Mistakes of Modeling

With modeling there are a few questions I'm always asked. How did you get into modeling? Why did you start modeling? Who have you modeled for? How long have you been modeling? What's in your model bag? Any advice? These are all good questions, and each have answers that should help all new models. For this article I am going to focus on my very first agent and how this all started. I will answer some questions here and the rest in another article.

Let's start with: why did you start modeling? Back in high school my boyfriend had always said I could be a model, but my ex-best friend had her own ideas. I approached her one time and asked about her family members and how to get into modeling. One was modeling and another was a designer. At least that's what she told me. She did have a problem with truthfulness. She said I was pretty, but I would fold under the pressure and modeling would ruin me. Said I would hate it and (when I became a size 14 instead of the 10/12 I used to be) said I wouldn't fit in anywhere. Too heavy for high fashion, too heavy for regular, and too skinny for plus sized. I was a little discouraged and put it off in the back of my mind. It wasn't until we stopped being friends that I pursued it. I wanted to prove her wrong about anything I was hurting, so bad. It was one of those revenge things (almost like success is the best revenge) at the start. I figured if I could do this it meant she was wrong about other things as well (she said a few harsh things over the years and during our last big blowout).

This leads me to the next question: how did I get into modeling? I immediately started looking online for modeling gigs and got some mixed results. I found some shady craigslist ads about webcams and warehouses, but I also found model mayhem and Facebook groups for my city (modeling and photography groups). I tell everyone I started modeling on the first of January 2016 (my first fashion show), but I started looking end of 2015 and ran into my first mistake. I was looking for some TFP (time for pictures) work to build my portfolio for paid jobs later. One of the people in the Facebook group messaged me and asked if I was looking for an agent/agency. I figured it would get me some paid jobs, so I said: you know what, I am. Now, he did make promises (Macy's, Bells, Zales, and Bethesda) and sent me a contract (it was for ASM or AMP Model Agency which was switching over to Anja or Anika Modeling Agency). I looked up him name to be safe, but I didn't find anything bad (should have looked up company name too). I didn't know he was using an alias. I signed the contract (it was poorly written and I already saw a few ways to get out of it just in case, because you never know) and got all the stuff I needed to model (I will explain what is in my model bag in another post).

Things were good at the start, so I got a few of my friends involved (I also got them out when the time came). Towards the end though I wasn't telling people not to join him. I was just answering questions truthfully (Q: Have you gotten paid? A: No. Q: Is he mindful of time and events A: He's canceled more than once, been late a few times, and I've gone to a location and he never show no explanation. Etc.) which pissed him off. He said I should be hyping him up because he's my agent. Sorry, but if you’re not worth it I'm not going to hype you up. Now over the course of the 6 months of the contract we had two photoshoots (TFP not paid) and a lot of canceled events. It was a vicious cycle. He would get Macy's they would reschedule again and again. This would also happen with the others. I got to the point I wanted to talk to them myself, but he wouldn't give me their number. I got so fed up I looked online for the numbers and by chance ran across a story that was similar to what I was experiencing. With the same companies, but an agent name I didn't recognize. As I read though the post, I saw this was exactly what was happening to me and if this was the same guy he had been pulling this scam for more than ten years in the south Texas area.

I looked up the unknown agent name more and found more of the same and even a few pictures of my agent. I saw he had several fake accounts on Facebook and one of which was the one he contacted me though. The posts were saying he was mentally unstable, not a real agent, and his agency isn't real. With one post I was reading about a girl who was also using him as an acting agent made my skin crawl. I was glad I never told him I was an actor. She said that she was booked for a horror film with his friend and they were doing it in an abandoned building. She was not allowed to bring anyone and were explaining how she would be tied up and all the other stuff. It sounds pretty typical horror film, but the not allowed to bring one person for safety is odd and she got a bad feeling from how they were talking. She decided to look up the friend (she never stated name so I can't tell you) and that friend had some charges for sexual assault, battery, and a few other scary things. Not the track record you want the director of a horror film to have.

I confronted my agent (over the phone because he lived a city or so away) about all I had learned. He became furious and I immediately terminated my contract (loopholes are lovely). I also told all my friends to terminate theirs and they did after I told them all I had found out (we all had done some other side modeling, so it wasn't the end of our careers. I even had another three agents lined up that I did research on). He then left some very nasty messages on my phone. I will type out what he said, but I must warn you there is some strong language.

Voice Message 1 at 4:52 pm: You breached my contract. You think that's right? For me to be happy you breached contract. And you went with some f*ck hole who calls your model agent- your model manager a predatory person. How would you like to be called a predatory person? ‘Cuz that's what you are when you-when you run around with him [Daniel]. He's a predator. He doesn't even sign- he doesn't even sign model releases with his models. He's a liar. He's a full-fledged liar. What, you gonna send this to him ‘cuz you like him? You like his little f*ckin' lies? You like his-Cuz I know what's on your page too because he puts it everywhere. An you know what I don't give a damn what he does. He's not going to get me in jail. He's not gonna get me in prison cuz I have done nothing. I have done nothing. I asked two little girls MOMS if they could model. NOT them. See you hang up on me ‘cuz you won't-you don't wanna listen to the truth, do you? You don't wanna listen to the truth. My mom said you're- you're about as numskull as he is. My mom don't like you. I don't like you. I'm not going to give you a job. An you know what? Macy's and Zale's isn't gonna give you a job. You know why? Because your fat. Pfat-fat (he did spell it out loud like that on voice mail). You’re a fat little-cubby little girl and that's the honest truth. That's what they called you. I didn't they did. Macy's and Bioware, they don't want you. An you know what? I guess that you don't want me. You-you'd rather go with every Tom, Dick, and Harry and work with them. That's not professional. You followed-I wrote you a contract that you were supposed to stick by and you said I won't stick by it. You never did. You lied. You lied on a contract, so that's breach of contract. So, you know what you're gonna get sued too. I'm gonna get a- I'm gonna get- I'm gonna sue every single one of you people. I'm gonna sue the pants off you. I'm gonna sue him for libel and slander and I'm gonna sue Curtis for libel and slander. Oh and I'm gonna sue Lorry Gonzales for libel and slander. I didn't hurt any of you. I gave you chances. You didn't want to take the chance. You didn't even give me a chance. You gave me... (silence for a bit) (hangs up).

Explanation: I didn't breach contract. I read every part of it and followed all the rules. He was grasping for straws because I pissed him off by leaving though a loophole in his contract. The whole predator thing was from a meeting between him and Daniel (guy I did some modeling for further explained in another post). Daniel told him to his face that he was mistreating models and how he was acting at times was inappropriate to models and some of his worries (he would hug a lot and would act crazy when he was mad). There was also the little girl issue mentioned in the voice mail. He obviously got pissed at Daniels remarks. Daniel is not a predator. He's always very professional and is never inappropriate. Daniel did have model release forms and we would sign them, so we could be photographed by everyone in the clothes we were modeling (it was a lot of charity events, so I didn't mind not getting paid and I did get the photographs later. It also helped me network for later down the line). What was on my page were these very photographs. I had told him what shows I was going to be in and that I was going to post pictures and i knew Daniel would too. It was his event. I have no idea why this was such a surprise. If he wanted me to model for other things and have different pictures, he should have gotten me work. Simple as that. The whole jail thing was because he has been accused of things before went to court but due to his mental illness no action is ever taken (stalking issues and violent behavior). I hung up on him because he started calling me a multitude of things (f'*cking b*itch, cunt, fat f*ck, whore, etc.) and I didn't feel like dealing with him at that point which is why he left these voice mails in the first place. I honestly don't know why he bought up his mother as I only spoke to her once and that was her handing him the phone. He never told me the two companies didn't want me because I was a plus sized model. If he had I would have moved on. Instead he kept telling me I had a job. That they wanted plus sized and it just keeps getting rescheduled. I honestly doubt a professional business would call someone all those names. It would be a PR nightmare. I'm pretty sure it was just him calling me all those things again like he did on the phone earlier. Again, I followed his contact and I stuck around longer than others (mostly because I was looking for a loophole). I didn't lie on the contract. I don't know how you can lie on a contract. My name is my name. I followed the stupid rules it outlined. Basically, he was grasping for straws again. He then threatened to sue for imagined wrongs. Curtis was a photographer he had issues with. Lorry, I have no idea who that is. I gave him a chance and too many at that.

Voice Message 2 at 5:03 pm: Raven, have you seen all the stuff that Daniel put up on me? Have I hurt you? Have I hurt any other models? I would like you to be an adult and call me back. An adult would call me back and talk. I'm frustrated. You know you don't stand up for me. You don't even give me a chance. You say I've given you a chance and- you won't even- I yell at you because I'm mad. I'm frustrated. How am I supposed to handle it when somebody sits there and calls-calls me a pedophile? Calls me a little girl f*cker. Tells me I traffic little girls. How would you take that if that was you? How would you like your name being spread all over the internet as libel and slander? Would you like that? Would you like somebody using-telling you- you fucked little kids? Would like-like someone telling you you're fake? Would you like somebody telling you all kinds of stuff? I don't call you fake. I don't slander his name. He slanders mine. I'm about ready to slander him. I mean to the point of ridiculous because I found out a lot about him. He's not a business. Legally he can't call himself a non-charity business. By law that is illegal. I found that out two days ago. He got mad when I would not work with him. He wanted models like you. He wanted my girls and you know what? He ain't gettin' my girls. He's not getting a thing. He's a nobody. He's a loser just like- you can call me a loser, but you know what? I'm getting the DBA (or TBA hard to hear). I'm getting the license and you know what? DBA (or TBA hard to hear) means I can do business in the state of Texas. He doesn't even have that, and you know what? He's not a reliable resource. He's a big scammer and you know what? He makes money and doesn't pay you. I don't make any money and I don't pay you when I don't make money. Cuz I don't make anything, so you don't make anything. When you make something, I make a little something. I never hurt you. I never called you names. I never said anything. I said the truth. The truth is Macy's and Bioware does not want you in their runways shows [Bioware was ad pictures] working for them. That's not me I could get you other jobs I could get you lan co, I could get you all these other places. But they don't want you. But you're not willing to stick- you're not willing to work with me. You wanna work with everybody and their uncle and singing-singing probably doesn't pay you much. Nothing really pays ya. You know what? Have fin living your life your way. An you know what I'm not gonna sue you, but I'm gonna sue his name. I'm gonna sue his name for libel. I'm also gonna take him to laws and regulations in the morning. Well, actually Monday morning. I'm gonna sue his ass off. I'm gonna get him in trouble with the law of the state of Texas. An you know what? He's gonna love bein' told by the law somebodies watching him every day for the next two years. Just like Curtis did with me. An that's exactly what's gonna happen. I'm gonna call an anonymous- well no I'm not even gonna call anonymous. I'm gonna call him non-anonymously. I'm gonna call laws and regulations and tell them exactly who I am. An tell them he's gotta be watched. ‘Cuz he's out there calling himself a- he's says I’m an agent under my own company. (hangs up abruptly)

Explanation: I had seen, and it was all the truth about him. Can't stop facts. The truth will prevail, and he did hurt me verbally and emotionally, but I'm a big girl. I can take it and turn it against you later like a proper adult or if I want to be the bigger person I move on and use success as a petty weapon. He also hurt other models’ reputations and probably was verbally abusive/ emotionally abusive to them too. Being an adult is not calling people names and staying professional when upset. I was being an adult by letting myself cool off and not answer his calls. Also, why would I even want to call him back after all that was said and the threat of being sued? That was the last thing I wanted to do and honestly no one was making me call him back, so sorry, but I'm done. I did stand up for him at the start and I gave him a chance. I got tired of being his PR agent when he was supposed to be mine. That was a dumb move on my part. I seem to give the wrong people a chance. Might have been because I just finished with another bad decision that lasted almost 7 years (read earlier posts for info). I have no idea what was exactly said at the meeting, but him taking it out on a third party that was not involved is immature in every sense and he's in his 40's. He then goes on and wants to be petty and try to slander someone which could land him in jail. The whole can't call himself a non-charity business is a contradicting statement. Business try to make a profit, so they are non-charity. I think he was trying to say non-profit, but as far as I know he hasn't called himself that. If he had I'm sure he has the paperwork as he is buddy-buddy with most of the city officials, knows the law, and is always taking about following every law and leading by example. Anyways, if he wants to do something about this "illegal activity" he should handle it between himself and Daniel; not me. Also, if you are a good agent you get "your girls" work. You can't throw your nose up at a golden opportunity when you haven't gotten work in months or even years. He also hesitated when he said, "a loser just like". I think he was going to say just like you (me the model as he had called me this when I picked up the phone the first time before both of these messages) but saved himself and called himself a loser. He then goes on to rant about laws and licenses. If that wasn't enough, he adds a blatant lie at the end about never calling me names. He called me before these two messages and called me everything in the book. I just didn't record it. I hung up. These other jobs were never mentioned before, and he never told me that they didn't want me. Then he rants and hangs up.

I showed these messages to my boyfriend and my friend Patrick. They took my phone called him and he never contacted me again. I have no idea what they said as they both went outside, and I had to stay at the table, so they didn't think we ditched without paying (hookah bar). Now for the key information you've been waiting for: what are all of his names?

They are as follows:

Aubrey Harley

Harley Aaron

Harley Strauss

Aaron Strausbaugh

Aaron Strausbaugh

Aubrey Quinn

Strausy Quinn

Quinn Strausbaugh

Aaron Strausbaugh

Aaron Strausbaugh

Aubrey Strausbaugh

Aubrey Strausbaugh

Aaron Aubry

Aubrey Strausbaugh

Quinn Aubrey

Aubrey Strausbaugh

Aaron Strausbaugh

Anja Aubrey

Quinn Aubrey

He may still have other profiles I haven't found yet, but this list should help those who knows what he looks like.

In fact, he made a new profile not that long ago and contacted me after four years looking to run the same scam. He had completely forgotten about what he put me though. I gave the phone to my guy and the following is their exchange on Facebook. Again, there is strong language ahead and typed exactly how they were in the messages. Yes, my guy is harsh to him, but to be fair this guy almost ruined my start of my career, almost got me in dangerous situations (had I acted with him), and emotionally/verbally abused me for no reason when he was found out. I’m not saying it was okay for my guy to be so harsh, but I’m not going to reprimand him for it, and I may be still a little bitter about the whole situation. Also, before you say it’s wrong to do this to a person with a mental condition my guy has mental issues as well as disabled, so it’s not an ablest issue.

Aubrey A Strausy (new profile)

WED 5/6/2020 6:52 AM

My name is Aubrey. Would you like to mode? I need Models willing to work on my portfolio for makeup and I have 3 paid jobs if wanted for Models. Black Tie Coffee Spokesmodel $6000 Salary with $250 per ad or Commercial and My friend Anna her wedding dress shop in ATX pays $330 a dress for Model. And Also Macy’s Barton Creek 3x3 is internship for designers pays $250 and outfit you keep per designer and Model for there interveiws and yes I live in Kyle

(writer Note: Black Tie has been out of business for a while)

WED 1:51 PM (my guy messaging)

She’s modeled for you before not happening again or have you forgotten how you called my girl a fat little chubby little girl a fucking bitch a fucking Cunt fat fuck whore etc. also new flash cupcake if your gonna attempt to pull some bullshit over my girl again maybe try a different alias than Aubrey Harley Harley Aaron Harley Strauss Aaron strausbaugh Aubrey Quinn etc. it’s frankly a little pathetic we’ve known your game for years buddy you really think be us you make a new profile you’re in the clear that’s just sad get a life leave my girl alone

WED 1:54 PM (ex-agent reply)

YOUR A PROBLEM I DONT WANT YOUR FAT LITTLE HUSSY AROUND Your liars that follow CURTIS E REYNOLDS around and your both Pathetic too

WED 1:54 PM (my guy)

No idea who Curtis Reynolds is but you’re a sensitive little snowflake aren’t ya cupcake

WED 1:55 PM (ex-agent reply)

I never called her names. YOU MADE THAT UP BC I got and kept all your messages CUPCAKE

And you both are JOKES.

I at least have a talent MAKEUP

WED 1:55 PM (my guy)

I still have the voicemails dumbass try again

WED 1:55 PM (ex-agent reply)

Never called you names ever. You do me

WED 1:56 PM (my guy)

Wow so proud 👏👏👏👏

Delusional too guess I’ll ad that to list of Mr Aaron straussbaugh great fuckups

WED 1:57 PM (ex-agent reply)

What a Professional nobody Model Why has nobody in the fashion world picked you up. I have done stuff

YOU ARE AND YOU TELL THE WORLD LIES

WED 1:57 PM (my guy)

Magazines books movies nominated for a music award Yea that’s nothing who the fuck are you

WED 1:57 PM (ex-agent reply)

I will show a court all this and maybe i will sue you bc you had a Contract with me

Right only in SATX

YOUR NOBODY

Like to call people names must make you look good

WED 2 PM (my guy)

A contract written by a monkey

Easy escape clause

Even if you attempted a court most she’d owe is five dollars so go ahead take us to court you’ll be paying a lawyer fees and everything in a counter suit

Bring it cupcake I ain’t done nothing but call out your bs u think a judge is gonna take your side when you go from home I’m professional to straight attack mode damn bruh you are delusion

WED 2 PM (ex-agent)

Your not good Mine was looked at by a lawyer and a Judge. Ann Romero took me to court And she tried to pull a fast one and get me on Harrassment. I never did and Law said it to me and my mom

I have Macy's to back me up again

WED 2 PM (my guy)

Who said anything about harassment

Learn to read

Oh I’m sorry is that the same Macy’s that cancels a 100 times and had never heard of you your company or a modeling job for my wife yea keep puffing that chest buster just proves your all talk

btw the award nomination was for all over the world not just SA try again

WED 2:02 PM (ex-agent)

Ann Romero for rewriting my contracts and when I found her to be a scam would not pay and she took me to court and She pushed Harrassment and Law took my old contract and said it was Professional and it had no holes

Who cares your Wife is a NO GOOD AND SO ARE YOU.

(Conversation Ended I was blocked thanks to my guy)

The contract he is talking about had so many typos. Example percent was written as per cent. Monies was written was Moneyies. So on an so forth. I didn’t get to read all of it since he was taking away the pages as fast as he was giving them and being naive I only read the first page which was written like all the acting contracts I had done with minor spelling issues I didn’t notice while skimming. I was young and stupid, but hopefully my mistakes save someone else the heartache. If you don’t believe me look at the Texas modeling groups on Facebook you will find hundreds of models this has happened to. Please stay safe out there and do your research.