A candid conversation with Spotlite Global's Hannah Choi, who is now going international.

As you may know, Spotlite is a professional modeling platform that connects brands (companies) with talent (models). We're not just an intermediary platform that helps you "connect," we exist to ease the pain for creatives and clients. We're just a year old startup, and we're seeing a lot of small opportunities come together to create big growth. At the center of it all is co-founder and CEO Hannah Choi . Hannah empathized with the challenges of modeling and creatives and created a service to solve them.. 'Solve inefficiencies in the talent acquisition process''s identity and philosophy can also be seen in its brand mission.

In this interview, we sat down with Hanna Choi to reflect on the past year of Spotlite and hear about her vision for the future and the start of her global expansion. Let's take a look at Hannah's story. I have one.

Hannah empathized with the struggles of models and creatives in findingtalentand created a service to solve them. The brand's mission statement of"solving the inefficiencies in the talent search process" also reflects the identity and philosophy of Spotlite.

In this interview, we sat down with Hanna Choi to reflect on the past year of Spotlite and hear about her vision for the future and the start of her global expansion. Let's take a look at Hannah's story.

 

"I firmly believe that if one player in the world is going to solve the problem of sourcing models and creatives, it's going to be us."

How did Spotlite come to be?

One of the world's biggest unsolved problems is model sourcing. With a suggestion from my husband, who has a long history in the fashion modeling industry, and the entrepreneurial spirit I didn't know I had, together we created Spotlite. Spotlite is helping professional models and brands solve their pain points and enable more innovative talent workflows by automating the discovery, scheduling, quote comparison, and contracting of professional models.

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What were you doing before?

My entire career has been about supporting and investing in entrepreneurs who are making a positive impact on the world. That experience also helped me start Spotlite

I know you're very busy these days, so I'm curious to know what a typical day looks like for you.

It's true that when you launch Spotlite, there's a lot going on. This year has been especially hectic. Still, I try to keep my life balanced. I usually run and go to the gym in the morning before work, and then take it easy and get to work between 10-10:30. After work, I look at what I have left to do and try to wrap up my day before 11:00.

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You must be really busy every day, what drives you?

I think what my team is doing is something that the world needs and someone has to do. The problem of sourcing models and creatives that no one has solved yet. I can say with confidence that if any player is going to solve this problem, it's going to be us. Because our team is made up of awesome people who are optimized to change an industry that they've been in and have a deep connection to. We're moving forward every day with the mindset that if we're slow to execute, we're slow to open up a new world of talent.

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I believe in solving problems for our professional model and management agency partners, creating a quick and easy pathway to more clients and opportunities, and solving their problems.
 

 

You've talked to and worked with many models. What pain points did they most want to address?

It's a "payout" issue that we're working hard on. Due to the structure of the commercial photography industry, it can take quite a long time after a shoot before the model/management company actually receives payment. Most of them don't even get paid up front. This leaves many freelance models/management companies tied up in cash. It's also hard to know the date of the deposit. In Spotlite, we'll have an option to get paid "inadvance" of the client's payment date, on an as-needed basis, for a low fee. The goal is to eliminate the anxiety of 'when will the money come in' or 'how many months will I have to wait'.

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Similarly, what did you think were the biggest pain points from the customer' s perspective?

The process of sourcing models is complex, lengthy, and has many variables before they arrive on site. Our goal is to make it much easier and more informativeto arrive at a hiring decisionwith a good product. In addition to this, there's also the issue of unexpectedly rising quotes. Often, there are hidden costs that suddenly appear in the final estimate. We offer transparent quotes based on hourly model ratesset by professional model management and freelance models themselves for a flat fee, which you can see right on the service. It's about creating an environment where you don't have to make sales based on the size of a client's "pocketbook" to negotiate a quote. The goal is to help more creative brands connect with the right artist for them, with more affordable quotes/methods.

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We're already a year old. What's the most memorable thing you've done in your career?

Honestly, I still learn something new every day. My favorite memories are when we had our first team member join our team and believe in our mission, and our first client shoot. I can still remember it clearly. And I remember interviewing a lot of people before we launched, and I remember when clients and models heard our idea and said, "This is exactly what they need. Despite the fact that we are dealing with an unfamiliar topic for a startup - fashion models - our mission resonated with investors, so when we closed our seed round and were selected for a government project, it was a great feeling of joy and a huge responsibility at the same time.

 

Our goal is for all commercial shoots to 'naturally' take place in Spotlite. It's like when you want to find a place to stay, you naturally turn to Airbnb or Booking.com, or when you want to order food, you turn to Bae Min or Coupangit. It's become second nature to access Spotlite and meet creatives when you need to book them for a shoot.

 

 

Hannah, I'm curious about your personal goals and the goals of Spotlite. Is this year going as planned?

This year is going much better than planned! In fact, I'm well aware that the startup journey doesn't always go the way you want it to. In just one year, we've gained over 400 clients and our transaction value is increasing every month. In our first year, we've been able to work with Samsung Electronics, Sulwhasoo, and many other brands that young Koreans love, including global campaigns.

In fact, our most important plan for this year is to launch in Southeast Asia. We've seen a huge increase in interest in K-beauty and fashion in key markets in Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Model within the Southeast Asian market - We want to create a platform for Korean talent to work in the international market by enabling direct booking as well as contracting with clients. To that end, we are actively preparing to launch the service in the Thai market starting in July. Through Spotlite, we dream of a future where Korea's outstanding domestic models, photographers, hair and makeup artists, stylists, and other talents will be more popular in the global market. I think it's entirely possible, as long as Spotlite makes the way.

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Lastly, do you have any words for the team members you work with?

Thank you for joining us on this arduous journey. We're blessed to have so many great people join us, and we'll do our best to make it a place that doesn't lack for anything 🙂 .

 

 

The interview with Hannah was a great opportunity to learn more about the nature and philosophy of Spotlite. Empathizing with the pain points of brands and creatives (models), and being proactive in solving problems and executing on them is what helped us get to where we are today. Spotlite is just getting started. We'll continue to work to make the casting experience better for talent and clients.