We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mason Monique a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Mason thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?
Signing with Agent/Agency isn’t as peaches and cream as some would think. My first time getting signed I was fresh out of college (23), living in Washington, DC. The agency was for “alternative” models (tattoos, piercings, grunge, punk…)located in Los Angles, California; back then models that look like we were not the norm. My my first job with them was walking in New York Fashion Week. The designer reached out to the agency looking for models specifically with tattoos. This was my fist time walking in Fashion Week and getting a real first hand experience. When I took the leap of moving to New York with the goal of being signed within the first few months… oh how naive I was. It took me 3 years to an agency. I did have a helping hand with that. A good friend of mines put together a packet for me and pitched me to different agencies until one reached back. I had my interview with the agency and later that day was sent a contract. I have now been with my agency going on 5 years.
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.
Let see, a little about myself; outside of my career I am a full-time single mother. I enjoy cooking, reading, writing, playing piano, painting, drawing, hiking, and all around good vibes. Currently at the moment I am working on expanding my personal brand The Cooler Mom. The Cooler Mom is a safe space for moms to come and connect with other moms alike. Moms are able to exchange services, products, and ideas. It highlights mom who are unconventional and really doing something extra ordinary for themselves and community. For example, Im a cooler mom. I do not have a traditional 9-5 job, I’m a cannabis connoisseur, and entrepreneur. What sets me apart from everyone else is that there is no one else like me, PERIOD. No one has my intellect, talent, passions, voice, ideas, personality, and authenticity.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My life since graduating college has been all about resilience. I didn’t have any type of plan after graduating, I just knew that coming from a small city in Virginia I was not going back. I slept on friends couches until I found a place of my own. That was short lived because in just a few short months I was moving to NYC with one of my best friends. The resilience didn’t stop once I got up here. The goal was to get signed to a modeling agency. I would go to open calls, and even just pop up on agencies go get meetings. Being a signed model is great, however the resilience doesn’t stop. Constantly going to castings (some can be hours of a wait to be seen), being on hold for jobs just be released, and overall keeping my head up high when there is a slow season. As I’ve mentioned before I am a mother. When I was pregnant and after giving birth literally everyone thought that I gave up on modeling or put in on hold. Totally not the case. I had to get out there and prove that even though I now have a child that my dreams/ career or not on the back burner. I reached out to photographers to get content and updated looks of me to post to social media to prove that I am still out here working and following my passions.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
There are so many resources that have helped me on my journey, spiritually, philosophically, and entrepreneurially. Reading books and listening to podcast, and watching documentaries are some easy tools I have used to help evolve me all around. For books I can recommend The Power of Now, You are a Badass, and anything Deepak Chopra. For podcast I enjoy High Level Conversations and Diary of a CEO. They both interview individuals from all walks of life, all having a different careers, ways of life, and thinking. Both podcast provide an abundance of information. By just these few resources I have named and by just living life and experiencing it, I walk thought life with new eyes, a new mindset that isn’t confined to my comfort zone, and willing to take more risk when it comes to finances and business ventures.
Contact Info:
- Website: thecoolermom.com
- Instagram: The.Cooler.Mom