In this article, I share my experience on how I got signed with a Mother Agency manager as a petite model.
For background, I am 5’6, and I have gotten interest from Mother Agent through my portfolio, but rejected because of my height many times. I have never taken this personally or have been (debilitatingly 😉) discouraged by it, because I know for a fact there is a market for petite models.
There have been agents who have signed me in the past and present, I have booked many campaigns, I also know of other petite models in a variety of locations, with a variety of looks, who are constantly working. If an agent doesn’t want to sign me, that just means they don’t have clients or connections that would make it worthwhile for them to invest in me. Which means I just have to find the agent who does. I never take rejection personally or as a sign of my worth.
Realizing the Importance of Mother Agent Managers
After terminating my contract with my former NY/LA agents in August, I was completely unrepresented, and looking to travel.
I secured a contract in the Cape Town, South Africa market for their production season from January to April. Soon after I arrived, I came to realize the importance of a mother agency manager for a model’s career. I made a number of international model friends in Cape Town, and 90% of them had a mother agency manager who was deeply involved in the success of my friends’ careers.
By the midpoint of our stays, if they weren’t booking enough jobs, (it was a very slow season for many models that year) they reached out to their MA’s to set up meetings with other agencies in Cape Town during their stay. These meetings would be taken by the following week.
Without a mother agent advocating for you, it would otherwise be difficult to get into these rooms. Unless I know a model with the agency who can give me a referral, I, without an MA, would have to apply through the website, or send a cold email, which agents might not put much consideration into, as this communication is coming from a model who isn’t being vouched for. How would they know my professionalism, work ethic, and previous work experience?
Outside of setting up agency meetings, I realized good MAs provide a lot of support for their models. They take initiative in directing their models’ careers, because they make money when the model makes money. And up until that point, they put a lot of investment into their models for development and agency pitching. I realized if I wanted to take my career to the next level, I needed a mother agent manager on my team.
Why I Terminated the Relationship With My Previous Mother Agent
I used to be signed with a booking agency who operated as an MA, but I terminated for the following reasons: They were unable to place me in any domestic or foreign markets despite regular efforts, and honestly didn’t really do much of the development or strategy work for me that a strong mother agent would.
Many booking agencies who operate as MAs typically make a sizable revenue stream on bookings. As such, the management side may not be as strong compared to mother agency managers, who’s primary revenue stream is from placing models with partner agencies.
I want to stress that the quality of MA management from booking agencies truly depends on the agency, and how the specific agency operates. Sometimes they have bandwidth for an MA team that is extremely well connected, sometimes the MA is an agent on their team that also handles bookings, so they are stretched thin.
Continuing the Search for a Mother Agent
Since February, until now (currently writing this in late August) I have reached out to some 90 or so mother agent managers. I have gotten a lot of silence, outright rejections, and a few conversations via DM and calls, but ultimately I wasn’t a right fit for any of the agencies at the time of our communication.
Signing with New Booking Agencies
During the time I was searching for MA representation, I was also reaching out to booking agencies, and signed with two agencies in LA and New York. I was very clear in communicating with these agencies that I was seeking an MA, and I made sure that the contracts I signed were non-exclusive outside of the territories of LA and New York.
This ensured I had the freedom to either continue signing with other agencies in different markets, or to sign with an MA. I prioritized getting agents in the LA/NYC markets so I could start casting and booking ASAP while trying to find an MA.
Here’s the thing–MAs make money by splitting commission with the booking agency they place me with. So, after signing with booking agencies in the biggest markets in the US, I knew this would limit the interest MAs would have in me, since this excludes two of the biggest US markets of revenue for them, if they were to sign me (until my contract with the booking agencies were up).
I was aware of these trade-offs when signing with my booking agencies. However, given that I had been searching for an MA for months to no avail, and I had 2 solid contracts in front of me, I wasn’t going to turn those down to keep waiting around for an MA contract that might never appear.
Furthermore, I was seeking an MA specifically for international placements. If I signed with an MA, one of my stipulations would be for them to (at least try to) place me internationally. To me, whether they could place me in domestic markets was secondary to whether they could place me internationally.
Making Myself a Bookable Model
Once I signed with the booking agencies, I stopped actively searching for MA representation and focused more on perfecting my castings and implementing self-tape tips that my agents gave me.
I also started investing heavily in social media. After having a chat with a model friend about how she started booking regularly after she started posting reels on Instagram, I started doing the same. I grew my account from 1700 followers at the beginning of August to over 3,000 by the end of that month. I primarily focused on making content around topics I had a lot of passion for and on sharing my story. Primarily, that was around Muay Thai and Acquisition Entrepreneurship.
Recently, an MA I DM’d on Instagram nearly 3 months ago responded back asking for a meeting. In the meeting, she expressed her excitement in representing me, and shared her plan for developing me. I listed all of my modeling goals and made sure she was aware that I was already represented in LA and New York.
We were quite aligned after I voiced all my concerns, so after the end of the call, she sent me the contract, and scheduled a portfolio shoot 4 days later to start my development process.
When I think about my criteria for a mother agent I would want to work with, the top of the list should be that they are excited to develop and pitch me. Excitement, because they have high confidence that after their initial push of work is done, I will start booking jobs. Also, they have a market for my look, for which they are ready to pitch me.
Additionally, I prioritize an MA/model relationship in which I don’t feel like I am a bother if I send lots of relevant communication (keyword relevant. I always aim to be concise 🙂). I want to regularly check in on my career goals, feedback on how I can position my self tapes to book more jobs, and just quick answers to questions I might have.
Dealing with Rejection
I rarely think twice about agency rejections because again, that just means I’m not right for their client base and connections. But there are many different clients and agencies in the industry, I just have to find an MA partner who would be able to push me to the right clients.
Usually rejection is around my height, sometimes it’s my look, but I understand it’s business. It never defines who I am, and truly, if I get rejected, that means those agents wouldn’t have been able to help me reach my full potential as a model. While it may sometimes be disheartening, (I have certainly been disheartened in the process), there are always ways to pivot and continue to take action toward your goals.
I have found that the best way to take action when nothing is panning out is to continue scheduling TFP test shoots. I have done dozens of TFP shoots, and I have become more confident in front of the camera. Because of these TFP shoots, I have great portfolio materials that have caught the interest of many agents.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for a mother agent manager, hopefully this account was helpful on the process of getting signed! Keep in mind, this is one data point, different models have different experiences, and each journey will be different.
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