Meet Downtown Model: Raven Brown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Brown.

Raven, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began pursuing modeling at the age of 12. I attended Barbizon Modeling and Acting school to enhance my skills but things didn’t really workout with Barbizon due to a family situation that I was dealing with at the time. Afterwards, my immediate family and I relocated to Valdosta, Ga which is approximately 3 hours South Atlanta, where I attended high school and later enrolled in Valdosta State University. While there I made connections with a lot of really talented photographers who would use me as a muse for their practice projects. I also got involved with a modeling troupe on campus, Legends Modeling Troupe, which was very beneficial in helping me gather contacts with prestigious people in the fashion industry of the Atlanta area. So now I am here in Atlanta. I attend Clark Atlanta University with a major in Fashion Designing and am currently doing an internship for a boutique in the historical West End District called The Bank. I am still in the process of pursuing my modeling career with intentions of getting signed to a major talent agency while also balancing the highs and lows of making my mark in the fashion industry.

Has it been a smooth road?
Pursuing my career has not been the easiest thus far. Ultimately I am trying to make my way up to the top of the food chain in the fashion industry. I would like to be multifaceted: designer, model, stylist, correspondent etc. In the beginning, things were very tough. While I was attending Barbizon, they loved me, made me many offers, but unfortunately, they were offers that my family wasn’t able to take on financially. Of course, with any career, you have to invest in it to become great and we lacked the financial stability to do so, so I had to turn those offers down. It hurt but I was only 12 years old and had the rest of my good years ahead of me to make up for those losses. At one point I backed away from so many things that I had completely fallen out of the loop of the “modeling world”. Despite the obvious downfalls I still maintained that passion for it in my heart, that fire never died. I was still posing in the mirror imagining that I was on the cover of Essence or Vogue and I still knew that as long as that fire still burned I had to do whatever it took to get out. So I had finally gotten to high school, prime time, the time where you have to decide what you’re going to do afterwards, work or more school. I always loved fashion and always knew that was what I wanted to do. Originally I was scheduled to attend SCAD for fashion, I was accepted and everything, but due to lack of funds that dream was crushed instantly. So I had to think of something quick, I couldn’t miss out on go to college that wasn’t a choice, so I applied for the university in my city, Valdosta State and got accepted right away. While there I got involved with Legends Modeling Troupe, got some runway experience, and became a muse for a lot of photographers on campus and in the city, thus expanding my print work. In a way, I became well known for modeling in the area and people began referring to me as “Raven the Model”. I was in love with it, enjoying it I felt like I was starting to rise in my career. In the meantime, I had to figure out what I was going to do as an alternative for to SCAD because I knew I couldn’t stay at Vstate majoring in art forever and SCAD was definitely out of the question. I did some research and discovered that Clark Atlanta offered Fashion Designing for half the cost of SCAD with a program that’s just as good. Got accepted, did my FAFSA and presto, here I am, in Atlanta majoring in fashion and interning at a boutique.

Any predictions for the industry over the next few years?
Within the next 5-10 years, I foresee myself graduating from Clark Atlanta with my Bachelor’s Degree in fashion designing & possibly attending graduate school to get my Masters in fashion designing to enhance my skills. By that time, I also plan to be signed to a major talent agency for modeling and becoming very recognizable in the fashion industry.

What has been the primary challenge you’ve faced?
The biggest challenge for me over the years has been dealing with financial stability which has rally taken a toll on me investing in my career the way I would like to as far as paying for photo-shoots and buying fabrics and supplies for sewing. At the age of 15 I became the sole caregiver for my family due to my mom getting injured and losing the ability to work, so I had to grow up pretty fast and understand how to use my talents to make money, which led me to upcycling clothes for the kids at my high school and even doing yard work for family members. Fortunately, enough with prayer well-developed rapports, I have received connections with people who see the ambition and drive that I possess and have gifted me with the tools I need to enhance my career.

Let’s change gears – is there any advice you’d like to give?
The best advice I can give to anyone pursuing a modeling career or just a fashion career, in general, would be 1. Invest in your career. Everyone isn’t going to be fortunate enough to receive handouts, so investing in your career, paying for the essential items that are vital for you to make a come up is necessary and when people start to take notice in how hard you work to put in time and effort to your career they will take you just as serious as you take yourself. 2. Never stop believing in yourself. That sounds really cliché, but in a world where social media rules everything and people can legitimately play their lives out to be something more grand than the next person it can get you down at times, make you really insecure because you’re like “everyone is a model” “everyone is a designer” “why don’t I have that lifestyle yet”, especially in the Atlanta area, so to keep your shine you have to identify yourself what it is that makes you stand out from the rest.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLza9VoVpP_cD7RIgdsgWlA
• Email: ravenbrown1098@gmail.com
• Instagram: pinkraye

Image Credit:
Dexter Davis
Lorraine Dawkins