Artistic Careers in 2020 — A Series |Joland Hamlett

The first steps in a career are never easy, and even for those who are more established, the path to growth isn’t always straightforward. Software engineers, branding professionals, actors — we all have growing pains. In this series, we will explore the lives of creatives at different stages of their careers, how they have been developing their skills for the past few months, and what they see for their future. This series includes designers, entrepreneurs, models, and musicians.

This is part five.

Killeen | Seoul

Joland Hamlett is an artistic polymath. As of December 31, 2020, he has achieved international recognition as a model, published a novel, and written songs for musicians in multiple languages. It hasn’t been easy, though, and the path has never been straightforward.

In 2013, Joland was introduced to modeling after a lifetime of pursuing musical theater and sketching arts. The years that followed painted a picture of hardships, culminating in what looks to be a promising future for someone who has definitely worked hard for it.

Hi. My name is Joland Hamlett, and I am from Lynchburg, Virginia. After I graduated high school in 2013, I got my first modeling opportunity. My friend, who was in a show, said they were looking for more male models. When I went to the audition, they said “You need some work, but you’re not bad.” There were rehearsals every Saturday. Then the show was the second week of August in 2013, and I loved modeling after that. It was an avenue that I fell in love with. It felt like I could do more with modeling than I could do with theater.

In a perfect world, this would be it: a person gets their first shot and everything is smooth sailing from there. In this case, this first shot served as a fuel to a passion that remains to this day. However, the years that followed were anything but easy.

My grandma kicked me out when I was 18. She thought I was “grown,” but I had nowhere to go. At the start, I started going to community college. I stayed with my friends for a time, they helped me get through a lot. Then, I went through a financial crisis where I didn’t even have money to get on the bus to get to school. I felt super depressed. I couldn’t go to school because I didn’t have a ride. My grades slipped because I wasn’t going to school. I didn’t have a job or money, and I felt guilty for staying with my friend even though I didn’t have any money. This was still 2013, that was a crazy year.

The financial hardships led him to drop out of college, and after an offer to move to Florida with his godfather, Joland enrolled in school again. The time in Florida would amplify the hardships that had only begun to show themselves.

I battled with depression and anxiety a lot of the time. I had never lived with my godfather before, and he had a new wife, and she had a daughter, and it was just a different experience. At first it went well, the honeymoon phase, peaches and cream. Then we moved out of the home we were in and lived in a hotel for a while. During that time, I had insomnia. It was 5 people in a room and two dogs. Most of the nights, I ended up staying in the lobby and watching TV daily. They were upset I wasn’t in the room with them. They changed the keylocks, and I would go days without eating or bathing.

The months that followed made him think of ways to gain stability, and he was offered a ticket out of Florida. In 2015, Joland joined the military, a move that would grant him the stability to pursue modeling and writing.

My friend Angela helped me tremendously, and my mom was the one who eventually got me the resources that I needed to join the military. I started the military in 2015. I went through training, it was funny to me. It wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be. I met a lot of lifelong friends.

I got stationed in Maryland in early 2016 and started getting casted for fashion week. It boosted my passion.

For the military, how long did you have to enlist?

You have to serve a contract amount of 8 years. 4 years active duty and then the rest for reserves — I reenlisted for 2 more years of active duty just so I could go work in Korea. Even before I got there, I reached out to a lot of photographers, I researched Korean hashtags and practiced the language to be able to get jobs there. In the first week, when I was still in processing, I already had a photoshoot planned. The second week I was in Korea, I had a Samsung commercial that I had to turn down because I had to do army training. So I was really promoting myself so hard.

Korea was the true launching pad for Joland. It was where he would meet many collaborators and develop his writing skills. Music videos and editorial opportunities would soon follow.

The first big opportunity I had was from Kiok, which is now known as The Gang. They asked me to do fashion week with them. I couldn’t audition, but they told me to just come to the fitting, and then from there I got another offer from another show. I got my first two shows without ever auditioning. So this gave me the boost I needed to be certain that this was what I was supposed to do .

I met musicians who liked my look, and they asked me to be in their music videos. Song Dana, Angelina, Brandon — my best friend, one of the top Black models in Korea. I met a lot of great friends at photos, at runway shows, partying too. We would do photoshoots together. It’s like a spiderweb of makeup artists and everyone involved.

I know you left Korea for a while, and you basically spent the entirety of 2020 in the US, locked in. Did that allow you to do something else you would have otherwise not been able to?

I mean, I started writing before I left Korea, but I kind of put it to the side even though I knew it was something I really wanted to expand. I felt like this book that I was writing needed to get out. Covid gave me the opportunity to teach myself how to sew, to learn how to draw so I can work on my webtoon, I got a Procreate certificate. I’m an imperfect perfectionist. I finished and published the first book, and I’m working on my second book right now. I love the meaning behind it. I like supernatural books, but I want them to have a purpose.

What’s one thing you’ve been thinking about when creating this second book?

I was creating a character and it dawned on me that many African American, or minority characters have the same powers. I’m tired of seeing African American superheroes who have powers and are just electric or have super strength. I already had an idea of what I wanted the powers of my character to be, but I also asked my friends what kind of powers they want a minority character to have.

In 2020, were any of your plans shattered?

I was supposed to go to Seoul for fashion week, but the peninsula was on lockdown. The US went on lockdown, too. That was one of the saddest things, because I had some BOMB outfits. I had them all planned. My hair was ready.

In 2021 you’re basically starting a new chapter of your life right? How are things going?

Yes. I’m scared. I’m entering Korea on a tourist visa, but there is a reserve unit that I can join to stay there if I really had to. I can be a freelance model, and that’s ideal for me for now. In Korea, it’s possible to get more work as a freelance model than as a signed one.

My contract is finished on February 4, but I will be in Korea starting January. I will try to establish my career there formally. I’m trying to get an entertainment visa because it’s easier to work on TV shows and advertisements if you have that. It’s more professional.

In 2021, I’m going to release second book, work on my webtoon. I applied for SUNY international since I want to work on my fashion design. I’m just ready to improve myself and improve my abilities. I want to level up so I can complete my dreams.

What has been your favorite event?

My favorite runway was by designer Kim Seo Ryong in Seoul. There was a circular staircase and a very long aisle that turned back on itself. That was fun because there was a lot to do. A lot of people there. A lot of famous people — so that was terrifying. People were tagging me on Instagram, and I didn’t even know they were following me. And the shows there are like a family, we commune and eat after the show. They were very patient with my Korean. It was very… well, it was Konglish — choppy Korean, but it felt like a family. My friends had gone to see me. The photographer Jihoon… It was really loving, and I had a lot of support.

My favorite music video was with Sumin. I was the first model they hired for the music video, and they told me to choose the other models. I got a lot of my close friends in the peninsula to be in it. We got to have fun on set, and the music video came out great.

What advice do you need from people?

How do you stay focused on your hobbies and the things you love when you have so many things you love? I’m sewing, writing, practicing my singing… I got into TikTok, too. How do you do all of them without feeling like you aren’t doing enough on each one of them?

What advice do you have for people?

My advice to anyone who wants to follow their dreams is to just go for it. You’ll never know unless you try. You’re going to face many “no”s in life. But maybe one thing you think will be a no will end up being a yes and change your life. There’s rain and then there’s sunshine right after. It might not be in an hour, a day, or even a week, but it ends. Trust me, I’ve been in the rain sometimes for too long.