Meet Paola Fernandez | Model and Student

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paola Fernandez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paola, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I’m a person that since I was little I was raised to always be careful with every step that I made, when I was 16 I was given the opportunity to participate on a small pageant, at the moment I felt like it was a crazy idea since I never had anything to do with modeling in my life but for some reason I did get very excited about it since it was something completely new to me so I decided to take the opportunity and risk it since I didn’t even know how walk on heels properly; today, I feel grateful for that opportunity because it gave that little spark of trying something new and 4 years later I have to say that challenges are the ones that had give the confidence and courage to keep growing as professional and as a person.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I started modeling was not as easy as I thought it was, even today that I have a little more experience than the beginning, there’s been a lot of challenges on the way and it’s not only on the physical side but also mentally, I remember when I started I was doing photoshoots every weekend after school or going to casting calls and not getting chosen, it is very tough since you lose some hope on yourself but I’m the type of person that if I want something I’ll work until I get it, I was practicing my walk a lot , I used to watch posing videos on YouTube while practicing on the mirror on how to make my expressions to look better in camera, learn my angles, how to study each production, make sure to always treat people with respect on every job, how a casting call work, I learned what a comp card was; and many things that I learned on the way by experimenting not very pleasant situations that also made me built a strong foundation to always step up for myself and don’t tolerate disrespect. What I want to share with my story is that anything is easy to get and if you don’t work hard is not gonna be given to you, I used to be told a lot of things that at a certain moment affected me but now that I’m older and more mature in some areas that truth can be hurtful sometimes and I had to learn how to take those comments and turn them into something that I can use to get better.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Definitely I would take my best friend to an Astros game at Minute Maid park, if we are talking about eating one of my favorite options would be Texas Roadhouse or Impero Italiano, Houston downtown is a place where we have a lot of activities and my favorite ones are always go to discovery green or walk around the city at night while taking pictures.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely I have to give a big thank you to my parents, they have supported me in every step of the way to become the person that I am today, my mom was the one who took to my photoshoots or castings when she was tired of work but she never led me down, my dad was my support on the exercise side since he was always the giving courage and pushing to the fact that if I was going to do something I was going to do it right. There also someone in my family that since day was my biggest supporter and It was my cousin Davidson, he was runway and communication coach on the pageantry side but also was there to help with every detail , he trusted the first time I asked for help and pushed to always be better at everything. My siblings were always there to support me and give criticism when I needed it. My best friends and my boyfriend Andy are a very important part of my story since they always knew that I was able to accomplish big things even when I didn’t have that much faith on myself.

Instagram: Pfer09

Other: Tik tok : https://www.tiktok.com/@paolafernandez__?_t=8n41wEeYNbS&_r=1

Image Credits
@luispereira.photo
@spirutova_ph
@johnmedinaphoto
@renephotoz
@meanshot