This past week, I was so lucky as to meet up with my good friend, Brittany O’Malley, to get all the answers to the questions we’ve been dying to know about her career as a model. Brittany is a freshman at Manhattan College this year and is studying Communications with a possible concentration in advertising. She is originally from South Boston and grew up in Milton, MA. And now, the good stuff….
Hey Brittany! Could you introduce yourself?
Hi, my name is Brittany O’Malley. I’m a freshman at Manhattan College this year. I just moved to New York. I’m pretty excited to start!
Awesome! A few random questions to start…What is your favorite song?
Favorite song? “Cigarette Daydreams” by Cage The Elephant. Definitely. Love it.
Go-to Dunk’s drink?
Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?! I’m obsessed with Dunk’s… Dunk’s all the way. Um… medium iced regular with skim milk and one sugar, definitely.
Good choice! Now on to the serious questions… Why did you choose Manhattan?
Well, I was actually gonna go somewhere in California. But then I, by accident, happened to get scouted for modeling in New York; that sort of swayed my decision. I ended up choosing to come here to sort of try that out and I just happened to like Manhattan the best. It reminds me a lot of my old school. I went to a school called Ursuline, it’s also small, Catholic – and this school reminded me of Ursuline when I came here.
What is your favorite part about school so far?
Probably living in Jasper, not gonna lie. It’s nice because everybody knows everybody in Jasper, especially on the 4th and 5th floors because it’s pretty much all freshmen. I ended up meeting so many people and I got really lucky with my roommate. We were completely random. We didn’t even know that we were gonna have a roommate! I thought that I was gonna have a single because I didn’t get assigned one, and then we ended up really getting along, so I got really lucky. Shoutout to Christine! Love her.
Tell me how you got involved in modeling.
As you may know, I like to act. I’ve always been a huge theater nerd. Then, my mom’s friend back in Boston had two little kids who were at an agency called Dynasty, which is just a little agency, and she said, “If Brittany likes acting, my kids do commercials all the time, so you should try to get her signed there.”
How old were you when this happened?
I was a sophomore, so 15 or 16. So, I ended up getting signed at Dynasty, and one day they said to me, “Hey, you’re kinda tall, you should do runway!” and I was so surprised. I ended up really liking it. Then, through Dynasty, I was in Providence Fashion Week in March or February of my senior year. I was at a casting and one of the ladies that was running it pulled me aside and said, “Hey, I’m really interested in you. I actually own an agency in New York; would you mind coming out and meeting with us?” And I thought it was some sort of scam or something because it was so random. I looked it up when I got home and realized it was actually a legit agency even though it’s really small; I think there are maybe 30 of us. Then, I ended up meeting with them and getting signed, and now I’m here! So it was kind of just a big accident, but I’m really glad it all happened.
Who was your favorite designer/show that you modeled for in NYFW?
Oooh, that’s a really hard question. Con Ilio was probably my favorite one because when I stepped on to the runway, they played my favorite Kanye song – it’s my go-to “pump up” song. It was literally a religious experience; it was insane. My other favorite one was probably Sabo because I knew that brand and I’m a huge fan of them. I was fangirling back stage.
Do you have any shows coming up?
Well, Fashion Week just ended, but Bridal Week starts in October, so I have castings for that starting tomorrow.
Where do you want your career to take you?
Right now, I’m just taking it one step at a time because there are no guarantees with anything in that industry. This was my first show season, so since I was a new face, I still have to get “built up” and get more experience. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and to meet a lot of cool people.
Who is your fashion icon or role model?
Cara Delevigne one-hundred percent. Definitely Cara. I love Cara.
Did you see her?
No, but I probably would have cried. I saw Suicide Squad just because she was in it. You know how people order stickers for their laptops from RedBubble? I literally ordered a sticker of Cara’s eyebrows. I’m obsessed with her. She’s so cool.
What did it feel like to be on lifestyle blogger Danielle Peazer’s Instagram?
As a One Direction fangirl to the max, 8th grade through right now, I died. My friend Lily texted me saying, “Check your Instagram right now.” At first, when I saw it, I thought it was just from Sabo’s Instagram. And then I saw that it was actually Danielle Peazer’s Instagram and I freaked out; I thought it was a joke. I grabbed my phone to text all of my friends. That literally lived out my 8th grade dream because she was my role model. I literally flipped my homework off my bed and called my mom!
One last question: is there any advice you can give to anyone trying to balance school work and a job?
It’s really just all about time management. For me, personally, I’ve been doing a lot of my homework on the train because I have to go back and forth pretty much every day. As long as you get your work done before you go out at night or hang out with your friends, you’ll be fine. Just make sure not to leave everything until the last day; if you just do a little bit at a time, you’ll be able to get all of the work done.
Thank you so much! Do you have any parting words?
Thank you! And my parting words are “Stay cool.”