AMPS: Shatema, tell the AMPS readers about you where you are from and where you school.
Shatema: Well I’m from Bronx New York and I currently reside in Dayton Ohio. I currently attend Central State University, soon to be finishing up with my Bachelors in Communications.
AMPS: How did you get into modeling?
Shatema: Well, about 2 years ago there was this casting call for a Dayton fashion week. I actually went to the casting to be a host or MC. During my audition, I don’t know if they liked me as a host, because the judges immediately asked me have I ever modeled before. I told them no, but I think I’m kind of funny sometimes and I felt like I could be the MC. They said, “Well how would you like to be a model?” I said, “That’s great!” So it went from there, and ever since 2012 I’ve been getting myself into modeling gigs.
AMPS: Tell us a little about your personal life. Are you married or single? Do you have any children?
Shatema: I’m currently single. I do have a 5 year old daughter and I’m single. She’s really tall for her age and my everything. She models now, and she’s definitely going to continue. We even model together sometimes. Right now I’m kind of a home body. I do go out, but I’m not into the club scene anymore. I like to go out to eat; that’s my biggest thing or even just go to bars I like. I always find myself going to a bar after work so about mid day. Then it’s time to go home and get on my parental duties.
AMPS: You’ve been modeling since 2012, what have you done that got you to that point?
Shatema: The biggest thing I love about modeling is print work. I feel like I get to be myself as well as helping and supporting a designer a makeup artist and a hair stylist and I’m the face of all that. So I find that always to be the most exciting thing about modeling. I think just being friendly to people and helping them, along the way has gotten me to this point. But, yes I like fashion shows, I’ve done a lot but they just require a lot of time and not a lot of perks. I want to be like a TV spokesperson, that you see travel with shows and they have that one lady who goes all over just talking to random people, or going up to people in the street. I would like to be a spokes model because it would kind of play into what I want to do in my degree which is going into Public Relations.
AMPS: Tell me your measurements?
Shatema: 30, 25, 32.
AMPS: Are there people that you look up to in the industry? What model out there or what person out there do you look at and you’re like okay I want to follow kind of what she’s doing?
Shatema: Well, first I would have said Tyra Banks. I like how she conquered more parts of the industry then any other Top model.Then the more reading I did I started to admire Naomi Campbell only because I feel like she stays original to herself made brand.
AMPS: Who got you into modeling?
Shatema: I’d say my big sister who lives in New York. She will always try tell me and my mom, you need to put Tema in modeling. Growing up, people would tell my mom like you need to get discovered you shouldn’t have to put any money into modeling, if you’re putting money into it it’s a scam. So that was my impression of modeling. Then when I fell into Dayton fashion week, I’ve been going ever since and I haven’t really needed to put in any money. I did at one point when I had an agent, but they never found me any work and I was always finding myself work. So for the most part I’m kind of on my own. If I find an agent that I was really connecting with and felt like they were trying to go as hard as I was going, we definitely would work.
AMPS: Who would you give credit to? I know looking at your Facebook page you put the saying, “I’d like to thank certain people.” Who would you give credit to for contributing to you continuing to model?
Shatema: It would have to be Caressa Brown. She’s the head of DFI which stands for Dayton Fashion Incubator. It’s kind of a new community of people, a board that is trying to bring fashion to Dayton. Dayton is kind of small but it could definitely be a fashion capital. And I mean she’s just trying to break the stereotype and break the mold like saying you don’t have to be a size zero, 6 feet tall to be a model. Basically you can be yourself and still be a beautiful model which I just think that’s great so with that it has given me a lot more confidence to continue.
AMPS: Give me the top 5 things that you look for in a man.
Shatema: Okay, my number one has to be respect. If you don’t respect your mom, you curse her out and stuff, we ain’t gonna fly. Obviously you’re not going to respect me let alone my kid. Second would be loyalty. I don’t have time for games and I don’t have time to raise no man. Definitely loyalty, you have to be true to yourself and true to me. And the third would be potential. He has to have potential to want to live up to the way a man should be like, maybe you should have potential to want to have a job, and then if you were a dishwasher, you should have the potential to want to have a higher paying job. You got to want to wear the pants in the family. The fourth one would have to be, kind of having his life together some way. And if not, being on the path to getting a life together where we can definitely build each other up, but you definitely have to have that go-getter attitude or else I can’t help you. And, oh you said five. The last one is you have to be good looking.
AMPS: So, what is good looking to you?
Shatema: You have to have some type of body about you. I never and I don’t really prefer men that were smaller than me, but be able to hold me. I like tattoos. I like tattoos a lot. I like dreads and a fresh haircut. Not braids. There’s a difference. There’s a thing about how you carry yourself; if you have confidence in yourself and you dress nice, that’s definitely a turn on for me.
AMPS: What is it that turns you on?
Shatema: It would have to be looks. I like reading. If I met a guy in the library that would be great, but you never find them in library like they want a smart girl. But they don’t come to the library so I don’t know. But that would definitely have to be looks and I will look around and look at their friends to see like if they’re waiting on their friends to pay the bill or if they just all worry about what their friends doing, stuff like that.
AMPS: What is the biggest turn off when you’re out and about? If a guy come up to you at the club what is it that they would do that would just turn you completely off?
Shatema: If their hygiene is bad. I know some guys who just don’t care about showers like that. So don’t come to the club in a wrinkly shirt or something, or their finger nails be dirty, just little things. Hygiene is my number one like a man with good hygiene is key.
AMPS: What kinds of undergarments do you like and why?
Shatema: I prefer thongs, You don’t have to worry about having no panty lines. As far as being in the fashion industry and just a woman like that’s not attractive. If you’ve got leggings on get the correct underwear.
AMPS: What are your hobbies?
Shatema: I like to read a lot, watch nonfiction movies and documentaries, I find them really entertaining. I like African American history. I went to a predominately white high school, elementary and middle school and we never learned any of that. When I got into college and actually paid to take African American history I learned a whole lot. So now I’m infatuated.
AMPS: What are your favorite types of clothing?
Shatema: I’d say fitted Tops and Jeans. When I was younger it was always hard to find jeans because I was so slim. I would most likely end up wearing “floods”. So now I just like ones that fits me properly.
AMPS: What types of music do you like and your favorite artist?
Shatema: The type of music I like would have to be hip hop, but my favorite artist is Rihanna I’m not sure what you call her music, but I like anything by Rihanna for real like she’s my favorite singer.
AMPS: Any shout outs you want to give to anybody?
Shatema: I want to give a shout out to my family! A lot of the people in the fashion industry that are from Dayton ,keep following your dreams. I want to give a shout out to Latoya, thank you for getting me around when I didn’t have a car. You always took me to casting calls and modeling fashion shows even when your daughter was definitely competing with me. I find that so humbling and I was very grateful. I’d like to give a shout out to Lamara Paisley; he’s a great photographer and always takes care of me and my daughter when we need pictures done locally. That’s definitely a great friendship to have.
