Transcript
Speaker: Free audio post-production. By Alphonic.com. Clothes don't make you fly, but... Welcome to the Fashion Geek Podcast, the show that helps you learn more about men's fashion and get some tips to help you dress your best.
Speaker: This is Reg Ferguson, Fashion Geek number one, and I'm a men's fashion consultant here in New York City, born and raised. My mission is to help you learn more about men's fashion so you can become...
Speaker: Fashion confident. For the older heads, those 30 or older, do you remember when you were in your 20s? Do you remember what you were wearing?
Speaker: Do you remember who influenced your style? Do you remember the gear you coveted? The grail? The gear you wear in your 20s is the gear of your era.
Speaker: So what's it like being a person of a certain age, that would be me, talking to a millennial about fashion? My guest Matthew Flowers is here on the show because he represents the new era, the future, the youngins.
Speaker: He's a yoga teacher, a model, and a Morehouse man. And I'm very curious to hear his take on gear and style. So if you're listening to what a millennial is wearing and rocking, would you be fashion confused because you don't even understand the music they're listening to?
Speaker: Or would you be fashion confident? Maybe they inspire you to wear something different. Hey, it could happen.
Speaker: Hey, if you ever found yourself staring at the closet, not knowing what to wear, if the idea of shopping for clothes makes you feel physically ill, Wait till the end of the show and I have something for you.
Speaker: But for now, let's get to the show. oh Today, we're going to talk with Matthew Flowers, who is a yoga teacher, a model, and a Morehouse man.
Speaker: If you know, you know. And we're going to talk about something the everyday man should have an interest in. What is it like being a millennial model? Matthew in the building. How are you, man?
Speaker: What's going on, Reggie? How are you? I'm hanging in. Happy to be here. It's a beautiful day, isn't it? It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood. So before we go into our topic, I've kind of hinted to the audience, but please tell us.
Speaker: So what do you do?
Speaker: Yeah, man, my days are busy. ah Purposely busy, right? um I like to... I like to start off early. I have a lot of commitment, right? And I do that because I live my life based on my priorities, you know, friends, family, work, interests, hobbies, and things that just fuel my passions.
Speaker: So, ah yeah, just honestly, I get up early. i make sure that my body's sound in mind. Right. I'm in this phase where everything's about maintenance.
Speaker: Right. I think that's actually what got me into yoga in the first place. I was originally an athlete, you know, playing at Morehouse College and. realized I didn't have to compete anymore now that I'm in my 30s.
Speaker: And I needed to find ways that I could just leverage ah my body, build strength, but also just find that maintenance, right? So it's something that I'm always cognizant of when I'm thinking about ah either even when it comes to fashion, right? It's it's it's all about balance.
Speaker: So I start my day very mindful. I check in with myself. I do a physical activity and I just prepare for the day. So I typically teach after I get done with my nine to five, which I'm a project manager. I work ah for pharmaceutical brands. So it's that corporate structure. it's It's got a lot of handshaking and relationships. So being able to talk on a ah on a cuff is just you know part of the gap, right?
Speaker: But it's all about being prepared for the day, right? ah Being prepared, having your topics that you're discussing through work, topics that I'm gonna be bringing up into my yoga class, and they all kind of fuel one another.
Speaker: And then it's always about staying ready as well, right? So I don't like to when i When I get a modeling job, and it's it's very interesting because a lot of people that I model with, that's either their primary gig or their supplementary that they try to do more of.
Speaker: Where I'm in that maintenance bag, right? I'm really more or less getting jobs that I believe in the brands that I'm working with. and growing with and ah you know developing different relationships and teams when I'm on set.
Speaker: So I think being a millennial model specifically is all about the mindfulness of it, right? it's ah I'm on set because I'm there to work and I'm there to create relationships and I'm there to explore as much as I can and find synergies with the team that I'm working with.
Speaker: So I'm very mindful when it comes to being on set, even if it's a fashion show where there's people buzzing left and right. You have beautiful women, you have handsome guys, you have ah amazing audiences and ah amazing, amazing fashion.
Speaker: ah it's It's about taking it all in and realizing I'm here to work. I'm here to create relationships and i I need show up as my authentic self.
Speaker: And so just keeping that all in mind has just been really beautiful. And it's something that it sounds like yoga, modeling, and you know being a project manager are so separated or maybe siloed, right? But in reality, I'm able to take every realm that I operate in and have that fuel the exact person that I you know i aim to be.
Speaker: i think that's what really kind of gets the engine going. And and just it's I'm able to keep that level of busyness, right? I think a lot of people try to pack their schedules and then they find themselves burnt out.
Speaker: I, on the other hand, I feel fueled and energized by making myself busy because they fall in line to the priorities that I have in life. And I know I didn't mention this, but I like i ah ought to you know, I also keep God first, right? I think just making sure that I'm honoring my vision that God has given me purpose for ah is absolutely the cornerstone of, you know, the season that I'm in now. I wasn't always this way as a, you know, 22-year-old
Speaker: running around New York. Like, you know, there's there's a different guy you're probably talking to. But just sitting here in the hearing this season right now and just knowing what my priorities are, that's why I'm able to stay so busy and be very mindful of it.
Speaker: And it's just added to the different levels of prosperity that I've been able to reach.
Speaker: So you have made it extremely clear that all three of these endeavors live in harmony inside of you. Harmony is a great word.
Speaker: I try. So, so what I want to know is we're going to pick one endeavor that,
Speaker: And i want you to elaborate on you know how how this came to be. And that's specifically for right now, the modeling. First of all, for the audience, are you a commercial model, like a print model? Are you doing runway? Are you doing a combination?
Speaker: And also, do you have an agent?
Speaker: Great, great questions. ah I'll start at the end. Yes, I do have an agent. I have a a slew of agents, actually. i have representation from New York all the way down to Miami and a couple spots in between.
Speaker: um I tell people diversity is the cornerstone of prosperity. It's the cornerstone of of competition, right? You're allowing yourself to be immersed rooms that you could not have a fathomed you being in because you may have just been focused.
Speaker: Focus the right word. Tunnel vision, right? I think there's a huge benefit and Phoenix, stop it. Sorry, man. My dog is doing stupid.
Speaker: oh
Speaker: it is Being diverse is what's going to help you you know get along in life. I think if you are able to understand what your priorities are and diversify amongst them, it's going to really help a lot of folks out. right so Definitely represented in a lot of different territories because I do love to travel and I have resources in all the areas that I'm represented.
Speaker: It's very strategic in the and the markets that I picked because I knew that if I needed to represent myself as a local talent that I have resources there that I can do so.
Speaker: Working remote also helps with this because I can go ahead and work most of the day, take a two-hour break to shoot someone's catalog, and then you know get back into meetings.
Speaker: So, ah it's ah It's a good balance, right? ah And so that also comes with prep work the night before. I got to know where I'm shooting. ah what the time frames are and then is there anywhere that I can catch a three o'clock meeting directly after because i know I have a call so is there a coffee shop around is there a train station that'll take me from point A to point B within a certain time frame like it's all the ah prep that goes into making the day run as smooth as possible because if I put that work in before then I get to absolutely reap the benefits during and not come to a situation where I'm
Speaker: anxious or overwhelmed because things are moving so fast. I'm just ready for them because I prepared for them. And so that, uh, that's been a really great journey for me, especially just moving up and down from New York to Miami.
Speaker: And I've lived in a couple of those places. So just picking up those relationships along the way has been really, really beneficial. Um, I think you also asked, how did I get into modeling?
Speaker: So, you know, rewinding the story back to 11, 12 years ago, being on Morehouse College campus, I'm an athlete, but I'm not so into fashion. Like I came from a Catholic school in high school where we wore uniforms. So it's like, you know, how, how creative could you be?
Speaker: And I just, I liked that I knew what I was going to wear. And like, there's there's some benefits there, right? It's it an instilled dependency. It in instilled, um, just preparation and just a lot of those, those characteristics that I just mentioned before.
Speaker: But then I'm on campus and I'm, and it's exploding at the seams with culture, right? Like everybody's got their own different cultures and Morehouse is a really special place. And I'll explain why there are so many black people in this country And we have a lot of synergies within the culture.
Speaker: But everybody's culture, whether it's Louisiana or California or the DMV or New York or, you know, even expanded to Ghana and South Africa, you have so many cultures and so much beautiful history and fashion and and and culinary arts that you just want you want to absorb as much as you can so being that sponge that i am i just started absorbing as much as i could and just it it got me into a room or two that i just didn't know i was gonna be in i ended up meeting a lady ah by the name marie thomas an amazing photographer in uh in atlanta has got some of the greats uh talk about tony tony tony and you know it just
Speaker: um just a a a good good good photographer and an amazing woman an amazing human being she saw something in me that i didn't see in myself and signed me up for a shoot um literally took my entire book like did frame for frame my entire modeling portfolio from start to finish and helped me submit to some agencies, helped me submit to some brands, and I started working.
Speaker: i was just like, this is this is amazing because it's human-powered, right? it's It's not, you're not relying on a machine.
Speaker: You're relying on the relationship and the the dedication and the vision of another person and what you can bring to that, right? It's like that relationship that ah that you realize isn't always 50-50, but you gotta bring something to the table.
Speaker: And so with that, I just found a lot of value being a teammate. And that's how I've treated modeling. I've treated modeling as if I'm a teammate or a partnership to these brands. If I'm working with you and you're working with me, it's brand to brand. And we're trying to make each other just look and go as best as possible. So I just try and keep that mindset everywhere I go.
Speaker: And so as my professional life increased and I was able to move across the country and work in you know different industries, mostly mostly healthcare, um I've always had a nine to five job, but modeling has always been a passion that was able to just keep the fuel going, keep the creative juices flowing and, you know, just turn out some really amazing products and a really amazing friendships. And I still talk to Marie to this day. talk most of the photographers that I've shot with and, you know, I probably could hit up any of them and just see what they're up to. And if I had to schedule something, I'm sure I could. Or if I had to point them in a direction or they point me, it's it's still like that.
Speaker: ah So i i try to I try to keep that relationship going. I try and keep that frame of mind in reference. um when i ah When I consider you know working with someone, it's their brand, my brand, and we're trying to find this synergy to create something really beautiful to put it on the world so that it can be you know digested in the ways that we hope that it could be, or even the ways that we don't yet see. You know what mean?
Speaker: It's interesting. So, how How are these conversations going with your agents, right, that are submitting your portfolio, right? I'm assuming it's a digital go see, you know, of an audition versus you physically going, you know, to a studio.
Speaker: You really have struck hard the theme of collaboration. So how do you articulate to an agent that I only want if I am to book this gig, I only wanted to be with a company that has this ethos.
Speaker: Well, that's a good, that's a good, um that's a good question. I'd say one it's not always just virtual go see sometimes they are in person.
Speaker: Right. yeah And so what agents will do and mind you, I have, Like I have one inbox for all my agents and they are all like categorized. So if it's from one agency, it goes in this inbox, this inbox, this inbox, this inbox.
Speaker: So I have, currently I have five agents or agencies that represent me all the way up and down the East coast. Wow. Yeah, man. Busy. Like I said, lou but you know, I, and, and that's to say that I don't work with each one every month.
Speaker: Right. I may work with, you know, One every three months, one every two months, one twice a month. You know, you just never, you never know. But what happens is they'll send you an email, you'll get the casting information.
Speaker: So you the brand that you're going to be working with or auditioning for shows up already. Right? So I get to research who they are and determine whether or not I'm available for the job.
Speaker: So that's my own... you know qualification metric. Now, I'll tell you a story. ah couple weeks ago, my agent called me and you know typically they email. So if I get a call from Allie, I know it's fucking important.
Speaker: I'm sorry. I know it's important. And so Allie calls me. She's like, hey, what are you doing on this day? um i have a client that wants to shoot with you and theyve they saw you on the website. They want you.
Speaker: You're the guy. They want you. They want to meet you. What are you doing? Are you a free on this day to shoot? And are you free on this day to meet them? And i'm ah in my first question, God's honest truth. And mind you, she she gave me the budget. It was a good budget.
Speaker: Matter of I'll just be transparent. It was ah it was a $3,000 shoot for one day, right? So that's a pretty, that's $3,000 divided by eight hours. You know, you do the math on what that is hourly, but ah it's a good it's a good day. so,
Speaker: and so My very first question was, well, who's the client? Right? I'm at a point in my life where I'm not driven by the fastness or the acceleration of someone else.
Speaker: I'm not driven by the budget that you may put in front of me. I'm driven by the projects that fuel me, the creativity, the team that I'm a part of.
Speaker: The money helps. But the money helps. But it's it's not the determining factor. And so my first question was, who was who's the who's the client?
Speaker: And she said it was Target. And i said, Allie, I'm not available. And she's like, well, maybe we can change the dates. I'm like, no, Allie, I think you misunderstand.
Speaker: Right now, I don't even shop at Target. I am boycotting Target because of their reneging on the billion dollar multi-billion dollar investment they were supposed to have in DEI.
Speaker: Please fact check me on the number. But that attitude and that partnership that they said they were going to be a part of and then pulled back on is something I can't support. I don't support it on a daily basis, so I can't support it showing up in one of their advertisements.
Speaker: So I'm so sorry. I hate to tell you no. I have a good partnership with you, but I am so sorry, but I'm i'm not available for that client. and And that's something I had to walk away from.
Speaker: Now, 22 Matthew comes back up here. Does he say the same thing? does he Does he have the same interaction? Does he have the same first gut thoughts?
Speaker: Probably not. 22-year-old Matthew could do a lot with $3,000, and that's fair. But in this season of my life, I just know that there's bigger things for me, and I don't have to compromise on my vision and my message and who I am outside of Instagram to make it happen.
Speaker: You know what mean? So i haven't gotten a call from Ali yet. since, but it's only been a few weeks. So, you know, I'll get her, ah i'll get her a Christmas present or, or, or a glass, a bottle of champagne or something like that. And just let her know that I still really highly respect her and I'm sure it'll be fine.
Speaker: How do you think Allie felt when you told her the reason that you were no longer interested? That's a good question because her follow up was, well, you have to tell me why, because I don't know what's going on in the news. Like, I'm not really caught up in the Senate third.
Speaker: Whether or not she knew that or not, you know, people in Miami, they have their own. They have their own things going on. Hey, that's that's that's not neither here here or there for me to judge. But I took that and just said, frankly, you know,
Speaker: I think I think that was a good place for me to come from because I withdrew my judgment. Right. I wasn't like, Ali, you've got to know what's going on. Right. It was more that, well, if you don't know, let me just educate you really quickly. Even if you do, I'm still going to just calmly educate you.
Speaker: That's just not the brand that I can support. And this is why. and She said that she totally respected it. I believe her. you know and and she's an amazing She's an amazing woman. She's an amazing ah agent. She's always got my back, has always had my back when it comes to you know working with a brand and making sure I'm all set up and making sure that I'm respected on set. so i I hold her in one of the highest standards. She's one of my longest term ah um agent relationships.
Speaker: So ah I think I had that grace for her and the immediate reaction. But yeah, I just I just clarified. I told her why and she was fine with it. Now, if there was an agent that I wasn't as clean with, I probably would.
Speaker: reserve my language i'd probably reserve the narrative and just give her a little taste like hey yeah i'm sorry i'm not available and just be very and don't want to use the word secretive but just not as open and not as transparent as the rationale why and just reserve that for myself but i think the decision would have been the same now i know the decision right you would have been vague That would have been vague. See, Reggie, you got the words.
Speaker: You got the words. I got what I got. so So that's an that's an extreme example for me in terms of the height of the type of client that you work with.
Speaker: But it sounded like, and if I misread this, you're going to correct me, but it sounded like in your quest for collaboration, it sounded to me more like brands that were in the come up.
Speaker: oh Is that way off? Is that correct? Is it a little bit of both? well Yeah, I mean... Like, hey, Nike, if you're hearing this, like, I'm down. I'm down.
Speaker: You know what mean? I'll run for you, you know, but ah I think I do have a soft spot in my heart for a brand that's up and coming. I realized that they might not have the marketing dollars to hire me for $3,000 for the day, right?
Speaker: So they may only be able to book me for two to four hours for my my rate. And... that's probably okay. That's something I'd probably sacrifice versus the Adidas trying to cheat me out of an entire day and just say, oh, we only need you for a half, right? Like,
Speaker: you can hire me for the full or you can hire me for a competitive rate. And if it's not there, then you know it's something that I may have to say no to because I do have to consider travel. I do have to consider where where I'm going to stay. I have to to plan it out. And if I'm going to utilize my brain power to make it work for the client, I think that they need to kind of make it work for me. And I'm not in a position where I'm telling my agent this is the type of person that I'm going to work with or this is the type of person I'm not going to work with, I more or less pick and choose as the litter comes in.
Speaker: And if they ask why, you know i i give them the need to know answer. right ah to One, make sure that the relationship is still strong between us because that's important.
Speaker: But then two, you know make sure that um I'm still ready and available for work that does come down the line. Makes sense. What is your favorite type of modeling? Is it print jobs, you know commercial print jobs, or is it runway?
Speaker: Favorite type of modeling, hands down, every time, runway, runway, runway. is so fun. It's like being, it's like honestly being back in the locker room and about to hit the field and, you know, playing the game, right? It's, it's the showmanship that really shows up in runway.
Speaker: You get to be your personality. You get to wear that front to the face and then you're allowed to wear these expensive, expensive garments that like just,
Speaker: feel good and designed well and like crossed their eyes dotted their t's uh i just i love the behind the scenes and then you get out there in that chaotic mess of you know girls changing and guys throwing their clothes i don't throw my clothes i hang them up neatly but but but you know just the the absolute dog mess of a show that happens behind the stage then it comes out and it's so beautiful and there's been shows where it was supposed to be one way and then we had to adapt we had to change it and make it work and the audience wouldn't know you know as the audience would have known they they saw a good show they had a two drink minimum and had a good show they were fine
Speaker: but you know but it ah But it just speaks volumes to the teamwork that I mentioned earlier. it's ah It's the true essence of that. We all came together from different backgrounds, from different stories to have this one collaborative experience and delivered.
Speaker: And that's my thing. I love to deliver, whether it's in my modeling or my yoga or my or my professional career. Delivering is Like that dopamine hit that I'm always like, you know, it's just that satisfaction.
Speaker: What has so far in your career been your favorite shoot? And when I do that, I'm making it all encompassing, whether it's print or runway. We know runway is your love.
Speaker: Give me your favorite so far in your career. What was your best, best experience?
Speaker: That's a good question. God, that's a good question. I don't know if I have a favorite shoot. Because there's so many that's been just so fluid and working with the director's I'll tell you what, I love working with one of my good friends, Taurus Love. He's a photographer in New York, Brooklyn, New York.
Speaker: And working with him is so amazing because he has this mind of the body that's not it's not stagnant.
Speaker: it's It's the capturing not only the motion, but the fluidity of motion. And he gives such good direction
Speaker: that it's hard to miss the vision. you know And then when you when you see it, and yeah and I love ah love modeling for the redo, right? like let let me Let me try that again. I know you said you got it, but let me let me try it again because I feel like the neck could do this or I feel like the chin could do this or I feel like I could get a little more of what fluidity you're thinking that I see for myself.
Speaker: and And I'll tell you this, i tell anyone who's trying to get into modeling, I tell everyone who's trying to get into modeling, it takes practice. You have to practice, practice, practice. Whatever you do in life, it always takes practice.
Speaker: So I tell someone who's like, i'm hey, I'm, you know, 190 pounds and a Greek god, like I think I could be in in front of a camera. it's just like, ah you could absolutely be in front of a camera, but do you know how to hit 100 poses in 60 seconds?
Speaker: Do you know what you look like in the mirror for every angle of your body and face? I feel like, and and I'm not there to a point where when the photographer takes the picture, I know what the picture looks like, but I'm close.
Speaker: I'm real close where it's like, no, we need to do that again. And they're like, no, we got it. I'm like, no, because you're going to to take care of this in post. And I know you're not going to want to. And I'm probably no budget for it. So let me just do it again now.
Speaker: And let's just get this taken care of. Right. Because I feel like I know, especially when I fuck up, especially when I mess up. I'm sorry.
Speaker: It's a it's a it's just it's such a intimate thing to have self-awareness. And that's just across the board, right?
Speaker: If you're self-aware, you can
Speaker: you can honestly do anything because you're honest about it, right? There's too much of, and I think this is a worldly thing where you know we're so ingrained in the outward view of what we look like instead of the inward view of what we look like. And that's what's really important.
Speaker: Right? um So when it comes to photography, when it comes to modeling, I am so obsessed with practicing. Like if I have a shoot, I'm practicing. I'm practicing the night before.
Speaker: getting my muscles ready. Have you ever been on set for six hours and had the fake smile the entire time? No. It's not easy.
Speaker: yeah It's not easy. The chipmunk cramps start to kick in and you're like, I can't do this anymore, Jimmy. Like, it's just, it's tough. It's tough. so I think practice is definitely like the key and just being that self-aware figure in space is ah is what will help anyone for real with anything that they're trying to do but especially like an outward art like modeling it's it's one of those things that you gotta to see what you look like you gotta to explore uh and like as a straight man saying this like you've gotta look at yourself in the mirror and try different things and just see like
Speaker: I can make this masculine. I can make this softer. i can make this a little feminine. I can make this like manipulate to the story that I'm trying to tell because that is what you are. you're You're trying to tell a story, but you don't have an hour and a half to play a character.
Speaker: You don't have character development. You are a snapshot in time, plastered on a billboard, a plastered on an Instagram reel, and that's all you got.
Speaker: So you got to be be able to bring your best and and just try certain stuff out and and definitely do it before you're in front of the camera and definitely do it before you're in in front of the camera getting paid to be there.
Speaker: i think that's a I think that's a big one. No one wants to pay someone to waste their time. And so I am very much about delivering a product that's not a waste of time.
Speaker: What was the worst shoot or runway show you ever experienced? You're already laughing, so come with it. I mean, there's ah there's some stories. And, like, I feel like most of them turned out okay, right?
Speaker: But, oh gosh, okay. Worst? Oh, gosh, all right, I got it. i was It was a fashion. i'm going to just call it a fashion palooza because they didn't know what the hell they wanted
Speaker: Reggie, Reggie. So this was something I was brought in to be talent for, right? They brought me in to walk, take pictures, basically have my shirt off, right?
Speaker: When I get there, I realize that the lady who's barking orders has no idea what she's talking about. And she's a friend of mine. She's trying her best. But the guy who was running the show basically like just was like, you take care of the models.
Speaker: And she's not she's not experienced in a way to be able to take care of the models. So me saying this and being the proactive person I am, I'm a project manager. I've been in this industry for, at this time, 10 years.
Speaker: it's
Speaker: It's like I can't let my people... down. and I know I'm here for this reason, but I feel like I need to fulfill this reason.
Speaker: So somehow I got my computer out. I have spreadsheets open. I'm adding emails and phone numbers. I'm contacting models directly. I'm telling them what they need to bring, what time they need to be there.
Speaker: I'm contacting the set design people, letting them know what time they need to be there, what time they can start setting up, what time they need to break down. ah And then when they came, oh my gosh, I'll never forget this. When they came, they didn't have the right tools to set up the ah the wall. It was supposed to be a wall full of grass.
Speaker: They didn't have the tools to set it up. So the girl who I know, and great, great chick, she's like, fuck it, I'm just going to run to Home Depot and get it. I'm like, why are we letting the 5'6 girl who weighs less than 100 pounds go to Home Depot? Why is that like even thought?
Speaker: oh But I wasn't i wasn't on set at the time for that discussion. So I get there and I'm just like, where is, um oh gosh, I'm trying to play on her name. But I leave her out so that she doesn't get embarrassed. It's all good.
Speaker: where is she they're like she's at home people trying to get x y and z so she comes back with the wrong materials we don't have time to put up the wall it goes up and it's like half done i'm just like get it out of here like just pick it up put it the back we we tried it didn't work like just take it away um so some of the props made it out on the floor some of the experiences that they had planned because it was a it was an opening for a um like the whole premise was that it was an opening for a photo um
Speaker: oh my gosh, like a photo suite, right? They had like 12 sets, 12 different but photography sets set up in this like big warehouse space. um I'm drawing a blank on the name and I know what they're called, but either way, um it was like their big like launching, right? They were just trying to show that they could do so much it's at one time and it just, it fell so flat and I had to do so much and at the end, I was like,
Speaker: You know, I'm glad this worked. I hope you see the value that I add to a team. Contact me three months in advance next time and I'll get you straight.
Speaker: I'll give you a budget. I'll give you a plan and we'll work through this and and make sure it's tip top and and clear. That hasn't happened yet. They hadn't contacted me. They've been doing stuff, you know, God bless them. I hope it all works out. But yeah, I, I it's, that was an interesting experience for sure.
Speaker: And, uh, God, I can only say I just wish them the best, you know what I mean? Understood. and and Tell us about the very first job you booked.
Speaker: actually booked that is so fun because as a as a model you do a lot of free stuff You try not to, and you try and value yourself, but there is a certain time where you're just grasping for experience, right?
Speaker: um So I know for the first maybe year, there was very few that I actually got paid for. I think, and this was like some of my friends had brands, and I'm like, you know, I'll shoot with you that, and the third, throw me, you know.
Speaker: 50 bucks for the three hours or two hours like you know i think that is technically my first i ain't paid taxes on it so maybe that's not what we're talking about it but you know uh i think that's the first kind of like engagement that i remember and then like also just like work with people that i that i found inspiring right uh i also tell folks that are trying to get in the industry that they need to come up with a prompt, chat GPT's around now, so there's no excuse. I had to write it in my notes when I was ah you know coming through, right?
Speaker: I'm sure you had pen and paper when you were coming through. Everybody gets a little bit better. but But you know you got chat GPT now, make yourself a prompt, and just start reaching out to brands that you feel like you fall in line with, right? And that's that's the thing that I started doing just innately, right? I was like scrolling through Instagram one day, i saw ah brand on my Explorer page, I sent them a message, I saw the next one on my Explorer page, I sent them a message and I was like,
Speaker: Why am I wasting my time sending one-offs when I need to bulk this, right? I need to come up with a narrative or a template that I can fill out really fast and just send, you know?
Speaker: ah So i started doing that. And then I realized it's not just brands. It's creative directors, it's stylists, it's photographers, it's directors, it's anyone who thinks that they're artistic and has a vision.
Speaker: How do I collaborate with them to make myself valuable so that the visions that they have can come true? And that's what being a model is. You're a part of someone else's vision to help them see it to completion.
Speaker: A guy once um asked me, did I know what a muse was? And I was like, I mean, yeah, it's like, you know, what you draw. And like, that's the subject of the art.
Speaker: And just like, no it's the subject that inspires the art. It's the subject that helps bring the art into the living physical realm from the creative dream state.
Speaker: And I thought that was so beautiful. And I'm just like, you want me to be your muse? Like, you know, I don't, you know, I'm just like, what do you, you know? And so I just, I think I took that as well and just kept adding it to my repertoire. I kept adding it to the things that I'm offering people.
Speaker: So I like to think that like, if I show up on your set, I'm not just your model for the day, but I'm helping I'm your muse to help you develop and deliver whatever you had on your vision board, whatever you had in your mind, whatever that first, second, third conversation between you and the client was about what their target audience is, what they want to see, how they want it to be portrayed. And then can I create that within that snapshot?
Speaker: It's like some of these sets you'll be on there and they'll take a thousand pictures. But it's like you're going to use three. Right. Right. So I like to think like, how can I give them those three?
Speaker: How can I make them choosing those three the hardest part of their day? Because there's so much that they can go with that I can only use three. Like I want them to be I want them to feel the pain that they can only use so much that I deliver.
Speaker: You know what mean? And that's just yeah, that's just the mindset. Well said. Lightning round, my friend. why is fashion important?
Speaker: Fashion is important because it expresses the individual creativity that you see in the world and that you bring into your own space. It's not about mimicking and mocking. It's about finding things that are beautiful and manipulating them to your story, to your space, to your time, to your um to your youre you're being, like who you think is who you are in a certain sense. So I think fashion is a big, big part of that.
Speaker: What difference has fashion made in your life?
Speaker: It has gotten me into rooms that I didn't know existed. It has ah opened up doors, ah both professionally, both personally.
Speaker: um i don't know that I would be the yoga teacher I am without fashion. And just meeting people and realizing that the people that are so creative to be able to produce things that other people find themselves in also do things outside of just that, right? they They are multifaceted people themselves. And so I just really align with that kind of lifestyle and ah that kind of being. And I feel like I found my community in that you know overarching world that just has networks bouncing all around the world.
Speaker: and
Speaker: What's the top fashion tip you would give the everyday man to look his best? a
Speaker: Materials and textures are so important. ah Colors are great, but think about materials and textures and how you can layer and cross represent.
Speaker: If you're developing your own style or you have what you think is your own style, how do you express the the spectrum of that? ah and you know Be comfortable, but also be comfortable with being uncomfortable in certain ways.
Speaker: you know ah you know Fashion is both evolutionary, but it's also cyclical. right ah You'll see things that went out of style that come back, but you'll also see things that you never imagined are now kind of in the forefront of of the world and you know what people view as yeah ah ah culturally fashionable, I guess, is something.
Speaker: I think you got it. Last question. What does the phrase always be fly mean to you?
Speaker: Always b fly. I think it's an attitude thing. um Clothes don't make you fly, but putting yourself in spaces where you're visible,
Speaker: and you're authentic, and you show up that way, not just with the mindset, but it you look like it. I think those are always ah you know ways to just work along the purpose that God has for you.
Speaker: You know what i mean? if you're If you're not showing up the way that you authentically are, then you're kind of going against the way that God's purpose is for you. And you might miss out on something that he's got in the back.
Speaker: you might You might miss out on a door that's not being opened because you're not showing up as that authenticity.
Speaker: That sounds like a mic drop, Matthew Flowers. I'll take it. I'll take it. No problem.
Speaker: Thank you so much. It's really interesting to hear the life of a millennial model who is much more than the sum of those parts.
Speaker: So I thank you. Reggie, I thank you, man. This is awesome. You really got my juices flowing on this one. and you know I think it's important to have these conversations with you know great men that ah fuel other great men and pour into the community and you know continue to just highlight things that are ah not only...
Speaker: ah amazing and beautiful, but just important, you know, with the trajectories that we have going on. So, no, I thank you for having this space, man. This is awesome.
Speaker: Well, when you find that man, you let me know.
Speaker: We'll see you, right? Peace. Peace. So, you learned from Matthew what it's like to be a model and what it's like to have a multitude of interests.
Speaker: can find Matthew on Instagram at official Matt flowers.
Speaker: If you want to level up your gear game, like a model, then let's make it happen. Take initiative and become fashion confident in 30 days. All you have to do is email me at reg at ny fashion geek.com for a consultation.
Speaker: Well, that's a wrap. To my team of interns, past and present, who have helped make the Fashion Geek Podcast what it is today, I thank you. Always be fly.
Speaker: free audio postproduction by alphonic dot com
