Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsie Gold.
Hi Chelsie, before we jump into specific questions about the practice, why don’t you give our readers a few quick bullet points about you and your story.
I feel as though I have the typical, ‘grew up in a small town’ beginning to my story. I began my stage career at the age three, participating in beauty pageants, piano recitals, and dance recitals; with the love of performing later drifting into the singing of the national anthem at the age of seven for the local Junior A hockey team in Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. I continued with piano and singing performances at recitals and being awarded by adjudicators until the age of fourteen; receiving up to grade five piano and grade two theory in the royal conservatory of music with honours and distinction. I always loved having the cutest outfits on for my performances, and being in front of the camera for photographs came natural to me. I loved being recorded during my events, and would never deny a photo being taken of me. I think my interest in modelling started there, and expanded when I started collecting magazines at the age of twelve to solely look at the models. I remember cutting out their photos, taping them to my bedroom door to make a collage, and thinking to myself, “this is what I want to do when I grow up. I want to be THAT girl.”
I began setting up a tripod, taking pictures of myself, and printing them onto the magazine paper my dad bought for me. Some may call it narcissistic, but to me, it was motivation and determination to reach my goal. On my first day of grade nine, the teacher asked each student what we wanted to be when we were older. I, standing there in my kilt uniform at the age of fourteen, confidently stated I wanted to be a model. The majority of my class started laughing or giving me the evil eye, but, by the age of sixteen, I was being scouted by multiple modelling agencies after posting images on Instagram. Standing at only 5’3, with the closest agency being eight hours away in Toronto, my parents definitely weren’t fond of the idea. So, I put modelling on the back burner, and began collaborating with different brands via Instagram, reaching almost 19,000 followers by the end of high school (11,000 followers in just over a year). This was back when ‘influencing’ was just beginning, and wasn’t merely a trend on TikTok to try out and do for fun.
During my undergraduate degree at Nipissing University, I was approached by a local acting agency in the North Bay/Sudbury region, for becoming a featured actress in scenes. This differed from background work, because I, as a model, would be in focus in the scenes, rather than a blur behind the motion. I’ve been featured in Netflix, Hallmark, Crave, and Hulu movies/tv series; including: Honey Bee The Movie, Cardinal, Letterkenny, Bad Blood Season 2, The Silencing, North of Normal, Northern Lights of Christmas, and She Never Died.
Over the course of finishing my honours specialization undergraduate degree in Religion and Cultures with a double major in Visual Arts, along with my first year of teachers college, and graduating my Masters of Education degree early with a 4.25GPA, I was able to successfully work as a content creator/influencer, model, and featured actress to pay my way through school.
I began to grow on every platform, reaching an authentic 32,400 followers on instagram, and working through other platforms such as Youtube — which additionally led to multiple freelance modelling opportunities in both global and internationally accredited publications in magazines such as: Elegant Magazine Volume 76, No. 6, Goji Magazine Issue 18, Selin Magazine Issue 9 Volume 1, and the “A Night Out” project; a collaborative effort where proceeds went to frontline workers during the COVID19 crisis/pandemic. I’ve gotten to work with some of the most amazing brands, such as Rockstar Energy, Forever 21, Shein Official, Bellami Hair, Hello Fresh, Oh Polly, Bali Body, and Drunk Elephant.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think some of the biggest challenges I’ve had to overcome are doubt, comparison, insecurity, and work-life balance. Although I am extremely content with who I am and what I do, there are always bad days when I doubt myself, overthink what others may be thinking or saying about me and my posts, comparing my life to other influencers who have a larger following and better location demographic, and separating my personal life from the career. I don’t want to say I was ‘bullied’ in high school as it’s not a term I use lightly, however, many people would make remarks that I wasn’t a ‘real’ model because I wasn’t signed with an agency. Although the opportunity was there, I chose to represent myself and do the work on my own. Not only was this more rewarding, but I was also in control of my rates, time management, content representation, and community. Too frequently, I’ve also heard the comment, “all of her followers are fake.” Although these types of comments were hurtful at the time, Instagram has recently developed Analytics; which calculate and compare your statistics such as Reach, Engagement, Impressions, and overall Profile Activity. The comments still are mean and offensive, but my Analytics prove otherwise.
Moreover, I also found it somewhat difficult to maintain relationships in University, because I felt as though the conjunction of my following on Instagram mixed with the title of being an ‘influencer’ gave a negative connotation of me. In my recent scholarly journey publication (thesis for graduate school), “Pretty Privilege: More Than A Body, More Than A Blonde,” I touched upon the negative associations of what being a privileged model upholds — as a society, we have identified beauty as being a thin, blonde, feminine girl with white skin, which has not always been in my favour. Although I get comments such as, “you’re so lucky you get to be a model!” people don’t realize the constraints it comes with. The pictures of me are constructions of what I, or the creative directors on set, want you to see. And although it looks like I’m receiving free things all the time, it is not because of who I am as a person, it is because of how I look and the influence I can have on individuals who follow my platform.
My paper is set within the context of my life journey as a pretty-privileged model and social media content creator in teachers college. The abstract reads: “through my life-journey, I have learned the effects of having a public social media platform with a large following and its relationship to preconceived expectations of a students ability based on physical appearance.
Based off discrimination by the way of identity, one example of this is the way I was removed from the Bachelor of Education program. I claim that teacher identity needs to be redefined, and the concern of prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory preconceived ideals based on stereotypes of women need to be addressed in the education system. I claim this because as a White, able bodied, Catholic and cisgender female, I had a reputable image in my church community and surrounding geographical location — and it still was not enough to maintain credible status as an upcoming teacher. My career as a successful model undermined my abilities as an above average student; ultimately removing me from the teachers college program based on ‘pretty-privilege’ and sexual objectification as a woman. Although my career in the industry has provided the most amazing experiences, and funded my way through graduate school, my appearance and portrayal of body image was defined as my identity in a classroom setting. I advocate to redefine what the ‘standard and ethical practices’ of educators are, emphasizing that personal identity and image representation have nothing to do with professional or educational success.”
Being a content creator, you can change the way someone looks at you in under five seconds; with the simple action of clicking post. If you post something too modest, too provocative, or too opinionated, it effects your following, and a brands perception of you. I try to post images that best reflect who I am, but social media has always been, and will always be, superficial to some extent. There are images of me at my mental worst, but looking my best, with no one knowing the behind the scenes of what I was going through when that image was being photographed. What I chose to show people on Instagram versus what I am actually like in person do, of course, differ. You would never assume by looking at my profile that I played hockey, love fishing, and hate wearing makeup, false eyelashes, nails, and hair. Because modelling and content creating are a full time position, it is also difficult to find pleasure in taking photos with peers, participating in fun TikTok trends with friends, and/or just getting ready in general. The last thing I want to do when I have time to hangout with friends is wear makeup and put in hair extensions, or have anything to do with social media.
Although I am confident, strong, and powerful, this comes along with being perceived as conceited, narcissistic, fake, and sometimes, the “s” word. It also drives personal insecurity, because I need to worry about what I look like, every day; as it is my job to uphold this image I’ve created of myself on social media. For example, I have always made it clear that I have no shame in showing skin, because I love the skin I’m in and worked hard to look the way I do. As someone who stays true to Catholic moral, and I mean that to every extent, I don’t associate these elements or allow them to label or define me as who I am. As mentioned, my experience in my professional educational career was a prime example of judging a book by its cover — similar to what the industry does in my personal life. They key is being able to separate the boundaries between both, such as talking like an academic vs. speaking freely on social media.
Another challenge that presents itself is that I have essentially traded a nine to five job for a twenty four seven career — often times others don’t realize the absurd schedule I maintain to meet project deadlines. There is little downtime for me to travel leisurely, spend time with friends and family, or do something just ‘for fun.’ When I’m not on set, shooting brand deals, or
creating content for companies, I am editing the content, planning the captions according to brand standards, and creating a posting plan so everything runs smoothly the day of a campaign or publication. Because I represent myself, I am responsible for responding to every email, and every DM on Instagram; all of this combined, typically leaves me with 4-5hrs of sleep, and maybe 2hrs of down time. I have to be over prepared at all times, because when I get a last minute casting call or acting role, the days are often twelve to sixteen hours long on set.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Although it’s been a challenge separating my personal life (modelling/content creating/acting) with my professional life (academia), for once in my life, I can happily say I’m just riding the wave. Something that I used to tell my students and continue to tell myself today is, “progress,
not perfection.” I am proud of all that I’ve accomplished in both sectors, and grateful for all the opportunities that both the industry and the education system have given to me. I also couldn’t be more appreciative of the ongoing support from my family, friends, and followers; for supporting me as I live my dream. As I finish up the completion of the MUA program at the Online Makeup Academy — NYC, I have also received my first speaking role in an upcoming film. This will keep me more than busy while continuing to pursue my path in life, get my applications ready for Doctorate of Education programs, and work on obtaining my citizenship in the United States of America. The Sunshine State has been calling my name for the past seven years, so Florida
Contact Info:
- Email: chelsiegold.mgmt@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/chelsiegold
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldilocksss
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/chelsiegold
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNZTw739APvjXe8a0MLHVgA/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0
Image Credits
Mercedes Chircop – @snapsbymercedes
Scott Edworthy – @edworthy_photography_ & @edworthyportraits
Isaiah Haber – @isaiahhaber
