Melissa McConnachie & Lili Johnson, Fashion Models

0:02Melissa McConnachie: Welcome to the Business of Modelling, the podcast where we explore the fascinating world of the modelling industry. I'm Tessa Dewing, Managing Director of Sandra Reynolds, a commercial model agency celebrating its 50th year of business. Melissa McConnachie and Lili Johnson are both fashion models with colours as their mother agency and have built careers that stretch well beyond Scotland, working internationally across catwalk, editorial and fashion-led projects. They're also friends, which makes this conversation particularly lovely, honest, relaxed and full of shared experiences from behind the scenes of the fashion world.

0:40Melissa McConnachie: Today, we'll talk about how they each got into modelling, how their careers have developed, the realities, the funny moments and what it's like building a life around fashion.

0:55Melissa McConnachie: Melissa McConaughey and Lily Johnson, welcome to the Business and Modelling podcast. Thank you. It's good to be here. Yeah, I'm excited.

1:06Melissa McConnachie: Do you want to start by telling us how you got into modelling, but where you grew up, what your childhoods were like? Shall we start with you, Melissa? Yeah, I grew up just a little bit outside of Glasgow in a small village called Howards. And yeah, my childhood was nice. I have a brother like my family were you good at school I was all right at school I think like um near the end of high school that's when I started modeling and I was just kind of over school like I just was ready to get out wasn't enjoying it that much I had to work hard a lot when I was younger so yeah what did you always think you wanted to be when you grew up when you little girl no idea like no idea at all I didn't have like I think after school I didn't want to go to uni which is why modeling kind of fit in perfectly with that because I could just go and do that and I still actually like I'm 23 now and I still have no idea like what I want to do in the future.

2:03Melissa McConnachie: Was modeling on your radar? It was never on my radar like I was always told like by some people when I was younger like oh you should model and no I never went like looking for it I was like scouted and then that's by colors and then that is how I went in and done So what's your scouted story? Where were you? So I was, I think I was like 16, 16 or 17. And I was on, I was out with friends in Glasgow and I was walking back to the train station. And Mark, I think was, all the agents were on a night out or something. Mark was standing outside and he saw me and stopped me. And it's so funny because I was like wearing a full face of makeup, eyelashes on, like just not looking like a model at all.

2:48Melissa McConnachie: and yeah he scouted me but he saw through that yeah like i was in my phase of like foundation kicked on my face and i think modeling saved me from that but yeah yeah but before that then you haven't you wouldn't have gone you wouldn't have approached an agency yeah i was approached by an agency but nothing really ever happened and i wasn't really bothered by it so yeah Mark scouted me and then I went and and saw them I think like the following week and yeah and then I was entered into a competition which was like a Scout Me Scotland competition with Select down in London and it was like whoever won the competition would sign with Select as well and then I ended up winning that and then that's how like I started working.

3:39Melissa McConnachie: And Colours are your mother agency? Yeah Colours were my mother agency and yeah. Great. And Lily, what about you?

3:45Lili Johnson: So, yeah, I've lived in Glasgow since I was two. And I grew up in Sight Hill in Springburn. So, yeah, I lived with a single parent. So childhood was very much like, I guess it was a lot more survival mode. But, you know, she did her best to support us and take care of us. And, yeah, she's raised me ever since. and I'm here today. Have you got brothers and sisters? I've got one sister. I've got an older sister. She is an engineer. Wow. Yeah, my mum's done a great job.

4:22Melissa McConnachie: Yeah, absolutely. And how were you at school? Were you academic?

4:26Lili Johnson: Yeah, I was academic. I'd say, honestly, I was a bit of a clown. I just, yeah. Mum really did push us through education, you know, all the study books. That was sort of where I wanted to go. modelling was never on my radar at all and it was very I think if you'd spoke if you speak to my old registration teacher he could tell you I went through so many different phases of different jobs that I wanted to do and then reached a point where I was like okay I know I want to do psychology so I went on to do an undergrad in psychology at Edinburgh University and then went on to do my master's which I've just completed.

5:03Lili Johnson: So congratulations wow okay so where did modelling come into the mix? I'd kind of been told a couple of times when growing up like you know you're really tall you should do you should do modeling it was never something that I ever thought of whatsoever and just kind of had the odd compliments there here and there you know you should do it and then when I when I finished school I moved to Edinburgh and I became best friends with somebody who was actually in colour she was signed to colours and I kind of saw what she was doing I was like this is really cool you know like you're going and taking pictures and you're traveling everywhere doing all these jobs and I was just first year at university living in halls and you know they did money so I was like I'm like like why not give it a go like let's put what people have said like to a test and like go for it so um she like she put me in contact with Mark at Colours and um I emailed him and the following week I saw him I went into the agency and yeah we had a nice chat and did some digitals and then they said I was signed so it was yeah really great

6:05Melissa McConnachie: experience so was that exciting straight away or quite daunting Melissa once you got signed um I'm at that point like I was quite a nervous person so I think I was exciting but I never really like believed in myself at that point like I was quite unconfident um and I remember like even like my first shoot I was like so nervous like couldn't even like look at anyone like but Yeah, I think I was excited, but I wasn't the best at showing it, if you get me. I think modelling is really hard. People just think it's really easy. I think people, and actually to have the confidence to stand in front of the camera and have everybody looking at you.

6:50Melissa McConnachie: And it takes you doing that a few times and lots of experience until you know what you're doing to get that confidence. People can't tell you what to do in front of the camera, but actually you just kind of learn yourself. and I feel like if you've got it like you could just kind of know yeah you know sort of add your own flavor to it don't you yeah yeah and um Lily do you remember your very first job and how it

7:15Lili Johnson: felt at the time oh good question um I think my first job was um it was a company called Cross Cashmere and it was actually in Edinburgh um with a lady who owned the band called Lynn Coleman and funny story is that was what eight years ago and I only recently just recircled back and did a job for her just there after eight years so that was very wholesome but yeah I remember doing it and I think it was I was very nervous at the time I have to say very very nervous because I I did not have the confidence and I think I felt a bit of imposter syndrome and yeah I sort of felt like an out-of-body experience like I was just doing it but at the same time I was in disbelief that it was happening so um yeah I was very nervous yeah yeah and um so Colours being your

8:01Melissa McConnachie: mother agency um what did that relationship give you early on like how did they help you build your confidence um yeah I think a mother having a mother agency is so important like I know some other models who don't have that but yeah I remember like as soon as I met Alison and Roslyn like they were they really just care for you and yeah like they're your agents and they book jobs but actually like you can just go in and have a chat with them and I remember meeting Alison like the first ever time and she just was just, she has like a second mum and Rosalind as well, like they are just like second mums to us so yeah I think it's, yeah they really have built my confidence up

8:47Do you remember the moment that it started to feel more like a career

8:52Melissa McConnachie: rather than just something that you were trying, sort of thing, Lily?

8:57Lili Johnson: I think it felt more like a career once I moved down to London and I actually you know even when I signed with Select in London again it felt like an out body experience it very much was kind of just going through the motions but then once I got to London and I the first thing I did was Fashion Week I think yeah oh wow and had you done shows before we'd done like I guess we'd done some small shows in Glasgow right not anything like Fashion Week and I think that's when it started to feel like an actual career yeah I think I'm saying like fashion week was I think

9:29Melissa McConnachie: fashion week was maybe one of my first jobs how did you guys meet well I Lily was signed before yeah I remember like going to a job up here and like I kind of knew who Lily was but I think we first we probably met but like we first became like friends I think in London in fashion week yeah yeah I remember it was my first season yeah I remember like Melissa we knew Melissa

9:57Lili Johnson: we knew Melissa had won um Scout Me Scotland and she was down for um shows at London um and then me me and my friend Ailey um we were sharing our Airbnb at the time in London and we had Melissa over because she just booked a big show you just booked your first big show and we were all very very happy for her but I knew it was kind of like you were kind of like catapulted into this big crazy world so nervous so we had feitas that night yeah we had so you kind of took melissa

10:23Melissa McConnachie: under your window yeah oh how important was that for you because i remember it was like i'd just booked like some big shows and i was so like overwhelmed and i've always struggled with that growing up and like just being able to go and see ailey and lily like because it was just felt like being at home yeah yeah he's really helped me oh yeah that's like the first time we that's that's lovely that's lovely to hear because I think this industry can be quite cutthroat like you know quite a lot of sharp elbows and you know things like that and I think you know for you to to welcome her and to look after her and hopefully you've then since paid that forward with with other models that perhaps haven't been so confident as you so surrounded by new people and stuff so it was nice just to have people from home.

11:19Melissa McConnachie: So your mother-agent relationship with Colours, how has that supported you as your careers have grown internationally because you've both worked all over the world?

11:29Lili Johnson: I think like the good thing about Colours is that genuinely they've seen it all and so I think that they've taken so much you know the good and the bad from other people's experiences and they really try and support us from what they've learned because it was such a new thing for us but it's not new for them and so that was really helpful that if you speak to Mark he's got all the stories to kind of guide you from and guide you through and like you know you learn from you know other people's mistakes but I also think the one thing about colours that I really appreciate is that they genuinely make an effort to know us inside and out yeah and on a personal level and on a professional level as well and they know what would work for us and what wouldn't work for us so if they're like you know if things are really tough and they can see that we're not going to be able to handle this they're not they're really good at being able to just go against the grain and just say listen sit the season out you know I don't like it's not you don't need to do everything um if you don't want to and I really do appreciate that from them I

12:27Melissa McConnachie: think yeah and do you remember the first time you worked abroad each of you what what that was for Lauren, where it was. You were just with Fashion Week, wasn't it? Yeah, I think Fashion Week, I'd just done, I was meant to go to London and just do London Fashion Week. That was my first season. And then I found out after, I booked like three shows there. And then I got signed straight away in Milan in Paris and flew straight to Milan from London. And that was my first time. On your own? I was 17, so I had a chaperone. Okay. Someone from my agency came with me to Milan, but then I went to, after Milan, I went to Paris and I went myself.

13:06Melissa McConnachie: Because I was young, but I always wanted to travel and I was quite independent at that point. Right. So, yeah, I was on my own for like a good 10 days in Paris. And how did you find that? Because it's so fast paced fashion weeks anyway. It was so exciting. Like I had to take time off school and I remember phoning my mum being like, oh, I'm going to Milan tomorrow. and she's like what about school and I'm like no don't care like I'm doing this um it was so it was exciting it was overwhelming just because of how fast things like I literally walked a show and then signed with an agency straight after and had so many people calling me like book and flight like it was a lot but it was so exciting but did you feel looked after during that yeah like when I went to Milan I obviously had an agent come with me and our agency in London like a few of the agents were in Milan so we'd go for like dinner and like I think there was obviously points where I was getting rejected and they would I was so young to like not really know how to deal with that but they were really good at you know looking after me and making sure it was explaining how it works and yeah and Lily what about you so mine was when I was

14:28Lili Johnson: yeah when I was living in London I worked for um I went to Germany for Zalando that was my very first you know abroad job um gosh that was the first time I'd actually traveled probably probably on my own on a plane and I managed to get there at like 12 o 'clock at night and ended up in the wrong hotel oh no I wasn't starting a job until five o 'clock in the morning so that was it was a bit of a whirlwind but you know what it was great because like I don't think I would have ever done something like that um if I didn't have this job so it really pushed me to kind of you know get my

14:56Melissa McConnachie: confidence up and going places by myself so you'd already moved to London at that point yeah so what

15:01Lili Johnson: was that how did the move happen so um I was in university full-time um and then I got to my third year and you know I had a lot of things going on personal things and I just needed a break I needed a brain break I just needed some I just needed to kind of switch things up and at that point I wasn't really booking that many jobs with modeling it was like I said it was very much just something I did on the side it wasn't like a career at that point but I just wanted an experience and so we moved um yeah I moved to London and stayed at my auntie's um for a bit luckily she let me in and yeah just kind of went from there and you know even at that point things were still quiet um I think Covid was just about to hit as well wasn't it um so then it wasn't until yeah it wasn't until after COVID that things sort of picked up for me.

15:51Lili Johnson: Where were you during COVID?

15:53Melissa McConnachie: Were you in London then or did you come back here?

15:55Lili Johnson: No, I came back to Glasgow. So, you know, modelling sort of shut down for us, didn't it?

15:59Melissa McConnachie: Yeah, I was in Paris, the end of Paris Fashion Week and that's when COVID hit.

16:04Lili Johnson: Yeah. So weird. Yeah, so it just sort of shut down, to be honest.

16:13Melissa McConnachie: So tell us some of the brands you've worked with and shoots you've done. Melissa. Ports Zara Simone Rolshaw was great JW Anderson they were all kind of like at the beginning one of my faves was Connor Ives loved working with them I worked with them like quite consistently so that was really nice and that was also what we're saying about like having a good relationship with them like that kind of felt like a friendship I did like a cool job up in Inverness for it was like social media for like Maison Margiela and that was like shooting on location yeah and that was really cool because it was like a Scottish team so that was like really nice my like best one is Selene like that was my opened that was my dream because Selene was actually one of the first castings I went to when I was 17 and I think just from that point I was like I want to do that and then obviously I didn't get it for a couple years after so I think when I got that that was really big for me and I really like yeah still can't really get my head around that.

17:20Melissa McConnachie: What did that feel like waiting to go out? Yeah that was it was like quite a long process I went to the casting and then got like the call back and then like obviously got the show and it was yeah I got to travel a lot with with them and even to open like I didn't even expect that I didn't actually know that until like the jobs like the day of the job so What about you Lily?

17:45Lili Johnson: I've done like Ted Baker, like Selfridges, you know, next Marks and Spencers. It was actually quite cool. I did a beauty thing for Barbary as well a couple of years ago. That was really fun as well. I've been on Elle, which was great. But yeah, it's hard to list them all off because they all just sort of merge into one. You forget who you've worked for. I think my mum's favourite, my mum would attest to the fact that her favourite job that I've done is probably Marks and Spencers because she's a shopaholic. So she really took that one and ran with it. She's like, she's been on M &S. She was like, did you bring me a jacket?

18:19Lili Johnson: And I was like, no, mum, we don't get to keep the clothes.

18:22Melissa McConnachie: So yeah, a lot of Econ brands.

18:25Lili Johnson: And your family really supportive? Yeah, they've been really supportive. You know, my cousins as well in London were really great at the time because they let, you know, at the times where I needed accommodation, my auntie and uncle and my cousins would let me stay with them as well. so yeah it's been great what would be your dream job lily you know what i love um rihanna through and i've always said i want a fenty beauty i just love fenty beauty so much and fenty skin so yeah probably doing something along those lines just in some form of beauty work would be great yeah yeah i don't think i i don't have like a dream job there's so many brands i'd love to work with

19:04Melissa McConnachie: But I think my dream would just be to work regularly, consistently. I think that is my dream right now, especially with going to New York. I just want to work and, yeah. See it all. Just do as much as I can. Yeah, absolutely.

19:25Melissa McConnachie: Have there been any times where you've been asked, your hair's been done in the most ridiculous way or the most ridiculous look that you just think, oh god no I don't feel comfy with this obviously you don't get much control over what your hairstyle

19:40Lili Johnson: is like um so I've been through so many different but yeah I think you just have to soak it in and just take it as like a big one big funny memory to be honest like yeah you know I think it's it's

19:50Melissa McConnachie: funny because like even like how your hair is like if it's not how you usually do it you might not feel as confident and that like even like what you're wearing like I just love like oversized stuff so if I'm put in like a little dress I don't really know how to act sometimes and it's but it's just part of the job but yeah I've had some mental hair yeah I had like my hair like like my hair like up sprayed with so much hairspray like and then just try to get it out yeah yeah and have you you must have met so many like lovely people and so many characters I mean have there been like good or bad experiences that have been memorable for you?

20:35Lili Johnson: Doing modelling is really good for you know networking and getting to know new people obviously fashion week I guess it is like a tough time and I'd say that's when a lot of like frustrations maybe do come out you know when you go to casting because you're there from you know six o 'clock in the morning till like nine o 'clock at night doing like castings walking about and trying to get a job and that's the parts that people probably don't see as well so I guess in that kind of sense like you know maybe you do get the odd frustrations but we've all we've all been on that boat we've all experienced it so I think yeah I've just learned like there is so many big

21:07Melissa McConnachie: characters and I think when I started out I wanted like to be liked by everyone but now I've just kind of as the years have went on I've learned like okay I'm not gonna get on with everyone I'll just be nice people are nice and yeah if they don't if I'm not gonna click with someone that's okay yeah and I have found people that I have clicked with and that's great too yeah do you find that you're sometimes judged on set as a model like like again like fashion week it's

21:35Lili Johnson: you know you're going in and you're having to do they ask you to do a walk and they ask you to you know they want they're judging how you are yeah that's really that is really tough and that's why the frustrations do come out because you know they don't know you they don't know you personally they're just having to look at you and whether you suit the clothes so yeah I guess that yeah

21:52Melissa McConnachie: that's quite challenging I think I've learned like they've also got a job to do as well like a designer and a stylist like they they have a vision for their what they want and that's so important to them so I may not fit their look and that that's like I'm not gonna take that personally you know I mean like it's a big deal for them as it is for us as well I mean at the

22:13Lili Johnson: beginning it was hard not to take it personally um but then something that you know I came to realize and something that um one of the you know other models and colors kind of said was you know rejection and modeling it's so normal it's not a personal thing like you said melissa yeah they've got they've got an idea of kind of the type of person that they want and it could be just as little as you know they've got different color hair from you and this is the kind of you know model that we want for our clothing that's like you have to kind of understand that's okay you know like we have so many options that we're probably you know put forward for but you probably you only get like 10 % of your jobs if that that's normal that's all it's not personal to you

22:50Melissa McConnachie: whatsoever Alison said was that was one of the first things Alison said to me was like this job is a 99 % rejection yeah I've had times I think when I started I was rejected a lot and I was okay with it because I was I didn't really know what was going on but the more you learn about the industry I think there was a point where I was taking it personally and I just kind of like take a step back and I think when you want something really bad it is hard to hear the word no but yeah yeah it just it does take time and I think as you get older as well

23:30Melissa McConnachie: doing psychology must really help you because you're dealing with different people all the

23:35Lili Johnson: time aren't you throughout your modelling so I actually think it was modelling that helped me through psychology interesting because you're you're traveling and you're meeting so many different people um it really gave me that confidence that I probably would never have

23:51Melissa McConnachie: insight you're meeting people that you would have never normally met the fact that you know people

23:55Lili Johnson: come from different backgrounds have different experiences come from different cultures you see that in psychology you see that in doing the groundwork um so because I've got that background I feel like I can talk to different people from different backgrounds and have chats. You know, in psychology, it's very much about building a therapeutic alliance and building a really great relationship with your clients. I've had that experience of doing that in modelling. So it was really helpful. So what's your plan going forward? So I've just finished a master's, so I want to take a break. That was a lot.

24:27Lili Johnson: But, you know, I would like to get to the point where I could become a doctor, but I don't want to lose modelling. What about you, Melissa?

24:33Melissa McConnachie: so you're have you got sort of a something that runs alongside modeling or something that you think you might want to do that yeah like I've always when I started modeling I was I think I was working in a restaurant when I was like 17 and I always have worked on the side going forward now I'm gonna put all my energy into modeling just for a while I got the visa last year for New York so it's kind of and then I've just been working in a shop in Glasgow just now just to kind of like keep me going and have a bit of routine and things because I have been out of it for like almost two years now um so yeah now that I've got the visa I'll probably hopefully go to New York and just see just um tell us the process because it's not easy to get no it's not how has that process worked did you have have you been out there before uh not for work no I went to go see agencies yeah um so yeah because I can't you can't work out there without the visa obviously but um you have to do a certain amount I think it's like a certain amount of uh jobs here like in the UK before you can get the visa to go to New York yeah then I had to go to the embassy and actually get the visa so now it's I've got it and it's in my passport and so I can go there and work and so many models go to new york and never come back they just love it yeah it's like a place to be now isn't it yeah i'm like i'm excited but part of me is quite scared just because like i won't have a another job like i'll just be doing modeling but i think it will give me the time to kind of figure out what else i want to do i would love to do something on the side so even just being in new york like will be quite inspiring just to actually like figure out what I want to do yeah I love like running and I've really started getting into Pilates like things like that yeah join the Pilates crew and I I was thinking the other day I was like I'd love to go to New York and like do a Pilates course a teaching course something like that and yeah that'd be so good I have like thought about styling I think it does feel quite daunting going into something like that but also I'm in the industry so it would be good I'm excited to go like and meet different people and like yeah yeah just see what happens how long are you going to be out there for initially I'm not sure so I've got I think I've got two years left on the visa but I think I'll I won't stay out there the whole time I'll go for like months at a time maybe um and I'd like to like travel about so whether that's go Milan, Paris, London like just kind of see what happens but definitely like a good couple months in the beginning I think.

27:24Melissa McConnachie: From outside obviously modelling can look really glamorous what is the reality day to day?

27:31Lili Johnson: I guess people don't see you know the fact that we're going to castings and you know there's a 99 % of rejection they don't see the you know getting up from six o 'clock in the morning to like eight o 'clock at night basically running around London trying to get a job for fashion week they don't see the fact that you got your job last minute sometimes like sometimes you only find out you've been booked the night before and I guess as well you do really have to try and keep fit and modeling so that is quite hard I guess we don't post that part as well so it's understandable that people won't see it but you know you get the questions as well like oh do you get to keep the clothes and I'm like no no but I guess like the funny part is I thought that when I first before I even started modeling I thought all of those were like true so yeah it's different it's different from when you're inside of it from being outside yeah and how does

28:21Melissa McConnachie: uh social media kind of come into play there's been times in like different seasons of fashion that I've like taken time out and then you see people that you know doing well and like you're happy for them but it does like hurt a bit sometimes you're like I want to be doing that and but yeah I think I think I've kind of kept a good relationship with it like I guess as models like

28:46Lili Johnson: we know that you know I guess in general social media you only see the good parts don't people only post those bad parts and I think that we know that there's bad parts as well um to modeling so we understand we understand that yeah I think you could see someone doing well and think oh my gosh

29:02Melissa McConnachie: I want to be like them like I feel like for me I've booked some good jobs and then it still doesn't feel like enough so they they probably feel the same like they could be doing something amazing

29:11Lili Johnson: but it still doesn't feel enough to them yeah for me personally um I use social media for my modeling so I have my own page for that but then I also like to keep my own other page for just being lily who's not a model so you have separate yeah yeah because I don't want to forget where I am from and you know I'm still young and I'm still lily at the end of the day and you know modeling is a part of my story but there's other things as well so I think it's cooler if you're

29:36Melissa McConnachie: just yourself like if i see someone post something like silly like i just think that's cool i think

29:41Lili Johnson: one of the parts of modeling that people don't realize is that yes like you do have to look good in some aspects but personality is a really big part of modeling and it really like when you get the the brief of photo shoots they ask for people that are no fun and enjoyable and loud and funny you can't really get that from ai you know what i mean yeah

30:03Melissa McConnachie: how do you feel like modeling has changed you as people it's challenged me it really has me

30:10Lili Johnson: personally it's really like I came out like I said I just I just came out of high school and I didn't have you know the great self-esteem whatsoever I didn't have a good time in high school so at that point I had no confidence whatsoever um and I kind of you know would never have expected myself to be you know on shoots or in club magazines or any of that kind of stuff whereas like modeling really challenged me to be who I am I guess because they ask for you to be natural they want it like they see through the mask especially with my hair and you know growing up I think I'd growing up I'd I never had my natural hair out whatsoever and it was always weaves and extensions and things like that and even when I first started modeling I wore extensions and it was only until I signed with London where they were like we don't want extensions like we want to see you that was really hard for me like that was not something I'd ever done like before that I think I'd gone to school more my natural hair like once and it wasn't a good experience so yeah you know modeling really challenged me to be who I am and now I feel you know I do feel comfortable with that being me

31:15Melissa McConnachie: and Melissa did you once they managed to get your makeup off yeah do you um are you more confident yeah I think honestly it kind of saved me a bit because coming out of school I did feel like I was the tall like freak almost like I was a bit different looking like I was tall and yeah I didn't have the best I didn't have any confidence at all and so then when I started modeling like I think it really helped like because I really struggled being like really struggled being like the tall girl I hated being tall yeah but it has honestly helped me so so much and my confidence has grown so much like I would have never been able to done this type of thing when I was younger like no way were you one of the tallest girls in your class yeah I remember on school photo day yeah lining up and it was like maybe five boys in front of me who were a bit

32:16Lili Johnson: taller than me it was like doing social dancing as well and you just never like you just wanted to be one of those petite girls like i remember i used to research on google how to be short so it was like drink lots of tea so i drank lots of tea and i never got convinced myself that i'd

32:32Melissa McConnachie: gotten smaller i hadn't i think it's also glasgow like yeah i do love glasgow but everyone's yeah and from traveling and stuff like i've really learned like oh my god it's so fine being tall I do love it now and it doesn't bother me at all Have you guys ever felt pressure to be a certain size because you're both, I mean doing fashion weeks you have to fit into those sample sizes Have you ever felt pressure for that or are you just naturally that size? I don't think I've ever felt pressure from anyone I think the pressure is myself I'm really a perfectionist when it comes to getting things right so I think if yeah it's just my me and my own head sometimes what about you Lily yeah I've never

33:21Lili Johnson: really like again never had that pressure I think colours again we're really good at they're so good at going against the grain and kind of they know the realities it's really difficult so not not pressure but I guess for me obviously I'm grown up now your body does change as you get older you know your hips do get wider things like that happen so I guess it's quite you know I had that younger body so I guess that part was mentally challenging for me um in a sense but you know I think both of us can attest that we love fitness we love doing our pilates and bar and things like

33:54Melissa McConnachie: that so I think as long as you feel good like I remember speaking to Alison about it and she's like as long as you're happy and healthy like that is all that matters and I guess the fitness is

34:05Lili Johnson: more for again for our brain yeah for sure to like switch off but yeah like like you said colours are they they know like they've been through it all so they're never putting any

34:15Melissa McConnachie: pressure on anyone are they yeah I think that's also why it's good having a mother agent yeah yeah because you can just literally like I could phone up any of them and just chat to them about it yeah and how important is health and fitness when you're a model because it can be quite demanding if you're traveling and if you're doing fashion weeks and things I think people think that we all have this fitness routine like but really I've went through times where I don't work out like so like when you're at when you're traveling so much you're on the go all the time so yeah I've met a lot of models who just don't really like care but yeah it is good it is definitely good to have yeah a fitness like sort of routine yeah I would say you know when that time when I was

35:00Lili Johnson: living in London it was just so busy you know you were traveling like I was living out of a suitcase yeah that you know I actually loved that's how I fell in love with doing bar and pilates is because I needed somewhere just to escape and just stand like be still and you know the endorphins that you feel after doing your exercise is amazing so yeah that's been really important to me and I still continue it to this day yeah as well just to be able to switch off it was great

35:33Melissa McConnachie: if you could give advice to a young model just starting out someone that might be listening thinking oh maybe I could do this you know what would that be be patient like you know I think

35:44Lili Johnson: when you first started being a model you hear of all these big jobs that people are doing you know and you think that should be you doing that um but it's everyone has a different journey everyone has a different course take your time with it you're also you you also need that time to learn this industry um as well really do listen to your mother agent um I can't emphasize that enough because colors like I said they've been through it all and they know the ins and outs they know the good parts and they know the bad parts as well and they know you so really listen

36:16Melissa McConnachie: to them I just say like trust the process like don't don't stress and also like Alison said this to me once like just don't like just see how like don't stress about like having a certain plan or like yeah just take it with a pinch of salt and have fun with it like have like if you're traveling like i enjoy the that side of it go to like some nice restaurants don't just be like take the opportunity different jobs like really like soak up the opportunities that you have uh melissa mcconochie and lily johnson thank you so much thank you thank you for having us it's been a great chat yeah it's been so good thank you for listening don't forget to subscribe leave a review and share it with someone who might find it inspiring see you next time