Today we’d like to introduce you to Imani Brown.
Imani, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Imani Brown. I am from a small town in Southwest Michigan called Cassopolis. I have wanted to model for as long as I can remember, when I was younger I used to watch America’s next top model and I remember just wanting to be everything that they were, despite how difficult it really was. Throughout growing up, I got a little bit into modeling but it just never worked out. I ended up going to Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, for Communications Media because I just didn’t want to let my family down over a dream. I hated it. I hated being at school when I knew exactly what I wanted to do, so I left school and moved here to Atlanta, I just got tired of living for other people and needed to live for myself. So after going through some really mental and emotional hardships, I really dove headfirst into my work and began shooting all of the time and really perfecting my craft so that I can be the best model I could possibly be. I’ve just worked hard to be at the point I’m at now and I’m not even halfway to where I want to be, so I just keep working and grinding.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think that anything worth having comes easy. Things for me have not just smooth and happy go lucky. It’s been a struggle at times. Modeling is not an easy field to be in especially when you jump headfirst into it as I did, I left school to pursue modeling so that what I dedicate most of my time to, so when I first got here, it was hard because that I was trying to focus solely on modeling but I had to work jobs to make money and it took my focus off of my craft, but then so got to a certain point that my work speaks for itself and I deserve to be paid for my services on certain shoots. It’s also has been a bit of a struggle making sure that I make my lane known. Atlanta is a very “video girl” “Instagram model” type of environment and as happy as I am for those that choose to do that, it’s just not the lane I am in and it’s very important for me that I’m taken seriously in the high fashion modeling world and that at times can be difficult.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a fashion model, a makeup artist. I make music. I honestly do a little bit of everything. My main specialty is modeling, that is my bread and butter and what I would say I’m most known for. I am most proud of how far I’ve come in the short time that I’ve been living in Atlanta, I’ve worked very hard to get my name recognized in a very genuine way by having really good work and that makes me proud that I’m sticking to who I am in the sometimes very sticky business where it’s easy for people to lose sight of who they truly are. I think what sets me apart is just me as a person, I don’t think there’s anyone like me in the world and that doesn’t take away from any other model or anything but I’m just different.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would say the proudest moment in my career for me has just been seeing my growth from when I started to now, working for actual brands now and going on to a website and seeing my face is something that I’ve always wanted and dreamed about and now I’m living in that, but New York fashion week for sure was my greatest moment, it was when I knew for certain that I was doing exactly what I should be
Contact Info:
- Email: i.brown24@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @__manisworld
Image Credit:
Instagram- @genosnaps
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