Welcome to the Knockout Kitten blog!
For about four years now, I’ve been sharing my modeling journey on Instagram, but only superficially. As I began to build my portfolio, my personal Instagram page became a collage of professional modeling photos, #ootd mirror pics, and make up selfies. Soon enough, there was very little of “me” left -- just snapshots of my “best self”. Instagram Stories launched and I began to share more of my life outside of the idealesque photos I shared on my feed, albeit still closed off. Today I’m knocking down some walls and starting a new journey with you all as a blogger, sharing my thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the modeling world and beyond.
The Beginnings
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Senior Portrait, taken by Crystal Schreiner, 2012
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Like most girls, I found taking senior pictures made me feel, well, like a model. Carefully curating each outfit to show my personality, a photographer following me around and snapping picture after picture in my hometown. There was a brief time after my senior portrait session that I looked into modeling for real. My mom signed me up for classes at John Casablancas, then promptly pulled me out a week later, saying we could do this without expensive classes. I was disappointed, obviously; I thought that was my ticket to the big leagues. My mom made a makeshift comp card of my images and brought them to the few local modeling agencies. But without a professionally made portfolio, agencies weren’t particularly interested.
After that, modeling fell off my radar, I was busy with dance team, musical theatre, work . . . It wasn’t until I was in college that my interest sparked again. A good friend of mine, Ingrid, was telling me about her latest photoshoot, and from there I acquired a photographer’s contact information. During my first shoot, I learned that I really didn’t need those classes at John Casablancas. My experience in the performing arts taught me the majority of what I needed to know when it came to telling a story with my body and my facial expressions. The more I shot, the more creative I got with posing, styling, and concepts.
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| First studio shoot, ArtBodies, 2016 |
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| Quaratine self-portrait, 2020 |
First and foremost, I’m a student! After graduating valedictorian of my high school, I booked it out of the state to pursue my Bachelor’s degree at Loyola University Chicago. Chicago is close enough to home to visit whenever I wanted or needed, but far enough to gain the independence you need as an adult. After graduation, I stuck around in Chicago for another year to gain some experience working in the real world before heading down to Miami to pursue my PhD in Neuroscience. So to answer the question you might be thinking, no, I’m not just a pretty blonde and my world doesn’t revolve around Instagram.
When people ask me what I’m studying, I usually get a shocked response. My favorite was an older gentleman who decided to walk with me on my route home. His response, “Wow! Isn’t it great how women can study whatever they want now?” I mean, yeah, thanks . . . The second question is usually something along the lines of “What got you interested in that field?” or “What do you want to do with that?” To answer the former, I first became interested in neuroscience when I endured my grandmother and her six siblings battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. I saw the sadness in my grandmother’s eyes as she realized she would experience the same fate as her brothers and sisters. I heard the panic in my mother’s voice when my grandmother got lost. Losing your memories is to lose yourself. So to answer the latter, I hope to go into pharmaceutical research to develop treatments and preventative drugs for neurodegenerative diseases.
Today and the future
If you’re reading this, that means I stopped making excuses and just launched this damn blog already. Whether you’re a budding model, a struggling college student, or a curious reader, my blog will provide tips, tricks, tutorials, and tales in regards to modeling and fashion.
Here’s a few things to expect from me in the future.
Planning and behind-the-scenes of creative concepts
Lookbooks and fashion hauls
Thrifting and upcycling
Honest reviews on products and services
DIYs
Modeling horror stories
Each week I plan to share another morsel of my insight. Comment below any topics you want me to tackle! You can subscribe to the blog at the top of the page!
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