Bree Colter, Fashion & Beauty Model

0:01Welcome to the Business of Modeling, the podcast that pulls back the curtain on one of the most visible yet misunderstood industries in the world. I'm Tessa Dewing and today we're recording in LA with Brie Coulter, a successful fashion and beauty model who has worked across the world for brands including Fenty Beauty, Urban Decay and NYX Cosmetics. When Brie isn't modelling, she's an artist. She's written a book and she's also the host of the Role Models podcast.

0:36Brie, hi, it's lovely to meet you. So nice to meet you too. Thanks so much for having me. We appreciate you being here because I know you've just flown in from New York. Yes, I did. You had a last minute job. Do you want to tell us what that was? Yes, it was from Maybelline. So that was super exciting. It was, yeah, super last minute. I did the audition last week when I was in Paris, actually, for another job. Okay. So then flew back to LA and then they're like, oh, you actually have a job. So you have to leave tomorrow. I was just recovering from the jet lag. So I was like, okay, let's do it.

1:05Excellent. Yeah, so that was great. It was a little cold out there. All about being a model of jet lag, isn't it? Yes, definitely. So tell us about your background. Like, where did you grow up? Tell us what your childhood was like. Yeah, so I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the desert, very hot. So I'm used to the extreme heat. It's like 100 plus all summer long. But yeah, growing up, I was very much into art. I was like drawing, painting. I was really into math. I was like always advanced in math classes. So my goal was to like go to college and become an accountant. that was like my goal all the way up until senior year in high school I was like okay I'm gonna be an accountant and I'm gonna go to ASU to you know study that and then I was working at a shoe store in Arizona and the customers were coming to be like oh you're doing the wrong job you need to be a model like you need to be on the billboard outside I'm just like okay I don't know much about modeling except for I did used to watch America's Next Top Model growing up right so that was all I knew and that seemed a little scary to me so I was like um I don't know so you never that That was never your sort of aspiration to be a model.

2:08Not at all. So tell us how you got into it. How did that process happen? So how I got into modeling was, like I said, when I was working at the shoe store, the customers would come in and say, oh, you should model. And then that kind of sparked the thought to like, oh, maybe I could try it out. So my mom's friend that she worked with at the time, she knew of this modeling agency in Arizona because her daughter's friend became a big model through them. So I was like, okay, I'll try it out. I went to an open call there and it was with the agency Arizona so that's my mother agency now okay so yeah I went into the open call they took photos of me asked me a few like get to know you questions and then the next day they're like oh yeah we want to sign you so let's get the ball rolling they set up a test shoot for me so I like invested in that I had just graduated from high school so I have like graduation money that I put into investing in a test shoot my grandma helped me style it with her clothes from her closet and they were just all there my mom my sister my grandma and it was such a great experience.

3:06Like my first photo shoot and they were all there to experience it. Yeah, there wasn't much work in Arizona, but I did later that year get scouted by Freedom, who was my agency here in LA. And they're like, oh, we want to sign you. Would you want to come to LA for like a month, test it out, see how it goes. And then the next month I came out, tried out LA. So this was like January, 2019, tried out LA that month. And yeah, from then on they set up test shoots, booked my first job within like the first couple of weeks. do you remember what your first job was yes my first job was for fenty beauty and that was like that was amazing from then on i'm like okay this is for me yeah so fenty beauty was really your kind of big break when you thought wow you know definitely yes work for yeah and i feel like what also helped that i shot with a beauty photographer robin black so that was the one of the first test shoots i did when i moved here to la and it was like such an amazing shot that was like my comp card photo for the longest but I think that was like good for the Fenty team to see and then yeah shot with Fenty and then from then on it was a lot of beauty jobs after that so that kind of opened the door to the beauty world and that's my favorite job like my favorite type of modeling to do now.

4:20From then I started working with like PacSun here in LA so getting into clothing then there was like Nike, Urban Decay. I also did Fashion Week that first year as well. So went to New York, did the castings. That was a huge difference because it's so fast paced and I'm just was not used to that at all. So it was like castings and then I booked two jobs that, two shows that, that one round. So I did Laquan Smith and V-File. And then also that first year I got reached out to by Storm. They found me on Instagram, Storm in London, and then signed with them as well. So that started the international side.

4:59Sure. So tell us about that. Where did you go first? Where was your first trip? My first trip. So the thing was, I signed with Storm in 2019. Later that year, COVID hit. So 2020, there was like, I was just here in LA. And then I think my first time going to London was in 2021 I believe so that was my first trip to London I did two months there and that was so great I was working with like ASOS and doing a lot of uh castings I was learning there's so many new um brands out there so I was like learning the the London brands and international brands but ASOS was one that like I used to shop with them when I was in high school so I was like wow this is amazing yeah and what was your COVID time like everyone kind of has covid stories for me interesting yeah for me i i'm not gonna like i kind of enjoyed it i loved the taking its flow being able to like do things from home but except for at that time with modeling it was like becoming like oh you have to do more influencer kind of things so we had to set up our own shoots do makeup hair styling like they would send us a box of clothes and like be like okay shoot some stuff and were you in la or arizona yes i was in You know, like all of COVID.

6:09Yeah. So I had my friends. I got a guitar, learned how to play that. So it was actually kind of fun for me. I was like learning how to produce and stuff.

6:21How do you handle rejection and competition? That's a great question. Because it is a tough industry. It is a tough industry. There is a lot of rejection. I feel like with me, I'm just so optimistic. So, and I also know that what's meant for me will come. So I feel like I kind of came into it with that mentality. So I don't really look at the competition as much. I'm like, okay, that's for them. Then it'll be for them. If it's meant for me, it'll be for me. So that's kind of how I look at it. It's a really healthy attitude. So yeah, I feel like that's just the way you have to go about it. Otherwise it can really tear at you if you're thinking about it like, oh, she got my job or things like that.

6:56Was there a moment you knew that it was time to expand beyond modeling? I would say yes. For me, I think maybe it was COVID. I feel like that was for a lot of people when they found out like oh maybe this corporate business isn't for me or maybe this like just doing the things making other people's visions come to life is not fulfilling enough you know so for me I originally was an artist growing up drawing painting that was like my first passion so I was like let me you know tap back into that and also music I was like learning how to do music and I feel like I just felt that need to get back into it so then I started drawing more I made an art page and we'll post on there and I feel like that was the first intro into it to it was like okay let me tap back into my artistry and then with the book that was um I'm trying to think of what sparked that I feel like I was doing I really wanted to do YouTube that was also a goal of mine since I was young was being a YouTuber so I was like I made a few YouTube videos about like modeling and things like that and then I was like my boyfriend he wrote books and he's also a podcast he does a lot of things, public speaker.

8:04So I've grown in my communication a lot through him and I feel like writing a book about my modeling experience would be a great way to help the newcomers coming along. To like show, tell them the experience and how to get into it. Yeah, give them all my something you wish you'd had when you first came in. Exactly, yeah, because I feel like there's not much of that in the modeling industry, you know? Just telling like how to get into it, except for, I did watch a lot of YouTube videos, but there's not like a, this is everything, here's a guide you know. Talk to me more about your art. How did that creative path emerge?

8:37How did you turn that from kind of a hobby into a commercial stream? I started I did made an NFT so I made a project it was the Nubia project and it's like a statuesque figure kind of looks like me with my braids and stuff and it's just a few different neutral color tones and yeah so I have that on OpenSea right which is a um NFT platform and then I feel like for me it's been more so just posting whatever I create on my Instagram right so that's like what hosts most of my my art right now sure and are there any particular mediums that you're drawn to yes like what styles that sort of yeah for me I started off drawing portraits with pencil so love drawing portraits love faces and I feel like that's helped me with like now I like to do makeup videos and makeup tutorials so I know exactly like how to place my makeup.

9:30But yeah, drawing and then with painting, I started with acrylic. I love acrylic. Now I'm learning how to do oil painting. I took an oil painting class last year in Paris. So I'm learning how to do that now and playing around with that. And then also digital art on my iPad. And art is really where you relax, is it? Yes. It's like, that's the thing. When it comes to like monetizing it, I'm still in this weird place of like, do I monetize it? Do I keep it for myself? You know, do I share it? but I feel like I'm learning now that art is meant to share you know so I'm like just share it it couldn't inspire somebody why just keep it to yourself yeah yeah and does it reflect your modeling experience or are they are they completely separate I would say they're completely separate my art is more inspired by nature and like what's around me um architecture lately it's been a lot of flowers it used to be more like people now it's going into like nature and flowers okay architecture so if you could um design your own exhibition your art what would what would it be the theme would be it's going to be like realism nature and neutral muted tones

10:41moving on to strike a pose your book which we've got we've got here that i've um that i've read through it's got some really great thank you thank you so much advice in there what made you want to write that? I felt like there was a need. I kept getting asked. I'll say this is what really inspired me. I kept getting asked, how do you get into modeling? A lot of people didn't really understand, like, when they asked, they're like, oh, so do you just model for one brand? Or they don't really understand what goes into it, especially like from the outsider's perspective of people who aren't in the industry and people who want to get into it as well.

11:10They just don't understand what it all entails. So this is me just like gathering what I've learned from my experience, because when you do first get into it, you do kind of just have to learn it as a along with the process. Like you just kind of get thrown into it and learn as you go. Yeah. So I would, I just compiled everything that I learned from finding an agency, booking test shoots with photographers, reaching out on Instagram to like make test shoots and things like that. Contracts, learning how to do your taxes yourself. Me and my mom struggled with that a lot in the beginning, like managing finances, like when you're moving to a new city, how to like manage your money and be more mindful of that when you're getting into it.

11:48because there's just so many different buckets that you have to learn. You know, there's not any professionals helping you how to learn it. And what would you say the number one takeaway is? To just start somewhere. You have to start somewhere. If you're thinking about modeling, take that first step, whether it be reaching out to a photographer to do a shoot, going to the agency, going to the open call, just take that first step. You've got to get out there. Yes, get out there, put yourself out there. But if you want to do influencing, start posting, that will be my main takeaway. Take the first step.

12:18What kind of mental resilience do you think every model needs to build kind of early on in their career? That's such a great question. I would say for me, like I said, having that the initial like we are in a competitive industry, but not looking at it so much as competitive. Like think of it more as what's for you will be for you. And also just be the highest version of yourself, whether it be working out, eating healthy, like doing what makes you feel good. And then that will reflect in your casting tapes, your auditions, when you're showing up to meet these people, like showing up as your highest self.

12:53That will show off and reflect in the photos and whatever you do. And how do you recommend new models stay grounded? I would say the same, like working out is really good to help you stay grounded, eating healthy, and just doing things that feed your soul. Like for me, like I said, drawing, painting, I love listening to music. And yeah, just being more intuitive yourself, because I feel like modeling can be also a very social business. So there you may get invited out a lot, but then also just make sure you're taking time for yourself. Don't say yes to everything, you know. And what role does self-worth play in building a lasting career?

13:29How can someone sort of protect themselves? Because it's such a visual industry, isn't it? I feel like I talked about this on the first episode of my podcast with Sade because I didn't really think about like self-worth as much. and then she like broke it down I was like wow it's actually a really good way but like just thinking of self-worth as this is how I see myself this is what I know that I'm worth not what the brand thinks I'm worth that's not equatable to what I'm worth I feel like it definitely differentiates what the the brand sees or what your agency sees and not just equating that to what you feel inside knowing what you're capable of knowing that that you can achieve what you want to achieve and going for that no matter what if somebody says no you can't so have you have you ever been put in a position where you felt uncomfortable or someone's made you feel I would say yes I would the first round of me meeting with agencies in New York a lot of the agencies were like oh yeah we like you but we need you to lose a couple inches off of your hips I feel like that's the main thing that can be like take a hit at your self-worth is like the agency's like oh you don't fit into this box and it's like I don't have to fit into that box like things are changing I feel like you can make it without them sure if I don't fit for you as I am then I'm gonna find someone yeah yeah so just having that just because they said no doesn't mean you're not gonna it's not meant for you yeah you can find another way there's always another way

14:59in the book you offer quite a lot of guidance um which is great around building a career rather than chasing just the the money or the the you know the initial hit the initial hype what does sustainability and modeling look like to you I would say I think of modeling as something that I can do for a very long time and I want to do for a very long time so I think it's really important to think of the jobs that you're taking and making sure they're in alignment with what you see for yourself and also thinking okay what are my 10-year goals what are my five-year goals and just thinking ahead because I feel like a lot of people don't do that when it comes to modeling and I feel like even for me when I first got into it I didn't know much about the industry at all so it's like I don't know how far this can go but now being in it I see there's always going to be a need for models whether you're middle-aged or you know what wherever you're at so just thinking about what brand you want to portray for yourself and how do you encourage aspiring models to treat it as a business from day one make an llc for your modeling so it's officially a business in the government's eyes yeah i would say that was a big step for me learning how to like differentiate from it being like a personal that's like a whole thing that's like on the finance side of it but yeah like making it what did you struggle with with the finances when you first started what you wish you knew then that you know now for me starting off was taxes so i feel like doing the LLC helped with taxes because it separated the modeling income from my personal income and then I was able to write off a lot more things because now I'm a business as a personal you can't write off getting your nails done getting clothes going traveling you know so now it's like okay these are official business expenses so I would say that was the main thing I did not know anything about that until later on yeah and how long did it take you to start making a profit?

16:56I would say the first year. Okay, great. Yeah. Yeah. First year I was in profit for sure. Yeah. What was the stage where you could give up your other personal work and just be modeling full time? So when I first moved to LA, I was doing DoorDash. So driving around delivering food. And I would say after, I want to say a month. It was a while ago, but I want to say a month because also you have to wait sometimes to start getting your money. Like they have, it was net 90 so they would have 30 no 90 days so three months until they had to officially pay you so you're working working working doing all these jobs and not seeing the money until like three months later so I was definitely still doing my door dash and you obviously know your look and know where you fit in the industry how can models figure out their market a part of it is I feel like a lot of help from the agency they can kind of see what direction you're going to go so that initial initially and then also I feel like just what do you want to do but there's also I feel like with runway they are looking for tall like they still kind of have that tall slim that's why when I met with the New York agencies are like oh we know that they want you to fit into a 35 you know but I mean I still did it when I didn't fit into a 35 so it's like there's a little bit of leeway there but I would say learn a different market so there's fitness there's fit modeling beauty modeling maternity like there's so many different categories so find the categories you can do hand parts modeling hand modeling let's play around what works for you exactly i think people still think oh as a model you have to be tall and you have to be thin and people only see that high fashion market exactly and you know in reality there's such there's so many massive yeah yeah definitely and i feel like that's something i learned when i got into it that's why i also like included that in the book just wanted to let people know that there's so many other facets of modeling than just high fashion runway editorial talk to me about a model portfolio like what are the do's and don'ts what makes a really great portfolio for someone starting out i would say do do your research make a mood board and then i feel like the best way to start is to If you have an agency, have your agency help start building it out.

19:14Or if you're doing it freelance on your own, try to keep it high level, like at a very clean look. Don't go too out of the box. You don't want to do anything too crazy. What about digitals? What makes good model digitals? When you want to do good digitals, it doesn't have to be much. You can do it on your iPhone. Literally just a clean white background, nice natural lighting and close up, mid body and then full body. Usually wearing all black because black slims you down a bit. And then keep your hair out of your face and very natural makeup. Yeah, or no makeup. Yeah, they want to see how you naturally look.

19:59Absolutely. Yeah. And when a model is accepting a job, what questions should they ask their agency before they say yes? What is the rate? I feel like that's my main question. And then I do my research on the brand on my own usually and to see if they're in alignment.

20:25One theme when I read through the book that sort of stands out is learning how to speak up. What advice do you give for models who feel maybe unsure about setting boundaries or voicing their needs? Have you ever been in a situation where you've felt uncomfortable? How did you handle that? Yeah, it could be really tricky when you're first starting out because it's like you don't want to get blackballed or I don't know if they still do that, but yeah, you don't want them to tell your agents, oh, she's hard to work with or things like that. so I would say if you truly feel like you're someone's in the wrong you should speak up about it you know like I feel like a lot of models with like black hair like there's a lot of hairstyles that usually don't know how to do our hair and they'll say they do and then I've heard so many stories of girls that go in they say come with their hair curly they don't know how to do their hair you know what works for your hair and you shouldn't let anybody mess up your hair just because you don't want to speak up, you know?

21:23Like this is what you're getting paid for, your hair, like this is your career. So you can't just let this one person or this one job, you know, affect your hair or affect the, you know, long term. Because if you accepted this once, they're going to expect you to continue to accept that, you know? So it's important to set those boundaries. Exactly. And I feel like I'm still learning that, so. Yeah. I'm still definitely learning that. talk to me about the pros and cons of working freelance versus through an agency pros of having an agency is i feel like it has a lot of security in it because they're making sure you're they're making sure you get paid on time they're making sure the clients are legit and they usually have a really good relationship with photographers when it comes to test shoots and things like that.

22:14And then on the other hand, with freelance, or let me see, I'll say pros and cons. So cons for agency, they take 20 % or whatever their percentage is that you negotiate. But usually I would say it's like around 20 % in the States. I know some places in Europe, it could be up to 30 % of the total job. And then with freelance, pros, you get your full money that you negotiated for. You get to really have control over your brand vision your your look that's another thing with agencies you really have to keep the same look there's not many you can't really change your hair too much change up your nails too much but yeah with freelance I feel like you have a little bit more um creativity in that field and then cons with freelance is oh you have to manage your own finances manage all of the you know reaching out to the clients and building your network of clients things like that I feel like with the agency they already have that network of clients yeah so that's a big a big help too and what should models look for in an agency like what why did you feel your agency was right for you i go in knowing what direction i want to go with my modeling so i you know pitch that to them and then i listen back for what they say and what the direction they think that i should go so the main thing is if that's in alignment yeah so say if i'm like oh i want to do beauty jobs and i want to work for these type of brands and they're like okay yeah we have some of those type of clients i'm like okay perfect this is an alignment but then if i go in and they're like oh we actually see you more as like high fashion editorial and i'm like no that's not what i want i want to do beauty sure they're not for me and then for that you need to know what you want as well yeah yeah you may go into it thinking they're interviewing you but you're also interviewing them like it's a joint yeah um relationship every time i've met like in new york or paris i usually meet with like five agencies and then my mother agency sets them up so they'll she'll reach out to them set up a few agent meetings and then meet with all of them.

24:08And when you're going to London or Paris or New York or whatever, are you having to pay your expenses to go there to go and meet the agency? So that's coming out of your pocket? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like part of the investment. Yes. There's a lot of investments that need to be made.

24:31as a black model working across global markets how have you seen the industry evolve when it comes to representation i feel like i've seen it involve evolve a lot like for me well i say that but i've always had my hair and braid since i started modeling because i've heard so many horror stories of black models who go to set and they don't know how to do their hair on set. Right. So I kind of just protected myself with having this hairstyle. But for the most part, it's been great. I feel like maybe before, like years prior to when I got into the industry, it would have been a little more rocky, harder to break through certain barriers.

25:07But I feel like since I've been in it, it's been very open and receptive of me. You've never had to speak up because of lack of diversity or? I feel like the main thing that could use some improvement is um hairstylists like hiring black hairstylists that knows how to do black hair sure that would be the main improvement i would say do you think beauty campaigns are getting better at reflecting kind of real world diversity and i'll say absolutely yeah absolutely like you go on sephora there's so much diversity whether it's like middle-aged woman like different face skin textures you know it's so much diversity gaps like i have a gap and also I want to note that when I got into modeling I had my gap closed well I had braces when I was in high school so my gap was closed and then as I got into modeling I started to just feel more ready to accept my gap so then I like stopped wearing my retainers and just let it open up and also because like they were hiring a lot of other girls who had gaps so I'm like okay it's actually accepted so let me just you know be my true self this is I was born with a gap and let me represent for the other girls with gaps.

26:11What do you think things that the public still perhaps get wrong about the modeling industry? I would say the public probably thinks that I feel like still like modeling is all about high fashion editorial. If you're not on Vogue, you're not modeling. If you're not on the wrong ways, you're not modeling things like that. But like they're getting everyday people for all of these like different type of jobs. Like I said, in Sephora, you can see all different types of people. There's, you know, brands like, there's so many different clothing brands, Nike or whatever. This is, it's very spread out.

26:44And also, I feel like a lot of people think that when you're a model, you're working for just one brand. Like you're working for a wide scope of different brands.

26:56How has influencer culture shaped the way modeling works? Was that something that developed for you again during COVID, like in the pandemic? for me i kind of think it was early on like that first year of modeling for me so before covid um i was getting gifted a lot of beauty products i was working with all of these beauty brands i'm like oh let me do like beauty tutorials so i got into doing that and then i would do like hair tutorials and different things like that i i think with influencing i kind of just saw it as an addition like i i view my instagram page as my portfolio yeah in a way it's like my modeling portfolio and then also it also shows my personality because I feel like now a lot of brands are looking for personality they want to see more of you not just your face you know they're not they don't want you to serve face all the time they want to be like they want to know who are you yeah you know who is going to come to set who are we going to be hanging with all day how often are you posting I would say at least once a week right at least once a week I know some people are like oh you should post three times a week every day that's never been me and I don't think it's ever wanting to be me no yeah it's hard work it's a lot of work so you have to be true to yourself too because there's some people that want to push push push like oh like I need to be posting three times a day on TikTok or things like that but that's another thing you have to just find your balance you don't want to push yourself and then burn yourself out you know so find what works for you what makes your mother agent a good mother agent I feel like she definitely listens to me when I present to her what I want for my brand, like this year, I made a presentation on Canva and like my vision board.

28:33And also my freedom here, they asked for like, oh, send us a vision board of what brands you want to work for. So I love that both of them are, you know, they want to know what I want. So she's still very, she's very involved in her career. Yes, exactly, yeah. So I sent them that. And then just so that we're all on the same page and they know what I want. And we have certain brands that we're working towards and they know, you know, this is the direction that we're going. And they're really like, OK, let's, you know, be on the same page with that.

29:06What advice do you wish every new model could hear before entering the industry? I'll say don't compare yourself. Don't compare yourself to other people. Just be fully you. and what's next for you where would you like to see your career in 10 years okay so my main goal this is my my main modeling goal is to have a beauty contract with a luxury beauty brand okay yes which one ideally yso they're my favorite i'm sure you will um it's been a great chat thank you so much for joining me thank you so much for having me this was great

29:42if you'd like to learn more about brie's work follow her on instagram at at brie coulter or you can book her via her agency freedom models or visit her website briecoulter.com you'll find links to her artwork upcoming events and behind the scenes from her podcast role models brie's book strike a pose is available now on amazon if you enjoyed today's conversation, don't forget to subscribe, share and leave us a review. It really helps others discover the business of modelling. For extras and episode previews, follow us on Instagram at business of modelling. Thanks for listening. I'm Tessa Dewing and I'll see you next time.