth Avenue store, has the hush of a mausoleum. And being inside the long and narrow blue-toned Nokia store on 57th Street it feels a bit like being inside an aquarium.

The high-end Samsung Experience showroom, its nuevo tech music on full blast one recent morning, was nearly empty.

And although that store professes to encourage hands-on exploration of its products, the showroom has a clinical, forbidding feel. Nothing is actually sold there. It's just for display.

"Whenever we ask consumers to cite a great retail experience, the Apple store is the first store they mention," said Jane Buckingham, president of the Intelligence Group, a market research firm in Los Angeles. "Basically, everything about it works. The people who work there are cool and knowledgeable. They have the answers you want, and can sell you what you need. Customers appreciate that. Even the fact that they'll email you a receipt makes you feel like you're in a store just a little bit further ahead of everyone else."

This could be part of the reason that Jack Graham, 16, visiting for the holidays from Worcester, England, spent at least an hour each day of his visit at one of the three New York Apple stores, his parents sitting by patiently, happy to watch the crowd.

"These stores are going to become iconic places that people go to see when they come to New York," said Mr Gartenberg. "Rockefeller Centre, Radio City Music Hall and Apple's great glass cube on Fifth Avenue."

As for Jade, whose modelling career is gaining traction, she has yet to buy a computer from the Apple store. But she is still welcome to check her email - and stay as long as she likes.
The New York Times

Inside Apple Store, Isobella Jade in the New York Times

After some time researching and noticing an article by Katie Hafner in the NYTIMES this past fall about Steve Jobs, and then I contacted her by email and let her know of my own Apple Store experience, and today in the Business section of the New York Times today a piece of my story was featured in an article she wrote called Inside Apple Stores, a Certain Aura Enchants the Faithful. Published: December 27, 2007: Here is the link to read the article that features my personal "inside the Apple Store" experience.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/business/27apple.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&hp

Self Publishing Tips by Isobella Jade

This is a great website and tool for self publishing a book, sometimes the first step is honestly just getting your words on paper and then self publishing, and self promoting, it can lead to gaining your own press and also a larger publisher wanting to work with you. It might sound backwards but self publishing can get you in the door, similar to how a tear sheet in a magazine can get you in to an agents office and board.


Click the link to see an article I wrote that was published today!

http://www.writeandpublishyourbook.com/

The Modeling Truths of Being Marketing Savvy

There is this girl on Myspace who contacted me and she is ambitious to make it despite being only 5’1” and despite that clothing is made for taller woman on the runway, and that is the attitude more girls need. It isn’t only about modeling it is about doing something you want to do and chasing it. No matter what it is.

Sometimes you have to create your own dream. Make it happen for yourself and there is nothing wrong with it.

In my book called Almost 5'4", I am very blunt and honest about how my roots had everything to do with doing it myself...and how the Internet helped to make me a model, how it made me think beyond the box and think about how I could get ahead with out an agent until I got one….and about how the Internet has changed the modeling business to be more about self serving, ...and if a small town girl like me can get modeling work then honestly anyone can. You just have to be open minded and understand the truths of where you can honestly get modeling work.

I have a nice body even though I haven’t run competitive track in like 4 years, and I am starting to realize that I should get some fitness shots of myself and submit them to Self Magazine, and Running magazines and fitness magazines, because running was my life for so long, and there is no reason why I can’t intertwine my running into my modeling.

Beauty isn't Everything for a Model

A lot of girls think modeling is about three things, beauty, and height and if they have an agent or not. Not to mention weight, and sexiness and how much skin they show.

It is all wrong in my opinion.

I think the modeling business has changed a lot in the past 5 years. When I was a freshman in college in 2001 the word model was just becoming a popular word among friends. American Online was hot and Myspace wasn’t even in our language yet. But now it seems everyone, and anyone is trying to be a model, is calling themselves one, if not seriously, then for at least a few minutes a day while they download photos of themselves on their Myspace account, or beg for comments on their cuteness on their modeling pages on their Internet Modeling websites.

When someone asks me “what do you do?” I still feel a little dumb if I say I am a model, even though I have worked with national brands,

… mainly it is because the word model is something that on one hand isn’t taken seriously because a lot of people assume it is because you are pretty or cute, or lucky or you slept with someone,…or the Internet makes it seem like anyone can be a model or a wanna be model these days.

……………and then sometimes kinda of like someone is saying to you “ yeah right, get a real job. Your not a model,” like it isn’t reality to talk about it.

Like it is still a dreamworld.

When I started modeling I wouldn’t tell many people about it, mainly because I wasn’t confident in my choices but still I was ambitious and after working with some wrong people it seemed like modeling wasn’t something I was suppose to talk about since not many people I knew did it.


Although over time I have made modeling my reality and on my own, by my own way, and because I wanted too. I have created my modeling self.

I do think of modeling like something I created. I created it for myself and each day I work at it. The only person telling me to go on, is me. And I think like a business and I strive to get work.

I have done it by being realistic with myself. I am not the most beautiful girl. I am not the tallest. I am not your typical model, but that wont stop me because I know what I DO have that will get me in the door.

modeling misconceptions by Isobella Jade

There are so many Modeling Misconceptions. Most of them have to do with things you need to be, and things you aren’t. There is that need to get an agent, to have a manager, to have someone else controlling or telling you what to do, and apart of me feels it just leaves you half the time sitting on your butt and wasting time and waiting for the phone to ring. Tonight on my modeling podcast I talk about my opinion on the modeling misconceptions and the future of the modeling business

www.blogtalkradio.com/isobellajade

It's free to listen, and I am glad you do!

Hand Modeling & Voice over work

These two things can get you into the modeling door! Modeling and the commercial worlds are coming together so there is work for you if you have a great voice, and you can make a lot of money as a voice actor, and you can also make good money as a hand model. Don't forget these are great ways to also promote yourself and get your self in the modeling door. Use what others don't have,flaunt what you got,...you can use what you have and get ahead!

Modeling and the Holidays

...it can be slow. Although use this time to get ambitious and plan for the next steps of your modeling pursuits. It is a perfect time to get a new compcard, plan a photo shoot, and prepare to submit to a modeling agency or magazine!

Submitting to a Modeling Agency

Tonight I speak about Submitting to a Modeling Agency on my modeling podcast called Model Talk. If you have any doubts about getting with a modeling agency and how to find one, then listen in. It is free and easy listening and you will get some great modeling advice and tips!
www.blogtalkradio.com/isobellajade

Submitting to a Modeling Agency

Need some advice on how to Submit yourself to a Modeling Agency? Check out my modeling podcast tomorrow for true advice and tips on how you can get an agent, no matter your height. To hear this, and other segments, listen up and click here:

www.blogtalkradio.com/isobellajade

Feeling Shorter than Ever

She lowers the lens, and all the Giraffes stare at me. One is so tall I have to arch my neck and head to look up at her eyes. This time the casting director/ photographer taking the images at the casting is a woman. It seems more men than women have this job so it is interesting to me. I sit on the stool. I wait for the photographer to adjust the lens. Lowering it, like I am cripple or something, a flaw, having to mess up her organized shooting space. I feel shorter than ever when she does finally click the camera. My turn will be over soon.

Sort of Posing in Times Square,NYC in my Snorg Tees

So I got some really fun and sassy tees from Snorg tees and I pranced around in Times Square this weekend, sort of posing, but really anxious for the steak I ate after these photos were taken. http://www.snorgtees.com/

modeling advice: The Elle editor you never met

I stopped by McNally Robinson independent booksellers on Prince Street, and after a coffee my boyfriend bought me the book called The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I only had read a few pages of it and already got really interested in Jean Dominique Bauby's story. The french Elle editor who came out of a coma, and wanted to write a book even though he could not write or speak, over came the odds by blinking page by page, letter by letter into a whole book, what a passionate editor as well, and he died even before the book was made available. The story blows my mind. What was really ironic as well, was that after purchasing the book, we went over to the Angelika Film Center, and no joke the motion picture of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was playing! It was so weird. The movie made me even more excited to read the book and overwhelmed with respect and honor for Mr.Bauby.
http://angelikafilmcenter.com/

http://www.mcnallyrobinsonnyc.com/

becoming a model

The Internet has made it possible to easily become a model or call yourself one. It is easy to post your image and then in a matter of clicks have a new title as model. But getting ahead is a whole other story. I think being a model takes smarts. Maybe the television show America's Smartest Model really ruins that idea, but I do think modeling is like starting a small business. It takes a marketing mindset, knowing yourself, being perceptive and driven. More than anything it takes the will to strive for your self. To wake up each day with a goal, with a plan and the effort to simply try and take a chance...so becoming a model is really based on your own focus and the work you put in. Especially as a petite model. It is about not being narrow minded, about being open to the world of modeling beyond fashion and find that there is actually ALOT out there for models of all heights. But you must seek the opportunity, it wont always find you.

Finding the Headshot?

Are you having a hell of a time finding the headshot. An agent wants to see both of your eyes and wants to see something striking. So far the images I have picked have been turned down by the agents I work with,- not head-shot-y enough.
I am focusing on my eyes and finding a shot that shows them speaking.

When it comes to picking a headshot that is best to represent you, or a shot for the front of your card, it can be a process. seriously it should be because you want to make a statement.

1. focus on your eyes- that is what the casting directors, agents and clients will see first.

2. Even if you have to crop your hair out a little because it is wild, you could still use the shot, if your face is making an expression that is energetic or looks alluring like a makeup ad campaign.

3. Curious, calm, and collected should be the image you are expressing for the front of a compcard. Or use a tearsheet or a really nice smiling shot like you are saying hello to good friends.

Using your Eyes to Model

He said "you look good baby don't worry!" I stared at my eyes in my hand held mirror, walking down Lafayette street back towards Canal Street. I said " lets hope!" Even though Verbal Gawkers piss me off I held back from flicking him my finger, because I had just had my eyes photographed for a casting, and I am dreaming about getting that job! It would pay more than a few thousand, and it would be for a global name, and it would be of my best feature my eyes. It was the first casting I had ever had for my eyes and it felt like I had waiting 5 years for it! Lets hope!

Model Turned US Army, hero.

Jessica Clements, was a model in Akron, Ohio, and decided to join the Army afer high school. Her story was featured on Oprah today. Cried my eyes out again!

Modeling Mindset

I read on MSN today the penguins are in trouble. I love penguins, and this video on MSN shares some trouble they are facing that is life changing and shares the concept of human's not living only for today but for tomorrow and the future. Petite Models can also apply this to our goals and lifestyle. Do we really need to let the water run when we brush our teeth, and do we really need to use THAT much toliet paper when we blot our lips?

Getting Your First Tearsheet in a Magazine

Petite models deserve tear sheets! Here is a link to my podcast I did tonight on how to get a tear sheet, it might give you some ideas.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/isobellajade/blog/2007/12/12/Modeling-in-a-Magazine

goodluck~

Petite Modeling Aquatonic Cream is Gone!

Kinda upset that Bath and Body Works stopped selling Aquatonic, I wanted to tell the models and girls how good of a product it is and it is gone! Damn, it was such a good product, it felt so fresh and you could physically feel it working and refreshing your face and body. Even if I had a zit, I would put it on, and the creamy liquid would absorb in like five seconds, it was the best cream ever and I am very upset it is gone. If Bath and Body Works have any left in some closet somewhere, please let me know!

Modeling Advice. At the Castings

Sometimes we have to fake it until we make it. Grab our bootstraps and just dive in and take the opportunity, even if we have never done it before. When it comes to castings, sometimes we are asked to do things, pose a certain way or put effort into focusing on one part of our body we never really considered. Especially for a casting based on our bodies and parts. If you are suppose to just give a smile, you can prepare even for that by relaxing your face and even taking notice to how your mouth, lips and face changes depending on the smile you give. As a model you should be aware of your body, and how it changes when you move. Or posing our shoulders, watchng our posture, for a body part casting or our fingers. It might sound nuts but there is even a certain way you can arch your finger to make it appear longer. Go ahead and look at it, and start bending it, at a hand modeling casting you will have to sometimes position your hand, fingers and even arch a pinky or two!

Marketing Yourself and Images

If you can put together a compcard. It will help your promotion. The Internet is great for research but not really great for posting images and getting work. It is better if you get a compcard or selection of images printed and these are some cheap options for models on a budget:

http://www.compcard.com/ Compcards

http://www.adoramapix.com/ Prints

Hints and tips for submitting Photos to a Magazine

So you want to submit your photo to a magazine? You don't know where to start?
Well start by picking up the magazine you like or want to be in. All of the answers are inside the magazine. In the first 5 pages of a magazine you will find a ton of ads, so keep flipping and soon you will find the magazine Masthead, the magazine title and the editors credits and names are what follows.

Keep that page handy. Now you can do these three things:

1: Flip through the magazine until you find an article or photo series that intrigues you and you start thinking " That could be me!" and then notice who the editor of the piece was, and look in the front of the magazine, on the Masthead page and find out the title of the editor. Usually down below there is the magazine's address. So now you have the magazine editors name, and you know what they previously worked on and you know the magazines address. Now all you need is a stamp!

Next you need to show your not just another model or wanna be. Write a letter and say " I liked the piece you did on ____ recently, please consider me for your up coming editorials and photo shoots where you might need a model with a lot of energy and a diverse look." Include of course your phone number, not just your email.

Or there is #2: That involves just looking in the front of the magazine and submitting your images to the photo edior or editorial director. The names are right there, waiting for your mail!

Now for # 3: For email submission, I would go to the website, find the email of one editor and you know the name of them all usually. Research the public relations section of the magazine, and sometimes inside of press releases you can find emails, so if you know how the format is for one person at the magazine you can figure out how to send the editor you really want to submit through email.
Take control of your dreams. Keep trying. And Go for it!

A Message for Kellie Pickler

I have a message for Kellie Pickler and her amazing touching song " I wonder." She is a strong vibrant woman, I look in her eyes and really see that Kellie has a story to tell. Not just about her own music and mother but I really think she will always be known to not hold back and to be comfortable to reveal her honest feelings and as a singer I really respect her. My father was an alcoholic, today he is recovering and over all my striving to model I haven't had a role model or father figure in the typical American Dad way, and when I wrote and published a book I detailed my relationship with my father and it was a very emotional experience to write with such honesty. I think you are an example that a person's struggles can turn into their huge success, and you are extremely driven and focused and able to sing with your heart. I admire your lyrics and voice. I now really love Country music because of words like yours.

Managing Goals and Rent- Freelancers

The toughest thing is managing rent, bills and having a dream and goal. Really making the plans you have happen can mean putting into perspective the daily choices you make. Survival should be first, ( although for me sometimes it was last) it should be first. I know it might seem like life passes by fast and it does, even if you have to take a month off to get organized it is worth it....It might take some time to get good images, a comp card, and afford to put together a book, but after you do even 6 months of hard work and submitting to agents and to magazines could get you work and tearsheets. Within a year you could have some good work in your portfolio. Sometimes to get the bigger jobs and to get the agent you need a tear sheet to get you going. So if you don't have agency I would focus on trying to get tearsheets, and this can only take a few minutes of your day but you have to have your marketing tools. For printing try www.adorama.com/

But even with the modeling agent and modeling agency you have to always work for yourself, market yourself and be aware that nothing happens if you wait!

goodluck!

Print Agencies Like Petite Models

I love Google, I do it to promote my self and when you are modeling you can use basic words to find out a lot of informtion such as by Googling:

print modeling agencies + NYC
Or
Modeling agencies + NYC

Usually if the agency has print as a focus you can send pictures no matter your size.
Make a compcard, or put together some images and mail them to print agencies in NYC. Just google Print Modeling Agencies. These agencies might be a good choice to mail, or call or email them.

http://www.fftmodels.com/

http://www.r-lmodels.com/

http://www.modelserviceagency.com/

The Tiniest Model poses in front of the Largest Apple Store

Well this week I posed in front of the New sparkling Apple Store. I can't wait to try out the new atmosphere and iMacs at the new store on 14th Street. Here I am posing infront of the store and to see more pics please see the Media Bistro link.

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/

Homelessness To me, Modeling vs. a Home

Homelessness to me doesn't mean I have lived on the streets. Homelessness is a feeling inside and being comfortable with the main home of you being inside of your heart and mind. Physically having no place to call home and being ok because it is a choice.

I have a college degree in Advertising. But I made a choice in Oct 2005 that I could manage to live without a home or stability. I had some wonderful friends who I bounced around to and from, but also I ended up desperate at times using anyone as a potential place to stay. Striving directors, photographers, and gym workers, friends, a guy I was seeing at the time. It was a rough moment but I knew I was striving for my dream and worth it. I don't think many models would give up their roof, for the chance, but I did. We all know paying rent is a stability that is needed, but for me, I couldn't manage at the time. And I made a choice to still model, or get a 9-5 job and survive but not have my modeling.
It was always my choice, -to throw out my clothing and furniture and live out of 5 bags and soon a suitcase, and try and try again to manage stability but it was always a choice and I remember some days wondering "where am I sleeping tonight," and I don't regret those times, but now I am with more stability. It is the last chapter of my book.

Today on The View, actor Ernie Hudson spoke about a movie he is in about homelessness. I plan on seeing it and taking in the emotion. Check out Ernie's history too here.

Dave Matthews sings for the Petite Models- well I think so...

In Dave Matthews words for the song Little Thing...
So, um, so weve been doing this, uh, this tour, what I guess this is our
Fifth show weve done, tim and i, and, uh... (applause) and, uh, so this little
Song has been growing out, uh, while weve been playing, sort of a little
Story. and the little story I was in new york city and, uh, I was walking down
The street. trying to find the place I was going (I cant remember where I was
Going now). cause I met this girl and I asked her directions, you know. and
She was, she was tiny, you know. she, she wasnt young,she was just tiny and,
Uh, so I asked her directions and she said, oh thats the way down there, walk
Over there, go down there, you walk over there, and you go down there and then
You're there. something like that, anyway. so, uh, but I walked about ten
Paces away and I was thinking... daaamn, that girl was fine. and, oh, I turned
Around to tell her so, and ask her maybe her name, or maybe if we should go and
Get a cup of, who knows, coffee or something. and Im sure if I turned around
And find Her there I would have found out something...

Hand Modeling with Animals

I am so impressive with Guido Danele's work, and I wanted to share how he makes the hand a Masterpiece.

These shots might inspire some ideas for putting together a hand modeling portfolio, or at least one idea.
http://www.guidodaniele.com/

Mmmm.
isobella

P.Diddy fragrance on My Chest Tonight

Well the day ended with pouring Champaign for P.Diddy and the Sean John crew, it was maybe my last time ever pouring Champaign. ( only one glass broke tonight) For some extra holiday cash I was a drink mixer sporting an Unforgivable Woman tee shirt representing Puffy’s new fragrance which is a major hit globally. I didn’t expect to see P.Diddy tonight but he sure has put a lot of heart into his line and Perfume Company and image. I like the passion inside his company, the message of doing your dream, and being an independent and striving individual. When I put the orange juice into the flute and then adding the Champaign the drink was originally for a girl who wanted a blini CHAMPAIGN COCTAIL, then right when I am almost done pouring a hand is coming towards me and it is P.Diddy's hand, well of course Sean Combs gets the drink first and the timing was so perfect. www.diddy.com/

I just hoped he didn't mind the Blini part.
Cheers to his hustle and ironically in my book Almost 5'4" my quote is by his fav: The Notorious B.I.G. and from the song Juicy " You know very well who you are, don't let them hold you down, reach for the stars." That song gets me excited, pumped and ready to rock. It defines where I was at when I wrote the book. I listen to that song on the subway and seriously lip it daily.

www.seanjohnfragrances.com/

Before this event tonight, I did a shoot at the Apple Store. I almost froze in my sexy Nina shoes but it was worth it. No matter the weather, the bank account highs and lows, the pressure, or the chance and odds, I will be always trying to keep striving and dreaming. I hope you tune into my podcast at www.blogtalkradio.com/isobellajade where I shared some insight to how Publishing a Book and also Modeling have a lot to do with Marketing.

NYC Handbag Designer Jacquelyn LaCroix

I admire Jacquelyn LaCroix on and her leather handbag company, LaCroix handbag Co. full of leather, lambskin, detail, and goat leather is something to fall in love with, and she is a woman that any aspiring model, or dreamer could look up too.

Recently Mandy Moore ( wearing a LaCroix clutch on her arm,)and Fantastia have her bags. Jacquelyn LaCroix is a handbag designer that will soon be seen in a national retailer.

http://www.lacroixdesigns.com/

Rachel Ray and Jen, scrapping a yummy Dinner

I enjoyed watching Jen on Rachel Ray this morning. I like how she wasted none of her
ingredients and I can relate. I do use the whole lemon when I cook. I love making my pasta with throwing in lemon and seasonings, and the chicken have lemon on it too. I use the ends too. Nothing is wasted when you are working, and cooking on a budget. You can even make Roman Noodles taste even better with adding some lemon, or veggies to it, or chicken or pork.

www.rachaelray.com/

Sometimes even after finally getting the paycheck I waited weeks or months for, I still eat on a budget because you can! It is easy to enjoy a meal with the ones you love without getting a headache. I do love the feeling of making a meal and having the ones I love enjoy it, it does touch my heart, -even for a raga-muffin model like me!

Victoria Secret Show and Silver Belles

Well, since many girls admire the Victoria Secret girls, I tuned in tonight to CBS. Wow an hour went by. Honest opinion: I only sort of liked the show. I liked the Star at the end that Heidi wore, and how it popped open. I really liked the artistic, artist lingerie, but I think it could have been a bit more creative, edgy and off the hook. The girl walking with the belle on her neck was a little scary, it looked painful. I miss the lace and wish there was more fur lingerie, fake fur, but soft looking lingerie would be cool. Something extra special for Xmas. I think Sports Illustrated is hot hot hot, but the Spice Girls did good and Victoria Beckham rocked it in her cute little hat and gear very well. As for the show: It would have been cute if little elfs walked the ladies dow nthe runway, something with more personality than shaking the butt with angel wings, seen it, done it already.

Petite Modeling castings and no calls for Vaseline

It is frustrating over and over to go to castings and get no call backs. Or when you do get a call back, you show up on time, even early, this is for your second meeting, which should mean your chances are high, and sign in, and watch the other girls come in to limit your chances, and then you get seen and give not only your hands, but your whole body, click, click, arch your back, jump on the table, turn, the other way, lean forward, back, show your hands, flip, side, front, back, thank you. And then no call. Mmmm. But when you do get a call back and get booked or get a direct booking it like Yes, Yes, screaming to the stars and moon. Yess!!!!

Comp card hustling and designing

Picking images can sometimes be a process for me. Today it took way too long, I debated over making my comp card show my body and also show my personality. I want to be able to market myself to brands like Sally Beauty and also to lingerie companies and jobs for body part modeling. I really need more than one card. One that shows my personality and commercial appeal, some fashion looks, (meaning modeling clothing, shoes, or bags) and also a card that shows my parts. A parts card will allow me to model my hands, legs, stomach, behind, and curves, along with my hair and eyes, and my commercial card is needed for jobs for editorials and where personality counts!

I recently took a really great butt shot which will be used on both cards because it does show my curves but also it is shot in a commercial way. It is in a thong lingerie set from H&M which I love, but my image is shot very catalog like, so it works with a commercial card. If you want to show your body and you want to also model commercial products, beauty products, etc, you need to shoot your body in a commercial way.

Crossing fingers on this card. I think it will be good!
I did a Google search of the word model and found www.compcard.com, which is a very decent source, and if you want advice they can give it too!

The Apple's model, Meets Store number 3, (her lucky number)

My favorite number is three, my favorite subway is the 3 train and the third Apple Store opens this week!
The Apple Store is a peaceful place, a creative place, a busy place, a place I like to call my second home, the Apple Store is an inventive place, a dreamers escape, a makers make. I saw a sticker poster thing on 25th Street advertising the launch of the store. And http://www.tuaw.com reported that:Apple Store in NYC is due to open this Friday, and official Apple e-vites went out earlier today. New York City's fourth Apple retail outlet (three in Manhattan, one on Staten Island -- no love for Brooklyn, Apple? What's up with that?) will be opening to the public at 6 pm on Friday 12/7. The store will be open 9 am to midnight Mon-Sat and 9-7pm on Sundays.!!!! Very exciting!

Following a handbag designer around town.

I recently wrote a story about following around the handbag designer Jacquelyn LaCroix in New York City, and watching her design routine and it was a very insightful experience. The day in the life that I experienced with Jacquelyn LaCroix is featured here on www.citychickmag.com. Ever wonder where your handbag comes from? Or what it takes to be a designer?

http://www.citychickmag.com/beautyfashion/0043.html

Steve Jobs Licks a Good Design.

In the December issue of In Store magazine, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is quoted with his thoughts of design. "You know a design is good when you want to lick it." Oh racy! Well, serious, I could see that impluse. If it is smooth and shines a new and original feeling,then it might inspire to be touched and licked. I have never licked an iMac, I have posed nude with one recently for a shoot for Mac Directory Magazine though. Over-all, I think Steve would like my book!

The Hits and Clicks of Modeling and Shoes

I think to get ahead as a model, it takes persistance, order, a plan, and goals. It takes also understanding what you are really doing. Modeling is about a product and I think the Internet has meant that modeling has become more about the hits and clicks these days since anyone can be apart of a modeling website. It is easy to lose focus on whether it is about tearsheets or hits and clicks on your website. I still and always will judge a model by " what work have you done?" Not by "who is your agent?" or " how many clicks does your website have?" Modeling is about " what products have your worked with?" Or " what tearsheets do you have?" To me anyways. Make your heels click, and get up and start hustling and working hard to get the work. I don't think being a model is about being pretty, it is about being persistant.