10 QUESTIONS WITH
SAMUEL WALDMAN/FORD
Traveller, Entrepreneur, Photographer, Up and Coming Model,
all wrap up in one package. Watch out!
Full Name: Samuel Waldman
Age: 19
Homebase: Springfield, Virginia, now resides in Los Angeles
1. What was the line that an agent/scout said to you that convinced you that modeling was your next career move?
What's the line that got me to model for? Does "Hello" count? I wasn't a hard sell, Ford turned me down when I was younger so when I came back two years later and they wanted represent me, I was elated !
2. I was told that you travel quite a bit. Could you tell me the places you have traveled to?
I've traveled to England, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, along with most of America. My favorite cities in the world, from what I've seen so far, are London, Tel Aviv, and Petra.
London is special to me because, as a 14 year old, it was my first foreign city I was bale to explore by myself. Last summer I traveled to Tel Aviv with my two friends David and Dan, we paid 15 dollars a night to sleep on mats on the roof of this hostel two blocks from the beach. The roof was packed with people from all over the world. I wouldn't have traded that experience for a five-star hotel room. Petra was by far the most spectacular sight: an entire ancient city carved out of a mountainside. At nightfall, the locals would line miles and miles of lit candle along to city path. I'll never forget that sight.
3. You created some new business ventures with your friends when you were in school. Could you tell me about some of these ventures? How did you get started?
Almost two years ago I moved to Boston to work with my friend David with his company TheCollegeParty, which threw weekly 18+ parties and used these events to introduce college students to new products.
Shortly after my arrival a new client, Honest Tea, had contacted David, wanting to give David and me the opportunity to market for a product seven days a week. Since I was the only permanent employee of this start-up marketing firm and the CEO was in the midst of graduating from college, it was up to me to do the required work so that Honest Tea would take us on as a client the next fall. My job was simple: pass out the bottled tea beverage to as many people on the street as possible. After one month and 5,000 bottles of tea, I had gotten our company its first client. By the start of the next school year, College Marketing Solutions was the new name, and we had 15 team members and two new clients.
4. What advice would you give to any other young entrepreneurs out there with a dream? Should they go for it?
What I would say to any young entrepreneurs out there: A start-up business is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Even some of the best ideas in the world took time to turn a profit.
5. You have a blog that is quite interesting. Could you tell us about the origin of it? I was told you have gotten some angry emails about some of your postings. Why is that?
It's not as much a blog as it is a stream of Tweets and Facebook statuses. I never liked the "Sam Waldman is going out for lunch." I just didn't think anyone would care to read them anymore. So I started by giving them my own spin, things like, "Sam Waldman has big tits." Some were sexual, like "Sam Waldman has slept with every Disney Princess except for Belle...who had a thing for bestiality." Others were intended to be hurtful.: "Sam Waldman wishes everyone would stop assuming he cares about them." But I think I started getting the angry e-mails when I put up "Sam Waldman doesn't like fat kids," where some of my more husky friends felt attacked. I had to explain to them that like one of my statuses had said ("Sam Waldman has equal opportunity hatred") I don't try and single people out , I just write what makes me laugh, sometimes what makes me laugh is shocking, and that's the whole point, to shock people out of their chairs.
6. You're also really into photography. Tell us about that and how you view the world you live in through your photography.
I love photography. As a little kid all I wanted was my Dad's Nikon EM, my grandparents bribed me with a Japanese Edition Canon E if I learned my multiplication tables. I think I enjoyed the control. Not only did everyone always look to the photographer for direction, but with a camera in your hands, you have the ability to make the inherently ugly into something so truly beautiful.
7. Being young is all about living life and soaking it in as fast as possible. What's the most dangerous thing that you have encountered?
While I was working in Boston we had a 1970's Ice Cream Truck to hand out Honest Tea and our other products. It was a giant iron box on a pair of small wheels with bad brakes. I'd have to drive 40 miles north of Boston to pick up 500 cases of tea. There were times driving back with all that weight in the back I was sure we were gonna crash be crushed by hundreds of pounds of bottled herbal beverages.
8. You have so much energy and ambition. Where do you see yourself down the road of life?
I don't want to stop living and learning. In five years I could be digging wells in third-world countries, or working as mid-level sales assistant for a toothpaste company. Neither would surprise me and both would teach me something new, and that is my only standard for the "what's next?" question.
9. What makes Sam Waldman happy?
What makes me happy? So many things: a good book, a new movie, a catchy song. I'm easy to please, my girlfriend and I went to the aquarium recently and I couldn't have been happier. Also, seeing my family is always an upside. Just recently my whole family congregated in Union Square for about 10 minutes before we all dispersed and went back to Virginia, Chicago, L.A., and downtown, but I'm always happy to see them.
10. If you had to choose a song that best represents you, which one would it be?
"You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate
11.Bonus Question: What's your motto in life?
"Keep your chin up, because the clouds might part and the sun will rise and you'll be too busy looking at your feet."
AGENT: Jesse Simon/Ford
IMAGES: Bell Soto-www.bellsotostudio.com
FASHION EDITOR/CONCEPT/CASTING: John Tan
Model: Sam Waldman/Ford
Special thanks to Jesse Simon, everyone at Ford Models, Brian Lichtenberg and Heather Hayhurst at The News for their support.
CLOTHING:
Brian Lichtenberg (Jeans)-www.brianlichtenberg.com
Cheap Monday (Tee Shirts)-www.cheapmonday.com
Alexander McQueen (Sweater)-www.alexandermcqueen.com
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