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

Clémentine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Very good question. It’s important to understand that living off your creative work is a process, and it’s a hard choice because it puts you in an unstable, unsure, and always evolving state. I started modeling as a hobby (a couple times a year for pocket money) when I was in university at around 19 or 20 years old back in France where there wasn’t really a market for my size. I never thought about it as a full time career at that point. A few years later, I moved to the US and my little hobby turned into something that could potentially be more. I started seeing what other super powers being a model was giving me, and started to understand and love those. I realized I could change lives by just being me, owning my body and my image; I was making women feel better, more empowered.

From there I decided to go for it. I wasn’t sure what it was just yet, but I know I wanted it. My first 2 years in America, modeling wasn’t a real income. I had to take on many other jobs to survive and pay those bills– I was a real struggling creative. I was working as a production assistant, marketing assistant, server… but I knew I was building steps to what was next, so I was very happy throughout all of it. I was living my dream.

The first turning point for me was moving to Miami in 2011 and discovering plus size modeling was a career here and that I could be part of it. The second big turning point was signing with an agency in 2012 and moving to NYC in 2013. There I really developed my skills, my network, and established myself as a working plus size model. It took me about 3 or 4 months to be able to pay my bills with modeling. During those first few months my agency was giving me advances of 2k/month to help me cover everything while waiting to get paid by clients (in my business it takes 30-90 days to get paid for a job).

After that, I was fully independent financially and made more money every month through the following year. Still, the money has been unstable and so has the amount of work. It’s important to learn how to handle money from the get go once you start earning. Put money away for taxes, for savings, for emergency funds… I did not learn that. Instead I have learned credit card use and debts. I think money management is something very much lacking in a lot of creatives’ skill sets. I wish modeling agencies would educate models about those subjects better. I wish there was more money management awareness in freelance. It’s very much getting there now, but it wasn’t 10 years ago.

The pandemic was also a big turning point for me, I have worked more than ever before by developing my skills, including content creation, production for my modeling clients, and new clients looking to create regardless of the in-person restrictions. I was able to leverage my local network in Miami and provide constant work for myself and my team.

Had I learned money management earlier, I would have had more assets today. That’s the only real way I think I could have sped up the process of financial freedom from creative work. Other than that, I trust it’s a long process and I am grateful for the journey. It is also important to understand living off creative work is still very rare and isn’t for everyone with creative juices. Lots of creatives feel much better with a stable, convenient, more conventional source of income and keep their creative work as extra or part time only. The lack of stability is a key factor to take in consideration when choosing to go full time with creative work. Your health and mental health should always come first, and so it’s important to know what you need in order to feel safe.

Clémentine, 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?

My name is Clémentine Desseaux. I’m a French model based in Miami. I am also an activist, entrepreneur and speaker. I started modeling back in France over 10 years ago. I was the first woman on French television to promote a clothing brand. I started my career in the US modeling for American Apparel, and that’s how I got scouted by a US agency. I mostly model clothes, but I also model beauty products. Some of my clients include Walmart, Old Navy, H&M, Valentino, NARS, J. Crew, and more. I do mostly print and video work, but recently also started working runaway with my first couture show in 2022 for Valentino. In 2014 I launched my lifestyle website called bonjourclem.com, talking about food, fashion, and travel. In 2016, I launched two new ventures: my production company, BonjourCreative, working with my modeling clients and others to create quality content including photo and video; I also started my non-profit All Womxn Project Foundation with the goal to empower all female-identifying people and provide a platform for the promotion of diversity and inclusivity. Both are still active today and I act as CEO for all ventures. All those ventures have led me to become a speaker on those subjects, working with TedX and Creative Cultivate for speaking engagements, as well as local work in schools and other non-profits. In 2021, following a heartbreak, I launched my podcast called Pod•Gasm, talking about love, dating, sex and relationships with a silver lining built around self-love and empowerment. I am in the process of launching my newest venture, DÉSSO, a fit-focused clothing brand for all bodies. I have built an awesome all female team to help me manage this venture, and I cannot wait to bring my full vision to life. I am the creative director and founder of DÉSSO. I look forward to sharing more soon. I am excited to step into this brand new creative role that I have been wanting to embrace for a while now.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am a GenX. I started on Facebook when I was in college and on Instagram when I moved to the US over 10 years ago. My growth has been very stable, very slow, and very organic. Very much like my modeling career. There was no crazy outburst, no overnight success, most of my followers have been here for years. I just hit 94K this week, after months at about a 93.8k plateau. I would definitely suggest consistency in posting but also in messaging. Diversity of content is key to last, but the key messaging has to be consistency. For me, it’s empowerment. Body, mental health, sex, lifestyle, empowerment is instilled in everything I talk about and it’s my silver lining at all times. People come to me for that first and foremost.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the gift of never really feeling like I’m working. Some things are more serious than others, but overall, my work is my passion and hobby, and I only ever work for myself, so I’m building more than I’m working.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bonjour-creative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bonjourclem/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clementine.desseaux.5
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BonjourClem
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxFSy-o3rE0BpIUvCwjqNtg