It's all about personality. Boy, have I learned that during my career! Over the years, my personality has most likely caused me to miss out on some jobs and opportunities, but I also know that my strong personality has helped me secure a spot on some of the biggest runways in Paris, land major magazine covers, get hired for international advertising campaigns, and experience lots of firsts as a black model. It's my personality that has set me apart from other models and land big campaigns -- everything from Prada and Dolce & Gabbana to Dunkin' Donuts and Milk.
I think personality is more important today than it was ever before, because big brands want models to do more than simply pose for photo shoots -- they want their models to appear in TV ads, conduct media interviews, connect with consumers on social media, and really communicate to customers and sell their brand! Having the right height, size and look will only get a model so far; having a strong personality and being charming and relatable will help a model land big jobs and become a household name.
During this week's episode of The Face, the girls were all put in the hot seat -- they had to host a press conference to promote Fekkai's new hair fragrances, which included writing a speech, delivering it to an audience full of reporters, and then fielding questions from the press. They had to do their research and learn everything they could about the brand and the new products, and then use this knowledge to talk about the hair fragrances in an eloquent and believable way. In order to win over their audience and sell the brand, they had to let their personalities shine through.
My girls struggled! Afiya had trouble delivering her speech, sounding robotic rather than charismatic, and Felisa failed to prepare herself and didn't deliver the brand messages or answer questions accurately.
All of the girls on the show are young and just beginning their careers as models, so they have many years ahead of them to improve their public speaking and interview skills, but this was a very important lesson for all of them to understand what it means to land a major ad campaign and be the face of a brand -- personality.
Love & Light,
Naomi
The Face airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET on Oxygen.