Nobody's waiting at the mall to get scouted anymore Things have changed and if you are not changing your approach you will be left behind. Getting "discovered" used to mean hoping the right person happened to walk past you at the right moment. A scout at the mall. An agent in the audience. Pure luck.

Remember when getting "discovered" meant moving to Hollywood, waiting tables, and praying a big-shot agent walked into your restaurant on the exact right night? Yeah... that era is SO over. Today the talent scout is sitting in your pocket. It's your phone. And honestly? That is the most exciting thing ever. More talent has been found online than through almost any other avenue out there, and the list of people who started with nothing but a camera and a dream is kind of wild.

I would rather be invisible than famous. That probably sounds strange coming from someone who has spent so much time around modeling, pageantry, entertainment, talent, photography, events, and people who dream about being seen. We live in a time when visibility has become almost a currency of its own. People count followers, views, likes, shares, comments, and subscribers. Children grow up watching other children become famous online. Teenagers can become recognizable overni

It used to absolutely stun me to see the lengths some people would go to in hopes of making their child famous. I do not mean encouraging a dream, enrolling them in a class, taking them to an audition, or helping them build confidence. I mean the lengths people would go when the dream of fame became bigger than everything else. I grew up in a place many celebrities grew up in, like Nick Clooney, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Carmen Electra, Halle Berry, and many others who had

Some of the biggest names in entertainment did not begin on a Hollywood soundstage. They started in pageants, modeling, local competitions, talent events, commercials, theater, and other opportunities that allowed them to gain experience being seen, performing, speaking, posing, and working with people. Halle Berry participated in pageants before becoming an Academy Award Justin Timberlake Pageants, Oprah Winfrey Pageants, Michelle Pfiefer Pageants, Carmen Electra, Jill Wagon

A few years back I wrote a book called Shocking Mistakes Killing Your Brand, and honestly? I thought by now the lessons in it would feel a little outdated. Nope. If anything, the stakes got higher. Brands aren't just eyeballing your last few posts before they sign you anymore. Now they're running your entire digital footprint through AI systems before they ever slide into your inbox. So I wanted to update the conversation for where things actually stand right now, because som