Do you have any tips on improving self-confidence?
ERIN: I can’t say because I think it has to do with the way you were raised, how your mother carried herself, the dynamic in the household, what you were taught, how much you were supported, how much your parents were willing to let you take risks and be exploratory in your youth, how much of themselves they projected upon you, and how much of your own self they supported. (Above: for Maybelline New York Eyestudio Color Tattoo eyeshadow.)
So many elements go into what it is to be self-confident, and certainly throughout life and experience you can find self-confidence. And it’s about surrounding yourself with like-minded people, being around people that know and understand who you are, and having a common ground to connect with people. And then you don’t feel so alienated at times.
You have such a strong sense of yourself. Have you always had that, or did you have to work on it?
It got in the way of my career in the beginning. I came into the business very sure of who I was, and when you’re a young model just starting out, people expect you to be very malleable and not opinionated. And I was not that — I came in with a shaved head and a bad-ass attitude.
I remember my agent got a call saying I wasn’t dressed appropriately at a casting call. I was wearing jeans and a wife beater and skate shoes, and I was — well, I didn’t really understand. I’m going to a fitting, I’m just putting on someone else’s clothes, it doesn’t matter what I wear walking in. I wasn’t willing to not be myself. I wanted to know I was being accepted in this business because of who I was, not because of who I was pretending to be.
