Images Model Management

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Lisa Cant This life isn't what Pat Collins imagined in 1983, living in Vancouver, and answering an ad for a receptionist position at the Blanche MacDonald modelling academy. That job had been filled but Collins landed a position anyway. After taking the school's Personal Development, Modelling I and Professional Modelling classes Collins accepted a teaching position that would involve putting together a program to train 6-12 year olds, selling the program and putting together the graduation at the end of it.

It wasn't an easy thing for Collins however, as she had to overcome her own insecurities first. "I grew up a middle child and only daughter in a family that moved every year. And I never started school when everybody else started school - I always started late, so as a consequence of that I became very introverted and very insecure.

"The first time I had to walk up to somebody and say 'Excuse me, do you model?' was the most terrifying thing I have ever done in my life. It was in Guildford Mall in Surrey, and I had somebody watching over me to say 'This is the girl you have to go card (approach with a business card for the purposes of recruiting).' And I was like 'what do you mean?'"


Marina Cant Having come from that timid place though, she feels is an asset now, especially for the girls with whom she works. Her empathy for the awkward has taught her that patience and understanding can pay big rewards. Case in point: Lisa Cant. "I can look at Lisa Cant and see the Lisa that first came to me. It's amazing for me to see."

In March, modelresource interviewed Collins for our feature on Cant, and asked the agent about the biggest difference she's seen in her star model over the years. "Basically how she's grown - how her personality has come into its own. She was very shy when I first met her, mind you she was only 14. But she's got such confidence and poise. She's grown."

Another of the Cant clan has also matured under Collins' watch. Younger sister Marina, who has a strong interest in acting, is now feeling ready to travel as a model. "I've seen her at a stage where I wouldn't put her on a plane for any amount of money or begging on her part," says Collins emphatically, "and now I can see she's matured and developed. It's like watching your own child grow and be ready."

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