From the Ground Up or My First Audition with the Debbie Travis Show

Two Fridays ago, I met with my agent at Chozen Stylizticz to talk about my work in Toronto. I met with the booker, the marketing president, and the agency owner at a fabulous hotel in downtown Toronto. At the end of the two hour meeting, it had been confirmed. They wanted me to attend an open call audition for the Debbie Travis Show. What? I've never audition for anything before in my life. Hmmm...but why not?

Who's Debbie Travis?



I guess that's where things had to begin. I quickly found myself visiting HGTV, Painted House, Face Lift, From the Ground Up, Wikipedia, and more. The web is abundant with the designs and TV shows that she has done. Miss Brunette has got this to say: Rad! (You can't hate me for using that word. You know, I have to keep my roots to the OC going strong when out in T-town!)

I clicked to the web interview questions and I'm answered them like so. You can skip this section but a true blog-girl and a real style agent wants to set the record straight:

1) Describe your training and background in design, if any, and, what is your present involvement in the design/decorating field?

I’ve been a prop stylist in Los Angeles and Chicago for the last five years. My work has recently appeared in Time Magazine to The Drake Hotel Guide to Chicago. My clients have included Sears, Younkers Department Store, Lenscrafters, FTD: Floral Transit Delivery, and Roxanne Taylor Jewelry Designs. After working commercial print my interests began to shift to creating spaces that people could live with. My bachelor degree in fine art, received from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, prepared me for an easy transition. I took post-graduate classes at the UCLA Interior Design Program. I was hired at an interior design firm in the Laguna Beach, CA area that specialized in model home design. When I had the free time, I also took on residential clients and redesigned their homes. At the start of 2006, I wrote a book on style and design that is in the process of seeking publication. My career took an absolute unexpected turn when I went to Las Vegas in May and met the man of my dreams. As it turned out, he’s a Toronto police officer. One month ago, I made the move to Toronto. I’ve found representation at a great emerging creative agency, Chozen Stylizticz, that represents photographers, hair and make-up artists, and prop stylists. At the moment my most important project is getting our new place designed and ready for a great house warming party!

2) What design or decorating project are you most proud of and why?

Work, determination, and persistence are dynamic factors of being a great stylist. Of course, so is having great style! Yet, starting out in the business, the glamorous jobs aren’t exactly laid at your feet. At a photo studio in Chicago, I was offered what most stylists considered the worst account. Against all the whispers from the other stylists and all the nightmare stories I heard about the client, I took the account. At the start of the job, I only had two photographers and one photo assistant. Putting my best pedicure foot forward, I set out to work hard at delivering quality styled shots to my client before deadline and, gasp, under budget! It’s wondrous what the creative mind can deliver. Not only did I set up a workflow method that enabled us to more than triple our work, but also in the end, I had two styling assistants, seven photographers, and seven photo assistants working on this account. What could be better than that? I redesigned the photo gallery and made it a great work environment. The whispers of the nightmare account were swept away. I always had stylists and photographers working on other accounts at the photo studio drop by to “escape” into our photo gallery. Again and again, I had everyone telling me that they wanted to work on this account. Maybe it isn’t just work, determination, and persistence that make the great stylist. Perhaps, it is also having a great attitude that separates the good from the bad.


3) Why do you want to be on From the Ground Up With Debbie Travis Season II - The Road to Success at this time in your life? Tell us why you'd like the chance to change your current circumstances.

My personal truth: I believe that the world can improve through the beauty and quality of good design. Knowing my personal truth and standing at the crossroads of my life, I’ve been busy working as a home stylist and as an interior designer. One of my life dreams has been to make style and design accessible to people by writing and creating beautiful spaces. I took the reins of fate into my hand at the start of 2006 and wrote a slender little non-traditional book. I’ve received a couple of rejection letters from agents in New York, but I’ve also got written encouragement that my concepts are good. As I repackage my book, I want to take my work to the next level. I view the opportunity to work with Debbie Travis as my road to success. Like an apprentice learning a craft from a master, I’d learn by just watching Debbie Travis handle work and job sites. I view challenges as an ability to grow.

4) Give an example of how you're competitive in your every day life.

Design related jobs by nature are competitive. After attending an internationally recognized college known for its aggressive and rigorous educational approach, I learned that the true competitive spirit resides within. I’m constantly working to attain new steps of achievements in my projects and myself.


5) How would your friends and colleagues describe you?

She smiles and laughs a lot. I think that’s always the first impression people get with me at least. After people get beyond that, they start to learn my secret: Kill’em with Kindness. It works every time and the ball usually lands in my court.

6) What is your design style?

Modern glamour. It’s a hot buzzword in design at the moment so I hate to use it because I’m not caught in trends. But, I can’t get over modernism and I love glamour. Simple elegance with subtle luxuries can produce extremely glamorous effects. I want people to be relaxed and experience the peace of beauty at the same time. My style is like watching a leaf fall at a Zen rock garden while relaxing on a double chaise lounge chair covered in beige terry cloth with lots of copper-colored throw pillows.

7) What makes you think that you can rise to this challenge and that you, more than anyone else, have what it takes to be Debbie Travis' new designer on her latest exciting venture?

The ancient Greeks said that life is like two horses pulling a chariot. The horse on the left represents passion and the horse on the right represents reason. It is the chariot, or free will, that guides our passion and decisions. Well, my horses are raging and chomping at the bit for a chance to race through the Debbie Travis show. My balance of passion and reason enable me to be a leader as well as a team player. I’m a brunette, fabulous, and ready to tackle any design challenge. I’d even vow to take an ancient Greek oath to make Debbie Travis’s latest venture as wild, fun, and action-packed as an Olympic festival.

******

THE AUDITION

After freezing in a line chalked full of design looking individuals, we made inside to this basement floor conference room. I snapped this quick picture while Debbie was telling us to really sell ourself. Brunettes are lucky because the sell comes naturally. I handed in my questions, hand printed on their form, and wait for my number to be called.



Now, my favorite number is four. So as I was given my number for the audition, number fourty-four, two fours, my favorite number, I was super happy. I can use all the help and encouragement that I can get.

When I heard the number 44 called. I was delighted. Now it was time for a my first interview. This felt more nerve racking than my interior design interview (my readers from the start you might have recalled my interior design interview or you might have chosen to have forget-in any case, I proved a link).

I had the worst monsters in my head. I thought the interview would be awful and they would be staring at my ill clothes. I think any girl thinks that when she's nervous. Stupid little details and bad corporate monsters that just want to eat you!

THE INTERVIEWER:
Number 44!

MISS BRUNETTE:
YEAH! HI!
(thinking maybe I didn't need to yell)
I'm number 44.
(big smile and off I went)

The first interview was simple wonderful. It was easy. I was myself. We talked about indian food and the freaking ridiculous cost of rent. At the end of the interview, she said I want Debbie to meet you. I was in! Yeah. Oh, but she kept going, but, I'm not certain if you can because you're American. Damn the Canadians! I reassured her it wasn't a problem.

After the first fifty people had either been asked home based on the hand-written questions or were given the first interview, a red-headed women in a lovely stripe sweater came back into the conference room.

INTERVIEWER:
I have the numbers of people selected to interview with Debbie Travis upstairs. Number 39, 43, and 44.

There was a hush in the room as everyone waited for the only three people that had been asked to interview with Debbie stood up. I felt wonderful and brunette. I was content that I had done well on my first interview and now....

******

THE DEBBIE TRAVIS INTERVIEW

This was the last photo that I took before heading into the firing squad, as I like to call it. Thank god that they had lunch before they took me in to interview. They were a bit more relaxed because number 39 had said this about his interview as he walked out:

NUMBER 39
They just told me to leave. And I was like that was it? And they were like yeah. I feel kinda of strange about the whole thing.

Yeah and I felt strange about it too. Yuck. That sounds like a Hollywood interview slash pitch session! At least from what I had seen from the movies, right. I was up and everyone gave me the thumbs up. Number 39 gave me the room set-up so at least I had that much of a clue. Problem was that it sounded awful. For one, Debbie Travis was at a table with three other people. The aristocratic gentleman to Debbie's right wore the thin wire frame I've always associated with critics and scholars. The blonde to her left was a senior editor for an upcoming magazine as she put it (hmm...maybe debbie is starting a magazine from her TV show! I think I'm on to something!) and behind me was a wall of seated people listening and taking notes. Did I mention the obvious? The bright lights and the camera crews were a buzz with taping my interview. I hope I looked good.

The interview lasted for what seemed thirty minutes. I made them laugh. I firmly spoke about my design work and I tried to sell myself the best that I could. I've never been at such an important interview and all things considered. I did pretty damn well. Actually, I feel so proud of my interview that I'm completely fine with not making the show. But, Debbie or any of your gurus are reading, I loved the chance to really throw some spin into the design world.

I hope that everyone keeps their fingers crossed for Miss Brunette!

(But, you know what, I'll get there one day even if its not on an interior design show)

Cheers until the next post!