meet TahJoenae

Looking back at Highschool, if you were to ask me who was destine for success in this crazy world I’d have to say this human being right here. Truly an outgoing soul and just someone you want around to brighten your day. Watching all your success and cheering you on from the sidelines is truly an inspiration. When I look back on our day’s in Highschool I truly looked at you as an entertainer. Successful at anything you put your mind to. Sure, i'm sure you’ve had your downfalls in life like anyone else but who’s counting. I want to thank you for taking the time out to join us in this conversation. 

I’m sure there’s things you may not be able to share with the world just yet, but is there anything coming up we can expect to see from you?  

I am actually currently taking some time to myself. Mostly to regroup and think about my next steps in my career. I’m still working with my agencies so I’ll most likely book other jobs in the meantime but for now I’ll be taking some acting classes, working on any short film roles that I book and maybe even shadowing a director or a producer on a film set. I feel like because I’ve been modeling so long that everyone thinks it’s my end goal. However I started modeling as a way to market myself better as an actor. I’m actually very creative and I want to get back into creating just for the sake of it and not to pay bills and survive. That being said, I do have an upcoming supporting role in a feature film that will be in production next year. The film is titled The Distance Between Us and I play Tehya. I’m not sure which streaming service the movie will be released on but anyone interested in watching can follow the official Instagram page and keep up with any announcements. 

Have you personally experienced any of the stereotypical stories we as a society think of when we hear about the modeling industry. If so would you mind sharing your story and please feel free to only go as deep as you feel comfortable. Or perhaps have you been a bystander/eyewitness to one? If so, why do you think these things continue to happen? 

Fortunately, I have only had to deal with a few of the stereotypical stories. I say fortunately because I’ve heard horror stories of models being violated mentally and physically. One situation that I’ve had to deal with on more than one occasion with multiple different people is my body size. When I first started modeling I had no idea what I was doing but being the ambitious person that I am I set up an agency meeting. I’m a naturally skinny person and I just got out of basketball season so I was in good shape. I would have never expected to leave that meeting thinking that I needed to lose two inches off of my hip size. My 36 inch hips were too big for them and they wanted me to either drop it down to a 34 inch hip size or gain weight so that I can be in their plus size division. I was honestly too lazy to lose the two inches but I also just didn’t want to have a flat butt. I know it’s so minimal but I like my butt and I just didn’t want to look like the other models that they had hanging up in their office. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a smaller size but that’s just not how I wanted to look. Another story that really pissed me off was when I got booked to do a female empowerment shoot for a magazine. I remember watching the other models get dressed and thinking how amazing and colorful and playful their outfits were and even wondering which of the outfits hanging up would be the one they put me in. Also, take note that I’m a size 6 and that I am the biggest size on set. So fast forward to wardrobe and for my first outfit I’m wearing a blazer and black pants that I had to squeeze into and find a way to pose in without bending since I physically was unable to. Compared to everyone else’s garments I looked like an after thought and even worse I started to feel like an after thought or like the only reason I’m here is for diversity.(I also happened to be the darkest person on set which is saying a lot) When the stylist was helping me squeeze into the tight black pants he apologized and said that the showroom, where stylist get most of their clothes from, didn’t have any pants bigger than this because most if not all of their clothes only go up to a size four. To top it off my second look was a skirt that was three times as big and resembled something an older woman would wear to church on Sunday. All of the other models were a size 4 or under and they watched me squeeze into pants and then be clipped into a skirt. The entire situation was embarrassing because the models know what’s happening and they’re all watching trying not to make me feel bad as they easily slip into their extravagant outfits. Everyone on set is watching because everyone else is ready to go except me who couldn’t fit into my pants at no fault of my own. I left that photoshoot feeling so bad about myself and I don’t think I willingly stepped in front of a camera for a couple months after that. 

Have you noticed a larger number of casting for woman of color in the industry? Or is that still an area that unfortunately still needs help. 

There is definitely an increase in casting for women of color. However a lot of it comes off as performative. It’s 2023 and brands know that they will get called out for only working with white people. The casting breakdown will tell you the exact kind of person that they are looking to cast for the project. For example the casting will say “cool black women, 20s” or “Asian women” or any other person of color. It’s hard to tell who is just being performative and who actually cares about talent being represented. Sometimes when I get on set and see my cast mates it’s clear that they are trying to hit every diversity mark in the book. I’m the black girl, then there’s the Latina girl and the Asian guy and a plus size person and like four different types of white people. Sometimes it’s blatantly obvious that it’s just for diversity like when the entire on camera cast is a mix of different diversities and ethnicities but the entire crew consist of white people. Or another example would be when all the models on set are women of color with curly textured hair and the hair stylist they booked to take care of us is a white women with no experience working on textured hair. That is one of the most disrespectful things you can do and shows that whoever is in charge doesn’t actually care about the models on set. I’m lucky enough to have worked with women who actually took the time to learn my hair texture because they weren’t taught it in beauty school and I appreciate them but knowing how to do all hair types as a hairstylist is the bare minimum. It’s kind of a win win though because even if it is just performative these castings are giving more women of color a space in this industry. 

Who’s your fashion inspiration? 

-Tell us why.

My mom has always been my fashion inspiration. My mom had an amazing fashion sense. I’ve always loved her style because she always dressed how she wanted to dress and it was never basic. She taught me that my shoes, belt and hat should match and that the stitching of my pants had to match my outfit as well. She taught me how to coordinate and how to be confident. The most important lesson that she taught me is that if my hair is done and I have on nice shoes then my outfit is 90% complete. I used to get lost in my moms closets for hours just making a mess and trying different things on. We weren’t really the same size but I made it work.

Do you find your style is always evolving or you stick to a certain brand and style. 

I think I stick to a couple of styles and that those styles evolve within itself over time. I say that because I’ve always dressed  somewhere on the spectrum between a twelve year old boy or a barely clothed hooker. When I was younger I didn’t master the styling of it or how to 100% feel confident in my clothes or in my body so I would mostly dress like everyone else. Growing up and gaining more confidence was probably the most important factor. I still follow trends and dress basic sometimes but other times when I get dressed I know how to really put an outfit together. Something that I can feel confident and hot in. Most of the time it’s a mixture of tomboy and baddie but I feel like that represents me. I honestly just get dressed depending on how I’m feeling that day and I won’t limit myself to different styles. I had a very goth like outfit on the other day just because I thought it would look cute together and it did so I wore it. 

What do you do when it’s a shoot day or you’re walking a runway and don’t feel 100% confident? 

i have been on multiple shoots where I haven’t felt completely confident and honestly the only thing I could do in that time was fake it. At that point you’re already at the shoot and you have a job to do so there’s no going back. If I’m not feeling confident I’ll try to go to the bathroom to spend some time with myself. Usually I’ll remind myself that the people on set aren’t hyper focused on my insecurities the way that I am. I’ll also take some time to actually look at myself in the mirror and check out the insecurities that I’m in my head about. I can’t tell you the amount of times where I’ve been in my head thinking i look horrible in something just to look in the mirror and realize it was all in my head. Also, the thing about modeling is that you’ll take one thousand pictures just to get the one good picture so it’s important for me to remind myself that at least one of these pictures will look good. I spend a lot of my time in the mirror practicing faces, poses and angles and all of that mirror time comes in handy during times where I’m not confident because I know my best angles so I’ll just stick to them. As for runway the last time I walked the runway I absolutely hated it. Ive walked runway maybe five times with about ten different designers and a lot of times there was a delay backstage because I couldn’t fit into something. I did not feel confident at all so I did the only thing I could do and I faked it and got through the show. I have not done a runway show since. That’s actually when I started seriously pursuing commercial modeling because I knew there was no way I would be walking a runway again anytime soon simply because I didn’t like the way it made me feel about myself. I’m big on how I feel about myself especially in this industry where everyone else is telling you that you look too big or too small or you don’t have a look that fits their mood board or whatever it is that day. At the end of the day it is my job to be looked at and judged basically but it’s also somewhat in my control. Commercial modeling has been so much more fun than fashion ever was for me. I get to smile and be playful and some times even act like a kid again. With that there is no faking being confident at all because that is where my authentic confidence lies, in my personality. If I didn’t have an option and was obligated to only do fashion I most likely wouldn’t me modeling at all anymore.