Making A Supermodel: A Parents' Guide (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781461033790)

My daughter started modeling at 12. She went on to a Vogue cover and walked the Victoria's Secret runway as an adult. At the peak of her career she was ranked the 13th top working model in the world.

I'm Janice, and I'm Sessilee Lopez's mother. I was also her momager - the one reading the contracts, sitting outside the castings, packing the bag, arguing with the school, and getting her home in one piece. Nobody handed me a map. I learned this business one expensive mistake at a time.

Making A Supermodel is the book I wish someone had put in my hands the day my 12-year-old told me what she wanted to be. It is not a fantasy about getting discovered at the mall. It is a straight, practical guide from a mother who actually did it - including the parts nobody posts online.

• How the business really works - agencies, mother agents, contracts, commissions, and who actually gets paid
• Does she fit the mold? An honest look at the industry's physical and personality realities
• How to spot a scam - fee-charging "agencies," fake scouts, and photo-package hustles built to take a hopeful parent's money
• Finding and landing a real agent - what to send, where to send it, and the best markets for new faces
• What it costs - the real money going out long before any money comes in
• Protecting her education - school, tutoring, and keeping a working teen on track
• Where you draw the line - nudity, over-exposure, and the jobs you turn down
• Guarding her body image and her spirit - rejection, comparison, and the pressure to be thin
• Keeping peace at home - sibling rivalry when one child's career takes over the family
• Doing it as a single parent - how to make it work without a second set of hands

Includes an appendix with an international modeling agency directory to start your search.

If your daughter has the dream, this book tells you what that dream actually costs - and how to keep her whole while she chases it.