Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories featuring Brookings County native Jake Sanderson, who works as a professional model in New York City.

BROOKINGS – With his dark, curly hair and strong features, Jake Sanderson had the looks to be a model, so he took a chance in a risky industry and it’s paying off for him. 

This summer, he wound up on the cover of a magazine and was featured in a multi-page spread designed to pay tribute to an American icon.

The story of how he got the gig mirrors his philosophy on his career: always be ready because you never know when your big break is coming. 

Sanderson, now 26, grew up working on the family farm Sanderson Gardens, just outside of Aurora, with his parents Liz and Jan Sanderson, and four siblings. He was active in sports, especially track and soccer, before graduating from Brookings High School in 2010. 

He continued his track career at South Dakota State University, graduating with a degree in health, physical education and recreation. 

Getting a start

He was substitute teaching after graduation but looking for something else. He’d thought about professional soccer but realized it was a lot more intense than college sports. 

An SDSU friend of his, Dan Herman, was modeling, so Sanderson quizzed him about the profession. Sanderson also talked to his older brother, Noah, who was a dancer. Both encouraged him, and Sanderson even got some professional shots taken at Champhan in Sioux Falls in summer 2015.

Sanderson was home for lunch one day in October of that year and, on a whim, searched Google for modeling agencies that handled males. 

Ford Models, one of the leaders in the field, popped up, so he filled out the application with his biography, measurements and some of the photos he’d had taken. 

“About an hour later, when I was still at school, I had a missed call,” Sanderson said. When school was done, he called back. “That was my agent, Blake (Woods). He wanted to sign me.”

It usually doesn’t work that way, Sanderson admits.

“I guess I put it in at the right time and someone was looking,” he said. 

Sanderson did not sign right away, though. It was a slow time of the modeling year when he wouldn’t have been getting any jobs, and, within weeks, Woods left Ford Models and took a job as men’s director with New York Models.

“I was the first guy that Blake brought to New York Models when he became the director. Kind of have a special bond that way,” Sanderson said.

Getting experience

He signed with New York Models in March 2016 and has been keeping busy since. 

“I’ve done a lot of different stuff. I’ve been doing a little bit of everything,” Sanderson said.

He’s done runway modeling; online commercials; editorial, which is magazines and stories; look books, where a brand wants to show how to wear and style its current line; and presentations, which are like fashion shows where models wear the new line for potential buyers or bloggers. 

“Also, I’m considered a fit model, since I have the right measurements, right height, right waist,” Sanderson said, explaining that the clothes are made to a certain size and they need models who fit the clothes.

Some of his jobs aren’t about clothes or photography.

“On the side, I do catering jobs, where I show up to these extravagant parties and pass out hor d’oeuvres to rich people,” he quipped.

When he’s not working, he goes on castings, which are the modeling world’s version of an audition. 

“The people just want to meet you and see you in real life. Takes about five minutes,” he said, but the waiting afterward can be grueling.

“You only hear if you get the job, so you might go to 10 castings in a row, where you don’t get the job,” Sanderson said. “They never really tell you why. They see a lot of people. Once they find their person, that’s it.”

Iconic shoot

One of Sanderson’s first castings led to a job that’s getting him some attention: the cover and 10-page photo spread that appeared in the July issue of MR Magazine. 

Sanderson is shown in various vignettes, some black-tie formal and others very casual; some show him with a blond female model, others riding a bike or reading a newspaper. All are based on iconic photos taken of John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. What makes the photos work is Sanderson’s striking resemblance to JFK Jr. 

“When I was out there (New York City) the first time, this guy was like, ‘Wow, you look so much like JFK Jr. I’ve been wanting to do this story on JFK Jr. for so long,’” Sanderson recalled. 

“Like a year later, my agent emailed me, ‘I have this guy, Michael Macko, he wants to do this story about JFK Jr. with you.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I remember that.’

“Just kind of tried to replicate these paparazzi pictures from JFK Jr. because he was such a huge public figure in New York,” Sanderson said. 

The photo shoot in March 2017 took place in four or five different locations with Sanderson and the female model wearing clothes like Kennedy and his wife were wearing when the original photos were taken.

“I had (JFK Jr.’s) exact bike and his backpack that he had,” Sanderson said.

The shoot only took a day, but it was a 10-hour day. About three-fourths of the time was spent driving around to the locations.

“The traffic was terrible,” Sanderson said. “It was worth it; it was a really fun shoot. Got some good stuff out of it.”

The future

Sanderson is enjoying the modeling life and intends to keep doing it – unless something comes up that he likes better.

“I guess I’m glad I have parents who are open to letting me explore and do my own thing,” Sanderson said. “They trust that my judgment is good enough to not do stupid things. I’m just thankful I have very good support … a lot of kids don’t have that great support.”

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.

Courtesy photos from MR Magazine.