Paul Fisher is one of the most well-known agents in the modeling world and has worked with stars like Kimora Lee Simmons, Carre Otis and Naomi Campbell!

I was lucky enough to sit down with Paul to talk about his career and his new CW show Remodeled!



We met at his awesome Los Angeles office and I must say, he really was a great guy.

Paul started his business from the bottom and has reached international praise for his work, I wanted to pick his brain a little.

You’ve done so much in the modeling world, how did you start out?
“I was a college student at UC Santa Barbara and I met some very rich and powerful people and they wanted to open up a modeling agency. I was 21 years old, I was girl crazy and back then I actually had an afro with a pick in it. So I went to New York and started a modeling agency, I didn’t even know how to spell Vogue! I didn’t know what I was doing; eventually the company went belly up. But when I took on a young girl and watched her career blossom. To watch that transformation take place in front of my eyes, it was mind boggling. I fell in love with that art of creating kids and watching them grow and transform, it was pretty cool!”

“I came back to Los Angeles and asked my grandpa for $10,000, he said ‘For what, girls?’ I said ‘Kind of. I think I can open a modeling agency, I’ve learned a lot in New York.’ And he gave it to me! So I started a modeling agency with $10,000 in my studio apartment.”

“I then signed a 14-year-old Latin girl named Jennifer Jimenez. She had beautiful, long hair and I told her I was going to shave it off. She looked at me like I was crazy, but we shaved her head and then later she was booked for the cover of American Elle Magazine. She was the youngest model to ever be on the cover of Elle. After that my career took off.”



What makes someone a good model? What do you look for in those who want to model?
“What I used to think was beautiful and what I think is beautiful now is completely different. My taste and my eye have been trained by what resonates with the magazines. What excites me now is what excites Mario Testino, Steven Meisel, Valerie at Vogue, Ed Razek at Victoria Secret. Everyone asks me where I get my taste and how I pick the kids. I study so much of what is going on in Vogue and Bazaar and Prada and Gucci that I can kind of have a sense of what they are looking for. That’s who I’m selling the kids to.”

You have worked with so many amazing models, who do you think is one of the most exciting people in modeling today?
“Andrej Pejic. He is a boy who dresses as a girl and for the first time in the history of our business he’s walking in every single top men show and every top women show! He is transcending our industry, I have a lot of respect for this young person. That’s what fashion is all about, taking chances, pushing the limit and thinking outside of the box. So that is someone whose career I am really following. I think this young person is an important statement in our industry.”

So let’s talk about your show “Remodeled.” How would you describe it for those who have not seen the show?
“I would say that for the first time in the history of television, people are going to see the real star creating process. On one hand the audience will see me help modeling agencies realize their dreams and make them a part of ‘The Network’ (Paul’s network of different agencies around the country). On the other hand they’ll see us truly launching these kids’ careers. For the first time, the audience will see young people have a true chance at the modeling in the real world. Some will fail, some will succeed. I don’t represent actors, I represent top models.”

“Each episode is totally different with different problems. There’s different agencies, different models, different lessons so every time somebody tunes in it’s a totally new trip. At the same time you’ll see reoccurring characters, for those who were wondering about Annalise (a model who was dropped from the agency) she will be coming back, you have to watch what happens.”

In the show you go to different agencies and “Remodel” them, what was one of the oddest or most interesting experiences you had while doing this.
“Well, in one episode we did an agency in Hermosa Beach. We worked with a woman named Stephanie who owns Blaze Models and she has a young man who works for her named Augustus. Basically, things got pretty heated and Augustus tried to beat up Joseph (Paul’s assistant)! Literally the camera men were trying to pull apart these two people! That was pretty insane!”

Is there anything else you’d like the audience to know?
“Yes, I want the audience to know that this is all real! I’m not casting actors for a show, this isn’t fake. We had one rule for the CW: This is what we do, you can film, but don’t tell us what to do!”

“I’m excited to show the world how I launch careers, fix businesses and how I teach people and businesses how to be great.”

Thank you again Paul for the great interview!

Make sure to check out “Remodeled” on the CW on Wednesdays 9/8c.

Matt writes for Allie is Wired