The Glow Up Year
If you’re ready to chase your own dreams, fuel your passion, and see what it takes to rise to the top, you’re in the right place. This podcast is your front-row seat to my journey as I hustle, learn, and level up my modeling and acting career in real time. From auditions and photoshoots to script breakdowns and behind-the-scenes chaos, we’re diving into the ups, the downs, and everything in between.
The Glow Up Year
Wait... You Do What Before a Photoshoot?
Ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes before a model steps in front of the camera? It’s not all glam and effortless poses—there’s a whole strategy behind it. I’m pulling back the curtain to share the real, game-changing prep work that has completely transformed my shoots and auditions. From research and practice to skincare and grooming, these little details make all the difference in showing up as your best, most confident self.
One of my biggest glow-up moments? The model workshop—a next-level experience with industry pros like Anthony, Evan, and Arturo. This was where it clicked for me: literally... 📸 Game-changer.
Working with the insanely talented artistic director Evan Crothers, who taught me how tiny styling tweaks can shift everything. (Spoiler: The smallest details can take a look from "meh" to editorial-worthy in seconds.)
Oh, and let’s talk about that moment when I was the first model called up to showcase my skills—styled in a bold denim-on-denim look! What happened next? Let’s just say it was a moment I won’t forget. The feedback, the energy, the lesson I walked away with… you’ll have to listen to find out.
Also as promised, check out:
Anthony Grassetti (My amazingly talented photographer)
Evan Crothers (The artistic director/stylist of the model workshop)
Arturo Draper (My favorite makeup artist)
Beauty Saint Aesthetics (The only person I trust with my skincare)
✨ 2025✨ is about to be huge, and I want you to be part of this journey. Let’s glow up together.
🎭 Follow My Journey: Stay connected and get behind-the-scenes insights!
📸 Instagram: @megsalisburyofficial
🎬 TikTok: @megsalisburyofficial
Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with your fellow dreamers—we’re all in this for the long game!
Let’s glow up together—because your breakthrough moment might be closer than you think.
Hey there and welcome to the glow up year. I'm Meg, an actress and a model, and your go-to guide for what it really takes to turn your big dreams into a reality. After years in the entertainment industry on camera, behind the scenes and everywhere in between I am fully embracing my glow-up era. This podcast is your front row seat to the journey as I hustle, learn and level up in real time, from auditions and photo shoots to script breakdowns and behind the scenes chaos. We're diving into the highs, the lows and the everything in between. If you're ready to fuel your passions, take some bold steps and see if you have what it takes to make it in this industry. You're in the right place. So grab a coffee or a tea, get comfy and let's glow up together.
Speaker 1:Hey, y'all, what's going on? I am so excited to give you an update on the model workshop today. I went, y'all I went. But before we get to it, I figured that maybe it's helpful if I tell you how I actually prep for photo shoots and for opportunities like this and when I go on set. I thought that might be a useful thing for you guys to know as you're glowing up this year as well. So before we get to the exciting update on the model workshop. Let's talk about prepping for a photo shoot or an audition or whatever it may be.
Speaker 1:Okay, step one. And I'm just going to really I'm going to touch on this really quickly because I could dedicate a whole episode to this and I probably will in the future. But it is to research and do the practice. And now for this particular shoot at the model workshop, the shoot was for me, it wasn't necessarily for any sort of company or brand, so there wasn't much research to do on this particular shoot at the model workshop. The shoot was for me, it wasn't necessarily for any sort of company or brand, so there wasn't much research to do on this particular job. But I will record a whole nother episode where I go through how I research for jobs, for photo shoots and for acting gigs before I actually go on set and perform so that the person that I'm performing for, the person, the brand I'm representing, gets the best out of me. But we'll talk about that later. We'll talk about research and practice.
Speaker 1:But next is about four days before. But for this particular shoot I did seven and I'll tell you why. But four days before I shoot I usually get a facial, especially for modeling gigs, and this is not something that I would do before every audition, no way. But before I have an actual job that is booked, that's paying me, I get a facial and I did seven days before this shoot, in particular because I had so much like cloggage and like that sounds gross. I had so many like pores that were clogged and I needed to do some acne extractions and so I wanted to give my face a couple extra days to heal. Because I am a highly reactive girly, my face gets really red really quickly, and so I wanted to give my skin some time to like, prep and even back out and get back into a new rhythm.
Speaker 1:Before I actually went and did the model workshop, I go to St Beauty Aesthetics, which is in Lewiston, maine. If you are a local actor or creative or artist, I go to Michelle there. She takes great care of me. I love going and getting a facial. It feels like so ah, just like special to not. It feels it's not just about the career when it comes to getting some sort of pampering like that. There's also this underlying like layer of I'm worth it with going and getting a facial like I'm worth it and I'm ready for this shoot and I'm treating myself right before I go to my shoot. So there's like this under layer of that as well, which is like a beautiful little perk. But I also want to get my skin prepped and ready so that when the camera shoots me it looks beautiful and there's less retouching that the photographer might have to do. I honestly learned the importance of getting a facial when I started editing my own photos of myself and I realized, holy crap, I'm covering up so much acne. Another thing girlies, make sure, if you get your eyebrows waxed, you prep your eyebrows and make them look beautiful, because it sucks to retouch, it sucks. It sucks so much and it takes so much time. So make sure you are like, prepped and ready to go in the best way to make your photographer happy. Seriously, they won't. They will just be so happy with you but they won't know because you didn't not prep. But seriously, just do it, just do it. You're doing them a huge favor by prepping those things for them. So the first thing I do is I go and get that facial and then for this particular shoot and this does happen on auditions and jobs that you book too. So I think this is an important thing to touch is I was going back and forth with the artistic director of this shoot, which was so exciting.
Speaker 1:His name's Evan Crothers and he helped me really craft this style guide out of what I had in my closet already and then gave me some inspiration to go out and shop so that I could find some great assets for my wardrobe and personal styling anyways. So I went out and I purchased some options, as well as bringing what I had in my closet and working with Evan. Let me tell you, this was so frigging cool because I'm not a personal stylist. This is something I would actually like to get better at is like styling myself. But just seeing the way he made little like critiques to outfits to change them up was crazy. Like even just rolling up a sleeve, a specific way that can change the look so drastically in the camera view and in the lens. So it was so cool to like watch him style people and just move a garment around a little bit or match things together that I wouldn't normally have put together, but they look fantastic. So I guess the second part of my prepping here was navigating what the wardrobe was going to be like for this particular shoot and coming prepared with all of the options so that we could create three really great options there on set.
Speaker 1:The next thing I do to prep for a photo shoot is the night before I pack all my stuff so that the morning of is not hectic and I'm not running around the house crazy and I don't forget anything. So the night before I'll just go like quickly go through all the bags I packed, because I probably look like a crazy lady when I walk into set. But this girl, this girl is a hundred percent prepared for every situation, everything that might happen. So if we have an emergency, we have all the stuff we need right there. We don't have to fret, we don't have to be stressed.
Speaker 1:If it was a job, this wasn't particularly a job, so I didn't actually pack this, but if it was a job, I would be packing my voucher for my agency or whatever that employer needed to sign. That is like the first and foremost, the first thing. I pack normally, but in this particular instance, for the model workshop, I didn't need this. And then pack normally, but this in this particular instance, for the model workshop, I didn't need this. And then next is I bring my set bag and I, honestly, will probably do a whole episode on this my set bag too because there's so much useful shit in it, but to like make it quick and easy. What it has in it is makeup. It has hair supplies, a steamer, if I needed it, a toothbrush, deodorant, like all the things that I might possibly need in an emergency. Quote. Unquote onset. Then I also pack like my personal bag that has like my planner and my laptop and my bottle of water and like chapstick and normal to go things that would go into my purse. I have like a giant set purse that comes around with me that has all those like normal necessities my keys, my wallet, that type of stuff.
Speaker 1:And then, because I have a ton of dietary restrictions, I bring my lunch and my food everywhere. I like don't eat out anymore because I don't want to risk having some sort of reaction to the food. I've had so many reactions to things I didn't expect and so I'm at a point in my life where I just pretty much pack everything 24-7 and it sounds really boring and it is really boring, but I am always taken care of and I don't like putting myself in a situation where I'm like hungry and there's no food options around, and so I always like over pack what I need for food for the day to make sure that I'm covered and I don't. I'm not in a situation where I feel like desperate for something to eat. That might cause me to have a reaction, especially when I'm going to a job and my reactions are so physical I get hives and I get my eyes will swell up and stuff like that, and so if I were to have a reaction to something on set because I was starving, it could drastically change the day and I could end up at the end of the day fired because I've had like my eyes are swelling up and they're not going to take pictures of me with my eyes swollen. So, yeah, this is just an added level of protection for myself that I've deemed important to me.
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't think I talked about wardrobe. I also pack my wardrobe and my shoes and, most importantly, the undergarments I'm going to wear. I usually wear a separate pair of undergarments wink wink to the job and then I will change into my designated nude colored that's, specific nude colored undergarments when I get to the job, just so I'm always like feeling fresh. And then the last thing I do the night before is I check my travel distances and I see how long it's going to take me to get there, so that I know when I'm getting up in the morning how much time I have and when is the last minute that I have to leave. And then, just like personally, I usually add 30 extra minutes to that travel time because I don't care if I'm early, but I hate feeling late. I just don't like it. It feels uncomfortable. I think it brings weird vibes to you, crazier drivers, like red traffic lights. So I just always plan to be 30 minutes ahead, but I don't go in 30 minutes ahead. Let me be clear If I arrive 30 minutes ahead, I sit in my car and I arrive 5 to 10 minutes early to the place. You don't have to go in 30 minutes before.
Speaker 1:I guess this is actually the last most important thing that I do the night before, and that is get a good night's sleep. I make sure that I get plenty of sleep because I want to wake up and be excited to take on that day, that next day where I have that photo shoot or that fun thing that I planned. I want to be like excited and prepped and feeling good and feeling open and excited for the day. So I always plan to get a really good night's sleep that night. This is my prep for the morning. We'll go through it really quick.
Speaker 1:So in the morning obviously a shower you always want to be go to set feeling fresh and like comfortable and not dirty or oily, and so I shower and then I usually blow dry my hair in the morning, depending on the job, whether they've told me to come natural with natural hair or not natural hair. If they haven't, if they haven't told me specifically to come with natural hair, I'm gonna blow dry it and I'm not ever coming to set with wet hair either. It's just an added step that the makeup artist might have to take care of and we don't want to add steps to them. And then I also do like a quick. When I'm doing my skincare after the shower and I'm putting on my like moisturizer and stuff, I do a really quick like lymphatic massage of my face to get all the extra liquid out of my face. I actually do this every day because if I skip a day I actually really feel it in my face. I know that sounds weird and that's off topic and so weird. But, yeah, I just like it starts to give me a headache and I can feel that I need to get some moisture out of my face. Okay, that's all my prep. That's my prep for a photo shoot. That's what I do the night before a photo shoot to get me to the next day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was a theme song, just for you. Uh, so we're at that point where we're gonna talk about the model workshop, the model workshop. Okay, I'm so excited. I can't wait to share all this with you. It's ah, guys, guys, guys, it went so well. Okay, so I'm gonna just start from the beginning and I'll go all the way to the end and you'll stay with me, or you won't, and if you don't, that's fine, but if you do, that's great too.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I got there half hour early, yeah, but I didn't go up until five minutes after, which is great. I was the first one there, so I got to get introduced to Anthony and who I'd already met, but Anthony and Evan and Arturo did the makeup, but he came a little bit later and so I showed up first, and so he started to get go through my wardrobe and prep for the day, because the morning was gonna be all like information based and then the afternoon was gonna be us going through three different looks in like round robin style, and of the 10 of us, everybody gets to do their first set of photo and then everybody else gets their first set of photo like round robin style. You know what I mean. Whatever, I don't need to explain that. And so we got three different looks and our first look is for our digital and our other two looks are just like a not a fashion look but like a lifestyle look, and so the information portion was super informative, like very beginner friendly. I learned a ton of things that I didn't know. They also gave me local information for agencies that they would recommend or not recommend. We learned so many, so much cool information. It was so informative.
Speaker 1:They had scheduled a model to come into our class and do a model demonstration. Just in my practice for modeling myself, what I've been doing is practicing posing and how you move in practice. So I was super stoked to like get to see a live model demonstration and see just how this model moved, because I've always felt like a little bit of disconnect with my movement, like I can find a pose, but then how do I transition to the next pose and transition to the next pose, like without looking crazy? This model demonstration was so cool and I learned actually a lot about the information they had already presented in like watching the application of it. Evan, the artistic director, gave our demonstration model different feedback and you could see how, as he directed her, she would shift, how she was posing and what the mood was of the posing. So it was really cool to watch her go through a set of digitals and also to do some lifestyle beats.
Speaker 1:It was, and watching her move was like so fluid and confident and just I don't, I don't know it just so like professional and like clear. And I was literally watching this girl and I was going I'm just gonna, when it's my turn to go up there, whenever that is, I'm just gonna go up there and do exactly what she did. I'm going to shift the weight, I'm going to move the hand. Occasionally, I'm going to go up there and, big smiles, confident, I got this. I am just like I can do what she's doing. I know I can, I know I can and, oh, sorry, let's pause here for a second too.
Speaker 1:I want to tell you about this mindset shift I had last year. So I decided last year that when I go to a job that I booked, everyone there is rooting for me and I'll maybe I'll talk about this a little bit more in another episode too, about that particular experience. But I have decided in over the last six months that when I go to a job that I'm booked to, the people that booked me, want me there, are excited to see me work and are rooting and cheering me on the entire time and it really does like change your mindset when you are put on the spot in front of a ton of people and, yeah, I'll talk about this, the whole story, in another episode, because it's worth another episode. Wow, I'm just like coming up with episodes off the top of my head, like I have like three episodes planned right now, sorry, well, um. So I decided that when I went up there, I was going to go up there with confidence and I was just going to do the exact same thing she did. I was going to keep it fucking simple, stupid, and I was just going to go up there and do the exact same fucking shit she did and make it work and not be afraid to look foolish or silly and make mistakes, and I paid for this class. So this is my time with these professionals and I want to leave here with a good mark, and so all of those things.
Speaker 1:We are having lunch and the team is deciding who, who, what order we're going to go in, and of course, they picked your girl first and I was like y'all, I don't want to be braggy, but I was. When they picked me first, I was like I, I know I'm meant to go first. I know that I'm going to go up there and I'm going to show these girls how to do it, and that sounds like really braggy and not kind. And that sounds like really braggy and not kind. But that's the like level of confidence that I think we, as actors and models and creatives, have to be at in order to help the next generation. Right, we have to have like that confidence. And so I was like I'm just going to go up there and I'm going to kick ass and I'm going to do what she did and I'm going to make it happen and I'm first. So I'm in an even more vulnerable place. But you know what? I'm gonna go up there and I'm gonna kick butt and I'm gonna inspire all these other people to kick butt. And so I got my hair make. I'm like sitting in my makeup and Arturo's doing my makeup and he always makes me look so beautiful. Y'all like I never want to take the makeup off. He always makes me feel so beautiful. But, arturo, he also did my makeup for my headshots originally and so he does all my hair and makeup. I'm feeling like fine.
Speaker 1:And then we go into our digitals, the first round of shooting, and so the digitals are essentially like unretouched photos that go to like an agent to show them exactly what you look like. So there's no like retouching involved. It's just a basic photo to showcase what you physically look like. So we did our digitals and those are different than like lifestyle and movement and pose, so I didn't do any movement for those. That's a very specific size of a frame and all of those things. We did digitals and I was feeling good after my digitals, like I, they looked, the photos looked great from what I saw.
Speaker 1:And then we go into round two, where we're starting to put our outfits on. I got styled in this denim on denim look which yall. I love denim. I fucking love denim. I was like this is a hot look right now, like this is what I should be, walking around fucking Walmart and looking cute. I was feeling myself in this outfit. I felt like styled and like fashion-y, even though I was just doing a lifestyle shoot, and so I got my denim on, denim on like a cool girl and everybody else has finished their digital.
Speaker 1:So I'm going up for my second round. I go up there, I got the chair. I'm getting like my artistic direction. Anthony does the light test with a camera, right. And I'm like well, you don't waste a light test. You're going to take a photo with a light test and it might be your best one, and I learned that from America's Next Top Model, so I'm not wasting the light test. I'm like posing for the light test and he's like, great, and then I can tell he's ready to get started. And I just fucking killed it. People. I fucking killed it Like I just kept moving it and I was feeling it.
Speaker 1:And I was kept moving it and I was feeling it and I was changing poses and I was looking like a fucking goddess and the people there that were teaching the class were like, wow, you're killing it. And they were like, okay, now, let's do this. And they were like, wow, we love what you're doing. And I just kept getting all this fucking amazing feedback. And also, as a side note, I had recruited another girl in the class to do my social media while I was there and I told her I do hers, so she was like recording all of this at the same time, which is so cool because I actually got to like replay and rehear the positive, like feedback.
Speaker 1:I got back from them after the fact, like after I came down from like the high I was got like almost a second high but getting to like listen to the feedback, the positive feedback I was getting, and it was so much fun and I felt like I was just like in the right place at the right time. That intuition that had like been gnawing at me to purchase this class was like see, bitch, I told you you needed this class, this workshop, and so I went up there. I killed it in my denim. On denim, I'm feeling like proud of myself, I'm watching other people, I'm cheering people on, I was having so much fun. And then we get into our second outfit and there y'all and I killed it again, again, like I don't want to be tooting my horn here, bragging too hard and like turning you off from this podcast, but I was so proud of myself and I think it's important to celebrate celebrations I went up there and kilted a second time and I was so proud of myself, the photos that I got to see before I left I was like those look good, those look good. I can't wait to see all of them. I left there like having felt like I hit the trifecta.
Speaker 1:I got good information. I networked, improved myself to some individuals in the industry that were great, and I also got great digitals. Like I knew it before I even got them, I got great digitals. Digitals and photos Sorry, by digitals I just mean all of the photos and so a week rolls around and I get an email with the gallery rolls around and I get an email with the gallery and y'all, y'all, the gallery. The gallery was so good, the gallery was so good, the gallery like I just three photos out of like 90 or something like that, and I couldn't do it. I had to have, like I have a model coach and I had to have my model coach come in and help me pick photos. And even then we struggled. We made a list and narrowed it down, and then made another list off of that, narrowed down and then narrowed that down and you know what? I ended up paying for a couple extra photos because I had some that I just loved that much. So I can't wait to get those digitals y'all. Once they're finally retouched and they're beautiful, I can't wait to send them to agencies. I'm so excited and also, next episode, I'll tell you what my plan is to do with these digitals, like how I'm going to use them within my portfolio. So come back for that for sure, because, because I want to show you how you can use what you get in multiple ways.
Speaker 1:The model workshop 100% recommendation. Check the show notes down below. I will link Anthony Grissetti's information down there so that if you want to book a photo shoot, you can book a photo shoot. He's local to Boston. The model workshop experience just was one of the best investments I've made in myself in a long time. One of the best investments I've made in myself and in my career. So check him out because, listen, you will not regret it.
Speaker 1:So, to recap, my experience at the model workshop was amazing. It was so fucking amazing, it was so fun. It was well worth the money. I got all of the things that I came for and, more honestly, I actually feel like a professional model now. I have like way more confidence in my abilities and my posing and all of that stuff. So I'm just excited.
Speaker 1:This year is going to be a great year. I'm going to book so many year. I'm going to book so many cool opportunities and I'm going to learn so much. It's just going to be the greatest year yet 2025. That's a wrap on this episode of the glow up year. This journey is just getting started and I am so grateful to have you along for the ride. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with a fellow dreamer, and be sure to follow me on social media for even more behind the scenes moments, updates and inspiration. Your glow up is always within reach. Just takes one bold step at a time. Until next time, keep pushing, keep believing and let's make big dreams happen.