We were lucky to catch up with Gabija Guzauskaite recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gabija, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Sometimes I think to myself, I wish I had started doing this earlier, because I feel like I would have had so many more opportunities now and even then, if I had been younger when I entered the game. I didn’t think I always wanted to model, but when I talk with old high school/college friends now, they tell me it was all I ever talked about, about how badly I wanted to be a model. It’s funny, because I guess I wasn’t very self-aware back then and don’t remember these conversations.

I was first approached by a company to do modeling classes when I was 16 years old in high school. I’ll never forget the presentation to my parents and how they only gushed about me, that I was pretty, confident, had long fingers, etc. essentially that I would be great for the class. It was a 6 month program, classes every Saturday, and they would teach all things modelling. They name-dropped famous actors/actresses that were discovered from the program afterwards, and how huge of an opportunity it was.

Then they dropped the ball – the 6 month program cost $4,000. My parents were still recovering from the recession and couldn’t afford it. I’ll never forget the call a week later, when they told me I had been accepted and my mom had to decline for me. I wish I had known then, that the program accepted 98% of their applicants, and were just etiquette classes, not really modeling classes, because I probably wouldn’t have cried so hard.

A few years later, I was a freshman year in college, studying psychology. I was just getting over a horrible breakup. I had a new haircut, a new hair color, and a real connection to the industry. My friend’s sister was a major model, and she reached out to connect me with her old Chicago agent, who had agreed to meet me. I was so excited! The meeting itself was a blur, but I remember the phone call afterwards when the agent kindly told me I was cute, but I was too short and honestly at 19 a little too old to get started in the game with no portfolio and no credentials. I was devastated.

Fast forward another year and a half, when I just decided to do it myself and make the connections myself – that I was done with others dictating my timeline. I googled and signed up on any modeling related website that I could find. I networked with photographers, built my own portfolio, and shot with small companies in Chicago. Agencies still declined me.

Then a year later, I had been noticed by the beauty editor at Walgreen’s. My first big campaign was the fall beauty campaign for Walgreen’s – I’ll never forget it! It was on the website, and even made it into the weekly ads they have in stores. This was just a few months shy of my 22nd birthday. I shot their holiday campaign a couple months after. Shortly afterwards, I won a modeling competition for Tricoci University, and did a campaign for them. That campaign put me on billboards, buses, bus and train stops all over Chicago. It even was printed in Seventeen magazine in two separate issues.

That helped change a lot of agencies’ minds about me, at the age of 22/23.

Sometimes I wish I had all those things sooner, when I was younger, because I could have gotten ahead. But at the same time, I think it’s cool to show up to shoots and I’m the oldest model there, still doing it! I did things on my own time, and I worked harder. Some models fizzle out in a couple years because they didn’t have to work for it. I’ve been doing it for almost 8 years, and I work as hard as ever, and I love it.

I love inspiring people not to listen to the naysayers. I was told I was too old to enter the modeling industry and here I am. My face has been in Walgreen’s, Walmart, Target, Ulta, CVS, Rite-Aid, etc. It has been on billboards and storefronts around the world. And it all happened at the right time.

Gabija, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Originally, modeling was something I had wanted to do because I thought it would be fun. Then I had wanted to do it, because I wanted to make some extra money to help pay for student loans. Now I do it because I have gone back to the love for it I always thought I would have.

Acting came second, and I had started when a modelling friend had pushed me into doing a short movie with some people he knew. That short film was screened in festivals around the world and had helped me book other roles as well. I had a dream come true when in October of 2021 I was booked for a role for short film in Italy, and they flew me out to Europe to film. I never thought I would become an actress too, but I think that’s one of the most amazing things about this industry, is that you never know where you will end up or where it will take, or where you will take it.

With the shutdown in 2020, I started creating content for brands from home, and that vitalized another passion for me. I have so much creative freedom with content creation. I do my own makeup looks or put the outfit together, and I get to edit my own content, without leaving my home!

I’m proud of the different ways I’ve been able to branch out in this industry, especially when so many have told me no. I am proud and passionate of my work. Some people might spend 10-15 minutes on a video, but not me. I will spend 2 hours filming, to make sure I have everything, and another hour putting it together so it’s perfect. I love what I do, and I do what I do because I love it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think everything thinks that being in the creative business is so glamorous and it’s not always so!

For starters, the work is never consistent. Some months, we can be so busy, constantly working and loving it, and other months, it will be so dry, we are ready to pull our hair out panicking because we might be struggling to find clients. There ARE actually busy seasons and dull seasons for everyone, and it can be hard to remember that. Because of that, we have to be smarter with our money. We have a great couple months and we have to make it work for us for a couple dry ones.

Another thing that people might understand is how payment works! Jobs for actors are (mostly) net30, which means you’ll be paid in 30 days, but a lot of modeling jobs through agencies is net90 (and Chicago agencies are net120!) I think that would blow people’s minds that some of us have to wait 4 months to be paid! And it might sound glamourous to be making, say, $1,000 for one job. But I have to give my agent 20% of that, which leaves me with $800, then I have to pay taxes, since taxes are not taken out, which might leave me with about $500 – which is still great! However, I was not paid for the casting, which took half a day of my time, or the callback if there is one – and I might have no other jobs that week. I might still be going to castings on my own dime without booking anything. Suddenly $1000 for 1 job that week doesn’t sound that extravagant and we’re really considering a job with more financial security.

We do still love our jobs though! We love the freedom it comes with, and the opportunities for more travel. We are always meeting new people on set – and if you might have a coworker you don’t like on set, it’s okay, because you don’t have to work with them every day. I am ALWAYS learning on set, and it gives me so much room for growth!

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

I love having my own schedule! I can’t emphasize that enough. I actually love the inconsistencies of it. If I ever want to go on a trip, or take time off for myself, I can just block out those days with my agents and go! Of course, I don’t get paid time off, but it’s really nice to be your own boss.

I also love the creative freedom. Modeling allows me to be creative with posing and expressions, acting allows me to interpret characters and give them life, and content creation allows me to style and direct the content in my own way!

I also love the like-minded people I meet along the way. I love that I get the opportunity to work with so many different, new people all the time!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.officialgabija.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/officialgabija
• Other: TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@officialgabija Fiverr: www.fiverr.com/officialgabija

Image Credits
The black and white photos, the photo with the turtleneck and the headshot – Matt Marcheski The other photos (with the exceptions of the selfie makeup) – the gabija agency