We were lucky to catch up with David Bates II recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi David, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

You know I actually really appreciate the reason that I got my first client quite a bit. When building a business it truly helps when friends and colleagues already know that you are successful at what you are currently doing. My friend that I had already modeled for, Rachel Nathan, referred my very first client to me. Rachel Nathan is a local jewelry designer that lives in Austin, TX – Rachelnathandesign.com She suggested to her customer/client that I would be a good avenue to learn from in regards to the modeling/fashion industry from to Michaela Noel. Michaela was fairly interested in learning about the process of getting into the fashion industry as a model and trusted Rachel’s opinion. Rachel sent me Michaela’s contact and we schedule a call and from there I explained my offer and she agreed to invest in herself with a 3 month program that I led her through to where she is now a successfully signed model with The Block Agency and possibly AE Model Management!

David, 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?

Good Morning Folks – for those who don’t know me, and I’m sure that’s plenty :) My name is David C, Bates II and the best part about this story is that I never wanted to be a model in the slightest. When I found out about the fashion industry I was at the very beginning of becoming involved in the competitive cheer industry and had left music behind as a trumpet player in marching band ha. While attending school at the University of North Texas I was approached by a colleague of mine by the name of Jesse Porter. Jesse asked me to be apart of an organization called MOSE(Models of Style Exposed) that taught you how to navigate the fashion industry in and out. I learned everything from how to walk on a runway to posing, communication, setting up shoots and learning how to approach agencies and get signed. From there I shot with the late photographer Eric Ganison and subsequently got signed to The Campbell Agency.

Because of this foundation that I was blessed to have been given I have been able to provide massive support to my personal clients. I currently offer a 3 month guided program that walks any new or experience model through the process of how to navigate the fashion/modeling industry successfully – enabling them to create the snowball booking effect. In order words booking more jobs and aligning with the right agencies. I also offer 1:1 consultation that gives them personal time with me to troubleshoot whatever they feel is relevant to what they are experiencing. The biggest problem that I seem to solve is helping clients get out of their own way, as well as teaching them a good process to continuous follow up with agencies.

I would say that one of the things that I’m most proud of is booking my very first major job when I went overseas to Cape Town. I booked a 4 hour job with Nivea where the compensation was 14k Euros. One of the main things that I would like my clients to know is that when you take no risks, you will get no rewards. I believe that with the willingness to take risks you and when you combine that with the ability to follow up you will obtain some form of success if not ALL of the success that you are looking to achieve!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The ironic story on how I put together my capital to start this business was by getting a severance package from the full-time job that I was already working. I was previously employed by Meta via a commercial real estate firm called Hines Property Management. Hines ended up losing its contract with Meta which was then won by my previous company JLL(Jones Lang LaSalle). I had only been hired by Meta for about 2 and half months when JLL took over and let most of us go from Meta and brought in their own people. Meta ended up giving us a severance package which I ultimately used as my capital to start my coaching business :)

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I would say that the most impactful books that have significantly impacted my thinking and philosophy are, Think and Grow Rich, The Four Agreements, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Subtle Art, Magicians Way and I have yet to read Green Lights. I definitely suggest most if not all of these to my clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.globalfashionguide.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dbatesii
• Facebook: facebook.com/globalfashionguide
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/david-batesii