Diversity Models shine a spotlight on representation across Australia

Key points:

• Diversity Models operates on the Gold Coast, in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne since starting in July of 2022

• The business has four pillars of representation — multicultural modelling, curvy modelling, mature-age modelling and, most recently, modelling for people with disability

• The business has strived to introduce advertisers and audiences to models that they would be likely to encounter in day-to-day life and uplift people who have been historically sidelined in the industry

Since July of 2022, Monique Jeremiah has been leading the charge against historic gatekeeping in the modelling industry; casting, photographing and capturing the glamour of people that Australians are likely to meet in real life.

As the director of Diversity Models, a modelling agency on Australia’s East Coast, Ms Jeremiah is no stranger to adversity herself — facing wave after wave of rejection in the modelling industry when she tried to make a name for herself at the age of 30, as a self-described ‘curvy’ woman from a multicultural background.

Monique recently decided that in addition to curvy, multicultural and mature-age models who are given the glamorous and photogenic opportunities she didn’t have, people with disability needed representation too.

Her interest in nurturing unidentified talent and knowing what people want has allowed her to relay skills to aspiring models, such as posing, working with photographers, operating a camera, feeling confident and applying cosmetics.

“One of our providers that gave us a few models over the weekend. she told me that she had approached many modelling agencies across Australia for her participants and on their behalf and tried to pitch them to these agencies, but for the last 12 months, every agency said no to her participants,” Monique recalled.

“So, she realised through her 12 months of research and pitching that there’s definitely a gap in the market that no one really wanted to represent disability models in.”

Monique said that people with disability were being increasingly represented in advertising, media and the workforce, as people have grown to recognise the sheer number of people in Australia who live with a condition.

In anticipation of the upcoming Disability Support Guide Eastern 2023/2024 edition, Ms Jeremiah has kindly offered to capture her models and give the publication an added personal flair, capturing her models for the print issue.

She told Talking Disability journalist David McManus that she was looking to take the East Coast endeavour to the rest of Australia and become a nationwide brand that supports people like her and those she works with.

“We basically start their careers from scratch,” she said, “the models that the other agencies generally would not have picked up in the past.”

“I was actually a teacher for 13 years prior to actually becoming a model. So, I really understand the importance of nurturing people and helping them to grow their confidence, grow their opportunities and to basically hold their hand through the process of becoming a model.

“It is a very challenging industry and for me, I love to see people succeed. I always have that in me.”

Monique started her journey to nurture talent as a university tutor and was picked up by Griffith University. From there, she taught at various universities and then moved into the recruitment industry through a business that she started at the age of 21.

“Small businesses and bigger businesses are also starting to notice that there is a need to represent [people with disability] because they can’t ignore that disability does exist and there are so many types of disabilities.

“There’s not only physical disabilities but there’s also the hidden disabilities, so, I think it’s just the media shining light on it and companies like myself as advocating for it, as well.

“We are deliberately pushing it out there, because if we have the power to market, then we have the power to showcase to businesses that this exists.

Ms Jeremiah has encouraged people with disability who think they may be interested in modelling to get in touch via the Diversity Models website or by email.

How photogenic are you? Let the team at Talking Disability know your thoughts on the growing representation across Australian media.

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