We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Franz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.
Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
When I was young I had a passion for music which led me to learn how to play guitar and dream of rock and roll fame. When I reakized that wasnt going to happen I then became a booking agent for local bands and then started a music management and promotion buisness.
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 soon managed and promoted women in music because women needed representation without the threat of less desiables making them false promises. I was known in Philadelphia as the Chick Band Dude and many female singer songwriters or female fronted bands wanted my services. I represented women on a world wide scale having clients in both Ausralia and the United States. I then became a Grammy voting member and a Country Music Associaltion voting memeber which gave me clout in the music business. What set me apart from others was that I was willing to work with just women as many people in my field really didnt want to. My proudest moment came when I kept one of my artists on the top of the charts in her genre for three consectutive months.
The music buisness was heading for big changes 20 years ago and I knew that as a manager my days were numbered. I was then asked to judge a beauty pageant and my world quickly changed. Apparently I was a very good judge and before long I found myself juding pageants all over the country. Keeping my female perfomers styled and disciplined in their craft gave me an advantage juding pageants. After evey pageant I judged, the contestants who did not win reached out to me on social media to ask what they could have done better so that they could improve for the next pageant. I kept very good notes so I would give them my thoughts. My best friend suggested I become a pageant coach and start charging fior my feedback. Before I knew it, pageant women and young women begun seeking me out as their pageant coach. In my very first endeavor my client won a national pageant and word spread of Coach Chris. Now I have 12 national title winners to my credit and over 20 state and local winners. I realized that coaching paid better than the music buisness and a whole new chapter in my life had begun. The owner of Miss Bikini US Dawn Rochelle Warner found me on Facebook and wanted too kow if I would help her start a new pageant. I said sure and thats when I became Director of Model Developement for Miss Bikini.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I think the most rewarding aspect of being a pageant coach is to teach confidence so that my clients can feel enpowered when they take to the stage. Its not easy to walk onto a stage in a swimsuit in front of a room of strangers espeacially after having children or coming back from a grave illness. I love seeing the end result when they can acheive what they thought wasnt possible only a couple of months prior to working with me. Preaparing them for the interview portion of a pageant is the hardest challenge. I need to get them to feel comfortable spaeking in public and to the judges so that they dont sound rehearsed and more importantly be themselves and be genuine.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
If I had to set a goal or a mission in my journey I would have to say that I strive to make everyone in my buisness to feel good about who they are and accept the body they are given. In a world where social media depicts a perefct woman which isnt real, young people can get very confused about what they should look like or act like. With all of the filters and special effects that are available you can change anything about you. The younger girls see this as real and then they try an emulate what they see. This is why so many become afflicted with eating disorders and othe ailments. When I do model workshops I speak to this very topic because I was once diagnosed with an eating disorder which as a male was very rare. I overcame it so I want these young people to know that what they see isnt real and there is help if you need it. I also write for the Platform Magazine where I interview women who have had great obsacles in their life and have overcome them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: chrisfranzrke
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chris.franz.7923
