I was in Houston doing a service call for a customer that owns a BOD POD. My customer works at a gym that specializes in one-to-one personal training, with both elite athletes as well as the serious recreational exerciser. . While there, there was a photo shoot set up for someone else the same day that I was servicing the equipment. Since I was competing in the Nova Fitness World Championship, which was only two days away, I was looking my best, and because of this they stopped me and asked if I modeled because they thought I had “the look." Keep in mind, I was only in jeans and a Polo Shirt, BUT I was pretty tanned and noticeably toned. I told them that I have done a little bit of fitness modeling but nothing serious. Then my coworker opened his mouth and told them all about my fitness competitions, and offered to show them pictures if they were interested. I was pretty embarrassed but I went along with it.
After we showed the photographer some pictures (from an earlier Nova USA competition) they asked for my business card and said if they have any opportunities in my area they would contact me. It turns out that one week before Thanksgiving someone called me and asked if I could fly out to Houston in one week to shoot the cover of the magazine and get paid! I had pretty much slacked off on exercise and diet since the World’s AND Thanksgiving was in a few days. Do you think I had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner? Heck no. I did what I could in two weeks to prepare for that shoot (cardio everyday, weights 3-4 days/week and that same eating plan that I got so accustomed to when preparing for competition. . . eat 5 X per day every 3 hrs, lots of water, low fat and good/low carbs.) Oh yeah, I did the tanning too. All the stuff I learned from those fitness camps!
So the shoot went very well and I had a lot of fun. My advice . . ..all-in-all you have to be physically ready for a break because you never know what will come your way. Also, you have to speak up for yourself and have some arsenal in your back pocket like a business card and some pictures or a business card with pictures on it as well as your contact info.
