by MIKE CHAIKEN
CTFashionMag.com
The world of modeling is a world about getting a break.
Wolcott, Conn.’s Monika Korbusieski has had some fashion shoots. She has had the chance to walk runways.
Then her parents David and Natalia got a message. A model manager from Connecticut, Deborah Grear-Brown of Fashion Inspires! Model Management had an opportunity for Monika to travel to Washington D.C. with a small army of models to attend a red-carpet event for the America opening of a Nollywood comedy, “The Merrymen 2.”
(Nollywood is the nickname for the movie industry in Nigeria.)
Monika was told the event, which was a fundraiser for the Jack-Rich Foundation, would attract an assortment of celebrities. Industry insiders also were expected.
The 16-year-old aspiring model had a break within her grasp.
The opportunity presented wasn’t all without some labor. The teen had to commit to catching a 7:30 a.m. train for a six-hour jaunt. Subsequently, she wasn’t returning on a train to Connecticut until 3:30 a.m. the next day. In the midst of that, she was expected to stand in heels for several hours.
But it was an opportunity Monika and her parents thought was worth it.
The train ride down was a fashion caravan, picking up model riders along the way. A handful, including Monika, started the journey down from New Haven, Conn. Additional models were added along the ride.
Eventually, Monika arrived in D.C. with models Nai Williams, Kei Jones, Mercedes DeWitt, Alina Fatieiva, and Queen Igwe.
A limo ride took the models and Grear-Brown to the five-star rated InterContinental Hotel on the Wharf in D.C.
“I’m feeling excited, ready, a little nervous,” said Monika while she waited in the hotel lobby in the nation’s capital.
“It’s such a cool opportunity,” Monika said. “I’m very grateful.”
“This is something I definitely want to do,” said Monika of the event and of the career in modeling.
The model contingent of Fashion Inspires! arrived to find that the organizers of the event, Heritage Brands LLC and Potomac Management (more specifically Neil Alpert, Russell Wiggins, O. Xavier Hixon, and Angela Patterson) had booked the models rooms to prep themselves for the red-carpet event. The organizers also provided a luncheon at the hotel’s restaurant, where Monika indulged in some jerk chicken.
The models were ushered away from their lunch for a bit where they had a chance to meet a couple of celebrities such as Kim Victoria Fields (from shows like “The Real Housewives of Atlanta, “Livin’ Single,” and “The Facts of Life”), Cynthia Bailey (also a “Real Housewife”), and singer Amara La Negra (from “Love and Hip Hop: Miami”).
Monika and the other models then went to their rooms to prepare. But first there was time to rest.
Eventually, the call came from Grear-Brown (who launched her management firm after a stint with the James Brown Family Performing Arts Center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). She wanted a meeting with the models to give them their directions for the evening.
The models were told they were to greet the guests, shake their hands (or hug them if they were huggers), and engage in some conversation. The focus, however, was to be on the guests.
The time then had come for Monika and her roommate Mercedes to get red carpet ready.
Once the models returned to the hotel lobby, dressed in their evening gown best, there was a time for some photographs under the Christmas tree at the lobby. And then everyone headed off to the venue, The Carnegie Institution of Science.
A trip in an Uber presented Monika with a Cinderella moment. The driver was late and then went the wrong direction. Monika than had her first fashionably late arrival at a red-carpet event.
Outside of the venue, acrobats worked their circus arts magic. A jazz band played to give them some musical accompaniment.
Monika may have missed most of the red-carpet arrivals, but she managed to grab some photographs to preserve the moment.
Past the front door, Monika then was swept up into the crowd filled with celebrities and big wigs ready to support the Jack-Rich Foundation, which is a charity that helps the poor of Nigeria.
Monika posed for photographs with some of the guests, who like her were looking for celebrities. But Monika also was able to pose for photographs with those celebrities, such as the cast of “The Merrymen II” such as Ayo Makun. Inside the VIP Room, Monika and the models met with members of the cast of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” again, the actor Leon, and the evening’s emcee, comedian D.L. Hughley.
Once Monika had her bearings, she maneuvered through the crowd engaging in the requisite small talk.
Then, as the guests were herded into the theater, Monika joined the other models from Fashion Inspire! To listen to some of the guests of honor offer a prelude to the film. Elizabeth Jack-Rich, who heads the foundation supported at the event, offered her word of thanks to its organizers.
Then it was movie-time as the adventure and hijinks of the title characters of “The Merrymen II” enfolded on the big screen.
After the final credits rolled, a look outside revealed that snow was falling gently over Washington D.C. During a limo ride back to the Intercontinental Hotel for an after party, flakes danced in the lights that illuminated the Capitol building in the background.
Inside the room for the afterparty, the mood was chill. Alina was speaking about her homeland of Ukraine. And Monika and the other models were thinking about food.
Hixon, who had been going nonstop since the day began, took a moment to breathe as the after party offered an opportunity to unwind.
The time had then come for the models to pack up their stuff and return to the train station. A six-hour train ride was beckoning for Monika and the other models.
It was a whirlwind. But upon Monika’s return, the teen learned other breaks were now on the way.
All photos by MIKE CHAIKEN