Have you ever wondered why some women are so naturally confident on camera even if they don’t look like typical catwalk model material, whilst others struggle to recognise their own beauty? Have you also ever wondered why some business really succeed and attract new commercial markets, whilst others seem outdated and miss great business opportunities.
The answer is very simple, in the past no one really promoted or recognised the beauty and value of curves, mature age and multiculture in the media. Curvy women were considered somewhat unattractive and not model material, matured women were considered too old to be featured in marketing of products and multicultural faces were somewhat unrecognised or pushed to the side.
Truth is not many businesses ever truly dared to promote curvy models, mature aged models and multicultural models because it was unheard of. However fact is these are real key markets and they are the markets that need to be tapped into. Curvy models, mature aged models and multicultural models are the relatable face of today’s buyers and consumers. Therefore long gone are the tall, stick thin Anglo Barbie doll looking models who were once the face of marketing. Finally businesses and society are waking up and recognising that “real women” are curvy, mixed culture and come in all ages and sizes. Consumers want to see real faces and real women during the marketing and buying process.
This is where Diversity Models has broken that mold and become a ground breaking modelling agency. At Diversity Models our ambition is to break every expectation and push diverse models right into the limelight unapologetically. We are a modelling agency in the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne which purposefully encourages businesses to book and use faces of diversity for their businesses and marketing. Our aim is to encourage businesses to embrace diversity and realise that it leads to greater society/buyer appeal and a greater competitive advantage commercially. Therefore when we recruit models, we look for models who are highly marketable, have maturity, have a shapely figure and represent all different cultures, because diversity is a strength, never a weakness. Businesses who are open to faces of diversity in their marketing clearly will appeal to larger target market and essentially achieve greater leads, enquiries and sales from buyers who relate easily to their marketing. On the other side of the spectrum, we deliberately look to build partnerships with businesses which also love diversity and embrace it wholeheartedly.
Diversity Models was founded by Monique Jeremiah, in the middle of covid 2022 when she recognised the opportunity to promote women’s natural confidence, natural beauty and help them thrive with their best assets, ie. their culture, their curves and their maturity through age. The business was started ironically on the Gold Coast, an Australian city infamously known for its general Barbie doll and plastic culture. However since it’s inception she dared to break beauty standards and find innovative ways to grow the confidence of many women and make entrepreneurs, marketers and business owners take note.
Therefore Diversity Models are happy, healthy and highly social and are encouraged to be themselves. There is an incredible positive dynamic within the team, it is a true picture of “women supporting women (and men) and clients absolutely love booking Diversity Models because they love what they are doing and it shows in the results of photos, campaigns and how models interact with businesses and each other. It is a beautiful and inclusive team culture indeed.
Prior to starting Diversity Models, Monique ran her own recruitment agency for 13 years (and still does) and taught all areas of business in the RTO/ university sector for 13 years, before making a major career change and turning her hobby of modelling into a fully-fledged business. She also entered the modelling industry at age 30 as a mature-aged, curvy, short and multicultural model. Therefore first hand she knows the major past challenges of being a diverse model and not being booked for gigs in the early days. Therefore she made it her ambition and purpose to shake up the industry and create real value for diverse models and change the way that businesses think about marketing and the modelling industry.
Diversity Models is now a thriving modelling agency on the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne because it is built on three simple, but effective principles – confidence, curves and culture.
Article by Monique Jeremiah- Director Diversity Models and member of Small Business Association of Australia
