Rising Star Paige DeSorbo: Young women need to be able to be heard and talked to so that they know they don’t need to be a 5’9 model or perfectly airbrushed to be happy
I think that your childhood is a very small portion of your life but it influences the type of adult you are in so many ways. I think that young girls are influenced in so many ways, especially now with social media and pop culture. I think these young women need to be able to be heard and talked to so that they know they don’t need to be a 5’9 model or perfectly airbrushed to be happy. The overall confidence boost to girls at a young age is imperative.
As a part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Paige DeSorbo. Paige is a Bravo TV personality on the hit show “Summer House” While shes not filming and enjoying her summers in the hamptons she is a fashion writer specializing in “ Looks for Less”. She takes celebrity outfits and recreates them for less. She host “Front Paige News” on her instagram updating her followers on the top entertainment news stories of the day, and ends each segment with “Outfitdeets” letting her followers how to get her look by shopping at inexpensive stores. When she isn’t hosting for amazon tv or co hosting on people tv she works with the “Fashion Foundation” a charity she holds dear to her. This charity sells designer clothes at a discounted rate, then donates all of the proceeds to inner city schools to help children have a better learning experience.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up 10 minutes outside of the city of Albany New York in a hamlet called Loudonville. I went to catholic school from kindergarten through to college. My family is a middle class, Italian rooted, extremely close family. My childhood was ideal, my dad came home every night at 6:00 and my mom would have dinner ready for all of us to sit down together and eat as a family. Looking back on that now as an adult I realize how much that shaped me as a person to have that intimate time at the end of the day with my family. At age 5 I started modeling and my mom would drive me to New York City for auditions and jobs. That was when I first realized how much I loved the city and could not wait to grow up and one day live there. My mom was the best, never once did I feel forced into modeling or feel like it was a job. If I wanted to skip an audition because of a girl scout meeting or play date with a friend my mom always let me. I had the best of both worlds. I was a cheerleader in high school and class president at an all girls catholic high school in Albany. I went to the college of Saint Rose and lived at home during those years but quickly moved to New York city after graduation.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
At a young age I always loved to perform. I would get up on the kitchen table and sing songs for anyone who would pay attention. As I got older my modeling career grew to be more than just a fun activity, I started to book bigger jobs but new that wouldn’t last forever. In college I decided to major in broadcast journalism because I still loved the camera. I decided that entertainment new was what I really loved. After graduation I moved to NYC to work for ABC News. At the same time as my full time position at ABC I started to freelance write fashion articles for Betches Media Company.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
One thing people may not know is that Front Page News or “FPN” was an idea I came up with laying in bed thinking about how I could be unique on social media and move my career in the direction I wanted it to go. I began recording myself doing the top 5 news stories as I walked to work to try and get followers on my page in hopes that someone would hire me for on camera work. I did this every single day for almost a year with people constantly asking me “why do you do this” I wanted to quit some many times and was embarrassed sometimes for putting myself out there. But I never quit and then “outfitdeets” was born and my looks for less platform.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting?
When I was first applying to jobs I would sit on Linkedin all day and send people emails. I quickly realized I was sending the wrong emails to the wrong companies. Truly solidifying that they would never hire me if I couldn’t even get the first email right.
Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My first job out of college why as the assistant to the Vice President of Lincoln Square Productions, the in house production company of ABC. I was the world’s worst assistant and my boss wanted to fire me after three weeks and honestly she should have. I messed up on everything. I spelt names wrong, I forgot to ask who was on the phone when they called, I messed up flights, I messed up meeting times, you name it I messed it up. My boss Danielle Rossen took a chance on me and cultivated me into the business woman I am today, I would never have the courage I do in a meeting if it wasn’t for watching her be an absolute power house in a meeting full of men. She is so revered in this industry and I owe everything to her. She is still an extremely close friend more like a sister and the best mentor I could ever have. I learned to take my time and not get so nervous because that’s when I would mess up simple things. I will be grateful to her forever for giving me another chance.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’m fortunate enough to get to work with a lot of brands but I am currently in talks with one of my favorite stores in NYC to become a brand ambassador. I will be curating my own events, filming videos for them and personal shopping in there local stores! I can share more soon, but I am extremely excited! A big dream of mine is also to have my own fashion line and am in talks with multiple people on getting this dream up and running!
I’m very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
I think diversity is an extremely important especially in the entertainment industry. Film and television is a form of learning especially from a young age sitting on the couch watching your favorite tv shows. It’s how you see people communicate, resolve conflict, and in turn you want to emulate your character. Showing how other people think and exposing young children to other cultures it teaches them to look at the world differently. It shows them that they are similar in so many ways to people around the world. It helps you be open as an adult and not judge or see people differently than yourself.
From your personal experience, can you recommend three things the community/society/the industry can do help address some of the diversity issues in the entertainment business?
Ways I think we as a society and industry can help address diversity issues are to show young children who are just starting to learn that just because people live in different parts of the world, speak a different language, or even look different that they are more alike than they could imagine. Ways to get this point across I think are to have more diversity in television shows and movies. One of my biggest regrets is that I don’t know another language. I think it is so important to learn about other cultures and cultures because it inherently makes you more open as a human. I love traveling to other countries, eating their food, soaking up the language.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
There are so many things I wish i took more seriously when I was first starting out in my career, advice people gave me, life lessons I didn’t think about. Some of those are:
- It is not going to be easy, or everyone would do it. I never took this advice seriously and when I am knee deep in work and starting to crack I think back to this saying although cliché but true. You have to remember that not everyone can accomplish what you can and that if you truly want something you can make it happen by never giving up and to keep going.
- Stay authentic to yourself. In the entertainment industry it is so easy to be a “yes” person. You have to stay true to yourself and think is this something that is good for not only my mental health but for the person I am trying to become
- Do things out of love not fear. Sometimes its easy to make a decision out of fear because you are afraid of losing a deal or loosing something you think would be a great career move. Every decision I need to make either career wise or personally I think “am I making this decision because im scared or am I making this decision out of love, love for myself and the people around me.
- It is okay to fail. I used to be the type of person that wanted everything to work at the first try. I quickly learned that not only will things most likely not work the first time but they won’t work the second, third, fourth or even the fifth. I was always scared of disappointing my parents, myself, and my coworkers. I would get so in my head about not failing and being “perfect” I would forget why I started or what I wanted for myself. In staying true to myself and knowing what I wanted that helped me to keep going.
- Live in the moment and enjoy your life. It is so easy to get caught up in the social media world. I constantly remind myself to put my phone down when I am with my family and to enjoy that moment with them because memories are the second best thing to the actual moment. I regret all the times I have and still do sit on my phone when im in the same room with my mom. Parents have been there and felt the same things you’re feeling, listening to their advice is the best way to learn and navigate your own life. Sometimes I take the wealth of knowledge that they are for granted.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Taking time for yourself is extremely important. In recent months I felt myself becoming extremely overwhelmed and felt I needed a life style change. I started to make my physical and mental health a priority rather than secondary. I changed my eating habits and workout routine. I find it easier to control the things I can control rather than worry about the things I cant’t. It is true that when you feel better you perform better.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I think that your childhood is a very small portion of your life but it influences the type of adult you are in so many ways. I think that young girls are influenced in so many ways, especially now with social media and pop culture. I think these young women need to be able to be heard and talked to so that they know they don’t need to be a 5’9 model or perfectly airbrushed to be happy. The overall confidence boost to girls at a young age is imperative.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My parents. I know everyone probably thanks their parents for helping them but when I say my parents would do anything I truly mean absolutely anything! My mom and dad would drive me to NYC from age 5 to 18 for modeling auditions and a lot of them I never booked. They would drive me to New jersey every Saturday Morning while I was in college because I would film a talk show that no one ever watched but wanted the experience on camera. When I wanted to moved to New York after graduated because I knew it was where they wanted to be they paid my rent until I could afford it. I honestly don’t know how they sacrificed so much for me and I will never be able to explain my gratitude or even come close to repaying them. They truly have made me who I am to today and for that I am eternally grateful to have been blessed with them as my parents.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Happy Girls are the prettiest” — Audrey Hepburn
My mom had this quote up in my room when I was in high school and I would see it everyday not realizing the impact it truly had on me. It is easy as a woman to compare yourself to other woman on a superficial level. My mom was so good at teaching me that inner beauty is the only beauty that matters and that doing the right thing thing is never wrong. Simply being nice to someone and smiling at them can impact their day in a way you may not even imagine. Being nice and doing for others will always make you feel happy and that is when you are the prettiest.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I have always really admired Kelly Ripa. When I was younger my mom would watch Live with Regis and Kelly and without knowing who she really was I would watch her on TV and say “I want to be like her”. I always felt like she was so nice to everyone around her, had wit, was gorgeous and the best personality. When I was applying to colleges my teachers would ask me what I wanted to do and I would say “anything that could help me be like kelly ripa”. I loved her italian background and felt like we had a connection from the way she was brought up. I was never the smartest in school and she always talks about she wasn’t either and it always gave me hope that I could still accomplish what I wanted to. She has always been an inspiration to me and continues to be. My dream would be to co-host something with her and fulfill my childhood dream of meeting her!
How can our readers follow you on social media?
My instagram is Paige_Desorbo and my twitter is @paigedesorbo