Victoria Perez is next for our Behind The Looks series. Victoria was born in the west end of Montreal. Her mother is from a small town in Romania and her father is from Morocco. Since her background was very rich in culture, she had to quickly adapt to the surrounding from both sides of the family. She grew up as the youngest of six and had to deal with the emotional burden of sometimes being left out from the group – as many of us do as the youngest sibling. Instead of looking at this as a disadvantage, she took charge of her circumstance and learned from her sibling’s mistakes and lessons.
She spent most of her early life growing up around her family and friends. One of many lessons she learned from her father was to be passionate about her dreams. While her father would push ambition and passion, her mother believed in all kinds of sports, instruments, and activities to keep the mindset of staying busy and avoiding stagnation. Aside from her parents giving her the love as every parent should, she was surrounded by siblings who had their own thoughts and aspirations. They all pursued an entrepreneurial path and were self motivated while avoiding regretful thoughts.
Victoria followed in their path, but she doesn’t believe in coincidences. She’s a firm believer that success is love, and through traveling and creating your own path you can truly realize how much you can accomplish. Outside of her family, she found friends that related and believed in her passions. At the same time, she was still navigating the rollercoaster of young adult life. As many of us do, Victoria had a hard time finding her comfort level when it came to her confidence. To combat this, she built her confidence by falling in love with the process and immersing herself in new experiences.
Aside from her musical talents, Victoria used her beauty to gain work as well. Through freelance modeling, she found a deep passion within the fashion industry. When she first started, many people would judge her for her choice of work, then ultimately admire the hustle she withheld.
“I’ve never once been criticized about my shape, but when I was younger I did some modeling in Europe after I was scouted on the beach with my mother. My mom wanted me to continue modeling but they told her I’d to have to shed some weight and that was an automatic no. Altering your body to fit society’s standard should always be a no.“
The modeling industry is notoriously brutal on young women and their health. Alongside this, our social media-oriented lives have created a wave of those who could be best described as ‘opportunistic predators.’ Many photographers and agencies have been using their power and extensive social growth to manipulate fairly new models by offering exchanges for services or even pressuring them into circumstances many should never experience. This cycle only adds to the ongoing toxic aspects of our culture and should be stopped by any costs. One indicative warnings signs that we spoke on was the awareness young models need to have with regards to photographers.
Even if the photographer has millions of followers, by looking at the models he/she books, and googling he/she, you might be able to get a taste of their reputation. Nowadays no one can escape a quick google or twitter search, if the photographer is one of these predators most likely he/she has been called out on it already. Secondly, make sure to bring a close friend along for these long trips and first-time shoots.
Regarding agencies can be tricky. When first coordinating meetings, it might be best to bring a lawyer along. There have been many agencies misusing their power to take advantage of new models and we will focus on shedding light on this topic in future releases of the series.
“Never go to a shoot alone if you haven’t personally met the photographer and make sure the person’s page is legit. go through their followers to see if they have bot followers, google their pics to see if they really took them.”
Without a doubt, it is easy to see why Victoria is destined to do great things in this world. She knows to follow her passion and stay away from those who share negativity in their everyday lifestyle. Her mindset is clear and the future goals seemingly will only bolster her yearning to make a change in the world.
With sincere passion in her voice, she reiterated her mindset and goals. “Knowing myself today at 21, I won’t be able to work under someone for long. I need to tap into my potential. my ultimate goal is to make a positive impact and finally allow my creativity to take over. I’ve had a lot of people take advantage of me. if I could prevent that from happening to others I’d consider myself the most successful person on earth.”
Join me next week for another episode of Behind The Looks.
Stay connected with Victoria Perez via Instagram!
