Rising Stars: Meet Allanah Morales of Detroit, MI

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allanah Morales

Allanah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Modeling was never something I originally was interested in. My aunts, who are twins, were successful models in their 20s. For years I had always heard “you should model.” But I never wanted to focus on something so trivial as looks. For years I had photographers reaching out to collab on photoshoots. When COVID 19 hit I went from having a very social college life, to being trapped inside with nothing to do. I finally agreed to a photoshoot with a photographer. After my first photoshoot I began getting so many requests for collaborations & influencer posts then things kinda took off from there.

However, I never want my modeling or my beauty to hide from the fact I’m a very accomplished woman though. I feel often people forget that & just see a pretty face. But I’m a powerful woman. I have led marches & spoke in front of thousands of people at the state capitol. I have received congressional recognition & even a peace award from governor Whitmer. I have served as Director of Student Services for my university. I have even had the honor to meet Terrence Roberts from the Little Rock 9. I am more than just a model, I am a college graduate, a successful Afro-Latina woman.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I feel the biggest challenge with modeling and social media influencing is balancing it with the rest of my life. I think people often forget, I’m a real person. In addition to modeling, I work full time, & I’m enrolled in college full time, completing my second bachelor’s. I also have numerous student orgs I’m apart of. I sometimes have to turn down really big modeling gigs because I have a class that day. It can be very frustrating and l feel it holds me back from being as successful as I could be in modeling. But college is my number one priority so I try not to let anything affect that. Another struggle I’ve faced with modeling recently is being a pet owner. I love my poodle to death but I never realized how much of a inconvenience it would be having him now with work. I can’t just get up and leave and travel from state to state now when I get a gig. I have to think about accommodations for him &/or take into consideration the pricing to board him when I book shoots now. Which only adds to extra costs that I have to pay out of pocket. I’ve turned down so many shoots out of fear I wouldn’t be able to find anyone to care for him while I was gone. Its frustrating but I wouldn’t do anything differently, I just wish I had a extra helping hand when it came to him.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have been modeling for almost 4 years now. I am currently signed to multiple agencies & have had the privilege to work with numerous large name companies, as well as boutiques. Modeling has allowed me to travel to places like Los Angeles & Cincinnati for work, which is one of my favorite parts, exploring new places. Social media influencing has also allowed me to collab with so many local business as well as “big name” businesses. One of my recent favorites is being able to attend the Bad Bunny concert thanks to Fiesta Vibes Detroit & Hollywood Casino at Greektown.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
One of the biggest risk I took was when I was booked for my first “big” shoot. I was in class when my agent called me to tell me I got the gig. It was around 5p that day & call time was 8a the next morning in a city almost 4 hours away. I knew I had to leave almost immediately so I left class, packed a few things, & rushed to the salon to get my nails prepped for the shoot. From there I hit the road, I knew I was going to have to spend the night but had no hotel booked. I had never done a big car drive like this before, yet alone by myself. I booked a last minute hotel using a coupon app. I made it to Cincinnati around 9:30pm & i had an assignment due at midnight so I immediately got to work. The actual day of the shoot was great & the crew was so amazing & made me feel welcomed. I was nervous after hearing so many stereotypes about how “cruel” the modeling industry was supposed to be. As we were getting later in the day I was growing concerned. There was a HUGE winter storm that was headed to Michigan later that evening. I knew if I finished up the shoot too late I could be stranded or worse, driving through the blizzard. The weather in Cincinnati was completely opposite at the time, it was almost 60°F! Once I hit the road to head back home I kept getting alarms on the radio warning of the storm, my apple maps even encouraged me to take a different route or turn around. I was SO nervous I was going to be trapped on the highway. I couldn’t take any pit stops for the sake of time, a lot of businesses had even closed early due to the storm so it felt like i was driving through ghost towns. In some places, there was not a person in sight. I didn’t see any snow the whole time, until the moment I crossed the border & made it back to my city. The snow started pouring down out of nowhere! Luckily I was only 5 minutes from home at this point & I made it back safely.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allanah_morales?igsh=bWZpcXNnOGpucWV4&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://allanah.my.canva.site/