Meet Sophia Baltz of Los Angeles, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophia Baltz.

Hi Sophia, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I actually started my modeling career at the age of 12. I was obsessed with the Jonas Brothers, Nick Jonas in particular, and went to see them in concert in St. Louis, MO back in 2008. It was my first ever concert and I will never forget going directly to my Grandma’s computer the moment we got back and googling: ‘How to be in a Jonas Brother’s music video’. Modeling agencies popped up and from that moment on I knew what I wanted to do.
I remember bringing it up to my parents and instead of them shooting it down they took me seriously and actually ended up submitting some of my photos to one of the top talent agencies in St. Louis at the time. I remember us taking photos in the back yard…my hair was in two little braids and I had on a cute brown and white polka dot swimsuit. My parents got the photos developed, wrote my stats on the back, put them in an envelope, and sent them out in the mail; that’s how long I’ve been in the business. They got a call a few days later from an agent that said they would love to meet with me and from then on I thought the Jonas Brothers were just around the corner. I’ll never forget the drive to the agency. I was wearing my brand new Abercrombie and Fitch navy and cream sweater…it cost my parents $50 and I was sure I looked like I meant business. When we walked through the doors of the agency I remember it looking exactly how I thought it would, like the headquarters in Life Size with Tyra Banks.
Long story short, the team loved my look but felt that I looked too mature to model kids clothes yet I was too young to be working with women so they wanted me to come back when I turned 13. All I heard in my little brain though was, “No Jonas Brother’s music video for you, kid,” so needless to say I was over it. I ended up putting my focus into sports and didn’t find interest in the modeling world again until about age 16 when America’s Next Top Model began to take over my tv screen. Now in high school, there wasn’t much that I could do full time yet, but I did want to get started so I went back to the agency that was interested in me a few years back. Unfortunately by then though I was no longer on the cute little girl side of the modeling world, I was now entering the real world of fashion-the size 0 world. I was told that I still had a great look, but that I would either need to gain weight and become a plus size model (presented to me in a tone of disgust), or I could lose some weight and become a ‘real’ model. I of course wanted to be a ‘real’ model so therefore began my journey to getting my measurements down which would consist of measuring my bust, waist, and hips every few weeks to check if my work was producing the progress that they were needing to see in order to sign me. I began cutting out the sports that I loved being told that they were adding onto my already muscular/athletic look and trading them in for running and pilates which would apparently ‘lengthen my limbs’. I began dieting and obsessing over thigh gaps and achieving that coveted ‘model look’. I never dabbled into any unhealthy behaviors as my parents were very observant to make sure that I wasn’t being taken down a dark path, but after almost a year of working to reach the agency’s required numbers with no success, I decided that this wasn’t for me any longer. I was beginning to feel miserable…not eating what I wanted and pushing myself to run long distances, which was something that I had always despised. Walking into a meeting and being placed in front of a mirror being shown what my legs ‘should’ look like from a 5’3 100lb agent was my breaking point though. As much as I wanted to model, I couldn’t put myself through this any longer and said no thank you.
As toxic as it had become I couldn’t stop thinking about modeling and how badly I wanted to make this dream a reality. At the time I was setting up shoots with anyone in my small Southern Illinois hometown that had interest in fashion, specifically my good friend Eli Scherer, and submitting myself to any and every fashion show that was taking place in St. Louis with the hopes of winning a contract or getting discovered. It wasn’t until almost a year later though that I drove myself to an open call happening in the city where I met an agent who told me that I was the perfect size to be a curve model. I’ll never forget the feeling of hearing that I was the perfect anything to be a model as I had spent so much time trying to become something that I wasn’t. The agents pulled me to the side and took some digitals of me stating that they were going to send them to an agency in New York and see what they thought. I remember leaving that open call on the highest of highs feeling like this was truly meant to be. Unfortunately the team in NYC had passed on me and while of course I was heartbroken, I was grateful to be introduced to this new avenue of modeling: the curve industry, which at the time was for models in between ‘straight size’ and ‘plus size’. From that moment on my journey to being represented as 100% myself began and I finally got signed as one of 2 curve models in St. Louis, MO. I was over the moon that after years of hard work I was officially a signed model. I graduated high school and did 2 years of college before I realized that being signed in St. Louis was no longer enough for me. I was sitting in class dreaming about modeling and knew that my time was now…I needed to pursue this with all of the energy that I had while the timing was right so I made the decision to leave school and my agency and see what more was out there for me. After struggling to get signed, deciding to leave the one agency that agreed to represent me felt like an absolute gamble. What if nobody else wanted me? It was already hard enough getting signed in the first place, who’s to say that anyone else will sign me? But with no real bookings and excuses from agents that my teeth or size were holding me back from moving forward, I knew it was time for me to take that chance on myself. One week after I left, I was offered a contract with Wilhelmina and the rest was history.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s funny because after all of the obstacles that I went through just trying to get signed, I figured the rest of my career would be a smooth ride, but of course that wasn’t the case. Getting signed to the right team is the first step and while it is a huge one, just because you are signed doesn’t mean that you will work, which was a wake up call to me. I remember upon signing to Wilhelmina I was under the impression that from that moment on I would be jet setting to Milan and getting paid, but absolutely not HA! I moved into the model apartment in Chicago a few months after signing, no side job in my plans because I figured I would be so booked and busy, and ended up having way more free time on my hands and way less money than I had expected. Even when I did start booking jobs a few weeks in, I didn’t realize that checks could take up to 90 days to come through and by the time they hit, rent would have to be taken out, leaving me with nothing or hardly anything to deposit into my accounts. Getting that through my head was one of the biggest challenges early on in my career because you go in with these huge expectations and don’t realize that everything takes time. Booking certain clients, making a certain amount of money, traveling to places for work, etc. It all looks like it comes over night but it can actually take years to build. Now of course sometimes there are people that it seems to just happen over night for but that is never the majority.
Even now after being in the industry for almost 10 years I’m still dealing with challenges. Challenges with inconsistent work, having busy months and then really slow months to the point that you question if you will ever work again. Financial instability, taking care of your mental health and knowing how to ride through the lows. Having to always have your schedule open for when bookings come up resulting in missing family events, birthdays, trips, etc. Especially now in the time that we are in with AI attempting to replace real models and creatives, continuing to fight for your career is a real obstacle. There is so much more to this career than I ever expected when I first started out, but even through it all I love what I do and am beyond lucky to call this my job.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
One of the questions I get asked the most when I tell people that I model is, ‘what kind of model are you?’ and it always makes me smile because I really don’t have any limitations to what I do; I’ve never liked being put in a box. I do print, commercial, runway, editorial, fitness, beauty, fashion, you name it! What I always admired growing up were the models that were chameleons…they could transform and be everywhere. That was and has always been what I aspire to be in my career.
I’d say that my specialty as a model is bringing life and personality into any project that I get to be apart of. I grew up being obsessed with any ad or editorial brought to life by the model’s energy and personality and that has always been something that I set out to replicate in my work. I take pride in everything that I do so no matter if I’m on set with a soap company or a big name fashion brand, I’m always going to bring the same energy and I believe I’ve become known for that. I have also set out to be 100% myself after spending so much time attempting to become what I thought a model had to be when I first started out in my career, so I think that I’m the most proud of honestly just getting to see all of the work that I have accomplished over the span of my career so far knowing that I did it all without changing a single thing about myself. I want to be someone that people can look to and see a bit of themselves in whether it be my muscular thighs or not perfectly straight teeth or my curly hair. I didn’t always have that representation so I want to be that for the next generation and/or anywho who has ever needed to see that.
On top of modeling, I love to creative direct my own shoots and bring talented people together to create work that will help us all elevate to the next level, which I believe has benefitted me not only as a model, but as a creative. Having a team of creatives that you can collaborate with and bring each other’s visions to life is powerful and vital in this industry and I am beyond grateful to have found so many people that I can do that with over my 8 years here in LA, two of them being my favorite power couple Christiano and Dennese Hermoso. I’ve always viewed modeling as a way of storytelling so diving further into that outside of work has allowed me to express myself and catch the attention of brands and people that I have wanted to work with over the years. I have also come to realize that while I have yet to be featured in a Jonas Brother’s music video like 12 year old Sophia set out for (if anyone can make that happen, hit a girl up), I may need to dabble in the world of acting as that could have been my original interest after all HA!

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Honestly, I don’t have any specific books that have helped me in particular, but I’ve recently gotten back into reading as a hobby and I believe that reading for enjoyment combined with journaling have been two of the biggest forms of therapy in my life. I struggled for a while balancing my time when I was going through dry spells of work and would honestly waste days away simply stressing myself out. Incorporating reading and writing back into my life was beneficial beyond words to me, especially in a time of constant social media. I love Instagram and TikTok as much as the next person and while they are incredibly useful and beneficial to my career as well as many other creative’s, they have also served as major challenges in the past when it comes to not being able to simply turn it off, perfectionism, or comparing your careers to others. I’ve found a beautiful balance and relationship with it nowadays, but without proper boundaries it can be damaging with a capital D!
As for podcasts, I’m still looking for some that will get me hooked, but I’ve been loving my friend Courtney Johnson’s podcast, It’s Not Pretty, that I was recently a guest on. She dives into a lot of topics around the modeling industry that some just starting out may not know about or for those of us who have been in the industry for years have experienced but didn’t know if anyone else had before as well. I find it interesting and helpful to know that you aren’t the only one who has experienced getting dropped or feeling stuck in your career!
Other than that, spending time in nature and connecting with real people have helped me do my best in life. This career is one that can get you caught up on things that don’t necessarily matter so often I remind myself to go out and touch grass, do a puzzle, call my family, and hang out with people who make me feel alive!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wilhelmina.com/los-angeles/women/curve/1257-sophia-baltz
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiabaltz/
• Other: https://21ninety.com/ai-models

Image Credits
Nick Hoge
Matt Shouse
Christiano Hermoso
Trevino Anthony