VICTORIA TALBOT | CP Magazine | Business Woman

What does being entrepreneurial mean to you? Being entrepreneurial means having independence to reach goals I set for myself, and then exceeding them. I graduated college from St John's University in Queen's NY with a Bachelors Degree in Communications. Being in Queens, I had amazing opportunities for Internships in NYC. My first experience in the business was at WQHT Radio station 103.5, which now is Hot 97 and a top Hip Hop station. I was in charge of media sales that were tied into the top nightclubs, events, and celebrity parties in NYC with names like: Madonna, Prince, Beyonce the Cover Girls, Jay Z, Salt N Pepper, Shaggy, Ricky Martin, Bon Jovi, Jack Nicholson and more. Wendy Williams was the DJ Party host, and Al Bendiro was the top DJ. My job was to go to parties and do tie-in marketing with our vendors/advertisers. When I graduated, my first job I was paid $15,000 a year to work at Della Femina Advertising in NYC, which lead to a position with NightLife magazine. I met the Publisher of the magazine via my job at Della Femina and took a position as an advertising sales person who was paid $350 a week as a upfront salary against my sales and offered 30% of all my sales. I felt very independent at that job because my salary was all commission based. I could handle the hustle, because I needed to make sales to get paid. My boss at the time Michael Jacobson taught me a lot. He said " Don't be a Jack of All Trades and master at none". I followed that rule for 30 years as an Entrepreneur and I launched my own Modeling Agency one year later with Billy Rozenvig who invested in my idea. We first called the agency Exquisite and I had I found an office in the Garment Industry area of NYC 37 and 7th. I decorated the walls pink, put Marilyn Monroe Portraits and Photographers everywhere. I even had a Pink Carpet, to give you an idea of what it looked like. Later we learned the image was wrong and the name sounded to Cheesy. We changed it to "Now Model Management" and moved our office to Soho NYC, a more trendy look with a round booking table. A few years later we merged with another Modeling Agency from Paris and became "Partners Model Management". It's all about taking every opportunity and being honest about your image.

CONTACT: @VICKYPRESSPR VICKYPRESSPR@GMAIL.COM WWW.VICKYPRESSPR.COM

What was your motivation to become an entrepreneur? I was the CEO of a

Modeling Agency before the age of 25. My motivation was success and I had the drive, confidence, and passion. I felt confident in myself that I could be the boss, I just had to find a way to get there. I had always wanted to be a model but I was too short and curvy. I would have my girlfriend take photos of me and send them into Elite Model Management in the hopes I could be a model. I was told 5'5 and 130 pounds are not the requirements 5'9 and up only in height/measurements needed to be were 24 Bust, 34 waist, 34 waist. I was 32C-28-38 way to curvy. So..... I opened my own agency and defined the rules of beauty on my own. I Represented Curvy models. Caprice was my first model https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caprice _Bourret

What is the function of your company? Hype Public Relations, my current company, and my past firms promotes fashion models for jobs for fashion endorsements, catalogs, music videos, fashion magazines, and runway fashion shows. I book more sexy beauty and fashion, which typically payed top dollar. Playboy magazine, Victoria Secret, Macy's Department Store, Fredericks of Hollywood, Vanity Fair Lingerie, Christine Dior Lingerie, Bloomingdale's L'oreal, Maybelline, CoverGirl, Beach Bunny, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger are some of my clients and more. I have a list of the top modeling jobs I promote my models for work. If they get requested I would send them on a go-sees which means go to the client for a possible job A "GOSEE". My title was director of Now Model Management in NYC, until 1993. Within 2 years Now merged with Glamour in Paris and we became "Partners Model Management". I was a booking agent and Jerome Bonnouvrier was my director, whose family owned the first model agency in Paris. Jerome helped Launched Ford Models in America. I was paid a high salary of $70,000 a year with commission on my billings which were up to 50 to 100 thousand a month. I was making top dollar as a a top model agent. I ran a models apartment uptown were models that came from out of town could stay for their NYC modeling work. I was invited to popular celebrity red carpet events, restaurants for complimentary dinners and runway shows. I LOVE MY JOB!

What were the biggest difficulties as a

woman you encountered in this job? "A women is like a tea bag-you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water", Eleanor Roosevelt. My biggest difficulties in the business have been the very competitive nature of other agents, they are always trying to steal models from each other and engaging in drama. I play by the rules and always work for my model as an advocate, and never bad mouth my competition. I have no reason to, because I know I do my best at what I do and hard work pays off. I'm a hard negotiator when it comes to model booking rates. I was called difficult so many times by men in the business because I don't back down, while comparatively a man would be called a great negotiator when fighting for a client. I'm a women so I'm called difficult or a bitch.

There will be those who think you are very lucky, so tell us also about the difficult times you have lived until you get

here. When I decided to go on my own as an Entrepreneur with no investors the start up was scary. I went from over $100,000 a year salary to straight on my own sales with a new start. Caprice was my first model/actresses I represented. She was also my first model years prior for it was the next step for her career to become a brand www.capricebourret.com. We worked very close together she had been a model with me for many years and very successful. Our first booking together with Hype PR Public Relations was a Playboy Deal for $130,000! I'm back in the game. My commission as a model agent is 20% from the model and 20% from the client( Playboy). The next booking we did together as a team was Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, from there Miller Brewing Company was looking for a Sports Illustrated model to represent the brand. I had previous bookings with them and they asked me if I had or knew anyone. I started promoting Caprice we we nailed the job at $100,000. The client paid a deposit and my agency fee we signed contracts they traveled from St Louis to NYC and that morning was 9/11 when The World Trade Center got Bombed. The client was devastated and wanted to get out of NYC which was in complete lock down. They asked me to return the money and could they cancel the job. Which I would absolutely do. I got a call they could not leave town because of the lock down They were going to move forwardwith the photo shoot.

You commented a while ago that you would like to inspire people, make them believe in the success of their ideas and projects. Don't you think that, somehow, you are doing it with

your own example? Yes i do. I launched a "Models of Inspiration" division of Hype Public Relations, and my first project was with a marine who served 5 tours of war and was the body guard for John McCain. He was referred by a Hollywood Agent I knew from another project. He was to be appearing on a hit show "Stars Earns Strips" on NBC, where military men teamed up with celebrities to compete to be the next action hero. Jumping out of military planes into the water, sharp shooting, and all tasks from boot camp. I really felt inspired by this show working with American heros. I was honored to work on this project. Alex Minsky, a marine who lost his leg in Afghanistan, was referred to me via the show. He was recovering from a coma and started a life changing fitness lifestyle. A photographer took photos of him at the gym that went viral. I was contacted to take him to the next level as a model. I blasted his story out to fashion mainstream magazines like GQ and they confirmed Alex Minsky for a 10 page fashion photo shoot and interview about inspiring people and overcoming the tragedy. My work with Alex lead me to meet a model born with down syndrome, Chelsea Werner, who is a Worldwide Champion Gymnast. I introduced her to Vogue magazine and it took time but she graced the cover of Teen Vogue as a model of Inspiration.I was part of that success.

What is the most sacrificed to fulfill your dreams.

Time is what I sacrificed. Family and work is where all my time goes. I'm a mother of 3 children two boys and one girl I dedicate all my time to family and building my company. Its important to me to work towards success for every client that choose me as their agent. It's my responsibility to represent then the best possibly terms. I have sacrificed all of me to achieve my goals. Time is the sacrifice.

You never thought about abandoning it? I have learned as the business changes I need to teach myself how I fit in. Wisdom is knowledge. I have been doing this for 30 years. I'm a model /agent/publicity agent for 30 years. That means times and trends change. Social media, starting with Facebook, launched and it opened up so many new opportunities but it also changed the game. Models are now more independent, having the potential to create their own name through their social media pages. Magazines are going out of business, and finding new ways to find a place in the current market. I have always had the instinct to learn where my strengths are and how I fit into the business of entertainment and fashion. I have been successful in making changes to stay on top.

What are the highlights of your career? I was introduced to model actress Sallie Toussaint to promote her role in the movie "The Departed" Directed by Martin Scorsese. I had the opportunity to work directly with the Warner Brothers Publicity staff. Sallie had a great relationship with martin Scorsese who invited us both to the Premiere of he film in NYC at the Ziegfeld Theater. I walked Sallie down the red carpet for her interviews and met the other actors in the film Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon,, Mark Wahlberg, Alex Baldwin, Martin Sheen, and Martin Scorsese. It was the highlight of my career to date meeting all that talent in one project.

Matt Damon is my celebrity crush! Producing a TV show about my Agency called "Model Behavior" I work from a home office in the Country so I can be a soccer mom and house wife on top of being a business women. The fact that I don't need to travel to an office safes a lot of time management. My TV show got picked up by a Production company in Hollywood called "Think factory owned by the British TV network ITV. It was an honor to work with such talent group pf professionals. The pitched the show sizzle reel to several networks and I was very close to a deal with VH-1 and Oxygen Network. Check out the sizzle reel introducing the show idea.

I didn't get a deal but I was close and I learned a lot about Producing TV Projects. https://youtu.be/XXdBvjDeqiA "Model Behavior" My work with women Poker Pro's was a lot of traveling. I pitched a deal to Foxwoods Casino to do the Publicity with Poker Pro Christina Lindley for The World Poker Tour and we got the job! Which lead to working with Harrah's Hotel doing the Publicity for The World Series of Poker.

Could you give us a definition of what you understand by

success? Wake up in the morning and feel proud of your accomplishments. Learn from the mistakes in your career, but never dwell on them. Lastly, always remember why you started in the first place.

How do you define your style,

who are you inspired by? I'm a big fan of Marilyn Monroe, my personal style is glamour girl. I love lipstick, stilettos, fashion, bling, and magazines.

What advice would you give to women entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs or those who

want to become? Take the shot if you have the strength. Not everyone can take the pressure. Make sure you write down your goals. A dream written down becomes a Goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action becomes a reality.

If you want to add any more questions with pleasure. Sure!

What current projects are you

working on? A project I am currently investing time in is promotion for the new Netflix TV series "Money Heist". The character of Aturo played by Peter Dobson is my talent I am working with. Another exciting promotion I am working on is my talent India Everett in the 2020 movie Top Gun: The Maverick, which is coming out this summer.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: My Husband, Kids, parents, sister, and bff are my everything. I want to Thank Billy

Rozenvig for starting this journey with me as the investor and Eva Blaszczyk for jumping on board as an agent together with me when I started this journey. I had taken an advertisement out in the

NY Times and she answered. My first team that launched my career as a model agent 30 years ago at Exquisite Model Management which became Now Model Management. My first models Gail Gamble, Caprice Bijani will always be close to my heart. They all changed my life when I decided to be an Entrepreneur and I know I made a difference in theirs.

CONTACT: @VICKYPRESSPR VICKYPRESSPR@GMAIL.COM

WWW.VICKYPRESSPR.COM