Today we’d like to introduce you to Jada Newton.
Hi Jada, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hello! My name is Jada and I am currently a model and creative director. About a year and a half ago, after retiring from my soccer career in college and briefly professionally, I began to pursue the more creative side of myself. I was studying to get my MBA in North Carolina when I began to do some micro influencing, but realized I wanted to focus more on modeling and consistent agency work. After graduation, I moved back home to northern Virginia where I was soon signed to AF Talent Management as a mother agency to begin my career. Since then, it has been a tremendous journey, learning and growing in the industry and developing a lot of my creative style and eye. A few months ago, I recently signed to Kingsley Management, a large booking agency in Washington D.C.. It was around this time I also realized my passion for creative direction and the marriage of the business side of my brain with the creative side. I have recently partnered with an established photographer in the Manassas, VA area to form our creative agency, The Archive Photography Studio, where we create amazing imagery while also helping local businesses redefine their brand and produce quality content. It brings me a lot of joy to see a brand or business owner have a vision and bringing it to life in a way they wanted or even better. I enjoy all of the logistics management but also creative journey from start to finish. I also most recently launched my first episode of my podcast, The Providessence Podcast! It has been an awesome and busy process so far, but I am excited to continue to see where this leads. I get married in May this year and I am excited to start a lot of amazing chapters very soon!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have definitely been some bumps in the road, like all journeys. I would say one of the biggest recent obstacles has been loosing my job working with the federal government. Amidst the many changes happening in this country, I was one of the many affected by the mass layoffs. The whole process was very hard to navigate, especially with upcoming planning and events like a wedding. However, I have found that the silver lining of this “set back” or bump in the road has been the freedom I have found in pursuing what I love most; being creative! Since the pause of my government journey, I have been able to establish myself more in the modeling industry and develop a new path with creative direction. Although things may sometimes still be uncertain, it has been a much more exciting and worth-while journey to pursue heart projects.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in modeling and creative direction. But overall, I think I am known in the community as an effective collaborator and encourager. The creative journey and industry can be a tricky one sometimes and community has always been my number 1 priority above all things. I realized over time that it is who you connect with along the way and how you can impact those around you for the better that actually matters more than the destination itself. I also find that continuing to be encouraging is such a huge factor because this journey can be tough for everyone, and the energy you put out is what comes back! There are things that don’t always reflect in the way you would like along the way but you can always find something good to say about anything and find the silver lining. Perspective has been everything.
What I am most proud of is staying true to myself and advocating for my truest self. Growing up it was tough finding what I wanted to do verses what I was just good at doing or thought I liked at the time. Soccer and school were always my main priorities, which helped me in so many ways and I will always cherish. However, modeling and creative directing were always somewhere hidden within myself waiting to be experienced too, so it has been great pursing that and getting to shine light on those parts of myself too. You truly CAN have it all- and that is something I would encourage anyone with regardless of past, present, or future.
I also recently started a podcast where I talk about a bit of everything, my experience in life overall and the journey of soccer, modeling, life, relationships, ect. That is definitely a passion project I was super excited to launch because I love to interact with people and again, encourage whoever I can. My hope is that something I say resonates with at least one person, and is meaningful, relatable, or even a light-hearted moment to brighten someone’s day. We are all connected in so many ways and I feel as though it helps me feel more connected and seen by those around me. (The name of the podcast is The Providessence Podcast, and is found on all podcasting platforms and Youtube 🙂 ).
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
For a majority of my life I would say I was not a risk taker. I did a lot of amazing things I am proud of such as, getting my degrees, playing a sport I love, and coming back to the area I have called home for so long with all my friends and family. But more recently, as mentioned before, life had a funny way of propelling me into change and risk. I took loosing my job as an opportunity to be more risky and pursue entrepreneurship. It hasn’t been easy, but I would say it is 100% worth it, and at this point I wouldn’t want to see myself going back to a “typical” type of job that I was pursuing before. I spent so much time trying to finding my “why” as I chose jobs and began my early professional career, however, with being an entrepreneur I have been able to release the need to find the “why” and embrace the goodness and newness of every day. I would say I consider myself a risk-taker now more than ever. Something I have realized about risk is that they don’t all have to be bad, but they all feel scary. But that fear of the unknown can easily be turned on its head for a new opportunity that may have outcomes you could have never dreamed of. When deciding what to do career-wise, I had to ask myself, “Is it worth taking the risk of doing what may be less certain but enjoying your time more and going where you feel in your heart is best, or is it worth the risk of loosing that passion and staying in what’s comfortable?”. Both were a risk but it was a matter of what “pro” was worth most compared to any other “cons”.
Pricing:
- For modeling, please book me through either of my 2 agencies on their websites: https://www.aftalentmanagement.com/bookings or https://kingsleymanagement.com/booking
- For any creative direction booking and services please book through our website: https://www.thearchiveps.com/contact
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thearchiveps.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jadaelizabethnewton
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jada-e-newton/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheProvidessencePodcast
- Other: https://linktr.ee/theprovidessencepodcast
