Strike A Post: East alum grows skills through modeling

After packing her hair products, a water bottle and an Rx bar to hop on the 2 p.m. train, East alum Olive Henry made her way from Boston to a production studio in New York City for a lifestyle photoshoot with Maybelline. When she arrived for her 6:30 a.m. call time the next morning, the makeup artists put the finishing touches on her stylized look so she’d be ready to sport her trench coat in front of the city skyline. 

Her main goal for the day: provide the client with content that matches their marketing goals. 

For Henry, professional modeling experiences like these have become a regular occurrence. Whether she’s taking the train to New York City for a job with world-renowned models or flying to Austin for a jewelry shoot, she views each opportunity as a chance to grow as a model and gain confidence in her skills. 

“I’m very much the kind of person where I use every shoot as a chance to learn,” Henry said. “Being given opportunities definitely makes me want to work harder in every aspect of the activity.” 

With each shoot, she’s learned the key skill for brands to invite her back: adaptability. Whether it’s altering her expressions to fit the message of a campaign or doing her own research on each brand’s image, Henry finds something to improve with every picture taken. 

She’s found that her hair could be natural at one shoot and professionally-styled at the next. She may need to pack her own outfit to wear or they might provide an elaborate monochromatic outfit. Shooting could be wrapped up around lunch time or past dark, but it’s her priority to be a strong asset to every brand she models for. 

“She’s been super professional, really easy to work with,” Amanda Blu photographer Paul Hart said. “It’s just really easy to capture her expressions and a lot of the pictures that I take of her come out just perfect. Not very much post-editing has to be done with it and she takes direction really well too.”

Modeling is an art for Henry. It never feels like a chore. Even though the 12-hour shoot days are physically and emotionally draining, she loves perfecting her craft. She finds that there’s a lot of fine tuning that goes into being good at modeling, whether it’s portraying different emotions on her face or making her body move in a certain way. Taking it little by little, she’s found that following the direction of the professionals around her helps immensely with her personal growth. 

“I definitely think that she’s been able to evolve through modeling and gain more confidence because it definitely gives her this really great creative outlet where she’s able to challenge herself through modeling,” East alum and friend Kara Auvray said. “Olive is one of the most professional people that I’ve met, and that can be really in any sphere.” 

Henry’s modeling career began with a split-second decision on a girls’ trip to Chicago. She spontaneously attended an open-call audition and left with a contract from Ford Models, which is almost unheard of, according to Hart. 

Aspiring models typically try looking at agencies for long periods of time before being signed, but Henry’s professional manner and natural talent was instantly recognized by the agency. 

“I definitely didn’t understand the severity at first,” Henry said. “I remember going home from Chicago with a contract after meeting with an agency for the first time and being like, ‘Oh my gosh, look what happened to me Mom,’ and she was very much like, ‘I don’t think you understand how big of a deal that is.’”

After some experience with commercial gigs with local brands in the Midwest, Henry moved to the East Coast to attend school at Northeastern University and start modeling for the East-Coast editorial and beauty scene. 

Since train rides leave NYC only a few hours away, her agency has helped her land jobs with major brands like Maybelline to produce content every two weeks or so. Ford Models has offices all over the nation, so she can meet up with someone no matter where she is to get help taking digitals or organizing her next job. 

“I feel like I definitely have more opportunities in the East-Coast industry for sure,” Henry said. “The jobs over here are just different and they’re also equally as challenging [as the Midwestern jobs], and I think that’s one of the parts I like about [modeling].”

Her professional demeanor was curated during her time at East as she took on leadership roles that now aid in her modeling work. Her involvement with the Black student union at East helped her to coordinate the needs of various people and extend her flexibility, skills she now carries over to her photoshoots. Auvray feels those qualities have always held strong in Henry and definitely set her apart from others.

Although she’s not exactly sure how her modeling career will pan out, Henry expresses that modeling is always her favorite part of the week — she wants to continue her experience as long as possible. 

“It’s definitely something I want to keep doing for a while,” Henry said. “I want to be working more, whatever that looks like, and I want to keep booking bigger gigs. I want to keep working with really talented, really interesting people for as long as I can.”