My name is Brianne Leary and I’m from Pennsylvania, USA. I am 22 years old. I am a freelance/hobbyist model. I have been pursuing modeling for a little over a year now, but I have been interested in it for a couple of years. I’m actually a pretty shy and quiet person which probably isn’t expected from most people when it comes to a model. I started to model because I wanted to find a hobby that I could really become passionate about, and I wanted to find a way to boost my self-confidence as well.
I worked with a photographer my mom was familiar with, started using my Model Mayhem account I had created a year before but never figured out how to use it, and it basically started from there. I started talking with more photographers from my area and worked with them to create some images for my starting portfolio. I’ve had over 20 photoshoots now (I don’t know the exact number), worked with numerous photographers (some of them I’ve worked with several times), and have done a few modeling gigs. I also try to get my name out there with social networking, especially on Facebook.
When I’m not modeling, I’m either working at my part-time job or spending time with friends and family. I also like to play video games in my spare time.
What inspired your passion for modeling? To be honest, I can’t say anything, in particular, inspired me to model. It’s been on my mind for a couple of years but I never bothered to do anything about it. I just came across Model Mayhem on a different site I go on and decided to sign up and check out what it was all about. Admittedly I had no idea what I was doing and ended up not using my account for a good year or so, but then came across the idea of modeling again and logged back in. Now I know how to use the site, haha. What motivates me to model is the process of working together with other creative minds and creating awesome images. It’s more than just getting nice pictures taken of me. Anyone can get good pictures taken of them, or look good in pictures with the right photographer, but actually thinking about concepts and such is what makes it worthwhile. It also gives me something to distract myself from the stressful things I deal with in my life.
What does your career do for you? I don’t really consider modeling to be my career, it’s more like my hobby that does pay occasionally. Like I said before, it just gives me something to do so I won’t be terribly bored with my life. I never really had a hobby that really kept me focused for so long, but it looks like modeling seems to be it now.
What has been your best fashion look? I don’t really focus on shooting fashion all that much due to my height. I have been in a couple of fashion shows though. Most of my wardrobe in the shoots are my own clothing, but sometimes photographers have stuff for me to wear.
Have you ever done any fashion mistakes? Hmm, I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. When I look back at old photos, I mostly cringe at either bad makeup or poorly done hair, which I’m still struggling with since I’m definitely not a makeup artist or great with hair. Some of my outfits could be more creative, but it’s hard for me to have an extensive or expensive wardrobe since my part-time job doesn’t pay much.
What’s your beauty regime? I keep things pretty simple. I try to drink a lot of water, use clay masques, etc. It’s just simply taking care of your body. I also try to moisturize my skin as much as possible since it can get pretty dry.
What are your favorite types of outfits to model in? I have yet to wear anything too crazy, complicated, or really “out there”. Most of my shoots have been me wearing either casual clothing, underwear, swimsuits, etc. I think wearing lingerie is pretty fun though, but I haven’t done too many lingerie shoots to date.
What are your least favorites? I’m pretty open to wearing whatever, if I don’t want to wear something it’s probably because I find it too revealing, but I haven’t had to deal with that type of situation yet. There are some clothes I wore I probably wouldn’t wear on a daily basis though. I dress pretty casually in “real life”.
Any ultimate goal to fulfill as a model? How do you see yourself progress in this field? I don’t have an ultimate goal right now. I started in the first place because I wanted to raise my self-esteem and give myself a worthwhile hobby, and I’ve done that. From this point on, I just want to continue creating fantastic images with photographers, both new photographers, and ones I’ve worked with several times.
What kind of shoots would you like to work on in the future? I’d like to do more shoots that involve interesting outfits and crazy makeup, or more photos that have more of a theme to them rather than just me wearing a nice dress in the woods and things like that.
Tell me something about your city? To be honest, where I live is VERY boring, haha. I live where many people consider “the middle of nowhere”. It’s very scenic, but there’s not much to do. The more interesting town is about 20 minutes away, where there’s plenty of shops and such, but I don’t get to go there often. So for fun and entertainment, I’m usually online or playing video games, but sometimes my best friend takes me out and we just go to random stores or go to diners. I’m a pretty simple person, haha.
Do you eat nutritiously? Tell me about the diet you follow on a regular basis? To be honest, no, I don’t, not really. This is mostly due to the fact that I work at a fast-food place. I try to avoid eating there constantly, which isn’t too hard because it’s really easy to get sick of the food that you’re forced to be around all day. I do make sure to drink plenty of water though.
How often do you exercise or go to the gym, workout? Not very often. I try to take walks when I can, and I do a lot of running around at work, sometimes lifting boxes and such, but I mostly work as a cashier, so it’s a lot of standing too. If I were closer to the main town around my area, I’d probably join a gym.
What is your perfect day, morning to night? A perfect day to me is ideally not working at my part-time job (I really don’t like it whatsoever haha). Just being able to relax and talk with people that are important to me without any sort of drama or difficulties. Sometimes having a shoot go well just makes a day perfect even if the rest of the day didn’t go so well since it makes me feel like I accomplished something or at least did something productive.
What according to you is the easiest way to look pretty and glamourous? That’s a tough question for me since I’m actually rather insecure and don’t always see myself as “beautiful” or “glamorous” or anything close to that. From what I’ve seen though, just simply having confidence (or at least pretending you do) seems to really make people look at you differently, ideally in a good way.
Tell me about your favorites. My favorite color is blue (I know, I’m super original haha), I don’t have a favorite actor or actress, but one of the main models I admire is Dita Von Teese. Some of my favorite bands include System of a Down, Korn, Love and Death, Avenged Sevenfold, and Linkin Park.
Do you own a domain? Do you blog? These are some of my sites: modelmayhem.com/
Your ultimate message for netizens? My message to anyone who is bothering to read this: Thank you for taking the time to read this interview. I know I’m not a very well known model and I still have plenty to learn to improve myself, but it’s still very much appreciated. I also want to throw it out there that anyone can model. Maybe not just anyone can be a high fashion or a runway model, but I like to believe anyone that can put their best into something can achieve greatness. There are different levels of success, but as long as you’re happy with yourself, that’s all that should matter.