Thee Danielle Baker Interview
Models are in our lives from the moment we can start to see and understand the world around us, from billboards and magazines to commercials on TV. They show us just how beautiful the human body can be, and they share that beauty with us in a wide variety of ways. The only problem is, the vast majority of the modeling industry is overrun by highly exclusionary standards that keep models who don’t fit a certain “mold” from having the same opportunities as those who do.
In a world where beauty is as varied as the human form, but only a very small percentage of human bodies are represented in mass media, how can models find success and fulfillment in their careers? We interviewed the stunning Miss Thee Danielle Baker, a beautiful and inspiring model who has found success in spite of the resistance she’s encountered along the way.
Not only has she written two books (Your Life Is Your Runway and Model Behavior: Get Coached, Get Booked, Get Paid) and led a fantastic modeling career, she has also risen as a motivational coach, sharing her own stories and encouraging her fellow human beings to embrace their beauty and pursue their dreams. Below are some of the topics we covered with this incredible woman and her thoughts on them.
Your Life Is Your Runway is the title of one of your books. How did
you come up with that?
Your Life Is Your Runway is a fairly literal title. Basically, whatever path you’re walking in your life is the runway you own, and the way you walk down that path says everything about who you are and what you want. It’s the way you present yourself to the world, your audience of friends, family, coworkers, strangers, and whoever else is watching you throughout your life.
Think to yourself: How am I influencing people? What is my walk communicating to them, and am I okay with the answer to that question? If I were to watch my own “walk,” would I be happy with it? If the answer to that question is no, it may be time to reassess parts of your life that do and don’t bring you joy.
How do you feel about the work-life and family-life balance? Do the majority of the people you work with need help in that area?
Baker didn’t hesitate to say “Absolutely!” The everyday woman struggles to find this balance if and when she isn’t certain what she wants for herself. More often than not, your average woman is making decisions in her life based on what the people around her need, whether it be a child, a parent, a friend, a boss, or a significant other. When a woman is asked what she wants, the answer she gives is likely to be dependent on what her loved ones want or need. Once all of that is stripped away (only for the purpose of figuring out what she wants!), it’s much easier for her to figure out what her own goals are for herself. What are her passions? What brings her joy?
Answering those questions is the core of discovering and maintaining a work-life and family-life balance. If a woman is making sure that her needs, her wants, and her passions are all being given proper attention, it’s easier to approach everyday stressors without becoming overwhelmed. As Baker explains, it’s easy to get run down when you spend 8 to 10 hours a day working at a job you can’t stand only to come home and have to take care of kids, or a spouse, or parents, or groceries, or laundry, and so on and so forth. But when you do what you love and love what you do, the mundane parts of life and naturally stressful things are suddenly way easier to tolerate.
Women complain a lot about their bodies, challenges in dating, and manifesting their dreams. What would be a way you would
help?
Women are experts at finding something to complain about within themselves, their lives, and their bodies. It’s something we’re all but trained to do in our society through family members, peers, social media, and entertainment, but it isn’t a habit that we have to remain trapped in. Baker encourages people to address two things:
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What are we really complaining about? Is it something that someone else made us self-conscious about? Is it something that we want to change for others, or for ourselves.
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How can we take that “flaw” and turn it into something you’re happy with? How can we help you live in your current body and love it for every fold, every scar, every “imperfection”
The more you can accept your flaws, the more receptive you are to compliments. The more receptive you are to compliments, the easier it is to be happy with your own body and see positive and attractive features in others. Build each other up as much as you can, because you never know who needs to hear that their nails are on point, their figure looks incredible in that outfit, or they just look vibrant today.
How do you feel about plastic surgery such as butt and boob implants?
More than anything else, what matters is who you’re making that decision for. Before you opt for plastic surgery of any kind, as yourself why you’re doing it. Is it because your friends and peers have done it and you’ve found yourself comparing your own body to theirs? Is it because you feel like you’d get more attention from a romantic interest or significant other if you did? If the answer is anything other than “I’m doing this for me” or “I’m doing this because I find it aesthetically pleasing and want to use my own body to exhibit my idea of beauty” or some other self-fueled reason, it probably won’t be worth it in the long run.
Never alter your body for aesthetic reasons if it’s for anyone but you. You just don’t know how long that other person’s opinion is going to be relevant in your life, but yours always will be. Again, Baker encourages us to love ourselves as we are.
How do skin color, body type, and body size affect modeling opportunities? How often do you work with people who have been affected by these very specific and exclusionary standards?
Modeling agencies didn’t always put a hyper focus on the body type of “ Caucasian, 5’9 ”, size 0-4” in the industry, but as soon as they did, it became significantly more difficult for minorities, petite individuals, or plus-sized individuals to find modeling work. Thankfully, there have been major strides in diversifying the modeling industry and there are many opportunities out there for those who don’t fall into that very narrow category of thin, tall, and Caucasian, but there’s still a long road ahead before we can say that equal opportunity is a reality.
Baker regularly works with a hugely diverse clientele, learning from each individual’s experiences, engaging with their unique energies, and encouraging them to embrace the parts of themselves that make them stand out. She emphasizes the fact that there are any number of ways for each person to express themselves, embrace themselves, and succeed in the industry and guides them toward any event, company, agency, group, or community that will lift them up.
When coaching someone, which is more important? Posing techniques or runway walks?
Posing should be any model’s #1 focus because that’s what will ultimately get you more bookings. Your head shots, portfolio, and any marketing materials you use for submissions are what will build your own personal brand, so your posing techniques need to be what you master before worrying about the runway walks.
Yes, the runway walks are important. They’re vital when the time actually comes to take that stage. But if you focus all of your attention on perfecting your walk and don’t put as much care into your submission materials, Baker says “you’ll only ever be as good as your last walk.”
Have any of the models you have coached worked overseas or for New York Fashion Week?
Baker has coached models who have gone on to work London Fashion Week, Hawaii Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, and many others! She helps guide her models to success by improving upon the natural talents they already possess and enhancing their natural, unique beauty.
5 Takeaways
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Figure out what you want out of your life. Where does your passion lie, are you pursuing that passion, and what’s keeping you from doing so if not?
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Find ways to love the parts of you that you used to criticize. Instead of obsessing over “fixing your flaws,” embrace the parts of you that make you unique and celebrate them.
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Diversity is absolutely vital to modeling because of how diverse humanity is. People need to see themselves represented in the world around them and shown that whatever kind of body they have, they’re beautiful. If you’ve been given a spotlight, use that to encourage the diversity of beauty.
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Before you change anything about your body, ask yourself why you want to. If you want to because of something others have said or are doing or because of other people making you feel some type of way about yourself, take a step back and reassess before you make any final decisions.
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Love your body so fully and so loudly that others can’t help but love it, too! Your energy is a huge part of your modeling career, so let that energy speak self-love.