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

Alright, Richon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned how to model from just jumping right in front of the camera. From going through photos learning what my strong poses were and what angles worked for me, to recording myself and seeing where I could improve. There were a few models I studied as well to sharpen my ability and execution when it came to bookings. Knowing what I know now I would have asked more people for help and fully committed myself to networking with other people in the industry. I believe those two things would have greatly sped up my learning process. Skills that I think were most essential was the ability to mock what I saw other great professional models do and the ability to zero in and pose as if the only thing that matters is you. Spectators can throw you off your game if you let them but the ability to drown them out at the drop of a dime and effectively do your job is a huge plus. I think one obstacle that stood out on my journey is the idea of competition and not collaboration. A lot of people saw me as competition and didn’t realize I just wanted to learn from them and not compete. I didn’t let that stop me however it did discourage me quite a bit.

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 Richon Martená I have been modeling professionally for about 7 years now nationally. I am also a creative director, most of my portfolio is filled with ideas I came up with. I have gotten some of the biggest opportunities from work I put out personally. TYRA banks has shared my photo on her personal social media, I have been lead in high profile music videos and most recently I was featured on a popular Netflix show. How dope is that!? When I’m not in front of the camera I enjoy model coaching/pose coaching/runway coaching you name it. I have published a few ebooks and video tutorials on modeling and posing as well as a motivational model planner on Amazon. The root of it all is uplifting and instilling confidence in others. Being a figure I wish I had access to when I started out. Creating a safe space for others to be vulnerable and sharpen their gifts also. That is what I’m most proud of.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

About 2 years into my journey I realized that I had been lowballing myself and that the clients I was working with preferred me to have cheap rates but give them maximum talent. Modeling is something I love doing but not seeing benefits monetarily kind of put a damper on it for a bit. I had to make a confident decision to set my price accordingly and stick by it. My thought process was if it was for me then the client will respect my rates. When I made this decision work slowed down tremendously but I learned how to stand up for myself on the business side and it also allowed me to be happier with the clients I did have.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my social media audience by staying consistent with posting my work. Back then hashtags really helped bring new people to your socials and I also invested a lot of money into running ads on my work. I think collaborating with other creatives is important as well because it introduces your work to many different audiences at one time.

Contact Info:

• Website: Richonmartena.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/richonm?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
• Twitter: https://x.com/richonmartena?s=21&t=-zIljfP7MDUmxOIJC4W4TQ
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@RichonM?si=e3-ladUZujBIX5C3
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@richonm?_t=8fSySjb6cXK&_r=1

Image Credits
Photo 1 -white dress blue flowers Photographer Michelle Valentine of Lotus Valentine Visuals Photo 5- orange makeup Photographer Steve White