Interview with Victoria Sea — Short but talented
Victoria Sea is a 18-year old model residing in Los Angeles, California.
How would you introduce yourself to our readers?
I am a born and breed California girl. I grew up in the greater Los Angeles area with my parents, and my older twin sisters. I have lived there all of my life, except for three months I spent in Maui, and three months I spent in Nashville. Traveling is one of my life passions, and I do not feel comfortable leaving a place until I feel like I have seen it completely. I fell in love with swimming from the first time I ever got in a pool, and have been nicknamed “Fishy” ever since.
I grew up dancing, singing, and acting, but when I had my first photo shoot, and knew that that was the path for me. I have interests in careers, besides modeling, such as fashion, real estate, and anything that could get me a job by the beach for the rest of my life. Some of my favorite things are rice, bathing suits, peonies, the Pacific Ocean, rainy weather, and Christmas lights.
When, how and why did you first get involved in the modeling industry?
I had my first photo shoot when I was 16. My boyfriend was an incredible musician and had all this passion and direction for what he wanted to do with his life, and it would always drive me crazy that I didn’t have the same kind of love for anything. I knew I loved being out there in the industry, and wanted to be a face people recognized, but I didn’t love any of the things that could get me there: singing, dancing or acting.
One day, I was on tumblr and I saw this picture of Rosie Huntington-Whitely, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of how rad it would be to see a picture of myself like that. I told my dad I wanted to model, and so he got out his camera and started taking pictures of me. Still in my school uniform, hair a mess, I posed for those pictures like no tomorrow. They came out awful, and I never showed a soul but that’s when I really knew that this was something I enjoyed. On my first photo shoot with Rage Models, where I was previously signed but not anymore, the hair, the makeup, the outfits. I was in heaven. From that test shoot in the owner’s house, I knew that this was a dream I had to chase.
What are your personal and professional goals? Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?
My personal goal is to find what makes me happy, and to chase that. For now, that’s modeling, traveling, and constantly being around the people that make me smile.
My professional goal is to prove that you don’t have to be 5’10 to be a model. I believe that although I am vertically challenged, I have everything it takes to be a well-known and working model in the industry. I hope that in 5 to 10 years, I am modeling full time, traveling the world, and showing people that if you really want something, ignore the odds and the restrictions, and make it happen anyway.
How often are you modeling and what does it usually consist of?
This summer I really started getting into it, and had at least two photo shoots each week. It’s a bit slower right now, while I am in school but I am actually changing some things for next semester so that I can focus more on modeling. I do mainly photo shoots, but I have done a few videos as well. My shoots have been mostly fashion and for clothing companies.
Please tell us about the best and/or worst experiences you’ve had so far in modeling.
My very best experience so far absolutely has to be Project Mermaids. Project Mermaids is a save our oceans campaign, where they take pictures of celebrities and models as mermaids to ultimately raise money to support saving our oceans. I’ve been obsessed with mermaids for as long as I can remember, so this was absolutely a dream come true. I took land pictures, and underwater pictures at Catalina Island. They just recently had their kick off party in Venice, California, where there was a 9-foot print of me as a mermaid in the center of the gallery, surrounded by celebrities and other models. It was the coolest.
I haven’t had many bad experiences modeling, except for the occasional scams that I almost fall for and or the creepy photographer that texts me pictures of his face before our photo shoot.
Have you had anything funny, embarrassing or completely out of the ordinary happen during your modeling career?
Not much, I was one time at this one photo shoot that started at 9am. The photographer, let’s just say, was not my style. This person wanted to place me for every shot, tilting my head just a little bit before taking the picture. It was so painfully slow, I was there until 7pm, not to mention I was only running on 3 hours of sleep.
Is there anything you would change about the modeling industry if you could?
My biggest frustration about the modeling industry is the height discrimination. If you are not at least 5’8, agencies won’t even look at your profile. This is my biggest challenge for sure. As a 5’5 model, getting signed has not exactly been a walk in the park. But there are other ways to model besides agencies, and it’s definitely taught me a lesson in fighting for something you really want. I would love to see agencies lower the height requirement for print models, not everyone that’s applying wants to walk runway!
Do you practice any sports and what do you typically eat? Please elaborate on the importance of nutrition and exercise in your life.
I am a yogi. I do yoga every chance I have, whether it’s going to a class or whipping out my matt at the end of the night when I really need a good meditation. Yoga is really important for strength building. I accompany yoga with Pilates and sometimes spin to work out all muscles, but the yoga classes have my heart. Other than that, I run almost everyday, and swim whenever I can. Gyms and me do not get along. I have to be outside, or in a class. I am a very picky eater. I have always loved healthy foods, and live for my local Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I was a vegetarian for three years. Now I’ve added chicken to my diet, but basically stick to a vegetarian meal plan.
Please share something people don’t know about you.
I am a Sagittarius, I can touch my tongue to my nose, I’m allergic to dairy, chocolate, and onions, water and tea are my favorite beverages, I absolutely hate texting, I would take coffee bean over Starbucks any day, if I could sell my soul to turn my legs into fins, I would seriously consider it, I love the sun, but I also love sweaters and wish that they would just get along and let me have both, I have to sleep on the left side of the bed, I have a phobia of feet, and I buy myself sunflowers regularly.
Would you change anything about yourself?
I’m not perfect, no one, but Blake Lively is, but I try really hard not to look in the mirror and create a list of things that I wish were different. Sure, if I could have a perfect body without working out, and be a few inches taller, I wouldn’t complain, but I think these imperfections are in my life for a reason. Having to work out constantly builds character, and makes you much more proud of the result than if it were just always there. And being short has made modeling harder for me, but has shown me a place where I could make a difference.
Where is the weirdest place you’ve ever peed?
One time when I was much younger, I went to an elementary school playground with my friend. I really needed to pee, but it was a saturday that meant the bathrooms were locked. We had walked a long way to get to the park, and we weren’t ready to go home yet, so I decided to squat in the bushes, no big deal. But right as I started to go, a security guard came out of no where, my friend dove was behind the bush to warn me but it was too late, I was mid stream. She quite literally cupped her hands under me and caught my pee to stop the sound so we wouldn’t get caught. Talk about a friendship right there.
Visit Victoria Sea’s website for more photos and information