They say people take some of their best ideas to the grave! But I was determined NOT to make that mistake…
I’ve been a TV, Commercial, & Film Casting Professional for the better part of the last 20 years, and ACX Lifestyle was simply a natural progression that grew out of my Casting/Photography career.
I started working in Commercial Casting in NY, during the early 2000’s… In the beginning, I did a lot of Beauty jobs with THE wonderful world-famous Casting Director/Producer Renée Torrière.
Renée was a wonderful woman to work for. She was just branching out on her own forming her company Shadow Casting…
I originally met her when she was working under the Spotty Dog Casting umbrella, and we worked well together then, so when she started her own company, she called me!!…
And I rocked out with her in casting for clients like Clinique, May Company, Campari, Bacardi… we also did a lot of MTV and VH1 promos! It was a lot of fun for me in those days working with her.
Renée is a true New Yorker! To this day, when we speak I greet her with Renée daaarrhhhhhhhlling… We’re both so dramatic about it…
But that’s what makes it fun. New York was great to me in a lot of ways… I really didn’t want to leave when I left… I had relationships with many different Casting Directors, and Commercial Producers.
I was shooting behind-the-scenes video for magazine shoots such as Cosmo, Allure, Seventeen, and a dozen others. I was living “that life” I dreamed of before I got into the industry in some ways.
I made several lifelong friendships there. I spent 4 years in the Big Apple from the end of 2000 to the intro of 2005. NY will always be close to my heart.
I wasn’t over NY when I left, I was just over the winter season.
So I came out West, when I had co-written a TV pilot that was optioned by FOX at the time.
If there ever was an excuse for me to leave NYC, now was the time! So I made the pilgrimage to the West Coast, and sunny LA.
It took me at least 2 years to hit my stride in LA. It was not easy, it was a little depressing for me at first, for several reasons…
It is a land where nepotism reigns supreme… but I caught a couple of lucky breaks and I met another sweet human in Casting Director/Producer Anissa Williams.
Anissa is the definition of “cool people’s.” She does a lot of big jobs… music video jobs (back when they were fun and had real budgets)… beauty jobs… movie jobs… Anissa does it all.
And she was one of the very first Casting Directors I began working with in LA… I still talk with Anissa to this day… we work on developing projects of all types together… She is a great person to work with.
I absolutely love her! As the years ticked by in casting… I developed other skills… I was a top videographer in my industry.
I understood the technology better than most Casting Techs… So sometimes models would catch a glimpse of my videos, and they would ask me, do I shoot photos too??
For almost the entire first half of my career, my answer was always, “No. Sorry lady.” And then one day, I realized they are offering me more money and opportunities…
So why don’t I start shooting photography?!?! So I believe the year was 2009, when I started investing my money, and equally important…my time, into developing photography skills! I only regret not starting sooner.
I was shooting with some of the world’s most beautiful women… Miss Hong Kong… Miss Virgin Islands…
My career had opened up another door… Now, I was a Screenwriter, Casting Professional, & Photographer… And things opened up yet again…
I already had relationships with 100’s of Casting Directors and Producers, and now with my photography skills,
I realized I was in a position where I could actually manage talent, leverage my relationships and photog skills, to create opportunities for others.
So this is when I started ACXmodels.com for Talent Management in 2017.
If you go to my website, you’ll see a little more about me… links to my photography, and models I have managed over the years.
I’ve prided myself on developing a strong roster… All I care about is your look and personality…
I’m not expecting you to come to me with 200,000 Instagram followers, like a lot of Agencies do.
I will develop models I like if you have the right attitude. I’ve had some real stunners… I was even managing a Reality TV personality from WAG’s Nicole Williams up until she got her reality show on air…
I still remember being on the phone with her telling me, “I’ve got a big surprise for you!” My response was “Please Nicole don’t let it be too much of a surprise.”
She is still my favorite “Nicole Williams” in the world! She was always one of my favorite models to bring in for castings back-in-the-day, and she knows it!
I’ve teamed up with some of the best Agents in LA and helped models land literally some of the most incredible opportunities.
I worked on the Season 1 casting of all the American runway models on “Making the Cut” for Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn (Amazon Prime Network).
Those models got to go to France, and walk some amazing runways!! Meet Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Naomi Campbell… I heard some of the girls literally burst into tears on the bus from the airport to their room accommodations they were so excited!
Along the way, over the years, I toyed with the idea of starting a fashion store and/or brand…
And finally, the pandemic created the mental space and clarity in my schedule to actually look into accomplishing this and vwallaaaa!… ACXlifestyle.com was born!!
Ladies, I hope you enjoyed the story of the ACX progression and how we got here! I hope you will enjoy the experience with ACX Lifestyle… My goal is to create a brand experience second to none…
I’m still working out the kinks… selecting my brand ambassadors… building the initial inventory…
I’ll have a complete line of women’s clothing when it’s finally complete… I’m designing my own branded merchandise as well!
But again…see how this venture just grew out of the natural progression of my career.
God is good! Check the blog on my store site to find valid Promo codes! As part of my soft launch, I’m running a 50% grand opening special!
The promo code is in the blog! Last thing… Don’t hate me, but all my websites are way better on a computer than a cellphone… I KNOW… it’s 2021!!!… I’m working on that too!
Alright, ladies come on through, I built the store for women just like you!!
