Complaint Review: RASHEED KABIRU ALLI

THIS IS THE SAME RASHEED ALLI INTERVIEWING IN ANOTHER PUBLICATION If you think you've got the 'Zoolander' look, check out this step-by-step guide to becoming a model.

So you think you might have what it takes to succeed as a male model? You have the drive, you have the talent, and your whole life you have been told that you are ridiculously good looking. The only thing is, you are not quite sure how to go about it.
 
So what to do? The modeling world has changed a lot over the past decade. While the traditional avenues to find modeling jobs still exist, social media has leveled the playing field. Aspiring male models who work it online have a big head start over those who are just sending agents photos of their headshots. This is not to say that having a strong modeling portfolio isn’t important -- it very much is.
 
Rasheed Alli, founder and managing partner of DAS Model Management, an agency based out of Miami Beach, breaks down what agencies look for.

“The first step to becoming a male model is assuming the confidence and self-assurance in knowing you have what it takes to be in the spotlight. Models today not only have to develop their own image, but have an expressive personality that shines in front of the camera as well. Being able to carry yourself with confidence and a certain belief in oneself is what the agencies and corporate brands are looking for. Having a strong portfolio of photography will always help when being able to get a foot in the door with any agency, so this is always a worthwhile investment. Establishing your own personal ‘look’ and style, no matter how off-the-wall it might be, can often catch the eye of the bookers.  Social media has never been more important in today’s modeling world. Having an online personality with a significant and loyal band of captive followers can only add value for a client in the eyes of an agency.”
 
And what are the physical requirements to be a model? While there are no hard and fast rules, agencies want you to be between 5’11 and 6’2 tall; you should wear a size 40 regular jacket, or at least be pretty close to that. While you want to be in excellent shape, don’t be too muscular, as clothing does not drape well on men with larger muscles in the arms and thighs. Of course your teeth should be white and flawless, and your skin should be clear.
 
The traditional way to get work is still to find a reputable agent. “Reputable” is the key word here. Do your homework. Don’t take a chance on someone just starting out who does not have an established roster of clients. Ask questions, find out what they can really do for you, and what they have done for others. In the old days, getting an agent was a must. This is not entirely true anymore, but if you want to get work and get a decent paycheck, an agent is the way to go. They also often have information on jobs that you won’t know about without them.
 
But some people get work without an agent. How? Because they rock it on social media. One of those people is model James, who says “Today's model needs to be very entrepreneurial. You need to be the CEO of your own personal brand. Brands don't just want a handsome face. They want someone with a strong social media platform. My own social media showcases my life not just as a model, but as an entrepreneur living in New York City and traveling the world. Modeling was not something that I actively pursued. I was actually one of these guys that was discovered through Instagram. I was posting photos from my trips and my life in New York City and an agency reached out. I ended up signing with them.”
 
If you do get an agent, they will take a cut of your income, which varies from 10 to 33 percent. Of course the point is that for that percentage they will find you more bookings, and also advise you on how to move forward in your career. There are literally hundreds of agencies out there, ranging from the very top, to smaller boutique agencies that are just starting out. Some of the top agencies are Ford, IMG and DNA.
 
You are going to want to provide the agency with a portfolio. This is basically a  an assortment of photographs, which of course will include a headshot and full body shot; it also is a good idea to put in a video that shows off your runway walk. Use a professional to take photos for your portfolio -- don’t ask your buddy who has a nice camera. Photo shoots are not just for your portfolio; they are for you to practice your look and get more comfortable in front of the camera.
 
On occasion, agencies will have open calls. This means exactly what it sounds like. A bunch of people show up on a specific date, and an agency will look at them for a few seconds and decide if the person has what it takes.
 
There also are modeling conventions, which are meeting grounds for agencies, scouts, casting directors and models, and typically happen in large cities where everyone can gather conveniently. The positive is that a model can get a lot of exposure when attending conventions. The negative is that models can only get into these one of two ways: they either pay five to ten thousand dollars to attend, or have to go through a top modeling agency. Some of the most exclusive modeling conventions are run through the IMTA.
 
There also are a variety of model scouting companies that can be helpful, provided you pick the right one. Basically you pay the scouting company to try and put you in touch with the top agencies. Once again, do your homework. Don’t just pay some random guy with a bad website -- get some details on successes he has had.
 
One thing that all agency insiders agree on is that you need to be aggressive.  Don’t just sit around waiting for things to happen. Even if you are just trying to be scouted through Instagram, then work hard at having the best page you possibly can.
 
And while you are at it, keep bugging people. Just as important though, is finding the right people to bug. Rasheed Alli of Das Model Management says, “Getting that all-important first appointment with the people that matter can often be the first hurdle. Research who the key decision makers are within an agency and connect with them on LinkedIn or Instagram for example, while using this as a method to keep yourself relevant and memorable. Networking with people in the industry, as well as with existing models, is an excellent way of making in-roads.”
 
It also doesn’t hurt to establish a unique look. Figure out what type of look you feel that you have and reach out to agencies and brands that you think your look works for. CJ Johnson, a male model and influencer, who also runs the modeling agency Januel+Johnson, says that, "If you want to become a successful model, then you need to be aggressive and reach out to brands you want to work with. In the age of social media it will help if you include your social following and links in your portfolio and really aim for a specific niche.”
 
Modeling schools can also help. They can give you an edge against your competition by giving you a better idea of what the job entails and what is expected of you on set, teach you how to walk the runway, and pose for a photographer, and can also give you some industry connections.
 
There are many types of models. Fashion models are usually the highest paid, although it is also the most difficult area of modeling to succeed in. This work is to promote clothing, and can range from runway work to catalog.
 
There are other types of modeling of course. You could always be a fitness model, although be prepared to work for it. Fitness model Vince Del Monte estimates he has has put in well over 4,000 hours to firm up his body. It probably would be easier to just be incredibly good looking. And don’t forget hand modeling. To succeed at this game, you pretty much need to do everything else that a regular model has to do, but hey, while the pay might be lower and there is not as much glamor, the career of a hand model tends to last longer.

Speaking of money and the shelf life for male models: while guys make way less money than women, their careers tend to last much longer, as the double standard in our society still means there will be a lot of modeling work for the guy that can pull off the whole “successful executive” look.

The income gap in modeling is extreme though. Most new and promising male models earn around $30,000-40,000 per year. That means most models starting out make way less than that. Top earners make around $1.5 million, while the highest earning females make over $40 million.

And if you are serious about modeling for a living, you are going to have to move to a major market like New York City, Los Angeles, or Miami -- although you could get catalog or flyer work in a secondary market like Seattle or Chicago.

Oh, and plan on working another job, at least for a while. While a few make a large profit as models, most have to work another job to make ends meet.

https://sea.askmen.com/career/3538/article/how-to-become-a-male-model

YES THIS IS THE GUY  ....RASHEED ALLI, DAS MODEL MANAGEMENT

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article162778318.html

Rasheed Alli, founder of DAS Model Management, leans on the display of model comp cards at his South Beach location, June 30, 2017. The company has signed more than 250 models in its first year of operation.  

In the 1990s, Ocean Drive’s sherbet-hued Art Deco buildings were a regular backdrop in glossy magazines, and Miami was synonymous with high fashion and modeling. By day, photo shoots blocked crosswalks up and down Ocean Drive; by night, gamine young women filled the Miami club scene.

“Miami used to be huge for modeling. And then, it kind of crumbled,” said Rasheed Alli, 31, former model and founder of the year-old South Beach-based modeling agency DAS Model Management. And while Alli may be a tad young for remembering the heyday, he is betting that he can bring the former modeling glam back to Miami.

“There’s so much more growth in Miami,” Alli said. “It could be what it was before, and more.”

 In its first year of operation, DAS — named for the initials of its three managing partners: Spencer Dienes, Alli and Jake Silverstein — generated more than 520 booking confirmations and signed more than 250 male and female models. Among them are runway gigs at Miami Swim Week, which runs through July 25.

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The agency scouts around the globe to discover and sign talent, and then connects them with clients for jobs in Miami and worldwide.

 Industry sources who watched the earlier decline of Miami’s modeling industry give different reasons for the collapse. Some site stricter permit requirements for outdoor photo shoots, rising Miami Beach prices, and the challenges of operating in a seasonal market where it’s too hot to shoot half the year. Others point to the murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace outside his Miami Beach home and the rise of tourism as factors that damaged Miami’s reputation in the industry.

But Miami’s explosive growth in arts, culture and fashion led Alli to open the fashion division of his company, DAS Model Management, in Miami in July 2016. He runs a separate promotional company that opened in April.

Miami’s modeling agencies also include major international, national and local agencies, including Next, Elite, Wilhelmina, Caroline Gleason, Nicole Shelley and Michele Pommier.

Recent efforts by industry investors and Miami-Dade’s Beacon Council, the county’s economic development agency, to elevate Miami’s place in the fashion world have been paying off. The 2017 Miami Fashion week joined Milan, New York, London and Paris as the fifth officially recognized worldwide fashion week, and fashion designers are showing increased interest in the international city.

“You have this move toward Miami in related industries, and for us it made sense to bring the modeling industry along,” Alli said.

 Alli said he also saw an opportunity for modeling agencies that prioritized professionalism toward both models and clients. Alli, who was discovered at age 13 at an Orlando mall and later was represented from ages 15 to 22 by Ford in New York and San Francisco, saw female models frequently paid late and squeezed for money by agents. Some of these practices include charging models for being listed on agency websites to fees for outgoing faxes and hotel costs they were told would be covered.

His goal was to run an agency that made money off commissions rather than taking advantage of its models. DAS charges both its clients and models a 20 percent commission fee for bookings, the industry standard, though the client fees can fluctuate depending on the job.

The company helps models develop their talent and portfolio through free use of in-house photographers and makeup artists, and complimentary printing of marketing cards — services that come with a fee at most agencies. In return, Alli expects higher levels of dedication from the models, and as a result, happier clients.

Lani Baker, 18, began modeling at home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a local agency, then signed with DAS in October after a DAS scout found her on her first agency’s website. She has since made three trips to Florida and others abroad for bookings with DAS. Her experience with DAS has been nothing but supportive, she said.

 “When I go to visit the agency,” she said, “it’s like walking into a room full of aunts and uncles that just want you to succeed.”

Like Baker, most of the models DAS finds are already working at other agencies. DAS scouts these agencies in-person and online, then approaches the agents about signing specific models into the markets that DAS serves. Some agencies allow models to sign with more than one agency.

In addition to his modeling experience, Alli brings a background in accounting and finance. Before founding DAS, he was a co-founder of a consulting business for startup fundraising and created another promotional modeling company, X2 Models, which he sold privately in 2013.

To build his current company, Alli hired experienced professionals, including Anton Urusov, director of operations, and PB, vice president of operations. The company has 13 employees. When the company first started, DAS employees leveraged existing relationships they had built during decades in the industry to find clients, and in the past year they have received a growing amount of business through word of mouth.

“The secret for a company that is new is not about the name, it’s the people that you work with,” B said. “Combined we have more than 100 years of experience. We start fresh, but with experience.”

B  spent a decade beginning in 1997 as a manager at Michele Pommier, a top local agency that opened in 1979. In 2007, he joined Elite, an international agency with a major Miami presence, as its Miami director of operations.

(B  and DAS are currently defendants in a lawsuit alleging B  breached his contract with Elite by joining DAS and soliciting Elite models to sign with the company after Elite did not renew his contract at the end of last year. DAS declined to comment on the lawsuit. Lawyers for Elite did not respond to a request for comment.)

Urusov had worked from 2006 to 2008 in Miami as a booking agent for Michele Pommier before joining Kohl’s and heading the company’s booking division to hire models for the company’s national advertising campaigns.

As a former client, Urusov has thought hard about how he can improve client service. “I saw certain things that needed fine-tuning. Nobody’s reinventing the wheel, but there’s certainly things we can do better.”

For Urusov, this includes all parties leaving egos at the door, being transparent about fees and keeping commitments.

“I thought that there could be a little more of a balancing act as far as treating models, clients and agents with the same professional courtesy,” he said, “and expecting the same thing in return.”

Florida has the third-highest number of physical agency locations, accounting for an estimated 8 percent of the country’s total, according to a 2016 industry report by IBISWorld, a global market research company. The market is dwarfed by New York and California, which have 33 and 22 percent, respectively, but is still more than twice the size of any of the other 47 states.

“We’ve witnessed a huge turnover in Miami of modeling agencies,” said Didier Benitah, an executive producer at Season Productions who has worked with DAS. “In order to survive you have to reinvent and update yourself daily.”

“Rasheed is a guy who has approached the modeling industry with a non-modeling view,” Benitah said. “He comes from a finance background, and that’s maybe why he’s successful.”

Some of DAS’s strategies come in response to challenges that didn’t exist in the boom days of the ’90s. Instagram and Facebook have threatened businesses by allowing clients to find models directly.

“Through social media, models have an easier time promoting themselves and advertisers have an easier time finding talent, thereby cutting out the middle man,” according to IBISWorld.

DAS’s offer of free services for models is partially a business decision to compete in a market where every model can be their own agent. It is increasingly harder for agencies to survive, Alli said, if they can’t spend the money to bring in top talent and employees.

According to IBISWorld, social media has put pressure on profit margins for modeling agencies and was in part responsible for moderated growth at the end of last year.

But technology also helps DAS grow its business during Miami’s challenging summer. The same weather that makes Miami a popular spot for a swimsuit shoot in dead winter melts makeup and ruins clothes during the humid months.

In the slower season, DAS continues earning commissions by connecting clients and models in other parts of the world. With the internet, models overseas can be booked by a client in New York for the next day. This wasn’t possible in the days of FedEx-ing books of photos back and forth before selecting a model, but online portfolios allow clients to confidently choose a model they haven’t met. These types of bookings make about 70 percent of DAS business, Buonfante estimates.

Though the majority of its clients and models are outside of Miami, the company chose its location with the goal of rejuvenating the local market and expects more business to arrive in the city.

“Miami is very up and down. It always has a great comeback, you just need to adapt to the situation and provide the very best models you can,” Buonfante said.

Rasheed Alli, DAS Model Management: 

Is this the same man on this link Rasheed Alli, Dolce Magazine?