Most expensive brands = less smiling in modelling
Jacqui observed that in the modelling world, the more premium the brand, the less a model is expected to smile — seriousness signals luxury.
Snapshot · Jon Mallia Podcast
NETWORKING IS MY IDEA OF A NIGHTMARE | Jacqui Losco
Explore episode
Jul 21, 2026
Where this was said
Jacqui u l-modelling
At 49:33 · chapter starts 45:47
Jacqui was 16 when she entered her first modelling contest in Malta, beginning a parallel career that would run alongside her ballet training and later her television work [1] — Jacqui Losco "Most expensive brands = less smiling in modelling: Jacqui observed that in the modelling world, the more premium the brand, the less a mode…" 49:33 . She describes the professional side of modelling with characteristic directness: it is transactional and straightforward — a brief, a look, a pose. Hair and makeup, wear the clothes, hit the marks. What she found interesting was the aesthetic logic of the industry, particularly the luxury end: the more premium the brand, the less warmth is required. No smiling. Seriousness signals exclusivity. Jacqui found this fascinating rather than alienating, seeing it as a kind of performance in itself — the opposite of ballet's expressiveness but equally governed by precise rules. She also reflects on how modelling connected to broader questions of identity and image, themes she would later navigate more publicly as a television presenter and social media figure.
The Modelling World: No Smiling Allowed
Modelling is often misunderstood. Jacqui started at 16 in Malta and quickly learned the unwritten rules: follow directions, wear the outfit, hold the pose — and for premium brands, absolutely do not smile. Seriousness sells luxury.
Started modelling at 16
Jacqui entered her first modelling contest in Malta at age 16, starting with El Pink magazine.
Ageing: She Hates It But Accepts It
Jacqui refuses to pretend she is comfortable with ageing. She hates it — but she also knows it is universal and unstoppable. Her position is one of pragmatic resignation: get old together or get obsessed alone.
Getting old — accepted but disliked
Jacqui said she hates ageing but accepts it as inevitable, viewing it pragmatically rather than with dread.
Similar snapshots
500K impressions from one tweet
A single post tapping into the AI coding debate drove close to 500,000 impressions, making it the founder's best-performing piece of content.
100x easier to join existing trends
The founder argues it is 100 times easier to bring your ideas to where attention is already focused than to create attention from scratch.
Build-in-public content rarely goes viral
Most founders building in public never go viral because they never join the bigger conversation already happening in their space.
3 years of content creation before product launch
The speaker built his audience over 3 years of consistent content creation before launching any product.
5 minutes a day to tweet
Tweeting consistently took the speaker only 5 minutes a day, making audience-building accessible to anyone.
Audience = prerequisite for product revenue
Having an existing audience was cited as the primary reason the speaker was able to make significant money from a product launch.
Content formats: YouTube + Twitter
The speaker recommended creating YouTube videos and tweeting as the two core content formats for building an audience.
Elon Musk estimated SpaceX had 5–10% survival odds
After SpaceX's third rocket failure, Elon Musk estimated survival odds at only 5–10%, yet stated no failure probability would have caused him to walk away — a textbook example of religious-stage commitment.
$14K/month in 6 months
Sam built Algrow from zero to $14,000 in monthly revenue within just six months of shipping his first MVP.
