Disclaimer: I may be a bit biased with this one. 😉 

I’ve known Elizabeth since our freshman year of high school. She’s actually the reason I chose to move to Austin, over a few other hipster cities. So yeah…she’s my best friend. I would say that she’s also one of my clients, but our professional relationship is actually more like a partnership. Maybe that’s because of our friendship…

Elizabeth Lestina is a local model and actress here in Austin. She’s naturally bubbly, ambitious, and fun-loving, so she has developed a strong network of professionals in her industry. Finding work is always the challenge in the entertainment industry, but Elizabeth does pretty well for herself. She’s sought out by brands like Leighton W. Designs to walk in shows, she was featured in the film 6 Years alongside actress Taissa Farmiga, made it to Top Austin Model’s Top 10, she works regularly with amazing photographers like Todd White, and she just finished a week of Couture Week events for Austin Bridal Fashion. She even works her butt off at a 9-5 desk job, just to pay the bills. Needless to say, she’s pretty busy.

Aside from not having the time, Elizabeth has also struggled with the question of WHAT she should be posting. She knew she needed a Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram, so she created her accounts ages ago…but didn’t always update them regularly. After all, promoting yourself is tricky: You don’t want to come across self-absorbed…but you still have to keep your accounts updated.

Since my move, I’ve become something of a publicist for Elizabeth. We’re really more like business partners because when I help to promote her, she also helps to promote me. Did that make sense? Okay, let me break this down:

Elizabeth controls most of her own social media, since she owns the professional content. After all, she is her brand, rather than the owner of a company. In my opinion, that makes her the best person to post. This makes my role more advisory but as often as possible, I accompany her to photo shoots, fashion shows, premiers, events…and wherever else she may need my assistance. I prowl around with my camera, snapping “behind-the-scenes” pictures for her and occasionally follow her around, tweeting from her phone. But there are many times where she’s either not allowed to bring a guest, or I can’t attend. When this happens, I’m literally in her pocket to give her ideas about what to post and tips on how to post it.

I’m going to take a second to get sentimental here, since I’ve known Elizabeth for almost 10 years now (wow, we’re getting old…).

In high school, Elizabeth was the smart and sporty blonde, begging her parents to get her an agent so she could fulfill her dream of becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel. Instead, she headed south after graduation in pursuit of attending the University of Texas at Austin. Somewhere along the way, she fell into Austin’s growing entertainment industry. Watching from (literally) a distance in college, I’ve seen her grow both as an actress and model as well as a woman. Elizabeth is determined and strong as hell, and I’m truly grateful to be able to call her my best friend and business partner. Just in the last year that I’ve been living here, I’ve watched Elizabeth flourish as a professional #BossBabe…and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for her.

Couture Week 2016 by Austin Bridal Fashion – Photo by @MarieRCarlson