Talking with Tami: Renee you are absolutely drop dead gorgeous and I love your hair! How did you start your career in modeling?

Thank you, Tammie! I started my career in modeling at the tender age of….40 years old! I had taken my eldest daughter Chandi, to Greenbriar Mall (southwest Atlanta) where she was on the Teen Board. They were having a fitting for a back-to-school fashion show. When I walked in, the show producer, BJ Arnett, told me that she thought I was beautiful and asked if I modeled. She said they needed older models and asked me if I could model for them. After much thought (about 2 seconds) I said ” Yes, I can model!” I WAS TERRIBLE…but she booked me for other mall shows, and then for some JC Penney mall events. I really believed that it was the hand of God because I had lost my corporate job of 12 years and I was divorced with two children to feed. I saw it as His provision in our lives.

That was the beginning, and other people started asking me to model for them. Eventually, I looked into agency representation and multi-listed with several here in Atlanta. Several years later, I was scouted by Victoria Duruh of Elite Model Management, with which I later signed an exclusive agreement for both the fashion and commercial divisions.

TalkingWithTami: When you were picked to be in Essence for Beautiful women over 40,how did you feel when you got that phone call?

Surprisingly, that wasn’t the first year that they had called to ask me to be in that annual issue. I really didn’t remember the first time until Sandra Martin of Essence reminded me that she had spoken with me in November of 1999, the week after I participated in the Essence Cover Model Search at Lenox Square Mall. She told me that I said I wasn’t interested, and now I understand why my memory was foggy around that time. Although I had won 1st Runner-Up in the competition, I had also received the news that week that I had breast cancer. It was several years later that she re-connected with me through Elite Model Management, after a few more scheduling difficulties, we FINALLY were able to connect, share information about myself and schedule the trip to NY for the shoot. I WAS ELATED! This is a magazine that I had been reading since it’s inception in 1968 that I loved so much! I was honored and humbled all at once. To think that I would be in a national magazine for women of color that had such a fine reputation, it was more than i could have ever imagined! But that’s what God does for us, He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…”involvement.

TalkingWithTami: When I was at your house last year sometime, you were telling me about your non profit organization, please let the readers know about your

After I lost my job, I went through a very difficult time. I was taking temp assignments, got a newspaper route, became an extra in movies, modeled, accepted welfare and food stamps attempting to keep my daughters housed, clothed and fed. I remember clearly one day when I was again praying for answers, that I got His message telling me that I was to start a nonprofit organization helping homeless women with children regain self-sufficiency. Of course, my thoughts were, how in the world could I help anyone else if I couldn’t even help myself? The answer came, that in helping others, My help would come. Shortly thereafter, with help from many people, I received a grant from the Task Force for the Homeless and I rented a small boarding house that would lodge 7 women with their children in the seven bedrooms. The first night we opened, we were sent 15 women and their children and we stayed full for two anda half years, housing over 250 women and their children.recognize-ability”, credibility and access to those who can REALLY help me with MAJOR funding sources and more.

We closed the shelter for several reasons, another job lay-off, my mother’s cancer diagnosis and shortage of funding. The organization morphed into a referral agency connecting homeless mothers with shelter beds and programs, and now to offering services and special events for the ladies in shelters. We have plans to re-open the shelter, naming it Margaret’s Manor (in honor of my mother). As we move in that direction, I continue to serve the homeless on various boards and committees that allocate funding to agencies that serve the homeless. In this way I believe that I am touching far more than I would with my one shelter. My prayer is that my modeling, acting and speaking engagements will give me the “

 

TalkingWithTami: Renee can you share some life lessons in the modeling world?

Yes, of course!

• First it’s important to recognize that it is a BUSINESS and that models are tools that companies use to advertise their product or service. It should be looked upon as a job that one should perform professionally and to their best ability, understanding that it’s NOT ABOUT YOU (the model), but it’s about the clothing, product or service. If it’s pride in your “beauty” that drives one to become a model, thinking that you are so gorgeous, remember that there are MANY beautiful people in the industry that probably look better.
  
• If a person chooses this profession to improve their self-esteem, this is the WRONG industry! The industry can be very brutal and only the strong survive without being forced into a life that can be self-destructive.
  
• Maintain a standard of excellence. Don’t be afraid to turn down requests that may not be above-board or may not feel quite right. If you don’t drink or smoke, you may not want to pose for those kinds of ads. Once you develop a reputation in the industry, whether good or bad, it tends to stick.
  
• If you are young (teenager-early 20′s), please be sure that you have an adult with you when you go to auditions, go-see’s, and bookings etc. There are some people in the industry that do not have the best character, so you want to be careful and safety-conscious.
• Don’t take “NO” personally. You may not be what they were looking for but that doesn’t mean you are not suitable and attractive for another client. It’s a business and you may not be their “flavor”.

TalkingWithTami: Are there any models that you look up to that are out now?

Yes, I truly admire Beverly Johnson! Although she doesn’t model as much as she did in her earlier career, she was one of the black women who opened the door for all black models to work and be seen in the “main stream” white American modeling scene. She changed the image of the American beauty ideal so that by every major American fashion designer began using African American models 1975.
I remember being in high school and seeing her in magazines WISHING that I was as beautiful as she and that I could be a model like her! Now she is still a role model to many of us; she has become a business woman and an icon. I had the opportunity to meet her in person and tell her exactly what she meant to me when I stood before her on the runway at the auditions for TV Land’s program “She’s Got the Look”. (The show is hosted by model Kim Alexis. The judges include Sean Patterson, president of Wilhelmina Models; Beverly Johnson, and Robert Verdi, an in-demand stylist who has worked with Eva Longoria and Hugh Jackman). Although I was on of the one’s considered for the show I wasn’t chosen to be on the show. Having the opportunity to meet her and hug her was amazing. I would LOVE to have her as MY mentor, if I could get in touch with her!
I believe that it is so important for young models, (and young women in general) have a role model to look up to, especially in these times. I pray that I can be that for women young and not so young! I see that as one of my responsibilities.

For Further info visit: www.reneedavis.com