K'won Smith almost missed the show that changed his career. He went to New York Fashion Week to support a friend backstage, not to walk. A casting director mistook him for one of the models and told him to come back the next day. He showed up, made an open casting where the other models voted on the final spot, and walked for Calvin Klein.

Two and a half years into modeling, Smith has built a résumé that includes New York Fashion Week, DC Fashion Week, Florida Men's Fashion Week, and Richmond's own RVA and Threaded Men's Fashion Weeks. He grew up in Petersburg with family across Richmond, and credits fellow models for pushing him to try modeling for himself. 

In this episode of Creator Spotlight, host Kayleigh talks with K’Won about getting scouted through networking and social media, taking roughly 100 no’s before his first yes, and what's next: stepping back from the runway to build his own agency.

Chapters:
00:18 Introducing K'won Smith
01:51 2.5 Years in Modeling 
02:18 How K’Won Got Started Modeling
03:17 Getting Scouted vs. Networking
04:22 K’Won’s First Runway: New York Fashion Week
05:34 Growing Up in Petersburg
07:13 Richmond vs. New York Energy
08:32 Local Work: RVA and Threaded Fashion Week
09:40 Business First, Then Enjoy the Scenery
10:21 Working With Photographers
12:31 From Watching to Walking for Calvin Klein
17:03 Advice for Aspiring Models
19:22 Building His Own Agency
21:02 Shoutouts and Where to Find K'won


In this episode: 
Kayleigh Crandell, Host — Project Manager and Social Media Lead at Xponent21
K'won Smith — Model (https://www.instagram.com/le.vante__/)

K'won's shoutouts:
https://www.instagram.com/toycesllen
https://www.instagram.com/Calvin.wright
https://www.instagram.com/thebrittanyfort
https://www.instagram.com/diegojallayne
https://www.instagram.com/noirangels

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