My experience as a male model and the big business behind it

To my person:

I am a 18 year old student living in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

How I became a model:

There is a model contest called Elite Model Look. It is the biggest international contest where young people get the chance of becoming a model and taking part at the big final in Spain.
I am a pretty insecure person who makes that up with humour. I didn't think that I would have a slight chance but I still participated at the contest.
First they my body measurements to see if I would fit in this business.
After that procedure we had to walk on a catwalk in front of the judges and hundreds of viewers because the whole "casting" was in a mall. I was very nervous before my walk so got red in the face which was very embarrassing. I knew that I had only one chance and gave my best.
After everybody had his walk we stood in front of the judges and they named the ones who got invited to the second round.
Luckily I was one of few.
Everything kept going and I got to the national final.

The final was unbelievable for a newbie like me. I never had to perform infront of somy many people. People who are important in this business.

After the final walk the winners were announced. A boy and a girl.
Unfortunately I was not among the winners but it was not a big tragic because I still got a contract at the biggest agency in Austria called Stella Models.

Let's get to the business aspect of the whole thing.
After the contest at first I did not get any jobs. That was very demotivating but I did not lose the hope.
After a while I got the first requests. Nothing big but still very profitable. I was supposed to get 120 ‎€ just for presenting a fragrance by the big brand Guerlain for approximately 3 hours.
This amount of money is nothing for the more known models or even supermodels like David Gandy or the young Lucky Blue Smith who is only 19 years old and already making big stacks.
It is also important to know that female models get much more money at jobs than men. Maybe because the market for male models is not that big yet.
If a model gets the chance to model for a TV commercial for a fragrance like Armani or a clothing brand like Ralph Lauren it may get several hundreds of thousands.
It could be a misconseption that models get a lot of money at the fashion shows. Those walks are just of importantance for the model to be seen and become a bit more known in the business and maybe get a job later on. A job which brings a lot of money.

In the end it is always all about the money.