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Model ELITE - MIAMI, fitness and nutrition enthusiast, sports fanatic, empire state of mind. Instagram: Cole_Monahan
Tall, dark and handsome doesn’t begin to describe Cole Monahan.
While he does possess those qualities, it’s the comely curly hair, boyish dimples and more than humble attitude that landed him a three-year contract with one of the largest modeling agencies in the world.
Monahan is trading the rolling hills of East Tennessee for the sunny sands of South Beach, Fla. to pursue a full-time modeling career with Elite Model Management.
“During high school my face started taking shape, and people told me, ‘May
Model ELITE - MIAMI, fitness and nutrition enthusiast, sports fanatic, empire state of mind. Instagram: Cole_Monahan
Tall, dark and handsome doesn’t begin to describe Cole Monahan.
While he does possess those qualities, it’s the comely curly hair, boyish dimples and more than humble attitude that landed him a three-year contract with one of the largest modeling agencies in the world.
Monahan is trading the rolling hills of East Tennessee for the sunny sands of South Beach, Fla. to pursue a full-time modeling career with Elite Model Management.
“During high school my face started taking shape, and people told me, ‘Maybe you should give modeling a try,’” Monahan said. “But I thought, ‘I’m from Lenoir City, Tennessee. Where am I going to go model?’”
The 21-year-old Lenoir City High School grad got his start in February 2013 when his father and stepmother convinced him to attend an open call session at 18 Karat Model and Talent Management in Knoxville.
“I had been working out since my freshman year of high school, and I just finally wanted to pursue it and go somewhere with it,” Monahan said.
When 18 Karat owner Cindy Swicegood saw Monahan, though, she knew there would have to be some physical changes before he could get a contract.
“The first time I met Cole he was huge. He was a football player, so my first response was, ‘You have a fabulous face, but you’re bigger than the building!’” Swicegood said. “And so our journey began that Cole would have to get the muscle off.”
Swicegood said 18 Karat only allows models to lose weight — be it fat or muscle — in a healthy way, calling for a change in Monahan’s diet.
Monahan said he met with a local nutritionist to understand his body and learn how to eat healthier. He now consumes an assortment of fruits, vegetables and chicken around six times a day. He also changed his workouts. Cole incorporated cardio every day and continued weight lifting only three days a week with more focus on a circuit training routine to make his muscles more lean and defined.
Because he worked two jobs — at a local restaurant and the U.S. Post Office — while pursuing his modeling career, Monahan had to develop a system to keep his diet on track while he was on the go.
“The biggest thing is organization. You have to be organized. I cook probably twice a week, and I put all my food in Tupperware containers in the fridge,” Monahan said. “If you’re not organized doing this, you won’t succeed on a nutrition basis.”
With hard work and discipline, he slimmed down from 240 pounds to 190 pounds in about 14 months.
“It is stressful not knowing for sure that all your hard work will pay off, but now that all the ifs, ands, and buts are over with and the contract’s signed, I finally feel like I’m with a modeling agency that is more than happy to have me,” Monahan said.
Swicegood said she was consistently impressed by Monahan’s drive and positive attitude throughout the process.
“I’ve been in business 32 years, and I’ve placed models all over the world, but no one has reinvented themselves like Cole,” Swicegood said. “He had a dream, and now we’ve made his dream come true.”
Though he worked with 18 Karat, Monahan was not marketed as a model for the Knoxville area. He was in the company’s development program with a goal of becoming a worldwide super model. He did work in December 2013 with a photographer from South Beach for testing.
Monahan’s contract is eligible for a two-year extension if things go well in South Beach. For now, he is scoping out health food stores in his new city and hoping to make a trip back to East Tennessee for Thanksgiving. He’s the son of Angie Gordy and Buz Monahan.
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