New Year To-Dos for Models

Now that the new year has begun, it’s time to put your business hat on and get yourself teed up for the year ahead so you can hit the ground running as soon as the fashion industry wakes up from its holiday hibernation. 

Photo by Lexi De Napoli

Read below for five to-dos every model should have on their list to set themselves up for a successful start to the new year!

1. Review Your Finances: One of the first things you should do at the start of the new year is review your finances from the previous year. Check that you have documented your earnings and expenses, and double-check that all your payments have cleared the bank. Reviewing all of this now and keeping a detailed spreadsheet of all your earnings and expenses (don’t forget mileage!) will ensure that you aren’t missing any of your money, and it will also make your life so much easier when tax season rolls around and you already have it ready to go! 

   
   

2. Update your Resume: Look back over the previous year and add all the bookings and training you’ve done over the past year to your resume. Clients often look at resumes, so if you don’t have any recent updates, it can give the impression that you haven’t been working even if you have. Having an updated resume is especially important for actors, so be sure not to skip this task!

   
   

3. Review your Portfolio: The start of the new year is the perfect time to do a review of your portfolio. Make sure any published images from the year before are added (sometimes, images aren’t released until many months after the shoot, so it can be easy to forget to track them down and add them to your portfolio) and see what older images need to be removed. Taking this time to refresh your digitals and setting up a photo shoot to fill any gaps you may have in your portfolio is also a great idea so your book is fresh and ready for the busy spring/summer season.

   
   

4. Agency Check-in: If you’re agency-represented, now is a great time to schedule a phone call or coffee date to check in with your agent(s). They will have insight on what you can do to better appeal to clients (example: change your look, update your portfolio), and they can help you come up with a plan to achieve your new year goals. Also, don’t forget to thank them for all the work they’ve done on your behalf for the past year!

   
   

5. Reflect: With a new year beginning, it’s the perfect time to sit down and reflect on all you have achieved in your career over the past year, and set goals for new things you want to accomplish in the new year. These goals can be as simple as getting better at tracking your finances, to bigger things like signing with an agency or working with one of your dream clients.

While dealing with the business side of your modeling career isn't always fun, knocking these things off your to-do list right a the start of the year will have your future self thanking you!

________________________________________________