We recently connected with Hannah Lawson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hannah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

When I first signed as a model, and this is often the case with new signees, my agents were not quite satisfied with my measurements. I was told to tone up, lengthen, do pilates, stop weight-lifting, etc. Unfortunately for them, I did not listen. This is a large risk to most outside the industry. Many girls try for years to get signed and, so, when faced with this undue criticism, they bend over backwards to make sure they are not dropped. I did not have these stakes surrounding my signing. I have always believed that regardless of the job, I should be accepted for who I am. I should be qualified, but I should not have to change physically. A small risk on my part ended up being my greatest blessing. My agents decided to keep me on board given my confidence, ability, and happy attitude. As sizing started to become more inclusive over the years, I gradually booked more work. Myself and others of my size became the pioneers of what is now known as “Mid Size” modeling. We are not the sample size zero, and we are not the curve sample size. We are in-between. We are beautiful, diverse, hard-working, and, most importantly, healthy and happy just the way we are. I am so happy that I held my ground and helped spearhead one of the most lucrative markets in modeling today. Your uniqueness might be exactly what the world needs to heal. Embrace all of yourself, just the way you are.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have been signed with Wilhelmina Models for nine years now. Initially, it was a high school classmate who encouraged me to try modeling and, with her help, I self-submitted online. An agent reached out to me for an in-person interview in their office in LA. I was living in San Diego at the time and drove up to meet with them. The rest is history. I have since signed with Wilhelmina in New York as well where I currently reside. I went on to work in London, Paris, and Berlin. I have been featured in major campaigns for GAP, Ralph Lauren, YSL, Simone Perele, and more and I have walked runways for Kim Shui, PriscaVera, LoveShackFancy, PatBo, and Cynthia Rowley among others. As a mid-size model, most of what I do should be impossible. Modeling up until the recent past was based on young women with interesting looks who fit a sample size. Usually a 0-2 in the US, this sample size was the guiding factor around casting processes worldwide. When I first signed, I was slightly over this sample size. Instead of listening to agents who told me I needed to get smaller, I decided to pursue an additional degree program in Biological Sciences at Fordham University. I wanted to answer all the questions I had about anatomy, health, sports and fitness, neuroscience, the brain/body connection, psychology, and cellular and molecular biology that my agents at the time just didn’t seem qualified to answer properly. This was a huge lesson that has always stayed with me. If you are having trouble trusting someone’s advice, do your research. Do it thoroughly. Do it properly. The rewards are immeasurable. I became equipped with the knowledge that at my height, it would be damaging in many ways to lose any more weight. My hormones, my cognitive function, my emotional control, and even my epigenetics were at risk if I listened to my agent’s advice. I told them to market me at the size I was, a US 8, and if nothing panned out I really wouldn’t mind. I was set to graduate from Fordham with two degrees, I had my whole life ahead of me and whether modeling was a part of it or not did not matter to me. I am so happy I maintained this attitude about it. Clients over time saw the immense perks in hiring my size range. Consumers appreciated the expanded sizing representation, more product moved because more consumers could accurately see how the clothing would fall on their frame, and the talent themselves were more energetic, confident, and present in their imagery. It is magnificent to see how being myself helped open so many doors for others like me to show other women and young girls that being themselves is perfectly acceptable, beautiful, and healing. Now, the industry has opened so much because of our efforts that I work as a mid-size model full-time. I am so grateful. I see the future of this industry as the brightest it has ever been for supporting and uplifting women and allowing us to be whatever kind of woman we want to be.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Most people outside of the modeling industry see our job as glamorous and mysterious. I thought the same thing before I was signed. I would love to de-mystify the job. Modeling is quite difficult. It is in my opinion a form of silent acting. Modeling when done well expresses emotion and depth in the gaze in the work. Models have to take direction well. They have to understand and appropriately evoke the mood and energy of a specific brand. They must be sufficiently active; the job involves sometimes hours-long stints on our feet without a break, running, jumping, holding active poses, and all the while maintaining facial expression. We can change clothes sometimes sixty to eighty times in a given day. Before we book a shoot, the only part of the process usually where we are paid outside of any necessary fittings, we must do our best to stay healthy by our personal metrics, practice mental fortitude, take good care of our hair, skin, nails, and body to the best of our abilities, and be adept at stress management. All kinds of negativity can impact your mood and will negate your emotional efforts on set, so stress management within reason will help you to deliver even the happiest of products on more emotionally challenging days. Administratively, models are truly on their own. Accounting, brand and social management, scheduling conflicts, financial logistics around flights and abroad stays in other markets are entirely our responsibility. We are advised by agents on when and where to travel to other markets, but beyond that we are spread quite thin. Many of us are extremely successful interdisciplinarily because of these factors. We also receive payments delayed. It can take anywhere from 30 to 90 days, sometimes longer, to see the payment from a job completed. Budgeting is an extreme sport for us. All of this to say: modeling is just like any other job. The product you see is indicative of weeks and even months of hard work, dedication, and toil.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I love the collaborative nature of my job. I constantly work on new sets with all new creative teams, unique artistic visions, and experimental perspectives in art. Meeting lots of new, diverse individuals has expanded my worldview and opened my mind. The world is so much more complicated, fascinating, and happy than the media leads us to believe. My job is also extremely flexible. We make a high rate for a single day given labor and image usage are paid in one sum. Depending on the season and the type of job, sometimes I work a full week, sometimes I won’t work for 3 months. It varies greatly, so given the free time I have, I like to fill it with friendship, museum visits, writing sessions, schooling, and creative hobbies. I am a published painter, a professional bladesmith, and a trained actress. I love that I have an adequate work-life balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wilhelmina.com/new-york/women/curve/3782-hannah-lawson
• Instagram: @thehannahlawson @thehannahlawsonart