Grace Garcia

Listen to This Time by Grace Garcia
Listen to Irresistible by Grace Garcia

BMW: Grace... Welcome to BlackMenWomen.com where we feature Men and Women of color. Now... that said you are actually not black...
Grace: Thank you very much and it's a pleasure.

Well, I'm quite mixed. I can tell you that my features come from my Spanish, Dutch and Indonesian background so people usually find it quite difficult to guess, although they do try hahaha...

Languages have been crucial for my work, and through the years I have had the chance to learn and continually improve my Spanish, French, some basic Dutch and English. That helped me as well when I came to live to London less than 2 years ago.

BMW: Nonetheless you were the first to send us their profile. What made you want to be a part of BlackMenWomen.com... given your own heritage?
Grace: I'm an idealist, and this site represents professionals that are proud of their origins and the site works hard for models and artists, with ethnic backgrounds, to succeed. Besides, I like that the models featured on this website are clever and thoughtful men and women, proving we contradict the opinion of dumb beautiful models.

BMW: What struggles have you had before becoming a model?
Grace: Well, the most important struggle has been the issue of the unprofessional people that usually surround this world; one example is that they offer you many exciting opportunities or amazing jobs, only to find out that none of it is true. That's why it is important to learn how to read people even just a little bit, try to be realistic and honest with yourself so you recognise them. I've been lucky because I have always been quite sceptical, ever since I was very young, and this has helped me a lot.

BMW: You model in and out of London... Tell us about some of the challenges of working for and managing time between your modeling agencies and gigs in different countries.
Grace: My normal approach to the hectic modelling environment is to prioritise my work schedule, making sure that I'm not booked for too many or have lengthy auditions in the same day. It gets even worse when they call you to offer you a last minute job hahaha. Also, when I go outside the country to work, it's a question of juggling between the unpredictable time schedules, long hours, poor quality food and everything too fast in general. It is difficult to be disciplined when you're out of the normal routine.

BMW: You are also a recording artist... I must say that I love your voice... accent and all. I also love it when you sing in Spanish in "This Time" and 'Irresistible". Tell us about your musical career.
Grace:Thank you very much; I'm glad that you liked them.

Music has been very important in my life, in fact the main reason why I came to London. In Spain there isn't a big market for R&B music, so when I woke up one day I decided that I was going to come to England. I grabbed all my things, jumped in my car and drove all the way from south to north of Spain, then the ferry and the final drive from Plymouth to London. So far I've collaborated with artists and producers like Jake Gosling and Benjy Myaz, already 2 radio stations are playing my songs (U.K Undiscovered and Wild Pack Radio). But I'm still looking for a label to sign with.

BMW: And a dancer. In addition your profile says you are a podium dancer? What is a podium dancer? For some reason I'm thinking "Pole dancer"?... Not the same thing is it?
Grace: Well, it's not the first time that someone asks me that question. There are many differences between pole and podium dancing.In comparison if we talk of a conventional concept, a pole dancer entices the audience through their sexual body movements around a pole, they usually do topless or some kind of nudity (although nowadays they're using them in a non erotic environment, but artistic in cabaret and circus).

I am a go-go dancer, which is a conventional dancer that performs in order to entertain the audience in clubs or events. When I do it, I'm normally dressed in a sexy, but always stylish, outfit that can show part of my legs or I wear a bikini top, but that's it.

My main goal when I dance on a podium is to transmit energy and joy to the audience, to encourage them dance you have to be flirtatious with your eyes as well as your body. So basically what a podium dancer adds to an event is an object of beauty and to be evocative as well as dance movements, fun and style. For male podium dancers it's pretty much the same, but some of them can do poppin' or acrobatics but it depends on the night's theme. Basically we're more like entertainers.

BMW: From your profile you "wish to keep the same fast momentum my career has taken on so far, with my future goal to increase my professional profile to higher new levels. “Tell us about this momentum. How has your professional life been in the recent past and tell us more about your future aspirations and what you offer as a model?
Grace: So far I'm proud of the quality of experience I have gained especially working for NBA and at Nikki Beach. My career has enabled me to travel around the world and therefore I have had the opportunity to work in places like Cancun, Brussels, Austria, England etc.

I think that people see me as a model who is charismatic, honest and driven, people usually say that I've got guts hahaha...I put my heart into absolutely everything that I do, besides this I'm quite creative and I always try to add something extra that makes the difference in all of my assignments.

For the future I just hope to enjoy everything that I do as much as I'm enjoying it now.