We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amy Phillips. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amy below.
Amy , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
As a child, I would dream of being an artist, a model and an entrepreneur. I would parade my latest artwork around the house, create small businesses with my siblings, in which we would sell everything from costume jewelry to mud pies. I would also beg my parents to enter me into every modeling contest I could find. Coming from a family of 6 girls, my parents somehow were able to make each of us feel supported and celebrated for all of our talents and interests. I have vivid memories of both of my parents giving praise of drawings I would bring home and sharing them with family and friends with such pride and encouraging us all to continue chasing our dreams because “All things were possible if we believed and worked hard to achieve our goals.” To this day, my parents still praise and uplift myself and my siblings, this has lead each of us to strive to continue to want to make them proud and has instilled a sense of fearlessness in all aspects of our lives. The impact their support has had on our lives is profound and I find myself uplifting my own children in the same manner as I truly believe their support is the reason I am where I am today.
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
We each started as models ourselves but have worn many hats throughout the years in the fashion and modeling industries. This varied from High Fashion Retail Editor for Mode Magazine to fashion design. We met as model/fashion educators and quickly found a creative connection. This eventually led us to establish a full production photography service for model development, where we used our creative talents doing hair and make-up, styling, design, directing, and photography all while traveling the country and scouting models. This is when we established EYE to be a full-service Mother Agency and advocate for aspiring talent. Since forming EYE in 2000, we have scouted and successfully managed hundreds of model careers.
Most recently, we have acquired a historic location where we now operate the agency as well as our creative studio where we photograph models and artists. This beautiful space is also available to rent for creative endeavors and events. We have also opened a local modeling and talent division called “Eye Nash” to serve clients in the southeast region.
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met my business partner, Fairlight Hubbard, while we were both educating models in the late 90’s. We found that we had a strong creative connection and similar entrepreneurial interests. Initally we worked independantly and would call on each other for projects that we could collaborate on but found that together, we a made a strong team which lead us to join forces to create Eye Management. We have worked alongside each other well over 20 years and to this day, she still amazes me with her endless talent and desire to help others.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
With our industry, the best source of finding new clients has been social media. We use apps such as Instagram and Facebook to showcase what type of work our models are booking and share new up and coming talent that we have signed and are developing. This peaks interest from other models looking for an agency to represent them and also from people who are interested in breaking into the industry. We run model searches on our social media pages and advertise for open calls which gives individuals the opportunity to meet with us in person so we can determine representation. Outside of social media, we accept email submissions and on occasion may street scout someone that we feel has potential.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eyemgmt.com
- Instagram: @eyemgmt
- Facebook: Facebook.com/eyemgmt