Being a Cover Model, Getting Married at 18 and Pistol Shooting | Jamie Villamor DSH #243

went into like a random gun shop.

I met JJ Rakaza and he was like, you should shoot a match with me.

I said, okay, I'll shoot a local match with you.

I went out there and fed it.

Yeah.

So I thought I was like,

like, I'm good.

I can shoot.

I'm shooting with these military guys.

It was such next level that I, it humbled me to where I was like, whoa,

I literally know nothing.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back on the digital social hour.

Our very special guest today, professional model, pistol shooter, and podcast host, Jamie Villamore.

How's it going?

Good.

How are you?

Good.

Your studio is amazing.

Can't complain.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

Yeah.

Probably one of the best I've seen.

In Vegas, for sure.

Yeah.

Yeah, I filmed at like seven studios in Vegas, but I like this one the most.

What was your favorite before this?

Probably either Sticky Paws or Mediographer.

Okay, yeah, John's awesome.

Yeah, you filmed Sticky Paws.

I do, yeah.

Yeah.

I was watching some of your episodes.

Very Very interesting show.

Yeah.

Dating intelligence.

Talk to me about how that sort of happened, that podcast.

So I actually met Christopher Lewis in the modeling space, I want to say, like

nine years ago.

So I was modeling for a tennis brand and he's a professional tennis player.

He had his own brand at that time.

So that's how we linked.

He started a show.

um got a hold of me and was like hey do you want to be a guest co-host and i was like eh maybe let me like check out your show and what you have going.

So I was a guest on his show.

And I'm like, yeah, I can do this like once or twice a month.

So, but yeah, now just kind of like in a transition phase and we'll see.

We have like, I think what makes the show good is we're a lot we're opposites.

So he, his values are different than mine.

So we have a difference of opinion a lot.

So I think it's good.

Yeah, you have very, very unique values.

You got married at 18, two kids by 21.

Was that by design or did it sort of just happen?

No, I think it just happened for me.

Like during that time and space, like where I was.

Like I met my husband at the time.

We were together for six months, got married.

We had a good run.

We were together for 11 years.

And

when I married him, he had his daughter was, I want to say eight months.

So she's pretty much mine.

And so there's three girls.

Oh, so he was 18 also or or was you?

No, he was older than me.

He was about five years older than me.

Got it.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, I don't think I'd be responsible enough to pull that off at that age.

Yeah.

Props to you.

It's crazy because I

didn't like part of me wanted to have kids at a young age.

So when I think when

we're in kindergarten, they're like, what do you want to be when you grow up?

So like during that time, I always wanted to be a mom.

So people are like, oh, I want to be a doctor.

I want to be a teacher.

So I always knew that I wanted to be a mom.

And And then when life happens, like in our teenage years,

I was like, ooh, this is probably not in the cards for me.

Right.

But yeah, I could have never

imagined, you know what I mean?

That's what would have played out for me.

But like now looking back, I'm so grateful.

Like it's the best thing that could have ever happened for me.

Really?

100%.

It's made me such,

I think,

gosh, I've learned so much from my kids.

Like you're supposed to grow up and we're like the teachers, and we're supposed to guide.

But I feel like just being a mom at a young age, like they were able to pour so much into me and teach me so many life lessons.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Cause usually people these days, I feel like are waiting till like 30 now.

Yeah.

Would I recommend it?

Absolutely not.

Like I look at my daughter now and I'm like, wow.

At your age, I

was taking care of three kids and she's in nursing school.

Like she's, she'll graduate next year with a bachelor's in nursing.

But it's amazing to see the different spaces that they're in.

And all three of them are so successful.

That's amazing.

Another thing that impressed me a lot was you're completely sober.

Yes.

You live in Vegas and you've never done a single s ⁇ .

Never.

That's actually insane.

So define

like

it's like I've never done.

I've never done anything like that.

And then growing up where it was was like readily available to us constantly

yeah it's been something that I've always kind of prided myself on both my brothers are

my my youngest brothers are recovering

so

yeah both my parents

growing up like we're in in my industry we're around it all the time

so so were your parents models as well No.

Oh, they weren't?

No, my dad was a firefighter and my mom was a nurse and that's how they met.

So my dad dad was burnt pretty bad in a car fire.

And my mom cared for him in the hospital.

They met each other and started their own business.

Wow.

And to this day, it's still like very successful here.

They kind of parted ways.

And my younger brother,

he did a little time in the penitentiary, got out.

He's been sober for over 10 years, and he runs the business.

Amazing.

What type of business is it?

It's construction.

Okay.

Yeah.

It's always those old school businesses that you don't hear about on social media but they low-key

yeah like

and then it's funny because i pull into parking lots and i analyze everything because i grew up like with my dad helping him in his business like stripe parking lots and lines and bumper blocks and so yeah i'm able like i know where all the fire hydrants are because it's like a blue reflector and so it's it's funny the things that you pick up on that nobody knows yeah that's cool you were exposed to entrepreneurship at a young age because that happened to me too and i think it really you know benefited me to see that side of the world.

What did your parents do?

So they had nine to fives, but on the side, my dad sold books on Amazon and eBay.

And this was like 15 years ago.

And I saw how happy it made him.

So I think subconsciously, it sort of like took me down that entrepreneur path.

Yeah.

I think it's so important for kids to find like a niche and something that they're good at and teach them to create.

I think the, I don't know if, I think the school district is the biggest.

I'm not not like a huge fan.

I agree.

I mean, it just kind of teaches you to sort of blend in.

And when you kind of want to escape, they don't like that.

We can't like, like I say, let's color outside the lines.

Like, there are no rules.

Like, we can create our own path, but it limits kids into.

thinking that they have to do everything a certain way and we don't.

Right.

Yeah, I just wish it was more personalized instead of just, here's what you're learning.

Like it should be personalized to each student like about what they want to learn almost.

Right.

Yeah.

Like that would be cool because I hated, I thought I hated learning, but I actually love learning.

I love learning too.

Like even now, I like your

guest, I wanted to pop in here and I had so many questions for them because it's exciting to learn new things.

Yeah, especially health stuff.

I'm all about that.

100%.

Me too.

I get so excited.

Yeah.

But people think that.

they're like wow you're weird like

yeah it's like oh you're healthy that's weird yeah and i i feel feel like I'm not

like extremely healthy because I like, I guess my vice is like Baskin-Robbins.

So as much as I say that I'm healthy and eat clean and it's like to an extent, right?

Right.

Because everyone knows me at like Baskin' Robbins.

Even though I know that the drink has Kerrageenin in it and it's awful for my gut, I'm still.

Ice cream's tough to give up.

Yeah, it's tough.

I don't think I can give up ice cream.

Right.

But I am like, I feel like I'm doing, you know, eight things right.

So I can, I can have that.

yeah so as a model you must be on a strict diet i'm not oh you're not no really yeah i thought they have to eat like barely any calories okay so growing up like i um

i was probably like always the fat model so um now it's

and i hate saying it but it's the it's the truth so i was probably like the bigger one i had like a little more curves than a lot of the girls i wasn't as tall as a lot of the models so if i listened to what everyone else said i would never have propelled like I did in my career.

Wow.

So I was like too short.

I was too thick.

And all these things are wrong with you.

But it was something that I feel like it's something that found me.

Like I didn't really chase that, but it's something that always presented itself to me.

So I was able to take it and

find different avenues, if that makes sense.

So at first you were getting a lot of negative feedback and denials.

Was that tough on you mentally?

I mean, any model hears hundreds of no's before we get a yes right so we're we're constantly um

told no um dismissed we're picked apart so it it's

it's been like such a blessing for me like in business because

I think a lot of people are like told no or or fail and they they stop.

So for us, like you can't quit.

Like we just know that not everyone is going to align with us and that's okay and you keep moving and beauty is like so subjective right so someone that you think is beautiful the next person can be like she's so not pretty right so i think i learned younger on that it's not everyone's not gonna look at you and be like oh she's so pretty or she has a great body

so yeah you can't please everybody yeah it's it's crazy yeah like i look at someone and i'm like i think giselle's beautiful and then you ask like five other guys and they're like oh she's too skinny she is and they pick her apart and it's so sad yeah

you know and there's like phases of modeling where sometimes certain years they like the short skinny ones right yeah and then now it's like curvy and then it kind of now it's so now you know it's like popular now believe it or not is like they say heroin chic so now they're going back to super super skinny so that's why everyone's like on ozempic and trying to get super thin so

It's like, you know, trends.

Yeah, I heard of people taking that, losing like 20 pounds.

Yeah, I just don't think that like my body, I'm never going to be like super skinny.

Like maybe you look at me and think that I'm sitting on the skin.

I think you're skinny right now.

Yeah.

So this is the thing.

So I show up to like everyday life and like I'm skinny compared to the real world.

But when I show up to like a job, I'm bigger than most of the girls that are there.

Because you're super skinny right now.

Really?

I don't know.

I think like, yeah, I have like my arms are always like thin.

Upper body, I'm thin.

Yeah.

But I've always had like like meat in my trunk, you know, like I'm like thicker down here in my legs.

Got it.

Oh, so they don't want big breasts, they want no, yeah.

We, they want you want like a box type because we're selling, we're selling like clothes, we're not selling like ourselves.

So it's yeah, it's based on a fit, but now it's like

there's no limits, which I'm not like a huge proponent of because I do push for like a healthy lifestyle.

So, as a mother of girls, when I walk into Target and I see these mannequins that are huge, I'm like, what are we promoting here?

Like, this is not like healthy.

And I don't want, I don't want my girls thinking,

like, striving for this.

It's not normal.

Yeah, for sure.

Did you see a lot of models transition into

or did they sort of stay as a model?

Yeah, I did.

Oh, you did?

I did.

Because the money was better, right?

Yeah, these girls are bringing in like 100K a month.

It's insane.

Even the guys, I have a friend of mine,

a male model, and he showed me, he literally logged in his account and he's making like 40,000.

Wait, there's guys making money on 40,000 a month, which is like, and then I'm like, yeah, but like, are you getting naked?

Like, what are you showing?

He doesn't even get naked.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

So I'm like, hmm.

That's impressive.

Like,

I can't believe that's a thing.

And it's just like, you know, having the conversations.

And I think like primarily his audiences, um,

they're gay guys,

but um, that makes sense now.

So, you didn't make that transition, though.

I didn't, I didn't.

I think, um, I have nothing against anyone that does, but for me, I just hold myself to a different standard.

And I think that I have sexy stuff on Instagram, and I have no problem with that, but there's like a limit for me, right?

So, there's nothing nude of me, um, like implied for like some print that I've done, but

and that was like hard enough as is for my kids.

So I feel like a lot of people, and like I said, I don't want to be judgmental.

Sometimes I wish I could, but then I'm like, like, where's the limit?

Right.

Like, how much money do, how much money do I really need?

I do great and I'm so blessed and grateful for the life that I live.

Do I need to be making a few million more?

Right.

Yeah, there's a limit.

Yeah, where is the limit?

Yeah.

So there's a limit where if you cross it, but you're selling your soul a little bit, you know.

Yeah, and that's what I say, but I think that it doesn't resonate with some people.

So which is, which is fine.

Like you do, you do you, but it's not like for me.

That makes sense.

And then it's like in some weird way, it like I've met people and they're like, I'll, I'll give you 75.

Like one guy offered me 75,000 cash just to see my

whoa.

So my friend's like, um, I'll show him my s.

He's like, I don't want to see your s ⁇ .

I want to see her b.

But it's like, I can't.

That's a lot.

I know.

But then looking back, sometimes I'm like, why am I like this?

Is it, am I being dumb?

Like, why don't I just show on my

everyone has,

but I think there's always been like that part of me,

like that little fire in me that like, no, you don't get to see that.

Like, that's for like my partner or like my husband someday.

You're married, right?

I'm not married.

Oh, you're not?

No.

Got it.

Yeah.

Man.

I'm in a relationship, but not married.

Yeah.

That's good.

How do you move up the ranks in modeling?

Is it like, I know cover models are important, right?

Stacking those up.

Is that kind of how you move up?

Yeah, covers are always good, but I really feel like what I learned in modeling is the relationships.

So that's what's really important.

And you're always going to have like the jobs that want to party with the girls or they want girls like that.

And those are the brands and the companies that don't really align with me because I'm kind of the girl that goes to work and I go back to my room and I want to read or like work out or do things like that.

I'm not going to be the one that's going to go out and party with you and drink.

So I've lost jobs because of that.

But I've also built like a lot of respect in the industry.

So they know what they're going to get when I show up.

Like I'm going to be on time.

Like I may not be the skinniest.

I may not be the prettiest, but no one's going to outwork me.

So you know that when you give me a call time, like I'm going to be on time, like I'm not going to be tired.

I'm not going to be hungover.

So I feel like that's what's really propelled my career and why I've lasted so long in the industry.

Yeah, because the average model probably doesn't last more than five years, I guess.

27, you're done, Zoe.

At 27?

Like, like back in, yeah, I would say like 20 years ago when like the supermodels were like a thing, or I don't know, like in the 80s when we had like all the supermodels, like it was Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer.

Um,

it's not like that anymore.

Like, I miss that, and I wish our industry was geared more towards that because it was such a fun time.

But I understand too, like we, we evolve, things change.

Yeah.

Um,

but

yeah, I want to talk about this crazy transition into pistol shooting.

Yeah.

Because model to pistol shooting, that's like insane.

I'm telling you, like modeling has opened the doors for so many,

like it's just presented so many opportunities for me from like travel to like even competitive shooting.

Like I would have never been exposed to that world if it wasn't for modeling, which I I hate and I love at the same, in the same sense, right?

So like, I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me because it's provided so much opportunity for myself and my family.

But there's like a side of the industry that I'm not like a fan of and I don't really like fit in.

That's the side I see on social media, the dark side of modeling.

Yeah.

Yeah.

A lot of manipulation and money.

Yeah.

Which I can't, I feel like I just can't be like bought or bribed.

Like it's great.

Someone else is going to take it, but it's not going to be me.

Yeah.

So how exactly did that happen?

Did someone see you on a cover and invite you to a shooting event or something?

Okay.

So I cast for a show in Australia.

So my agent had come to me and they were like, hey, they're doing a show and we want you to audition for it.

And

I'm not about like the acting world at all.

Not like a huge fan of like reality show.

I don't even watch TV.

So I'm like,

well, tell me a little bit about the show.

So she told me about like the weapons training.

And so I was like, ooh, and I'm super competitive by nature, love sports.

Um,

and I was like, Well, let me look at it.

And I said no in the beginning, and then something it presented itself again.

She said, They're gonna be in Vegas, just go to the casting.

So, I went to the casting, um, and then I ended up like making it.

And then,

along the lines,

it was like, you're gonna get to train with like the special forces and military.

So, I was just like, all about the new skill, um, started training with like a lot of those guys, the Israeli Special Forces.

I got to train with some of those guys.

Wow.

And then I

found out that during that time, it's crazy because you have like the military side of shooting, right?

And that type of training.

And then the competitive shooting, which most people don't know about.

Like I knew nothing about competitive shooting.

I didn't even know it was a sport.

Like, yeah, it's an Olympic sport.

So I met, I was, I went into like a random gun shop.

I met JJ Rakaza and he was like, you should shoot a match with me.

And I was thinking, like all the, like a lot of the military guys that I was training with at that time, like, I hear them and I listen and they kind of make fun of the competitive shooters.

Like if you've ever seen like someone like shoot like a stage or a match, like I get it.

Like they're like, they,

you look silly.

You look ridiculous.

How do they shoot?

Like it's just like they're running around like shooting stuff.

Oh, is that what Keanu Reeves did?

Yes, at Taryn's.

Yes.

I saw that video.

Yes.

So Taryn has a range.

And that's what they do.

They shoot steel.

You shoot cardboard, whatever.

So for me, like, I kind of laughed at it.

And I was like, eh, I'm more about like.

kicking down doors and blowing up.

Like that's like my, that's where I get my excitement.

And he was like, just shoot one match with me.

So

I said, okay, I'll shoot a local match with you.

I went out there and

it.

Yeah.

So I thought I was like,

like, I'm good.

I can, I'm shooting with these military guys.

Yeah.

It was such next level that I, it humbled me to where I was like, whoa, I literally know nothing.

Wow.

So that's what like propelled me into that.

And then just being so late in the game, most of these shooters, they've been shooting like, especially like, so Asia's a lot better than us.

Like they're, they're, I would say like Russia, Asia when I shoot like overseas they dominate they're they win everything but these kids are starting to train from such a young age so it's like four and five years old and they're on the range like so when I saw that

I shot my first major match in the Philippines and I was like man I should just quit now like I'm never like how do you catch up to that right but then it just becomes like I'm really competing with no one but myself so if I can come out here and finish and shoot all these stages, every time I shoot, I'm getting better.

And most people never thought I'd even make it over there.

Yeah.

So that's crazy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I saw Keanu do that.

So it's like real bullets and everything, right?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So the thing with like, okay, so the thing with competitive shooting, it's like, it looks easy.

So you go out to a range and you see like the setup.

I think my manager sent you some videos.

Yeah.

When I was just in Bali, I shot a match out there.

So

it looks simple, but then you

put someone behind you with a timer and then other people following you through this obstacle course.

And

it's so much pressure.

So it's kind of like shooting at someone when someone's shooting back at you.

Wait, someone's following you?

Yeah, they follow you with, they're not shooting at me, but they follow you with like a timer.

And you have to make sure that,

like, if I'm shooting this way, like I, my.

pistol, like my barrel can't break the 180.

Oh.

So at any, like, so we're doing reloads.

I have to run back.

Right.

And your pistol has to remain like downrange at all times for safety reasons.

So it's just like all these things.

And when you really break it down and think about it, I'm like, man, every time we come out here, like someone could die.

I was thinking that.

Yeah.

You know?

Because even the recoil, right?

I mean, the recoil is not going to kill you, but

I shoot 40, so my recoil is a lot more than someone who's shooting nine.

Got it.

Like a nine.

But do the bullets kind of ricochet sometimes?

Sometimes they do off the steel.

Like people have been like accidentally like

the range.

So yeah, if you, which typically if the steel and the range is upkept properly, I mean, accidents can happen anywhere, right?

So I'm not trying to detour anyone from the sport by any means.

But I mean, we get in our car every day and you could get in an accident and die.

So, I mean, I was shooting, it's so crazy.

I was shooting a match.

in Thailand and it happened to rain

and one of the like their mosquitoes were like ridiculous.

It was so crazy.

Someone got bit by a mosquito and died.

What

from a mosquito?

From a mosquito, he got dengue, like the

virus.

So I'm like, not safe anywhere.

That's terrible.

So when you think of it in that sense, you're like, wow.

But sometimes I do.

I'm out there shooting and I'm like, any, like, we all have like loaded weapons on us.

It's like hundreds of people.

At any point in time, someone could

just go crazy.

Yeah, right.

Money must be insane then for the risk to be.

Yeah, so that's that's the thing.

I think it's

you know, we're not getting paid like what the NBA is paying or or that.

Um, but yeah, I don't know if you could really make a living off of it.

Like you're oh, so it's not that good.

Yeah, like endorsement deals and your sponsorship deals are, they can be lucrative.

But I think, I mean, the best shooter in the world is like Eric Graffell and he's based out of Paris.

And I think JJ Rakasa is definitely the top.

He's in Florida.

But, I mean, we're not bringing in.

Damn.

I guess because it's newer.

Multi-millions.

It's like pickleball almost kind of a newer.

Oh, my God.

Pickleball?

Like, what is up with that?

I played.

It's actually kind of fun.

Do you love it?

I don't love it, but it's fun.

I mean, if you're with your friends, two-on-twos, it's definitely competitive.

We have to try it.

Yeah.

I wouldn't like

go all out on it.

It's more of just like a weekend activity.

Like, do you have like a there's 250 rackets yeah do you have a legit or does it matter no it definitely matters like you can put spin on it if you have a nice racket okay because i bought the walmart one at first and they destroyed me so i had to so i say the same with like our pistols yeah like if you want to go shoot average go get a glock they're not to say that there aren't people that can't shoot

you know great with a glock but and my conceal carry is the glock so i'm not hating on glock but um if you want like something next level, like, yeah.

Oh, so you can use different guns at the competition.

Yeah, so there's different,

yeah, you shoot like standard or open.

Like I shoot iron sights, so some people shoot with like a red dot.

Right.

I like to torture it.

Wouldn't that be way easier?

It is easier.

So I like to torture myself and I want to shoot iron sights than 40.

So

make it a little difficult.

So yeah, I like when you see someone shoot before me that's like shooting an open gun, they're running through a stage and they're like, da-da-da-da, da-da-da.

And then I get up and I'm like, da-da-da.

That's fine.

That, that, because I, it takes me a little longer to like pick up my sight when I'm shooting at distance.

Wow.

And I hate it.

I hate it, but I love it.

Cause it's definitely instilled like a level of discipline.

Nice.

Yeah.

I got to ask this question because when I was researching you on Google.

Yeah.

Did you know someone made an AI chatbot of you?

No.

Like, what does that even mean?

So there's an AI chatbot.

If you Google your name, it's on the first page.

Okay.

Someone made an AI that basically talks as if they're you.

Okay.

So they compiled all your posts on social media, put it into an AI, and the guy's obsessed with you so much, I guess, that he wants to feel like he's talking to you.

So he made a bot for other people to talk to it.

So do other people talk to it?

Yeah, there's a whole Reddit thread.

There's like tons of people

talking to you.

That's breaking.

So you got some fanboys.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was like, damn, I've never seen that before.

Yeah.

You might have to reach out to the guy who made it.

Yeah.

How do you find him?

I mean, I'm sure we can.

He was on Reddit.

Yeah.

Probably find him.

Yeah.

Damn.

I mean, there's like a ton of like fake accounts.

And then I get like the messages like, I've been giving you money for a year.

And

I'm like, wait, you have not been giving me money.

Sugar daddy.

Or yeah, I've sent you thousands of dollars in iTunes cards.

I'm like, iTunes cards.

If you want to send anything, send me like Baskin Robinson.

He still uses iTunes.

Yeah, I don't know.

What the heck?

I used that when I was like 10.

Right?

Yeah.

Well, I guess, yeah, that was like a thing everyone i don't know yeah well what's next for you i saw you just came back from bal bali that looks sick yeah we had an incredible time in bali i was there probably like three weeks too long um did you get sick okay i want to know why why do you ask that everyone that goes there gets sick everyone in my group got sick except for me wow yeah from the water i think it's from the water and they were set on like i brushed my teeth with the water and usually i'm like a weirdo like i'll use the bottled water but i don't drink, well, I only drink water and coffee.

So,

um, but I didn't drink the coffee there unless I used like bottled water to make my own coffee.

So that could be it.

Um, yeah, it could have been the coffee then.

Maybe they use tap water in it.

They probably do, but I don't drink sodas.

There was no ice, um, nothing like that.

But everyone in my group got sick.

Right.

It could have been the ice too.

Got sick.

Like they call it Bali gut.

Yeah, that's why I'm scared to go there because really?

You get sick for a week when you get it, right?

It's like, yeah, it doesn't go away.

like you they could not get out of bed they're throwing up nauseous like

and I was like yeah I think I have like a gut of steel wow because I even the my girlfriend that was staying with me um she would brush her teeth with bottled water and I just I'm like lazy and I'm like antsening damn but when I get back from anywhere um like that I always do like a parasite cleanse yeah That makes sense.

Well, anything you want to promote or close off with?

No, I think your studio is amazing.

Thank you so much for having me.

And yeah.

Yeah.

Thanks for coming on, Jamie.

It's a fun episode.

Yeah, cool.

Thanks for watching, guys.

I'll see you next time.

Peace.