Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordanne Calvin.
Hi Jordanne, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was always shy and reserved until my twin sister Jerrica pushed me to join the theatre program at Lakota West High School to grow some confidence. It was on stage that I found my passion for acting and comedy, normally performing an improvisation scene where my sister and I mirrored each other.
From 2011 – 2013, I was a contract model for New View Management Group but it terminated when I moved to Nashville, TN to attend Belmont University. Attending Belmont from 2012 – 2015, I graduated with a B.B.A. in Music Business and a B.S. in Audio Engineering, being the first female in the program’s history to double major in the two.
During my stay at Belmont, I recorded alongside pop recording/mixing engineer Joe Baldridge (Taylor Swift, Keith Urban), mixing engineer Mike Poston (Chet Atkins), and recording engineer/producer Ed Seay, among others. I had the ability to record and engineer fellow classmates and musician’s first full-length EP at some of the top recording studios in the country: RCA Victor Studio B (Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley), Quonset Hut Recording Studios (Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix) and OceanWay Studios Nashville (Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood).
In 2014, I moved to New York City on a temporary internship with Bank Robber Music/House of Hassle Music Publishing and was discovered by a photographer for Zinniasyl.com’s online clothing website. It was in the streets of New York City where I gained my modeling desires and completed numerous photoshoots and music video appearances before moving back to Nashville. Back in my college town, I gained exposure in Nashville-based magazines, independent films, and commercials, homing in on my skills pursuant to the film industry.
As of currently, I am an eleven-time published model, a brand ambassador for over ten companies, and acted in over 19 blockbuster Hollywood films. In 2020, I won the BACKY Award for Best Female Stand In Gemini Man and was the National Elite Ms. Tennessee Pageant Titleholder. I studied the art of gymnastics since the age of eleven under 1996 Olympic Head Coach Mary Lee Tracy out of Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy; in tandem with working with my now-husband, a retired military and law enforcement officer who is a former combat instructor and expert in weapons, I was able to gain knowledge about the stunt industry and pursue another passion of mine: stunts. In the future years, I plan to attend the International Stunt School and Rick Seaman’s Stunt Driving School to market myself as an actress fully willing to get her hands dirty in doing her own stunts.
Currently, I am under modeling contracts for Wings Model Management in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Ultimate Model Management in Atlanta, GA and plan to act on those contracts for more published works. My husband and I also started a restaurant in 2018, Voodoo Smokehouse, after I completed Gemini Man. At Voodoo Smokehouse, we strive to provide you with original Caribbean-style cuisine directly from our family recipe cookbooks. Every dish brought to your table is made using the freshest ingredients. We pride ourselves on keeping a positive workplace environment and a five-star customer satisfaction rating.
So, while you’re there: relax, sit down, and take your taste buds on vacation. We provide Catering services to business luncheons, birthday parties, weddings, and every holiday you can think of! We also serve the community with a concentration on the military, law enforcement, fire and EMS services, and the medical field. We want to give back to the community to the heart of those that serve.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
HAHA!! NOOOOO! From the very beginning, it seemed like I was doomed. I was born 3.5 months premature at 2lbs 4oz and was told I was never going to gain motor functions, brain activity, or the ability to walk. The doctor told my mother, “You need to name your baby because you don’t want her tombstone to read ‘Baby B'”. I was in for a long road. It took my mother over 4 months, working with a physical therapist, to teach me how to crawl. That is where I gained my determination.
I pushed through my difficulties and became a State Champion gymnast; I have always said that it stunted my growth so the ability to be a 6ft Barbizon runway model was out of the question, haha! Not only did I struggle with keeping up with everyone else in gymnastics, but I also suffer from OCD, ADD, and Dyslexia (although I was never fully diagnosed). I was always told I would never amount to anything from the doctors after being born, so when I graduated college with dual degrees and owned three businesses, I kind of shocked myself!
On the modeling side of things, I was always told that I was “too short”, “too fat”, “too muscular”, “not athletic enough”, “not pretty enough for runway modeling but too pretty for department store advertising” and everything in between. I am 29 years old and I still struggle with self-confidence issues. The entertainment industry is no joke! They either want you to be a certain way or you don’t get the job and they won’t budge, no matter if you are a great model/actress/singer, etc.
And no amount of schooling will prepare you for that. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much effort or passion you put into something. If you are not a 6ft 2in blonde size 00, then you aren’t getting the part. And that was a hard pill to swallow. You just have to look in the mirror and tell yourself that you ARE enough. Some people are just blessed with more, and that’s totally okay. God always has a plan!
As for my personal life, I was sexually assaulted in 2017 and I cut my arm with a knife because I couldn’t take the pain, the ridicule, the “you’re faking it for attention”, the “it didn’t really happen”, the “you’re making it out to be more than it was, it was just a little tease”. I had to do something to get away from my situation. So, I fought hard and went to trial and won on. I ended up getting a tattoo over my cut scar stating, “When the Silent Majority Wasn’t Silent Anymore” 10.3.19. It was my day of reckoning. It was the remembrance that I fought for what was right and won. I will forever now look at that place on my arm and see triumph.
And that’s all the confidence booster I ever need. I take every job, whether it be acting or modeling, with a sense of weariness now because of what happened, but you have to find the strength to cope and move forward. And that’s exactly what I did. I will also be publishing a book about my experience in the coming years but that won’t be for a while. I want other girls to know that it is okay to not feel okay and it is okay to stand up for what you believe in despite all the odds being stacked against you. Your voice WILL BE HEARD.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Voodoo Smokehouses’ Co-Owner and Executive Chef Chad Browning has competed in Memphis in May – placing 3rd in chicken, 5th in pork, 8th in ribs – and in other regional barbecue competitions in the state of Tennessee and Maryland. We specialize in whole hog smoking, a two-day smoking process, and are known for our Voodoo Wings and Sand Dollar Nachos. Our Voodoo Wings are a family secret but they are dry-rubbed jumbo whole wings with mouth-watering golden brown chicken underneath a nice, crisped skin.
Our Sand Dollar Nachos are our Caribbean dry-rubbed pulled pork, set on a bed of tater tots, drizzled with queso cheese, topped with our Voodoo Sauce, and covered in green onions, jalapeños, and sour cream. We are most proud of the fact that we serve those that are mostly forgotten by society: police, fire, EMS, and medical personnel. Because of our Executive Chef’s background, we felt it in our hearts to use his platform to give back. We were nominated for a James Beard in 2018, 4 months after we opened shop, for The Caribbean Porkbello Burger, better known to our customers as the Island Burger. We were a nine-time finalist for the Main Street Awards and the Best of Wilson County Awards 2019/2020 respectively. We are a Google Certified Veteran-Owned Business and the 2019 Nextdoor Neighborhoods Favorite Business.
Jordanne Calvin Enterprises. I started my company in 2017 as a place to collect my earnings as a model/actress. It was getting difficult to keep up with my earnings/deductions from real estate, my part-time job, and my entertainment job so it was just easier that way. I hope to brand it into a multi-national company where it can be more than modeling/acting. That is where I want to do stunt training out of, publish my book, and start non-profit benefitting college students. I am a published model and an experienced actress out of the Nashville area and I am known as “the girl with the eyes”. Sometimes when photographers look into their lenses my eyes captivate them and that’s what they focus on. That is also how I got my role in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”; I just looked into the camera and the director said, “I want her! I want her in this movie”. It’s such a cool thing to be a part of.
What sets me apart from others is my determination. If I am doing a photoshoot or acting in a movie I will do nothing short of everything to be published or in front of the camera. I literally love taking photos or being on a movie set. There is nothing else like it in this world! To see a movie behind the scenes or be on a photoshoot behind the scenes is nothing but magical; to see everyone working together to get one shot right, from the makeup artists to the lighting team to the producers, to the camera operators, to even the accountants and marketing, you cannot imagine actually HOW MUCH work goes into just one shot or just one scene, and its a LOT. And then to go from that to what it looks like in the end, it’s art baby!
What I am most proud of brand-wise is my BACKY Award. As a little girl, I would always watch the CMA Awards, the BET Awards, the Tony’s, etc, and say, “I’m going to be up there one day”. In 2020, when I was awarded the BACKY Award it was the most incredible experience I could have ever been a part of. I cried and cried and cried. I was so happy! I know it wasn’t a GRAMMY to anyone but to me it was. It was a realization that what I had been working on, what I had been putting my body through for the last seven years was all worth it. I’m not saying I need awards to feel accomplished, but it is a confidence booster!
What I want readers to know is that you don’t have to be blessed with a long, slender, perfect cheekbone, boobs and booty, body. You can be what you call “average” and still be a model. Mom jeans are an amazing trend now and you don’t think they had actual moms photographed in those photos… pshhhh think again. If you really want to be an actress, find something you’re passionate about and run with it. Like dogs? Practice commercials about taking your dog to a vet.
Like clowns? Buy a clown suit and entertain kids’ birthday parties. Like Michael Kors handbags? Make a silly video of you modeling handbags! It’s all doable, and the right person will come into your life and turn it upside down and make what you thought was never possible a reality. Everything I’ve been able to be a part of is part of my story. What’s YOUR story?
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
It’s all about just diving into something and figuring out how to actually pull it off. Like I’ve said before, no amount of schooling can prepare you for the real world of business. You can’t look in your textbook about what to do next if someone is standing at the ordering counter cussing you out.
You have to calm the situation down and remedy it. Textbooks don’t teach you that. Find a group of people that share common interests with you. Go to professional parties, get-togethers, holiday parties, classes about things that interest you, lectures. Anything that grasps your attention in the slightest bit, go do it.
As for networking, I hate to say it but I’ve done more networking off of Facebook than anything. I’ve been a part of modeling and photographer groups where we do meetups with about 50 models/photographers and collaborate on multiple shoots. I’ve met some of my best friends that way and because of my experience, that is the only way I am able to trust myself and other people being intimate together in a room.
Because of networking and collaborating with photographers, makeup artists, and hairstylists that see my vision, I have been able to get published in magazines and online journals. I never would have been able to do that if I didn’t step out of my comfort zone and market myself on social media platforms.
Pricing:
- $100/modeling photoshoot
- The acting varies on the job
- Catering orders vary on your desires
Contact Info:
- Email: jordannemariecalvin@gmail.com. jordanne.voodoosmokehouse@gmail.com
- Instagram: @jordannecalvin, @jordannecalivinmodel, @voodoosmokehousellc
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jordannecalvin. /jordannecalvinmodel /voodoosmokehousellc
Image Credits
BashingBagpipes Studios/Canaan James and Justin Doring at Bright Ideas Tattoo
