| Fifteen year old Erin Malinski (this article was written in
September 2007) is shown reading over the program just prior to taking
part in the First Annual Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre Fall Fashion Show
on September 9, 2007. For Erin, shown below as the lead model, must
minutes from opening the show, every opportunity to get experience in
front of audiences is an important step in her career development program.
Erin, who attends Grade 10 at College Notre Dame in Sudbury, seems to
have been born to be a model. In fact, during a recent interview, Erin
herself feels that while most successful models can be coached and trained
to refine their talents, "You must have a certain kind of personality
to be a high level model. It must be present in everything you do. When
people look at you they should see you as a "model" just by the
way you act and carry yourself, and I don't mean that in a negative way. I
mean that you can just tell someone has what it takes to be a model."
Erin's father, Ed, a retired school teacher agrees, "I think I
knew there was something special about Erin right from the day she was
born. Even before she began school she was always trying on clothes and
always extremely particular about the way she looked. She was our only
daughter, so naturally my wife and I dressed her in the finest outfits and
enjoyed seeing her in pretty clothes, but she just took to it naturally.
She has been interested in her appearance and in clothes all along, and I
can say as a proud father that she has done all of this while remaining
very down to earth and being just a plain ordinary good person. But there
is something special about her and I can say that I think she was born
with this gift."
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| Erin's life as a potential career model moved to a higher
level this year while attending the Canadian Modeling Talent Convention.
She displayed her talents with 500 other aspiring teen models and was
selected (equivalent to the drafting process in hockey) by seven different
agencies from Toronto, New York, Taiwan, Paris, London and Los Angeles.
These agencies will be watching Erin's development over the next few years
until she turns 18 and is eligible to sign a professional modeling
contract. She is now in the hands of Mrs. Florence Gauvreau who will
continue grooming her for a possible career.
For Erin, it will mean a steady stream of events such as the one at the
Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre where she will get as much exposure as
possible and sharpen her presentation skills on stage. These practices
will give her the experiences she needs in order to mature into a
profession which is extremely demanding and short-lived.
"I know it is going to be a tough career," explained Erin.
"It is very competitive among the top models in the world and you
have to be at the top of your game to be successful. I also know that my
career won't last forever on stage, but after you are finished with the
"runway" part of your career you can still continue as a model
in advertising for catalogues and magazines. I also want to finish my
degree in psychology and perhaps open a practice helping young models cope
with the emotional side of the business. I have thought about staying in
business as an agent as well."
For now, Erin will continue to be a normal 15 year old who is heading
towards a career she loves. She will take advantage of every opportunity
to get in front of people in order to experience every type of situation
and every kind of condition. All of it will serve its purpose in
developing the "entire package". Her outgoing personality; her
ability to take criticism; her ongoing concern about her appearance; and
her unwavering morals and personal standards should take her a long way to
a contract when she turns 18. |
