We were lucky to catch up with Latoya Elliott recently and have shared our conversation below.

Latoya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Bring a creative is very risky especially when your support system, at a young age didn’t believe in the line of work you wanted to pursue. It took years to believe in myself and finally take the risk to start several businesses that failed, careers that failed, relationships that didn’t truly support the dream or vision. I finally had enough at 33. I decided that I was going to take myself seriously and before graduating from massage therapy (my fourth college diploma), I ended my relationship with my son’s father, I moved out and I completed my diploma program. I didn’t obtain my license however in massage and things got really bad for a while, so when we became homeless, enough was enough. I connected with a great photographer and I did my first professional shoot in pinup modelling and for the first time I felt like I was doing something right. I knew starting this journey, that I wasn’t going to be making big bucks right away. I dealt with fluctuating weight, trying to find a decent home for my son and I, another bad relationship with someone in another country and through it all I was doing these photoshoots, creating an image, a brand and a name for myself and now I’m on the runway! Working in this industry in Canada alone is a huge risk because we don’t have the structure in place here to pay creatives like they do in the US. It’s very hard to make it here and be paid a decent wage let alone become something big. But I am willing to go to the US to be signed or work freelance if that means being taken seriously and paid properly. I’m a big believer in if the reward outweighs the risk, get er done!

Latoya, 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?

Hi I’m Latoya Elliott and I am a model, mom and everything in between. I’ve been exposed to the modelling world ever since I was 10 years old. My mom would constantly be stopped or approached by talent scouts for me to join their agency and I was always apart of the drama clubs at school throughout my life. Acting and modelling came very natural to me and these were always my first loves. It took for me to have my son to gain the courage to start modelling, even though I thought my body was ruined and that I’m too old.
What sets me apart though, is that I am very knowledgeable about makeup, hair, nails, social media management, nutrition and fitness. Nutrition is high on the list due to being in both culinary and massage therapy programs and I had my own meal prep business where I cooked daily so that my clients received hot and fresh meals that were healthy and promoted either weight loss or weight maintenance/management, so I understood that it takes a certain discipline to get your body right for the job. My image and brand also sets me apart. There’s this fascination with the Afro so when I decided to dawn the Afro, it was an instant hit and originally I did it for my line of paraphernalia but I no longer own that business. The hairstyle translated too well into a look that was unique for the most part. I do see a lot of Afro models online but in real life I feel like I’m the only one with it based on the reactions I get from people and I love it! People book me based on the hair alone, so I’m still learning how to be more unique with it but it is my brand. I am most proud of the fact that everything I’ve learned up to this point has helped me progress this far. Knowing hair, makeup, nutrition, exercise, body mechanics, healing the body, networking and even behind the scenes work and background acting. Every lesson was needed to elevate me to enter the modelling world now and I’m very grateful to have so many skills to help me be prepared in the industry. Of course I am grateful to my friends who have been supporting me and one of my best friends, Shennae who helped me get into runway, my other best friend Cherise who helps me with my son or my hair or lend me clothes so that I’m ready to go! My dad who’s my biggest fan also helps me a lot with my son and my fitness training. I’m very proud of the circle of support I’ve gained so there’s only up from here!

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

There needs to be a seriousness taken when supporting creatives. People put in time, effort, energy and resources to create and entertain and there needs to be a system in place that pays people fairly for that. I think here in Toronto there’s a huge thriving ecosystem of artists and creatives but we still have to supplement our income and the time we spend working, creating, care giving for those with children and/or elderly parents and other major responsibilities, takes away from creating and one can easily loose hope or interest. We need recognition in this space and that it’s not all just fun and games.
It’s disheartening when someone so talented has to constantly start over or never really elevate in their craft because it doesn’t pay the bills and that in our society needs to change. Whether it’s fashion, a painting or modelling, there needs to be a better way for people to earn a living. Canadians get away with not paying people for their time or skill then we get told to go get signed in the States. That has really got to change.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve had to pivot many times in life. I didn’t have a great upbringing so I learned early not to hang onto things. I moved a lot, changed schools a lot and lacked a lot of support on my mom’s side and unfortunately I didn’t know my dads side until I was 14 and even then I didn’t trust that I could ask for help or support due to the traumatic upbringing I’ve had on my moms side.
When I finally entered college it was for broadcasting and film and I will never forget that first day when our professor told us that 70% of us wouldn’t make it to the end because broadcasting was an industry for those who can afford it and I was on OSAP and living in my boyfriend’s parents’ basement. We would often walk to school which would take about an hour one way. So my professor was right. There was always something to buy or obtain and if you couldn’t afford it, you’d have to rent the schools crappy equipment which gave you much lower grades. So I did the next best thing which was to start in fx makeup and back then it was just starting to get popular with tv shows such as Face Off. I got into makeup for tv film and theatre but I was learning fx makeup on my own and I was good at it! I did a lot of student videos and Halloween had me booked to the eye balls. I think I would have succeeded in it if it weren’t for being with a man who never cared about what I wanted or supported it. Still i graduated from that program and I did work in the industry but lacked the knowledge on how to grow or it was more like I lacked the confidence to grow in the industry. Either way I did my best with the constant badgering and nagging from my former partner. So I pivoted again and started meal prep business because I was already doing it for myself. It was great however again I lacked support and knowledge on how to grow the business. I even went to culinary school just to network and possibly find people on the same page but everyone wanted to be a celebrity chef at the time and I got pregnant so before I could complete the program, I had my son. Even while I was meal prepping and going to school, I also did 3D cakes, cupcakes and other desserts which I was good at but again lacked the business knowledge to grow the business. A year after having my son, I started my paraphernalia business which is where I found my fro and for almost 5 years I was running it but I made no profits. Frankly I gave away a lot more than I sold because I didn’t understand business as a whole but I did learn a lot along the way. When I broke up with my current ex, I decided to liquidate the business and finally do the things I wanted to do because I had passion for it. I was paid for my very first modelling shoot in pinup, and that was the spark, the drive to immerse fully into this lifestyle because it’s more than just a gig or a career, and ever since it just took off! My lessons that I’ve learned with this whole journey is that no one will support you until you give them a reason to support you, it’s ok to be polite and kind, it’s not ok to be stepped on and rolled over you are worth the price you are charging, other peoples problems or projections are about themselves and not you so if you’re not getting the support you need leave! It doesn’t matter is it’s friends family or a love partner, it is always best to leave the area you are not growing in and the final lesson I’ve learned was that I am good enough qualified and capable so change the environment to fit that narrative in order to succeed. I’m very proud of everything I’ve done and learned.
Best advice I’ve ever gotten was to do it, even if you’re afraid, do it scared.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmefrolady?igsh=MTIzanc2anVieTRsNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@callmefrolady?_t=8o9WYCdEtPS&_r=1

Image Credits

Images were taken by
Duncan Thorn
Shennae Steele
Gail Williams