Madi Fogg: The Unflinching Mindset That Navigates High-End Fashion and Rejection

As a part of our series about Inspirational Women In Hollywood, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Madi Fogg.

Madi Fogg is a 26-year-old model who has worked with a variety of prestigious photographers and brands — from Emilio G. Hernandez to Jean-Francois Campos, from Calvin Klein to Chanel. Madi was discovered while on the beach at only 18 years old and was immediately thrust into the world of modeling.

Madi is very vocal about how much she loves what she does, as well as the challenges she has had to overcome along the way. We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Madi about how she got involved with the modeling industry, what she does in her time not on set or walking in shows, and any advice she has for aspiring models.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a small beach town about 1.5 hours from Sydney, Australia. It was the perfect childhood spending entire days on the beach, always barefoot and in nature. It was a very small community and everyone knew everyone so after living in major cities since I was 18, it is a very fond memory I have and want to provide the same for my family.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was on a vacation to Byron Bay with friends after finishing high school and a man approached me asking if I was modeling. He told me I could be working overseas and he had some contacts he could put me in touch with.

He took some quick photos of my face with his phone– front, side, back and one week later I was walking for New York fashion week.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

One of the highlights of my career was walking for the Chanel Haute Couture show in Paris. It was still very early in my career and so it was a major moment for me being involved in such a beautiful production. After numerous castings and callbacks, I finally had a fitting late at night in the Chanel House in Paris. I was in the fitting room with four ladies in white gloves helping me step into my beaded gown. As they did up the zipper, one of the women began to cry and I later found out she was the seamstress who had spent hundreds of hours beading the details on my gorgeous dress. She was so emotional seeing it come to life.

Then I was ushered into another room where I walked over to Karl Lagerfeld and he began to choose my accessories from his vast collection of huge diamonds, guards standing around everywhere watching closely. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first began modelling, I had long hair down past my waist. My first runway show was Victoria Beckham as I was backstage getting hair and makeup done, the hair stylist was taking extra-long trying to get my hair into the desired style that all the models in the lineup had. But my hair was too long! He kept trying before calling over the show managers and proclaiming it could not be done.

So there and then, they cut off my long ponytail and were able to tie my hair like the rest of the girls.

Although it is not a mistake I made, it did teach me a big lesson about modelling and how as a model you must fit into certain images and trends. It taught me to not take myself too seriously and that hair always grows back!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My first agent was Paul Rowland who had brought me from Australia for New York fashion week. He had started his own very successful agency in New York previously and was a very well respected person in the fashion community — best known for his ability to see extra-ordinary potential in many girls and strategizing their looks to enhance their clients and careers. He worked closely with models Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista.

So when I first landed in NYC, I had no portfolio, no photos, no experience and Paul managed, through his personal connections, to confirm my appointments with the biggest brands, casting directors and photographers in NYC, London, Paris and Milan.

I am very grateful to Paul not only for his influence on my modelling career, but also as a mentor and a great friend, as I visited him and his family countless times in my first years of travelling. His family was my family away from home.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

I would like to encourage any models beginning their careers to not take things too seriously and say yes to every opportunity you get!

I would love to remind them to always find fun and enjoyment — no matter what situation they find themselves in!

Modelling can become very stressful very fast and if you don’t have a strong mind then it can bring you to places of difficulty as you try to please every client and agent around you.

What drives you to get up every day and work in Modeling? What change do you want to see in the industry going forward?

I am at a point in my career where I am working regularly with clients who I love and who love me back. Not only for my look but also for my personality — which after years of working in this profession is what really gives me pleasure at work.

I also love working with new clients and being part of a creative process.

During my career there has definitely been a shift in the fashion industry moving away from promoting unhealthy models and focusing on healthy happy body shapes and sizes. So moving forward to see the fashion world embracing this is really exciting.

You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?

I am currently working closely with Paige Denim who have been a loyal and amazing client of mine for the past 4 years. I really enjoy every day of work with them as I am involved in all areas of the brand, from campaigns and look books to e-commerce and in-house modeling. It’s really fun to get to know a brand so intimately and watch them progress and evolve.

We are very interested in looking at diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film, television, and modeling? How can that potentially affect our culture and our youth growing up today?

I totally agree and am impressed with how the fashion industry has embraced different cultures regarding models and who represent their brands. The most important reasons for this in the future would be:

1 . To represent people of all cultures. Our world is full of amazing races, colors and traditions and we should be embracing them and celebrating them only to add more depth and value to the time we have on this earth.

2. For young people to feel that they are seen and recognized. I think that the entertainment industry has such a strong impact on youth and how they perceive themselves in the world. If we can strive for more diversity in what we see, watch and scroll through then I think it will interpret into the minds of our society.

3. To teach youth about other cultures that exist in other countries. Growing up in Australia, I was not subjected to many different languages or customs and as I have travelled and learned about the different cultures of the world I think that we can include much more variety in our entertainment channels than just the stereotypical American culture that is represented by most Hollywoood movies and television shows.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. That I would be living out of a suitcase for the first 5 years of my modelling career. If I had known this was the lifestyle of a model, I think I would have made more out of my opportunities for travel and taken advantage of the suitcase life more fully!
2. To not take rejection personally. There are so many castings and opportunities to feel rejected in modelling, but you must learn to separate yourself from the job and realize that it is not directed to you personally. I think this is a fundamental lesson that translates to many areas of life.
3. Get used to having last minute, unstable schedule. Every week is a different schedule in modelling, some weeks you work 5 days, sometimes you don’t work for 3 weeks! Also, a funny memory of mine was waking up to an email from my agent saying “Quick pack your bags, you have a ticket to Spain in 3 hours for a last-minute booking!”
4. To have confidence in yourself no matter what. If you believe in your own self-worth, then no one can ever tell you otherwise. I think this is important in modelling as you are always being judged on your outer appearances and the way you look. If you have a high image of yourself then you will always feel confident in yourself as a person and can deal with any rejection or negativity by pushing it aside.
5. To learn what makes you feel happy, calm and secure. There was so many moments, especially at the beginning of my career where I found myself in an unknown city, knowing nobody and feeling homesick. Through the years I had to learn how to incorporate workouts and other meditation techniques to relax and ground myself no matter where I am or what is happening around me.

Can you share with our readers any self-care routines, practices, or treatments that you do to help your body, mind, or heart to thrive? Please share a story for each one if you can.

My biggest self-care routine that I would encourage for every human being is to have regular exercise in their lives. Finding a workout that you love to do safely, calmly and consistently is such a game-changer when it comes to overall health, happiness and peace. After travelling all over the world, I always used exercise as a kind of mediation to not only keep my body looking good for work, but also to keep my mind calm in the midst of chaotic and stressful situations.

I also love to rub coconut oil all over my body after having a shower. I think it's such a great life-hack that keeps the skin moisturized, glowing and feeling amazing always!

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Believe that you are what you want to be” — Neville Goddard

I love this quote as it perfectly captures the essence of what we should strive for in our lives. Any goals, intentions or dreams are reached by our continuous efforts to move in that direction. If we can believe in the present, that we are already where we want to be in the future then that goal will become reality as we make decisions and actions towards that desire.

You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would love to encourage all of humanity to forget about social limitations and beliefs. To live in peace with their neighbors and eradicate feelings of separation and discrimination. If the world could remember that we are all humans together — going through the same life experiences and difficulties and to spread love to one another instead of hate!

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Yes, I am on Instagram — but only as a landing page for my modelling clients. I used to be much more active on the app and had a large following with brand collaborations etc, but in 2018 my Instagram account was hacked and deleted! After 2 weeks I was feeling so much more relaxed, calm and happy! I didn’t have any more anxiety or worry about what to post next or more importantly what people thought of me. I think with modelling its really difficult to find the balance of what to share on Instagram as a model and also as your own personality. The photos that you post for work are not necessarily what you want to show the world of ‘you’ as that image has been designed by the photographer, hair and make-up artist and brand creating the shoot.

So I found that keeping social media for work and personal life separate was a key for my peace of mind and would encourage every model and woman to do the same!

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!