Interviews  / Stories

 

Can you tell us a little about you?

Well, my name is Gabrielle van Beeck-Nonboe and I’m a 21-year-old woman living in Copenhagen, DK. I am half Danish and half Dutch. I’m currently studying European Business at Copenhagen Business School. In my spare time I work as a dance teacher, model & waitress/hostess. I am also very fond of traveling, working out and cooking. It’s all kind of wrapped up in one big ball of balance in my life.

 

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?
Throughout my life I’ve struggled with some things about myself, facial features, body parts etc. But it all came through my social environment and the trends going on at that moment.
Now, I can only say I wish I had not fallen of my bike at 8 years old since it has giving me a bit of some asymmetric features on my forehead and a weaker eyebrow muscle.
This means that sometimes I am not aware of my “lazy” eye and I have to make an effort to “pull” it back up. Sounds so weird haha, but yeah.

 

How did you start modeling?
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been involved in the world of show business. My mother is a professional makeup-artist and she would always bring me along for the shoots. I acted like her little assistant and knew my way in and out of the job.
So by this, my mom decided to let me try out to be the center of attention in some shoots and it brought me to where I am today.

 

What do you think of the work as a model?

In my personal opinion I find it super healthy and challenging in a good way. A lot of people who haven’t tried modeling or seen behind the scenes, thinks that it is just pretty girls having their pictures taken. No, it is much more than that. It’s the whole thing about connect through a camera and making yourself visibly alive in a picture. And that’s hard work! But when you get there, it is the most amazing feeling! Also, we don’t have a typical 9 to 5 job, ours can vary in 2 hours to multiple days. And it is not continuously; there can be long periods of time where you don’t have any work at all. I love how you start a project/a job with a vision and when you achieve that vision, you can pat yourself on the shoulder and say: “Well done!”. The model world itself is different from country to country, I do think that sometimes it feels like the pressure on models is extremely high based on the current “body”-trends and that can be difficult to deal with.

 

What is your beauty regimen?

Honestly, mine is very simple. Listen to your body and thereby your hair and skin. Treat yourself after a couple of rough days and let it be meditative. I personally like to make some nourishing food, some green tea to help me fight my free radicals & a facial to revitalize my skin. But a little massage once in a while never hurt anyone! I believe that it is nourishing for the mind and soul to be touched and massaged.

 

What are your personal qualities, which distinguish you from others?

I’ve been told that I’m a very classical beauty, but with a twist. The twist is supposedly my blue eyes in contrast to my very dark hair and my facial bone structure.
Personally, I find that my forces rely in how well I know my body through my dancing as well and also that I have also tried to be behind the camera multiple times instead of in front of it. So I definitely get the process it takes to reach the goal of the shoot.

 

What are your plans for the future?

Currently I am planning on travelling around maybe Europe and Latin America. Both explore and maybe find new opportunities in the modeling business.
I also want to finish my bachelor degree in European Business and work with marketing and people.

 

What are some of your favorite experiences so far?

Uh, that’s a tricky one. Throughout my entire carrier as a model I’ve had a lot of great experiences. Some of the best ones are where the photographer and I just click! And the shoot goes on like a constant symbiotic relationship and the energy is hype! It’s like a shot of adrenaline to me!
Those are the moments where you truly feel the amazing part of being a model.
And you also get to meet some amazing people through this carrier. I have wonderful friends whom I met through modeling as models but also as makeup artists or runners etc.

 

Do you have any advice for those who want to start modeling?

Don’t give up! You won’t believe how many rejections you need to go through to be able to get one success story. And know yourself in and out. Know your forces, features, curves, lengths, weaknesses, moves, poses, improvements and just everything there is to know about how you and your body structure works.

 

What do you think of the magazine?

I think it is an inspirational and beautiful magazine with lots of different perspectives of the model world. The interviews are always extremely interesting and has personally helped me to get to know my network better but also to find new interesting people to follow up on.

 

https://www.instagram.com/gabriellegabz/, https://www.facebook.com/gabrielle.vanbeeck