Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun Balkum.
Shaun, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was just a little country boy who was raised on a ranch as a kid and had just graduated from high school working at the mall when this random girl came up to me and asked if I ever did any modeling and then, I told her “no, I have not but it was always a dream of mine I wanted to do but didn’t know where to start or who to talk to about getting into the industry. she had then asked for my contact information and later on that week she reached out to me to tell me she had a test shoot set up for me so I could have some photos for my modeling portfolio. The shoot went pretty well in my eyes back then but now that I look at them I’m like “dang what was I doing” and I had always laughed thinking about the shoot because I see where I was then compared to where I am now and it just amazes me because I literally turned my dream into reality. I’ve done so many huge jobs from shooting a campaign in Africa for a clothing line to being the face of Jeffrey Star Cosmetics and many other big brands. I only achieved these goals because I literally put my life into this. This is my passion I’ve learned to create my own lane instead of following others and that’s what makes me more in demand because there simply no other like me out there that can preform the way I do. I am my own person, I am Shaun Balkum jr.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are times where it has been a struggle with dry seasons where the jobs in the city that I’m currently living in weren’t doing very many castings, so I had to get a part-time job and actually started to lose the motivation that I had because I thought maybe, I was doing something wrong. Maybe that’s why the casting calls were slowing down for me, but come to find out it was just the agency I was with at the time. I learned that they weren’t hustling for me like they used to because of a certain agent they had lost and after that, I knew that I had to make a business move and part ways from the agency to find another.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I specialize in modeling and acting I am also a modeling coach as well.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I think the role of being my extroverted self played a big role in my career, I believed it helped me booked jobs and also had the same clients wanting to book me more than once.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: ShaunBalkum
- Facebook: Shaun Balkum
Image Credit:
@brianjamie, @jamie_house, Denis Rouvre, @Tommychungphotography, @Diabesale, @Luis_martinez93
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