Poland woman finds her niche MODEL BEHAVIOR

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Amanda McAuley pictured above.

By JoAnn Jones

Special to The Vindicator

When 18-year-old Amanda McAuley was a sophomore at Poland Seminary High School two years ago, she thought she needed something more in her life. School and school activities just weren’t fulfilling enough.

A 2014 graduate, McAuley had cheered as a freshman, done ballet and hip-hop, and even tried gymnastics and tennis. But none of these was satisfying to her.

“I needed something more,” McAuley said. “I was looking for something I was good at.”

McAuley found that something after taking classes at Barbizon of Akron, a training center for models and actors, and then competing to win prizes.

And now McAuley’s efforts have qualified her for a trip to New York City in July to the International Models and Talent Association Convention.

McAuley, along with her mother, Donna McAuley, and her grandmother Charlotte Confer, all of Poland, will travel to the convention, which takes place July 19 through 24 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown New York City. McAuley will audition in front of more than 350 modeling and acting agencies.

“I just like striking poses,” McAuley said of finally finding where her talents lie. “I’ve never been shy in front of a camera.”

“I sent her to Barbizon,” said her mother, “and I told her it’s a big world. I thought she would like meeting new people outside her hometown. My sister and Amanda’s aunt, Kimmy Boccia, did pageants. Kimmy lost a competition to Halle Berry in Cleveland, and look where she went. Because my family did so many pageants, my family just went, ‘Ooh, no,’ when I wanted her to try this.”

But it turned out to be exactly what McAuley was looking for. As she took her instruction at Barbizon, she went on to the Pro-Model and Talent Management, with which Barbizon is affiliated. From there, she began competing for prizes.

“When I told her, ‘You can win some money modeling,’ she said, ‘Oh yeah! I’m in!’‚â” her mother said.

Last July 1 in Columbus, McAuley won the 2013 Miss Ohio Teen Top Model Competition.

She won in the category of Best Resume and Top Model and was second runner-up in an actress category. There she won a $1,000 scholarship to a modeling agency and a $250 cash award.

However, the big prize was the opportunity to compete as Ohio’s representative at the National American Miss Competition in Hollywood last Nov. 26 through 30.

“You can’t go unless you win in your state,” McAuley said. “Each state had a delegate, and I represented Ohio.”

Donna McAuley said she urged her daughter to go to Hollywood’s National American Miss Competition.

“I told her, ‘Let’s go to Hollywood. Let’s just try it and see how you do,’‚â” her mother said.

McAuley won Top Model in the National American Miss Competition, too, winning $600 and an additional $1,000 scholarship.

That gave her the confidence to try to win an audition at New York’s IMTA convention next month, where agencies from all over the country will be looking for new talent, according to McAuley.

“Being involved in modeling has definitely made me more confident,” McAuley said. “I now have a very positive mental attitude, too. It’s fun for me.”

In New York, McAuley will audition in several areas that are geared more toward acting than modeling, she said. She’ll compete in a make-up category (she always does her own for competitions and auditions), television scenes, television commercials, and a T.V. Real People competition, as well as several others.

McAuley will travel to New York with an IMTA group. They will fly out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on July 19, but McAuley’s mother and grandmother will travel by train. Donna McAuley said the total cost for the trip is about $10,000, but her daughter’s sponsors in the Youngstown area — doctors John Chiaro, Anthony Koulianos and Jason Marucci, as well as family and friends — have made this trip a reality. The McAuleys are continuing to raise funds for the trip.

Her mother said being in the competitions has “given her a road to where she’s going for her future.” McAuley also is continuing her training in Akron every week.

“Even if I get no call-backs after the New York City [IMTA] convention,” McAuley said: “I’m still not going to give up. I don’t know exactly what route I want to take. I love fashion, but I may even want to go into interior design.”