Mother, Model, Artist- These are just some of the boxes my guest today ticks. She is on a journey to find her centre and send a positive message to her kids. I get inside the mind of Phoenix Briggs, find out her motivations and articulate her thoughts. TBUR brings you a unique personality.

Hey Phoenix, welcome to TBUR. Please introduce yourself to my lovely readers.

Hi everyone ! I am Phoenix – an only child from two free spirited parents. My father George who lives in Minnesota and my mother Autumn who lives in Las Vegas. My step father who raised me also lives in Vegas. I grew up there.

The message I try to send to anyone on social media who follows my work – is that determination can take you very far. You can achieve anything you want when you work at it. It has to be a 24/7 job. Your dreams don’t get time off.

What’s life like in Vegas?

It’s funny everyone asks me that. Most people think because I lived in Vegas I was a stripper. Never did that. But I was a showgirl for a short time, meaning I dressed up as a showgirl at one of the casinos. There are a lot of showgirls in Vegas. I can definitely say when you think you have seen everything there are curve balls thrown at you. And apparently everything that happens in Vegas – doesn’t stay because I am here :). It really is how the movies depict it though the movie ‘The Hangover’,  was more true than most like to believe.  I actually have that movie on my phone. Now granted I didn’t find a tiger in my friends hotel bathroom. But most of that stuff was probably legit or happened. I’m just saying.

Haha good to hear and I also hope you also never got a punch in the face from Mike Tyson, so how did the transition go from showgirl to model?

Well I knew when I was younger I wanted to model – I remember when I was younger I watched 7th Heaven. Yes I am guilty. Anyhow – Jessica Biel was on that, she was such a beauty. I saw this spread she had in Seventeen magazine – I asked my mom, ‘How do I do that?’ She’s like ‘She’s modeling’ My mom never let me model in high school. Kind of mad she didn’t – John Casablanca himself wanted me to fly to NY and be a model at 16. Now that I think about it I am happy I have had a normal life. My mom wanted that. I am still mad at her – that and how she didn’t give me my backstage pass to meet the Backstreet Boys until the morning after the Backstreet Boys concert. Yes I want the world to know that!!! Haha. When I was 18 – I got Z-cards, I was kind of meh about it actually. It wasn’t until I moved from Kodiak, Alaska to Monterey, California that I got into it hard. The past 2 years – I have been super serious. I got into mad shape. I stopped drinking entirely. I now model for 3 brands. My favorite tea loves my modeling and sends me tea I feel so special.

That’s pretty awesome. Based on your mums guidance of your modelling career would you make your children wait till 18 if they wanted to model?

Well, if they want to model now I would let them. But I would be specific on the path they chose. After they hit 18 – they can do whatever they want.

How would you describe the path you’re on with your work?

I don’t have one specific path. I am all over the place. People tell me I need to be on one. I guess you could say I am more glamour. But the creativity is what matters. I am an artist. When people look at my work, I’d like to think they see art. I would like to do more fashion. It’s a challenge for me. I have tried to step outside my comfort zone. Sometimes I get frustrated. There is nothing about this line of work that is easy. But I always keep going. As long as I am still modeling I am still on my path.

Because it’s a business solely based on looks! Do you know how insane it is to keep up with your body 24/7? The things you can’t eat, the working out. Just when you think you are top notch, ten girls walk into the same casting you did and they look better. I am telling you – it’s rough.

Apart from the free tea what else do you love about modelling?

Hahaha well – they send me tea because I am a loyal buyer and they are fans of one of the photos with their tea. I guess it’s nice when a brand you love more than anything recognizes your work. So many of the people who I have worked with are making the big power moves now. I love all the people I have worked with and the journey that I have taken to get to where I am. Each person I have worked with has a story and that story is told in the photographs. Each person leads to another. One by one you get closer to your goal and you learn so much from all these experiences and personalities. It’s incredible. The memories will last a lifetime as well as the friendships I have made. I should write a book. One of my good friends Karen who was also my loyal hair and makeup artist in California – said we should write a book. It would be called, “Adventures in Modeling”. It’s rewarding to be a part of so many wonderful artists portfolios and I love that these artists share the same passion and vision that I do. I feel so incredibly blessed. Sometimes you just have to stop and say “Wow, I am thankful.” Today I just had someone drive an hour to pick me up just to work with me – granted I was posing nude in hay inside a barn. But here is yet another experience for the book .

In our previous discussions you have stated that your modelling helps you send a message to your children, can you expand?

I think most of my pictures are powerful. The message I try to send to anyone on social media who follows my work – is that determination can take you very far. You can achieve anything you want when you work at it. It has to be a 24/7 job. Your dreams don’t get time off. So I want to show them that when you take control of your life and you do what you love with passion – that is an honest life. You are staying true to yourself against all odds. Whether a photo is nude or clothed they all contain a message most are the way you interpret it. Some people can look at a nude photo automatically and say “she is just a nude model” but plenty of the best art comes from nude work. I am an artist. If either of my children chose to produce such art when they are adults I will not look at them differently. I think people are so uptight in our society. They should really relax.

You opened up to me about your previous experiences with alcohol. Was that due to the pressures of the industry?

Alcohol. Yes. I have been an addict for most of my life. I have the personality. You have to find healthy things to be addicted to. I was a bartender for a minute and it was always right in front of me. At one point I was having 10 drinks a day. I don’t think I have ever really been pressured into drinking. I think stress definitely makes things harder. You need an outlet, some way to cope . Being away from my children has been hard. A lot of things happened in a short period of time. It wasn’t my modeling, my modeling has always kept me grounded. It is my outlet. Creating my art is the only thing that has kept me sane. I feel so blessed I have the opportunity to create such art.

What’s the worst shoot you’ve ever done and why?

I would have to say : The Sunflowers shoot with Christine Holding , Michelle Robertson , Melinda Collis and Todd Davlos. They had got this amazing idea to do a fashion shoot – with sunflowers. It was like 20 degrees with wind that day. I got so cold I had to stop shooting. I felt like a major failure. I apologized over and over. Didn’t matter, the show must go on. From that day forward I was overly prepared with my model survival kit. I bring tea and hand warmers if I am going to be in the cold. You are expected to perform. I have gone to a shoot with the flu. My dedication is beyond having a reputation for being a flake. The other girl that shot that day got horribly ill but I have mad respect for her. I did a shoot last year in worse conditions. The photographer said to me “I like your sacrifice.” Modeling is hard and it most certainly isn’t for everyone. A true model knows that. If anyone said it was easy, they are lying. I did get like 3 photos from that day. There have been some times I have walked away from a shoot with nothing. Either the photographer was having a bad day – the stylists so on so forth. I think it’s worse when everyone comes together as a team puts aside their time – and the photos aren’t useable. It really sucks, but it happens. I have done so many shoots – I have seen days like those. Once in a blood-orange moon, but they happen and when they do it’s devastating. You are expected to perform – no matter what – you are the main piece to the puzzle. if you feel off everyone is in trouble. There is a lot of pressure. People don’t realize how difficult it really is.

It really is how the movies depict it though the movie ‘The Hangover’,  was more true than most like to believe.  I actually have that movie on my phone. Now granted I didn’t find a tiger in my friends hotel bathroom. But most of that stuff was probably legit or happened. I’m just saying.

There has always been a stereotype in the industry that models are dumb, why do you think that is and how does it make you feel?

Because it’s a business solely based on looks! Do you know how insane it is to keep up with your body 24/7? The things you can’t eat, the working out. Just when you think you are top notch, ten girls walk into the same casting you did and they look better. I am telling you – it’s rough. I hate when people call me conceited and attention starved because I post a lot of photos on my page. It’s my art. It’s my work! Promoting myself has got me to where I am. I think all people look for sometimes is the negative. I have come so far in my career. They say – the closer you get to the top, the harder it gets. It has never been easy. Some days I am like “That’s it I am done”. But I love modeling so much. It’s a part of who I am. It makes me sad when people pick you apart on the internet because they are unhappy with themselves. They don’t realize how hard me and my peers work. I am definitely intelligent. I started a newspaper from scratch at my college. I am a writer. I am a deep intellectual person. They only see the girl who thinks she’s all that, not the girl who can hold her own in a conversation. The world is cruel.

Good point you made about trolls. How do you deal with negativity when you receive it?

Seriously – I have been saving a lot of them and I wanted to put all of the ridiculous things people say in a book. Some things are so funny I laugh for like 5 minutes straight. Others have been so hurtful you want to cry. It’s insane how much power people can have over you. Emotions are an interesting thing. I get so many people that praise my work and then I get comments or inbox messages that are like “really!?”. There have been a couple where I just write the person and I was like “that’s not very nice.” But there are so many it becomes overwhelming so most of the time I go through, look for the good ones and write those people back. I have some people that have been my fans for years. I feel like we have this friendship. It is true you can have lasting friends from Facebook. Who would have thought? I think when you get negativity it hurts but it helps you grow. Sometimes the truth hurts too. It depends on which way you are looking at it. They might say something that hits home because they follow your posts and work. I think you can learn from any situation.

Sometimes I get frustrated. There is nothing about this line of work that is easy. But I always keep going. As long as I am still modeling I am still on my path.

What’s the most hurtful insult you’ve had?

There have been a few. I have had wives write me, angry about their husbands looking at my photos. Like that is my fault. I think there was one that said, “If you want to look like a whore you could do it at a porn shop.” People have called me a “butterface” and told me I don’t have what it takes to be a model. The most hurtful I think we’re these people from Kodiak, Alaska. I used to live there with my kids. They knew me. I had gained a little weight and wasn’t at my best when I started modeling. There are some people in Kodiak that all they do in their free time is start drama. These people were commenting on my body. I had Rihanna red fire engine hair. They were calling me a tranny. They thought I couldn’t read their comments. It’s sad what people will write when they think no one is looking. It was low. It hurt. It made me want to quit. I was called the fat model for a while. Another girl that I thought was my friend in Kodiak commented on my body, my face etc . I still kept going. In fact their comments made me prove them wrong. I wish them well and I wonder what they are doing now. I hope everything is working out for them. People can take the things you are most insecure about – because you were dumb and you shared it with them and later say them to hurt you. They will wait until you are at your weakest and then strike. Knowing that now I am just like “whatever.”

That is awful! On a lighter note, what’s the funniest?

People compare me to food a lot. One guy said I was like a rack of baby back ribs and he went into every detail of how he would eat me if I was a rack of ribs. I think I almost peed my pants. The other is a guy saying he imagined me tasting like a freshly glazed donut. I make people hungry. True story. On a bad day the funniest comments will have me laughing on the floor. I actually write those people and I am like – now that was good. Some are so original! They must have really have put some thought into it! I think people think I am a weirdo for getting one of those – yearbooks of your Facebook but I have so much stuff it’s worth it! I should put everything on my FB in book form. Entertainment for years! I remember me and my fiancé would just get drunk and chat with my fans on the weekends. The stuff we would write – sometimes we got carried away. Haha.

The donut thing is just weird! Seeing as you get a lot of food comparisons it’s only fair to end on if you could describe yourself as a food what would you be and why?

A real life Reese’s peanut butter cup. Just enough is sweet and leave you feeling a rush. Too much will leave you feeling guilty and wanting more.

Great answer! Well that’s all we have time for. Thank you very much for taking the time to come on TBUR and I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you so much for having me! 🙂

If you want to connect with Phoenix you can send her a friendly message (or food comparison) on Facebook and her gallery of pictures are available on Instagram