When asked, ‘who are you?’ Victor Roseboro states that first and
foremost he is a son, and a brother to four sisters.
“I am a friend to several people that have been great friends to me. I
am a spiritual person. I am definitely a giver, a feeler; I am a lover
for sure,” said Roseboro.
“And currently, I am a model agent.”
About this series
There’s more to the fashion industry than jobs in designing
or styling. Like any other sector, fashion is a business so there’s a
space and a job for everyone. That includes a person who loves math, a
person who solely loves to shop or a business-minded individual.
The word “everyone” doesn’t just refer to those who have different
interests or job titles, but also those of a different race or gender.
We’ve decided to highlight how diverse the fashion industry is, could
be, and should be with a series of stories on Black professionals with
not-so-average fashion careers.
How did you get to work in fashion?
“Lots and lots of trial and error, and bumping my head and just being
inspired that if so many people out here can do it then why can’t I?”
said Roseboro.
Fashion was nowhere on Roseboro’s radar and neither was New York. He
attended East Stroudsburg University and graduated with a Biology
degree in 2012.
Roseboro had hopes of attending medical school, however, “I needed a break.”
“Undergrad kicked my butt and I also had this giant feeling in my
stomach that being a doctor was not what I wanted. So I had to go
home,” he said.
At the age of 25, Roseboro decided he wanted to move to New York, but
he didn’t necessarily have a concrete plan.
After realizing he didn’t want to work retail and would have to start
over as an intern, Roseboro found an internship on Cragslist.
“It didn’t have many details. I came in to find out it was the casting
director of Christian Dior [who] was looking for an intern,” he
explained. “I didn’t really know who she was, I gave her a quick
Google search, we did a Skype session, and I lied.”
Roseboro told her he lived in New York even though he had not moved
from Pennsylvania yet. Doing so resulted in the casting director
inviting him to meet with her in person.
“I had to scrounge the money together to buy a Mega bus ticket. I did
the interview and she hired me.”
According to Roseboro, working as an intern and working in fashion was
very much “Devil Wears Prada. Very ice cold.”
He continued to say the experience of working in fashion broke him a
little so he left the internship after a month. The next weekend while
he was helping a friend work a show, he met Roger Inniss, owner of
Boom Productions Inc. After a conversation, Inniss asked Roseboro to
join his team.
“It felt good to have this Black man just see me, and be like ‘join my
team,’” Roseboro said. “I got my first few paychecks from the fashion
industry which was blowing my mind.”
Roseboro then went on to work for Maurilio Carnino’s casting agency,
MTC, as a casting agent where he stayed for two-and-a-half years.
He said his path flowed from one thing to another, however he also had
several different jobs in the midst of it. For instance, Roseboro
worked as a waiter for four years to not only keep a constant flow of
income but to also have fluidity when it came to scheduling.
“Because fashion does not pay until it starts paying,” explained Roseboro.
What’s your current fashion job?
After being an assistant at Next Model Management for two years,
Roseboro became a manager and talent agent - which is the position he
still holds today.
“I have about 12 models worldwide that I represent. I also source and
navigate bookings for the entire Next Model Management worldwide
board,” Roseboro said.
He added that he loves finding new talent. “I do love seeing a girl
from St. Louis, Missouri, come to New York - skinny and nervous, and
18 years old. And next thing you know she’s hired to do a catwalk show
for Versace!”
What does an average work day look like?
“We come in, we all sit at a giant table,” Roseboro said. “It’s a
giant rectangular table, and it’s about 12 seats, six on each side, we
all have our computers and half [are] emailing and half [are]
discussing across the table. It’s very much a boardroom.”
The conversations happening around the table include discussing what
manager has a model that would fit a certain campaign or upcoming
project.
“You got to make sure your voice is heard. You got to make sure you’re
aggressive. You got to make sure you present to your clients in the
best possible way,” Roseboro explained.
“We're competing with so many other agencies in New York [and] around
the world too. So we have to make sure these clients know that our
girls are simply the best. And we have to make sure our girls are the
best. We have to make sure our girls are healthy. We have to make sure
our girls show up on time. [We] have to make sure our girls feel open
to come and talk to us.”
Outside of managing the models, the day to day is catching up on
emails, and sharing updates and campaigns at the board table. There
are also many days of leaving the office for business meetings with
clients.
“We have to make sure that we are clienteling and make sure our
clients have that face time with us,” Roseboro said. “So much of this
industry is based on who you know, it’s about that bond.”
A word of career advice
“You just have to start from the bottom and you have to do the work,
you just do,” Roseboro advised. “There is no way around it.”
He said it’s as simple as this: the people that sit at the table are
hard workers, and the people that no longer sit at the table were not
hard workers
According to Roseboro, life and great things always involve two
components: “being prepared and opportunity.”
“You can have an opportunity happen for you but if you’re not prepared
for it, it’s not going to work,” explained Roseboro. “And you can be
prepared for something so precisely and so well, but you just need the
opportunity. You have to have both.”
He continued to say that if it’s hard and if it’s new in regard to
an opportunity, “give yourself a year” before giving up.
“Be the best version possible of yourself,” Roseboro added. “Be so
perfect, be so undeniable with your work, especially as Black people,
because when we walk into a room [people] already have an opinion of
who they think you are.”
“It’s not your problem, but it is your duty to get the work done and
to get your experience,” concluded Roseboro. “Your name is
everything.”
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