Following the publicity she received at the inauguration, Ella signed a deal with IMG Models to start modeling for them. Ella is currently a senior design student at Parsons, and she lives in New York City.
“I was pretty surprised when everything with IMG was happening because when I was younger, I never saw that as being part of my timeline,” Ella explained after inking her deal.
Ella had been modeling with a smaller agency infrequently over the past year, but IMG offers her an entirely different platform. “As someone who, like a lot of young girls out there, had self-confidence issues, it is intimidating and scary to go into this world that is hyper-focused on you and the body,” she said.
Ultimately, Ella said she changed her mind after seeing how diverse the models working today are.
Initially, Ella said that her family was hesitant about helping her pursue a career as a model. “Modeling can be a pretty intense industry — they were a little protective of me,” she said. That changed, though “when they saw my interest in it and saw what is changing in that world. I think they’re pretty excited I can be part of that.”