No Ties Model Management

My daughter started with No Ties at age 15 ½. Now at age 17 ¼ we have a contract in hand from one of the top 5 modeling agencies in the industry. She’ll be moving to NY when she graduates high school.
I was cautious at first. I wanted to be sure that we weren’t paying out of pocket to be represented. I can’t tell you how wrong I was to worry! Monica and her staff treated us professionally with a family-​like kindness. She knows her stuff! She’s well regarded as a great place to find the next top models by the larger world-​wide agencies.
Here’s my mom’s point of view from our experience. When your child starts (we were beginners with no portfolio) as a new face they’ll be sent out for photo shoots without pay. You should go to as many as you are able to go to (without pay– be careful not to burn yourself out). If your child doesn’t have modeling pics on the site, there’s no way for a paying prospect to know how your child with photograph. Duh, right? Well this takes commitment, gas, time, etc. on your part as a parent/​guardian. No pics, no paying jobs. It’s just that simple.
Not only are the pics uploaded to the portfolio site, your child gets EXPERIENCE. This is priceless. The more they’re in front of the camera the more comfortable they’ll be. It shows in the shots too.
She was signed in Nov. and went on just as many weekend (some weekday) photo shoots as we were able. Her first paid job was $ 450 in February! That’s good money for a 15 yr old, for 4 hrs! Then 3 months later– a big name shoot (with a brand that sprays waaay too much cologne and the music’s too loud in their mall stores), on a Saturday (most paid shoots are business hours/​days), at an amazing Malibu Beach estate on the beach, fully catered, at $ 2800 for the day! at 15! She was in all the mall stores. So cool! She has never seen the pics other than in the stores.
Even after she started getting paid jobs (mostly look books) she still had to continue to the unpaid shoots. The paid shoots own the pics, they pay the model and that’s that. The model doesn’t get the pics. So in order to continue to update the portfolio pics and get as many diversified shots as you can– go to the shoots as much as you can. Be on time or call!
It takes commitment. It’s boring sometimes. It’s a long, long day if you live in San Diego and drive to LA = 10 hr days easily.
I didn’t meet a single person for any of the shoots that weren’t just regular. You hear stories, but we have not experienced any weirdness AT ALL. No kidding. Monica and her staff know their stuff and even cancelled a shoot that didn’t seem right to them. I still don’t know the story behind it but that’s their job.
What a wonderful experience we have had. It’s important to ask questions, be honest about your expectations, and allow them to do their job.
My other daughter just got her braces off, is 15, and wants to throw her hat in the ring… here we go again! :-)
Oh, FYI: I’m a single mom and did all of it predominantly myself. I work full-​time inm the medical field. I’m no dummie. It can be done. I even paid my younger brother $ 100 once to drive her. She made $ 1200 that day. Worth it.
You can find a way. Be creative.
You’ll be in great hands.