We recently connected with Gold Blake and have shared our conversation below.

Gold, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

Building the Gold.Blake creative brand started with just the idea to express myself creatively on photo. After walking runway for NYFW numerous times, I noticed I had great runway pictures however the portfolio aspect of my modeling needed more. Therefore I challenged myself. I used to work at J.Crew and was known as one of the creative employees due to modeling and being one of two employees that was usually called on to dress the mannequins and assist with the store window display. One floorset (what we call the floor plan for the season) called for two very large red & orange papers that you usually see on photoshoots. Long story short, these two backdrops ended in my possession after receiving permission from my manager. Little did I know this would be a significant start in my creative journey as I then begun producing my own shoots with those two backdrops & just the use of an iPhone camera with my mothers amazing assistance each shoot. It helped build my dream of creating into reality.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I got into the industry myself, locally in Memphis I attended runway shows to build presence in my hometown. Eventually I got discovered via social media by designers to walk NYFW. This was all due to having a creative instagram that helped land the opportunity.

What sets me apart is my mind, I just don’t feel that anyone thinks like me. I can be inspired by a rubberband on someones wrist to create, a certain song that motivates me to translate it into modeling, or even just sketching, creativity just flows to me.

I’m most proud of never giving up and continue to create, I always say my creative work is bigger than me….I feel like I owe the world my talent to share in the most beautiful way. Once art is made, you must share it to the world as a gift. My followers usually message me how they’re inspired by my art and I’m the reason they keep going which keeps me going.

I definitely want anyone that watches me to know that I love the gift I was blessed with and I can’t wait until they see me on billboards, fashion publications and working with Beyoncé, I’m manifesting it.

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

Credibility and Authenticity, people love authentic representation of self and that’s all I expressed with creating. I didn’t care if it looked weird, if the finished artwork was strange, or even if it was too feminine – what mattered was authenticity and that is what helped build a positive reputation in my opinion. My market/followers understood, “he just wants to create art and he is here to model.”

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that likes do not express if something is “HOT” or “GREAT!” Overtime we all have experienced a drop in our likes on instagram and we definitely do not need to measure if what we produce for our socials is great based on engagement metrics. I unlearned it quickly after still booking runways and being interviewed even with lower engagement than usual.. Art is to just flow and inspire, not be measured by likes.

Contact Info:

• Website: goldblake.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/gold.blake

Image Credits
Image Crediting – Gold.Blake & LeNora Millen