So I got my first job when I was 3.

My dad saw an open ad for child models for Nordstroms and sent in my picture (headshot). He got a call back a short time later about bringing me in for an “interview”. I don’t remember the interview much, but it involved a lot of people dressing me up in one outfit and posing me… “move your head this way…move your arm here… turn toward me…” and then dressing me up AGAIN in a different outfit and repeating the same thing…for a couple hours. Most kids that age (3) would not last that long doing something like that. My 5-year-old would not last that long…He doesn’t even want to put his clothes on in the morning for school.

But I was a pretty easy-going little guy. I followed instructions without complaining, and I listened attentively. If those were the requirements, I’m sure there was a lot of competition for that job. I’m sure mom’s everywhere jumped at the opportunity to have their kid featured as a Nordy’s model… (guardian of EMPLOYEE) DISCOUNTS!

Not to mention it paid $30/hour… in 1985.

Now I don’t know if it was because of my uber-calmness, or to fill a “minority” quota, but they ended up giving ME the job. At age three. A model for Nordstroms. Great right?

So for my first shoot, they paired me up with a boy named Ben. They put him in a slick-looking zoot suit and put me in… a 3-piece shorts-suit. Complemented with knee-high socks and black penny loafers. …*sigh*

The way I saw it they were…

…Girl clothes.

My mom tried to reason with me that I was wearing “baseball socks” but I wasn’t convinced. My mom asked me if I wanted to keep doing it and I told her I would rather go outside and play.

I have to hand it to my mom. We were by no means “well off” and that kind of money back then would have been pretty substantial. The temptation to force me to continue to model, or at least convince me to try a few more times was probably very real. Afterall, I didn’t understand the opportunity I was given at such a young age, but my parents realized the value of a fun-filled childhood and respected freedom to choose.

I lasted precisely ONE shoot.

Sometimes it makes me wonder how my life would have been different if I had continued down that path. I would have had a huge portfolio by the time I even started kindergarten. Just thinking about the money for college, money for my parents, money for anything… hmm..

and yet at the same time… It would have changed me forever. I would have become self-conscious about my looks and appearance. My worldview would have been shaped by the modeling industry and I would have the mindset that my self worth is only as good as my ability to sell a product.

In the end, I’m glad I didn’t continue with modeling, as I would not be the person I am today, and I would not be where I am today.

But sometimes…just sometimes, I wonder “what if?”