Between rounds of scanning the beach for swimmers wandering too far into the ocean in the summer of 2013, Jordan Roney got off his five-foot wooden chair and was walking on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey when a stranger approached Roney and told him that he had a look.

Roney was a lifeguard then. He’s a model now.

That stranger was an agent from the Philadelphia branch of the modeling agency Wilhelmina Philadelphia and told Roney to show up for an open call. He signed a one-year contract with the agency in March 2014.

For the undeclared freshman at the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, modeling is his job. In Seventeen magazine’s prom edition, Roney appears in an advertisement for the department store Boscov’s. Charles Hardy, a senior administrator at Wilhelmina Philadelphia, said Roney can be found in a style guide in every Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister store in the world.

Balancing modeling and maintaining grades sometimes forces Roney to pack a suitcase at a moment’s notice. Modeling, he said, is how he pays for college — and he can’t build his portfolio and continue his upward track by refusing photo shoots.

“This is my career. Not just a job on the side or anything, but my lifetime career,” Roney said.

After attending Wilhelmina Philadelphia’s open call, the agency offered him a contract. Reaching out to a Wilhelmina New York agent via Instagram last June led to Roney signing another contract on Aug. 1, 2014.

He sat at a large table, star struck by the celebrities and supermodels in the company’s New York office when he was presented with a pen and a contract. This contract was for three years and with a larger branch of the company. Roney’s father looked over the contract, and Roney signed it.

“From there, it was game on,” Roney said.

Hardy said that developing as a model is hard for everyone, but that Roney was well prepared by his background in competitive alpine skiing.

“When someone has played sports before on a high level, they have a different mindset, an established skill set and they are always ambitious,” Hardy said. “It translates into Jordan’s career as a model very well.”

Still, the development period hasn’t ended.

Roney regularly takes advice from his agents on how to develop further — maybe brush up on some acting classes, they say, hit the gym for a while or practice runway walking.

Taking the advice pays off in the form of calls from clients for photo shoot offers, and they can come at any time. He says it’s common for him to get a call or a text saying he has a flight in the morning for a photo shoot and that he better start packing.

It doesn’t matter if he’s in class or an exam. When the call comes, he answers it.

“When they need you, they need you,” Roney said. “I can’t turn down an ad campaign from Abercrombie or Hollister or something, because it’s important for my career and for my portfolio.”

His professors try to be understanding, he said.

If his client hasn’t already done it for him, Roney arranges his own travel plans. He has traveled to Philadelphia, New York and Columbus, Ohio for photo shoots.

In the 10 months that he has been modeling, Jordan has obtained exposure and regular clients. Boscov’s is his most regular client, and six months ago Roney booked his first modeling job with Ted Baker, a high-end British clothing retailer. In addition to appearing in an advertising spread in Seventeen, he did a shoot for Abercrombie & Fitch’s 2014 Christmas style guide.

The Abercrombie shoot was extensive and caused him to miss an entire week of school in October. Roney plans on taking the networking skills he’s learned so far and using them to sell himself aggressively to even more clients, and Hardy shares Roney’s big dreams.

“We talk about this every week,” Hardy said. “I can see him on the bag of Abercrombie one day, or even a Versace ad for underwear. He’s only 19, so he has lots of room to mature and grow in this industry.”

Roney is preparing for upcoming appearances in February at New York Fashion Week and Philly Fashion Week, where he is walking for 12 different fashion designers.

Modeling has changed Roney, his younger brother Jake Roney said, but for the better.

“Jordan has become more responsible,” he said. “Also, he cares about his hair a lot more now.”

Published on January 22, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Momin: mrafi@syr.edu