Story time: My name is Reese Galleria, and I’ve been sanctioned for as long as I can remember.
I’ll never forget my journey into the industry as a new face from Chicago. In the beginning I probably applied to every agency in the Midwest, and was rejected by every single one. 😂
It wasn’t until @rachsimmon saw early potential in me and offered to represent me as my MA, and within a weeks time of signing she placed me with 2 different agencies in NY & Chicago. At the time It felt so crazy I thought I was so lit. 😂 Shout out to Mrs.Simmons for influencing my future.
Fast forward another year or so and I’m consistently shooting commercial e-commerce with household brand names in the Midwest. But that was #NeverEnough & High Fashion was calling me. I was trynna go to Europe so ba
I could never forget my first PFW How could I? it was SS21 An infamous series of canon events nearly worthy of being a film. I was newly 18 & the definition of a rookie. I remember I $0.00 out my bank account on a round trip ticket France, telling myself, “It doesn’t make sense, it makes euros.” - in retrospect it didn’t make either. But f*ck it we ball! 💯🪖
(I’m happy I can tell this story in hindsight lmao)
On that trip the airport lost my luggage & I remember having to absolutely thug it out in a single outfit for a solid week plus surviving off a bag of apples, and whatever Parisian Halal 5€ could buy, bumping ‘N***as In Paris’ chain smoking roll up tabac to suppress my appetite. Literally praying that the castings had lunches for the models.
I recall that #LouisVuitton was lowkey one of the only ones that did lol #StarvingArtist. #LunchBudget lol it’s not even funny 💀 but it was definitely an experience.
But TLDR I really only touched on this experience for context. I’m approaching my 5th year as a signed model & since then I’ve luckily developed beyond this experience. But as long as I live I’ll let this anecdote serve as a reference point for me. I answered an internal question on that trip: “How bad do you want it?” Would you let Literal Hunger determine your outcome? Cause I won’t. I want ts the most 🌐⚖️#galleria
This past week I was Invited to Colombia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) @columbia.sipa Institute of Global Politics (IGP) to sit with @mayorofdallas Eric Johnson, and discuss the future of US Cities. It was a great conversation! Thank you to @sgayounglee for having me! Massive full circle🤞🏾🌐
Photo: @balper_nyc 📸
