Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rowena Mccormick-Robinson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rowena, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

The passion that I have for the fashion industry led me to the idea of starting a modeling agency and then the actual execution. I’m the oldest of 13 children born to the same parents who both stand tall. My father is 6’7 and my mom is 5’8. My siblings and I all stand close to 6’0ft and taller and we all have either modeled in the past or we currently model.

My sister Tammy McCormick-Broussard, who recently passed due to cancer, exhibited the initial driving force in the fashion industry. She started at the age of 14 and continued to entice me to model with her and a few of our other siblings, even though I was extremely shy at the time, and not interested. My interest did not surface until the age of 30 when a unique occurrence happened when several of my siblings and I were visiting our parents. One of my younger siblings, Diarra McCormick, received a package in the mail at my parent’s home. Surprisingly to me, it was a box containing her new comp cards. I was honestly unaware that this particular sibling had an interest in modeling at the time and I was blown away by the beautiful images displayed on her comp card. I made one remark about her card which would change the direction of my life and lead to the birth of Chic Nouvelle Model and Talent Management!

I loudly said I was ready! I said if Diarra can step forward in preparation as a model, then I am ready as well! I stated that I couldn’t let all of my younger siblings pass me up! My mother stepped in and said, “Well you might as well, because you are now 30 and not getting any younger!” This lit a fire in me, and even though I am the oldest of all of the siblings, I looked to my sister Tammy for guidance and told her that I was ready for a professional photo shoot. She immediately referred me to a celebrity photographer in another state.

I traveled to Beaufort, SC, had the experience of being styled and shot by some of the top professionals in the industry and a month later, I received some of the most beautiful photos that I have ever taken. However, I did nothing with the photos besides put them away until a once in a life time opportunity surfaced a month later!

I was always passionate about buying and reviewing hair magazines, especially one magazine in particular! I had been purchasing and collecting Sophiticate’s Black Hair Magazine since the age of 17. I remember speaking to myself and saying, before I leave this earth, I will be published in the magazine, even if it’s just once. Luckily for me, the next SBH magazine that I purchased featured a contest. This contest required those interested to submit at least 3 professional photos by a certain deadline. I of course had photos this time around and I submitted. Two months later, SBH Magazine contacted me saying I was selected out of 25,000 applicants! I was flown to Montego Bay, Jamaica to do an amazing Bridal shoot! Oprah’s personal hair colorist at the time, colored my hair. Halle Berry’s stylist left the set of the movie Cat Women in 2004 to fly to Jamaica to style my hair and I had my face painted by a celebrity makeup artist and of course I had a celebrity designer and photographer. I was able to stay in Jamaica for 5 days and 4 nights with all expenses paid!

This experience was so profound that it led me to make a very powerful decision. When I returned to New Orleans, my husband and I started up a photography company and we begin to style and shoot models and the process of starting the agency began to form! My inspiration was the wonderful opportunity I had in Jamaica. I wanted other models to have similar experiences and I was willing to do my part to try to make this happen!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m the oldest of 13 kids born into a family of very tall fashion models. I was inspired to start up an agency with my husband Russell Robinson, once we realized that there were not many opportunities for young models in the City of New Orleans which is ironic because people here thrive off of fashion and many social balls and other events which require amazing and unique attire on several occasions.

I got into the industry not only because of the high fashion genes that myself and family members posses, but also because of my true love for the fashion industry. Watching my sister who was 11 months younger than myself, was also so enlightening. My sister Tammy McCormick-Broussard was considered to be one of the most well liked and successful African American Models in Louisiana until her passing in June of 2021. She even received the Trailblazer Award for her accomplishments in the industry. She dedicated 33 years to her passion.

Our agency is Chic Nouvelle Model and Talent Management and we train, mentor and educate models of all ethnicities, heights, ages and sizes both male and female and kids. We do specialize in showcasing female models 18 and older who stand 5’9 and above but once again, we welcome all that have the drive.

We provide runway models, models for fashion shows, promotional models, print models, commercial models and tradeshow models. We also provide talent which includes, actors, singers, poets, dancers, African drummers, African dancers and African stilt dancers. We are fully staffed with photographers, videographers, art directors, designers, makeup artist and hairstylists.

Our company provides access to billboards for models and others as well as access to multiple online and print magazines for our models and those in the public who wish to advertise for their business. We are also proud to say that we continue to plan out of state and out of the country trips to models for exotic shoots and publication opportunities.

We notice that many models require runway training and portfolios which are very important to their career as a model and our agency has in house staff that can provide those services.

Our agency is unique because we are family oriented with a cultural awareness and we love to include people of all walks of life. We believe in giving aspiring models a chance especially when others have told them “no” on a consistent basis.

We are very proud of the fact that we allow our models to be creative and we allow them to express themselves within the agency, for example. we own one magazine in which we allow our models to show off their skills by doing some of the writings, photography, interviews and make up and styling within the magazine. This allows the models to see their progress in print and gain credit that may benefit them in the future.

We are also proud to be able to get multiple models on billboards in Times Square and in multiple paid shows in New York. We are also taking several models to Paris to get awesome photos which will allow them to upgrade their portfolios. In addition, we continue to be proud of getting our models published internationally over 60 times and we continue to smile about breaking a Guinness Record in 2022 for beating out Spain by having the most models in a show. We are proud because over 100 of these models were cancer survivors!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

For the last 18 years, I have been back and forth from New Orleans to New York. I have had models that have had big dreams of walking in shows in during Fashion Week in New York, if only they had the chance. I decided to take several trips to New York with my husband to gain connections for so many deserving models in the south and it was not easy but because I love what I do, I continued to enjoy the process of it all. I made progress bit by bit on a small level but I appreciated it all.

My first 3 trips allowed me to do personal shoots with 2 different photographers in New York and both of these photographers taught me a good deal about the industry. I took notes and applied as much knowledge as I could before actually opening the agency officially on paper in 2009. One of the most important things that I learned is that in the industry, it’s 10% what the model looks like and 90% attitude. This allowed me to look past the appearance of certain models instead of just tossing them aside and not giving them an opportunity. I realized that several only needed to be taught to create and identify their new look and to reinvent themselves. Many of these models became my top butterflies and now after constantly going back and forth to New York, I’ve developed several precious connections that are allowing me to put these butterflies into high end shows that are now paying them. We have truly come a long way!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me are through my website and social media platforms but most of all the “old fashioned word of mouth.” I am very consistent in what I do and I continue to keep my social media platforms active. I do find out however, that when people receive a good product or service from your company, they rarely hesitate to share the information. People simply want to be treated with respect and they expect your company to provide what you say it will provide. I was always taught that your word means everything and if you do everything in your power to keep your name in good standing, people who know of you and your company will continue to patronize and speak positively of you long after you are gone.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chicnouvelleworldwide.com
• Instagram: rowena.kay
• Facebook: Rowena Kay and Rowena Kay Model Manager
• Linkedin: Rowena Kay
• Youtube: Chic Nouvelle Worldwide

Image Credits
1. John Merrit Photography 2. Wonderland New Orleans Productions