We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kyla Graves a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kyla, appreciate you joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today

If I were to start over today, I would do a lot of things differently. Personally, I did not know my passion was modeling until a couple years ago when I was in college. I did know however, that I liked the idea of influencing and I have always liked taking pictures of myself. I wish I had really utilized social media when I was younger, because it would have helped me build a platform from the very beginning. I had passions to do youtube and things like that, but I just never did. From a young age, I was shown that work would not be fun and that I need a good job that pays a lot of money if I want to live comfortably. This has always been in my mind, so I chose to pursue schooling in business and accounting. I worked full-time and went to school full-time for five years, I had to work full-time to be able to afford the schooling. Because of this, I spent much less time on social media and making content for it. I can’t begin to imagine the audience I would have right now if I had pursued my dreams even 4 years ago. The big idea is if you have a passion, you need to go pursue it! I found my passion during college, and I wish I had pursued it earlier than I did. No dream is too big.

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 name is Kyla and I am a traveling freelance model. I began modeling a couple years ago by simply booking photoshoots with photographers I followed and had always wanted to work with. Over time, this has turned from me paying photographers for photoshoots to getting paid by companies and photographers to model for them. I do a lot of free work as well, because I love to connect and collaborate with new people. I really love the community of photographers and models I’ve had the pleasure to meet so far. I would say what sets me apart is my ability to adapt and help bring a vision to life. I am versatile in that I like doing pretty, girly shoots to more creepy and spooky ones. I like doing most kinds of shoots no matter how out there they are.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Instagram has been my most used platform so far for my business. I have found business opportunities, connected with other creatives, and made friends in my industry with Instagram. When I started modeling and making my page about it, I tried to find other models, photographers, and businesses that aligned with my goals and interests. I try to support others who are doing similar things as me, and in turn have made friends and been invited to cool opportunities because of this. I would say supporting others and showing gratitude towards your own supporters is one of the best ways to grow your page. Being authentic and yourself is how to find the most supportive audience.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Thankfully, my business didn’t require a lot of capital to start. I started my business by paying photographers for photoshoots when I had the extra money for them. From there, I put together capital by forming good relationships with these photographers. Networking has provided me job opportunities for modeling because I’ve been invited back to shoot with those photographers again and even be a part of their content days. This allows me to meet people I never would have met if I hadn’t gone to those events. I get to showcase my modeling work in person and connect with people I may work with one day. It is almost like a job interview each time I shoot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/kylayw
• Instagram: kylayw
• Facebook: Kyla Graves
• Linkedin: Kyla Graves
• Twitter: kylayw1

Image Credits
Nicole Lockhart (@awake.dreaming)