We had the good fortune of connecting with Antwain Donte’ Hill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Antwain Donte’, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind my success or the success of my brand is that I will not exchange my morals nor my ethics to fit into anyone else standards. In the fashion/modeling industry, we become chameleons to the room we want to belong to. Instead of setting trends, we become the same trends we talked about in the rooms we just left. In my tenure of being an entrepreneur, there have been times when I traded my morals and common ethics for positions, contracts, and conversations but I have learned that if I had to do that, I don’t belong in that environment. The object in life is to never stop evolving and always willing to learn more. No matter how “successful” we become or how “rich” we are, we should never stop taking notes and striving to be better than our best selves. My morals have allowed me to enter into rooms I’ve only dreamed of being in, sitting at tables I was never invited to, and being an example my mother groomed me to be. My work ethics keep me grounded to do what’s right even when no one is looking at me. I may look like “success” to every eye starring but I wear my interpretation of “success” well simply by not defeating from those two factors.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am the Founder/Artistic Director for the Stampede School of Modeling located in Atlanta, Ga, and Washington, DC. We specialize in training and transforming our talent to excel beyond runways and display them on the World’s runway. As an Entrepreneur and model, I am most proud to watch each and every model step back off the limb and allow me to train them and pull out of them what many others failed attempts tried. I am also most proud of the thousands of dollars we have donated from our yearly sold-out fashion shows toward mental illness, suicide prevention, cancer, and HIV/AIDS research. We are more than a modeling school, we are a trend to changing lives. I will never lie to anyone and paint this smooth and beautiful canvas, it has been rough, rocky, hell, and almost destroyed. However, that is what makes this portrait so beautiful and timeless. If I can leave the world with one thing, it would be to never stop believing in you, your dream, and the passion that ignites it. Even when everyone around you seems to be doing the same thing, no one does it the way God meant for you to do it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Honestly, I am not one to tour the town as I am constantly traveling or building and marketing my brand and company. So, if my best friend were to come and visit, we would most likely be attending networking events, feeding the homeless on Peachtree street, bike riding, and skating around the loop, visit the Aquarium (my favorite place) as well as Skyview Atlanta. I would most likely have a reservation to do brunch at 5Church daily while visiting, a night or two at Kats Cafe to hear live music and dinner reservations at one of the local restaurants to support small businesses.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My success and my achievements will forever be dedicated to my mother. She was my first fan and the one who pushes me to succeed in ways the world could never. However, I would like to dedicate this to every homosexual child who doesn’t believe in themselves. The one that has trouble listening to the naysayers, when they tell them, “the arts are for gays and you’ll never be successful!” To the one who finds more compassion in attempting suicide because no one will listen to them. You matter and I love you!

Website: www.stampedeschoolofmodeling.com
Instagram: @fashionghuru and @stampedemodels and @GhuruSpeaks
Linkedin: Antwain Donte Hill
Twitter: @AntwainDonte
Facebook: Antwain Donte Hill
Youtube: Stampede School of Modeling and Ghuru Speaks

Image Credits
Asuquo Travels and Wardell’s Photography