We recently connected with Alexandra and have shared our conversation below.

Alexandra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

The straight answer- no. I have not hired anyone to manage my social media accounts. Maybe I should, but there are a few reasons I haven’t. To hire someone else to manage your social media is to basically hand it off and say I don’t want to do this, or I can’t do this. Which are both valid and at some point, everyone needs extra hands- there are pros and cons whether you decide to outsource social media management or do it yourself. Personally, I like to humor my interests to the max and wanted to challenge myself to do it. I decided to learn on my own through good old-fashioned trial and error. Falling on my face a bunch of times and posting many things that maybe should be studied or at the very least embarrassing/ “cringe”. I figured eventually… I’ll get good at this. At the heart of my choice, I wanted to be a part of my growing career in every aspect possible, and social media gave me another playground. Myspace and I have the same birth year, for my generation social media has always been around, sure it’s massively evolved but it’s a big part of how we view the world, the professional world and participate socially.

A personal touch goes a long way; I like to stay in touch with my audiences and truly make them feel somewhat connected to myself and my journey. It’s encouraging to have a relationship with your supporters/followers, and I think it benefits everyone. As a result, it strengthens your influence as an online creator and by default helps you to grow professionally. Ideally, the audience is able to gain value from your shared experiences or creative content; it’s a win-win situation. I’ve seen a lot of growth from managing my own social media and career. That’s what made this career path possible for me and in part how I got to where I am today. Sharing a part of your life is difficult I’ll admit but I try to keep things as authentic as possible especially while I still can, as mentioned, I’m sure at some point I’ll hire someone to help with managing socials and especially to help me stay up to date on messages, but I don’t think I’m there yet. Maybe when I reach a 25k or 50k following, maybe then I’d need some assistance but for now I can manage everything smoothly minus the messages.
One of the downsides: Managing my DM’s / messages is my biggest challenge even now at 3.6k following, which roughly includes every audience member across all my social media platforms. I do wonder from time to time – would my business be even more successful if I brought in another professional to manage my social media? I’m a signed model and freelance content creator. However, I have an open contract with my modeling agencies therefore I’ve always overseen managing my own clients, business, social media etc. and my most successful jobs have come from self-management. The learning curves have been massive, but I enjoy being at the head and center of everything, plus the personal growth that comes along with it. Don’t be fooled by the numbers, even with a smaller following you can have videos that amass over 200k views and be paid hundreds of dollars for collaborative work, thousands if you’re consistent.

An insight into my creative control: Everything is approved by me, nothing posted is outside my preferences and I’m not sure I’m willing to give that creative control up when it comes to my social media. Of course, outsourcing management won’t completely erase my right to have a say when it comes to my socials but there is a relinquishment of control to some degree. When I’m partnering with an agency or a brand at times there are requirements attached to the social media post that’s associated with our collaboration – the point is although I manage all my socials myself, there are some aspects of my socials that were co-managed or decided by someone else, a client or a collaborator. But that’s just business. When you accept a project or contract, you know what’s required beforehand and thus are in agreement with it.

Collaboration with others has been one of the highlights of my career and some collaborations have boosted my following overnight. Working and socializing with other creatives can bring in tons of new clients, new followers, and new creative ideas and content. I always advise collaborations both for exposure and also for profit (which is more likely when collaborating with a brand specifically). Repeat clients or collaborators are a great sign you’re doing something right. The most rewarding thing to come out of all of this has been my personal and professional growth, which somewhere along the way intertwined in some ways with my career. As my career evolved, I developed with it.

Alexandra, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I was fourteen years old, I took a stroll with my family in Queens center mall and got scouted by an agent, spoiler alert – I never looked back. After a great audition, the scout had me enrolled in an acting and modeling school to help me get formal training and break into the industry. Now I was attending high school plus an arts school which is known as Barbizon, I received a lot of support and encouragement from the Art school, even earning a scholarship halfway through and I made meaningful lasting friendships, it all felt so aligned. The result? I’m very proud to say that now I’ve been able to work with brands and organizations like Canva, Charlotte Tilbury, Rise NYFW, DanessaMyricksBeauty and many more! I’ve also had the opportunity of being a model on Sephora’s website through working on one of my clients’ projects. Over the years I’ve created a huge network that adds value to my life and career, which I’m very grateful to have.
This was the start of it all for me. I quite literally never thought about being a model before being scouted, although I’ve always been creative. Which has been a very useful quality/ talent to have in this industry. It allows me to support my clients and fellow creatives by making the process fun and easy as I can easily do what others sometimes can’t easily do and that’s creative direction. There are often times when creatives or clients are in need of support in the area of creative direction or are having trouble brainstorming an idea. It helps to have a vision, and when you’re in the heat of the event or casting, experiencing burn out, or post runway show trying to get final looks captures/extra content, perhaps even a small business clothing brand that’s having its first photoshoot. It helps to have another professional who’s good at being vocal, direct, efficient and kind to lend a hand or an idea to help improve the outcome of your content and final product (usually images). The traits I mentioned when creative directing help to create an environment for great team communication and strong working relationships between everyone on set.

I provide the following services: In relation to content creation and UGC it’s dependent on the client’s needs – I’ll create a content strategy, write a script, edit, creative direct, plus schedule the shoot day. Usually, I’m in charge of everything mentioned along with video production, SEO optimization and social media management (Sometimes they come in with their own content strategy/ script & are just in need of a Model/video production). The goal is to help businesses build an online presence and engage with their audiences in a unique and authentic way. Sometimes this also involves guerilla marketing or copywriting.

In relation to modeling there’s a few different services I provide, for starters Runway modeling which includes walking the runway typically at events like Fashion Week to display new clothing designs and accessories for the upcoming season, print modeling which entails posing for photographs in magazines and other print materials, Commercial Modeling -advertisement appearances for various products. E-commerce Modeling refers to modeling clothing/accessories that are to appear in online stores and websites, Stock photography Modeling which is posing for images specifically used in stock photo libraries which are pretty freely shared for various uses like YouTube thumbnails etc., Atmosphere / Event modeling ( is super fun), I attend an event to ultimately promote the credibility and to ensure guests are entertained. Sometimes I promote a dress I’ve been given to wear and keep only if asked by an attendee about my outfit because for this role I’m typically undercover and no one is meant to know I’m getting paid to be there as a model. Beauty Campaign Modeling is modeling a new makeup product or line to be advertised and sold in stores.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I showed up. It’s actually painfully simple. I often think back to this quote from Alex Hormozi “The work just needs doing”,
It was raining I showed up, there were tough seasons, and I showed up. I had insomnia the night before a big runway, but I still showed up, I hit walls I wasn’t sure I could climb yet I tried anyways as if it was impossible for me to not climb it. There was grief during this journey there were massive life changes and heartbreaks, but I still showed up. My mindset and creative leadership, the way I treat others, and my professionalism are what I owe my great reputation to and that’s what everyone outwardly sees as the reason but on the inside, I know at my core none of that would have ever happened had I not shown up. There will be inconsistencies or issues that pop up here and there, bad days etc. but you can navigate through those things. No matter where you are now, where you’d like to be and the distance in between – anything is possible when you show up for yourself and do the work. No one does the work for you or gives you the secret anecdote to being successful and no one can take the work you’ve done on yourself away from you. You have to decide one day to show up day in and day out as the person you’d like to be. You must become serious about your life path and about understanding you’re in the driver’s seat of it. Which can be scary, because that means the outcome is on you, if you fail that’s on you 100% but if you succeed that’s also on you. Failing isn’t a bad thing its data providing feedback on what’s working and what isn’t – if we don’t look at failing as a bad thing then making a mistake is less of a problem or an obstacle but more of a small bump on the road. You learn, move on and do better next time. I’m very thankful to my past selves that I’ve shown up all these years. My resilience and my consequential longstanding consistency because of it have allowed me to outlast other competitors, scale my career and remain relevant within my field. Ultimately, energy never lies, and you should strive to bring good energy and a positive outlook wherever you may go. Sometimes that alone can pull you through a hard week or even impressing a difficult client.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There are so many resources I wish were just given to me when I first started out my creative journey, but now I have a chance to give them all to you! I’ve been dying to share these finds; some you may already know but I bet there’s at least one that’s new. Starting off strong we have Canva: it is an amazing app most used for designing social media graphics/graphic design and documents. They provide templates that can assist you when trying to make a media kit, UGC pitch, flyers (if you host events etc.) or a creative resume. All fundamentals in a creatives journey. Up next is an app and website called Kavyar. Kavyar is where a model can look for work, find free publication opportunities and build a following with other creatives on the app. It works almost like Instagram but for Models, magazine publications and other creatives such as photographers and MUAS. You can post you’re work to be viewed almost as a portfolio and that’s all included in the free version! You can also go Pro and pay a monthly fee that’s less than $20 which unlocks features like: having access to a portfolio website (with the Elite version you get a domain for your portfolio website!), you get early access to jobs, are allowed more submissions, and priority viewing etc. I recommend you check it out if you’re a model or looking to become one. Next Up: Casting Networks and Backstage, two separate apps/websites however they host similar features. Casting networks is exactly what it sounds like – a network for models, influencers, content creators and sometimes even actors who can submit/cast for jobs and potentially be hired to work. Which is incredibly important for self-sufficiency. On both applications you make a profile or an online creative resume showcasing your skills and headshot or comp cards. Backstage is also a network for casting and submitting to projects except it’s main focus is on acting projects rather than modeling or UGC. Similar to Casting networks however slightly more exclusive is New Book Models. New Book is an app which you must apply to before being accepted into its network/community. Exclusively for modeling and UGC, once accepted you edit and build your profile and online resume, New Book has a limit of 3 submissions a month when using the free version, but still, it connects models to work well paying projects and clientele. A recent discovery I’ve made is an app/website called Peer space – Peer space is an app that connects creatives to studio spaces in various price ranges and cities, the app makes everything easy and all details about the location readily available before booking! I can vouch that Peer space is a great way to book studio spaces for photoshoots and events, the results are immaculate. A popular viral favorite – Cap cut, mainly an editing app, is free and great for editing content or UGC content before posting to social media. Next! Planoly – provides a visual of your overall Instagram feed by connecting to the Instagram app and allows you to schedule posts. It’s great for aesthetically planning out your Instagram feed, deciding “which pic should go first”, keeping your Instagram aesthetic cohesive and comparing and contrasting options before posting. Moving onto: Link in bio, this app is a way to advertise certain links to other projects or portfolios via Instagram through a link page accessible through your Instagram bio which is customizable and helps to lead your followers to follow you in other places and keep up with your work that transcends photography or videography. This article is an example of something I’d add into my Link in bio app to be seen by my audience. Last but not least – Dropbox. Dropbox is an app used to store files, documents and photos. I mostly use it to store important electronic contracts and to store my most used photos like my comp card / runway walk or to make a file full of photos tailored to a certain project I’m submitting to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://newbookmodels.page.link/EWA3
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamalexandraes?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16gToS5duY/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexthemodel?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KinglifeofLex
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamalexandraess?_t=8cvtwhdwPla&_r=1

Image Credits

Photographers include: @Authenticdestinypictures, @mcmgnyc @miguelherreraphoto @cbarrett.photo