Backstage with Jennifer Henry from MOD Media

© ModMedia presents Keva by Keva J “Ode to Barbe Fashion Show”

Jennifer and Christine Henry are the headmasters behind the ever-growing empire that is MOD Media, a creative agency that is coloring Miami with breathtaking fashion productions, while also showcasing local talent. Their shows and events speak for themselves, but what is most interesting: their work ethic, passion, and love for what they do.

I had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer and couldn’t help but getting excited hearing her talk about all her accomplishments, her struggles and her thirst for more.

In a few words, describe what you do?

Wow, that’s difficult. It’s like I wear seven million hats, I’m a full time publicist, event planner and business owner of ModMedia.

At the end of the day I’m being a boss, writing checks and just running all day. That’s basically what I do, all day long, every day.

What’s MOD Media?

We are boutique sister company; a one stop shop – event planning, image consulting, photo shoot, fashion production and styling. However, so many tangents happen as we continue to grow, the more we start getting into the industry the more we can be doing. We also do a lot of publishing, editing; and things that we didn’t think we would be doing.

Did you always know what you wanted to be involved with career wise?

No, but since I was a schoolgirl I was in love with fashion. Though, my mother pulled me from that path and told me I had to go to school first, that fashion was more of a hobby.

But back then I never found what I really wanted to do; I just knew I was creative. Then around 22 I had a major breakdown, I broke up with my boyfriend and that affected me tremendously. So I just decided to start a new track, washed everything negative from my life. I decided to go for advertisement school and loved it! I finally found something were I could put in practice all those things that come out of my head.

What’s your career path like?

When graduated I got offered a job at Ocean Drive Magazine and there is where my career took off, after that, it was Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce which gave me professionalism and a work ethic. Then, I worked for Tai Entertainment; I was working with Tommy Pooch and Alan Roth before they become the editors for 944. That job was tough, even humiliating sometimes, it was a very macho oriented atmosphere, but I stayed there for a whole year just telling myself that I’m a strong women and I needed to deal with that, I grew thick skin and moved up in the company really fast.  It was a good experience after all, I learnt a lot.

How did ModMedia happen?

© ModMedia presents Keva by Keva J “Ode to Barbe Fashion Show”My sister and I wanted to start our own business; we wanted to start doing for ourselves what we have been doing for others by working in public relations [Christine worked for The Biltmore back then]. So we decided to work full time for a year and save some money, and little by little create something with ModMedia. Finally one day, we just decided to quit our jobs and let ModMedia be our focus. We haven’t looked back since. We have never been money hungry; it is all about the work ethic and being passionate about it. We believed in what we could do and we went for it.

How’s working with your sister?

Working with family can be really tough and I don’t think it’s for everyone. But my sister and I complement each other, we work very well together. We are opposites; whatever I suck at, she is good at, and vice versa.

You are originally from Miami; in what way have you experienced a change in this city?

I’ve seen a huge change in Miami.  We have been always stereotyped for being just bikinis or a Latin American related culture; but we have become much more than that.  Five years ago, fashion was nothing at all to this city. There was no online promotions, clubs didn’t even host fashion shows. But now, we have come to the point to realize that fashion is a moneymaking industry. It has been a night-day shift in the past five-seven years. The industry is starting to appeal to this city; for example, Louboutin is opening in the Design District that just shows that there is a market for fashion in Miami.

Where did the idea of creating Mod Swim Week came from?

Well, I was sitting with my sister one day and just talking about how boring Miami fashion shows are. We go to so many shows in Vegas or LA and then to come to Miami and see what we are being tag for it’s really embarrassing, outside of Miami if you mentioned you are from here they Ed Hardy you almost instantly. So we came up with an idea, we want to change the cliché fashion perspective that Miami has, and if we stick to what we are best known for – producing fashion shows and adding our modern twist – we can have a phenomenal event.

And we did! We had an amazing turnout. We had celebrities coming over, people from Entourage, fashion lovers, people from the industry, Vogue, WWD, some amazing press coverage and a great show.

We rented the W Hotel and had a three-story bungalow where the designers were sitting around meeting the press and being interviewed. We also had the most high-end gift bags to give out to our guests. We just wanted to make sure everyone was happy.

When everything was over, I looked at my sister and we were both amazed of the results; this was a show put together by the two of us, there was no investors, no bank loans. We were in charge of every single detail of the show, the website, the PR, everything. It has been my biggest accomplishment so far, and we will do it again next year.

What’s missing in Miami, fashion-wise?

Work ethic! That’s our biggest problem nowadays. All the young people that are coming into fashion assume that they have been entitled to pick what to do or chose not to do certain things. That’s not how things work, you have to start from the bottom and work your butt up! There is too much arrogance and pride around and if that’s on your plate you are not going to do well.

What’s extremely necessary to be a successful young lady as yourself?

Passion in my life and work; everyday it’s a constant battle. But the very best important thing for me, is my relationship with my family.

And backstage?

Backstage is very hectic, but it’s necessary to have a good mood and bring positive attitude. The energy that you bring to an event will reflect into everyone and everything that you do.  It might get stressful, people might raise their voice, there are boobs, inappropriate guys, models, last minute things to do, but it’s all part of the excitement.

Our backstage consists of thirty people counting a full make-up team, a hair team, dressers, models and always before the show we cheer a cocktail and wish everyone a great event. There is no tension amongst us. We love what we do.