Davon from TX Asks… I live in Dallas and there are no plus-size modeling agencies here. What can I do since I really want to model?

I’ve receive this question from woman all over the country who live in big cities, so this goes for anyone who lives near or in a big city.

I used to live near Dallas when I first got into my acting/modeling career. There may not be a specific “plus-size modeling” agency, or a whole agency dedicated to plus-size models, because the market there is not big enough. Even in NYC there is no one agency that only deals only with plus-size (FYI — Goddess is a division of Model Service Agency and IPM used to be just plus size but now they represent men and straight sized models as well) . Agencies will usually have divisions such as: Teen Division, Men’s Division, Babies and Toddler’s Division, etc.

What you want to do is submit pictures of yourself to commercial print/talent agencies and go to open calls if they have them. If their ad in the yellow pages or a Google search doesn’t say commercial print you can contact them to ask if they have a commercial print or print division and if they accept “all types”. (Don’t try to sell yourself over the phone, just ask if they accept submissions and mail it into them. I used to work in an agency and I didn’t have to time to listen to mother’s sales-pitches about how beautiful their baby is and that they ought to be in pictures. If there are no pictures to look at in front of me, how can I accept them into the agency? Plus, it left a bad impression when the pictures did eventually come in.)

When a product calls for the use of a plus-size woman then these agencies will look in their roster (files with pictures and info) and contact whom they feel has a chance at booking the job. It may not always be fashion, but you could be modeling as a commercial print model and make some side money from it.

Another option is modeling expos or like the events you hear on the radio. As long as the event is not expensive and you want to do it, then go and listen to the panel of agents. Go and be seen by these agents and see what they have to say. Very rarely do they find someone and say “wow, you should move to NYC immediately”. What usually occurs is, if they are interested they may give you some advice, tell you about local agencies, or have you contact them if you are ever in NYC.

Go out there and pursue your dream!!