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

Hi Jhazmin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was in middle school and I was definitely an outcast simply because I didn’t like school. Me and School have never really had a close relationship. That is until one day I had the choice between band or theatre. A decision that was going to decide the course of my life FOREVER. Theatre for sure got me here, but I also don’t want to play a tuba. Very beautiful instrument just not my medium.
Even when I got into the class I still didn’t know if this was something I wanted to do, until we got our first assignment. “Grab a monologue and memorize it by next class.” I had three choices, Diary of a Mad Black Woman written by: Tyler Perry, Crazy written by: Mendy Jones, and I honestly don’t temper the last one but it was there. The choice was easy when I noticed everyone picking up DOAMBW. So I went with Crazy. Had it memorized in two business days and I performed.
The class was silent after I finished. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing but i know i did it, with my glasses on. (That’s a story for another time). The silence was so loud and I just remember the wave of applause after that. I sat down proud of my accomplishment, but after class my theatre teach Mr. Bradner came to me and asked me to join his advanced theatre class and after a performance like that, I definitely did. That was the first time I knew I wanted to purse acting.

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.

My story on how I got into the business is a bit different than the average person. I know I talked about my passion as an actor but I stopped after high school to pursue modeling. This was right after I got accepted into AMDA. Covid got really bad in New York so I ultimately made the decision not to go. I didn’t have a backup plan but I did have Instagram and I was using it a way to artistically express myself. I started to set my phone up to take pictures and model. I had no clue about modeling I just liked taking pictures and editing them with Instagram filters. With that , a man, who we’ll call Kenny, reached out to me asking if I wanted to model for a “Agency” me not knowing anything about the industry and having nothing to do after telling AMDA I couldn’t go really put a fire in my stomach to say yes to Kenny. Soon as I did I was added to a groupchat full of other beautiful and talented women. We had a manager, we’ll call her Tammy, who would give us the prompts on what to bring for the shoots. Our first prompt was night club or lingerie . I don’t go out much, and I’m still living with my mama, what am I doing with lingerie?? I made it work though. I went a bought me a age appropriate dress that I thought would work as a club dress. I show up to the hotel and to my surprise most of the women who have been apart of The group are wearing lingerie. Maybe two of the women had on club outfits but clearly I was underdressed.
So I Quickly noticed that there was a certain standard that I had to be up to if I was going to do this again. So there’s maybe four photographers in the room with us, About eight models, Kenny, Tammy, And 12 random men just watching the models do the photo shoots. I attended maybe three of these events and I started to notice that none of the models were getting any of the pictures back. That’s when the group Disbanded after Kenny and Tammy got into a very deep argument about Kenny not paying the photographers, we also found out that the men that was in those rooms were paying with liquor to get in and Kenny was trying to “Pimp us out” . After that experience, I took about that whole year off because I genuinely didn’t know what to do. Not until one of the photographers who I did a shoot with at one of those events reached out to me and asked if we could do another shoot, this time it was a collaboration When I realize that those exist That’s when I started my freelance journey. That’s my beginning.

Now I think these are all great questions Feel like I haven’t A proper answer for any of these questions. Yes, I’m a model, Actress screenwriter, Director, creative Director and so much more, but I’m still finding my truth and my voice when It comes to my craft. I believe that You have to do it for you first before you can do it for anyone else and I’m still learning this.

I will answer this question though. I am so proud of myself for not giving up. It’s So easy to do that, But this means something and It’s going to mean Something to someone one day. I’m doing this Because I want to inspire little girls who look like me. wide nose, big lips and Tightly coiled hair to know that you can do anything you put your mind in heart to, But you’re gonna have to put in work, Discipline, Time, energy, and faith. But it’ll all be worth it When you do it for you.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2021 I Was working with the photographer who wanted to get into more videography. He found out I was into writing and asked me to write something short and sweet . So I Wrote a story titled Love & Hate. The original script was six lines long. It sat in my drafts for a very long time because the Photographer at the time didn’t do anything with it. So I took it to A ex friend.
She said that she would produce it and she did. We needed a Director So she did. We created the film And I played One of the leads. I was told to make the script longer so that’s what I did. Me and her relationship ended because I found out something about her and decided that I no longer wanted anything to do with her. So I blocked her on everything, No communication no nothing. What I found out, she did hurt me so bad. I cut my hair off. I stayed quiet and I didn’t speak on anything anything. A couple months later, I decided to post love and hate on TikTok. The caption above the video said “ My film” I noticed that it got a great response on TikTok and decided to bring it to Instagram. Same captioning all, But the caption for Instagram, I made sure to tag every single person that was involved in the film to life, including her.Because she was blocked Her tag didn’t go through. So she took that and ran With it. When I decided that I wanted to get back modeling For some reason, found it very hard to book anything. I was getting weird stairs from people, And receiving cold shoulders People I thought were friends. Come to find out that ex friend Was spreading rumors about what happened in why we were no longer friends. She even went as far as to tell people that I did not give her credit Love & Hate, And That she had a huge hand in writing it. I was even told rumors about her and I personal relationship and about things that never happened. This Is the first time I am publicly saying anything about the situation. I realize that even if I was wrong in blocking her and not communicating, I was right about her not being a good friend. Because she got me blackballed In this closeknit Houston community of models. Even then, I was still quiet. Now I say all of this to say that, if this did not happen, then I would not be acting now. I would not be doing something that Is my first Passion without this incident. My resilience stems from My faith in everything happening for a reason, And it all happening in my favor.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal that is driving, my creative journey is a couple of things. The first thing I like the limelight. I like when my work is appreciated. I like when people understand what I’m trying to say when I express myself artistically. That leads to my next goal, the money. It’s funny because I usually tell people that when it comes to my craft, it’s never about the money, but I do know that the money Will eventually and will always Circulate to me as long as I keep creating. That Leads me to my next mission is to live my life without limitation to create As freely as I possibly can. I feel like that would be a great Feeling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jh.azz?igsh=MThsN3R1cXoxeXp6bQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: Jhazmin Carter
• Youtube: @jhazz4444

Image Credits

Instagram: @houpicsphotos, @mamawhoisthat @rellevision @wyzevisuals @j.4fotos @cameronreedstudios @manislens @niarb.do @visionaryprice