Episode 64
Xenia Kontou is the Founder and Managing Director of Agencia Model Management in Athens. In this episode of The Business of Modelling Podcast, she explains how models are scouted and developed, how mother agencies help build international careers and why agents need to understand both their models and the market they work in.
Xenia shares her journey from entering the modelling industry at 17 to moving behind the scenes and building her career as a scout, booker, manager and mother agent before founding her own model agency in Greece.
She explains what model scouts and agents look for in a new face, why potential is about more than appearance and how important it is to understand the needs of local clients, photographers and casting teams. She also reflects on the different roles an agent may need to play while maintaining clear professional boundaries.
The conversation explores the Greek modelling market, developing models for work abroad and choosing the right international markets for each individual. Xenia also discusses the role of a mother agency, the importance of education and interests outside modelling, fair model rates and protecting how a model’s image is used.
Xenia Kontou of Agenica Model Management on Scouting Models and Building International Careers
Interview by Tessa Dewing for The Business of Modelling Podcast
How Did Xenia Build Her Career In Model Management?
Xenia Kontou entered the modelling industry at 17 after a friend sent her photographs to an agency in Athens. She began creating a portfolio and working as a model, with her first job taking place on a fashion show runway.
Although modelling introduced Xenia to the industry, she soon realised that her strengths were better suited to working behind the scenes. She began gaining experience inside model agencies, eventually working across booking, scouting and model management.
This gave her a detailed understanding of both the Greek modelling market and the international agency network. Xenia later travelled on scouting trips, met agencies and managers around the world, and worked with models from the point of discovery through to their arrival and development in Greece.
“A good agent must understand if a model is going to do well and see the things in that model that can create a career,” she explains.
What Makes A Good Model Agent?
For Xenia, a successful model agent needs to recognise potential, understand career development and maintain strong relationships with clients.
An agent’s role is not limited to arranging castings or confirming bookings. They must also know how to present models to photographers, brands and clients, provide a reliable service and make informed decisions about each person’s career.
Xenia also acknowledges the emotional support that agents often provide, particularly when models are young, travelling internationally or dealing with the uncertainty of the industry.
“A good agent is someone who is a mother, father, sister, brother, boyfriend, girlfriend, psychotherapist and many other things to the models, always with a limit,” she says.
She believes that care and support must always sit alongside clear professional boundaries.
“If you want to be a good agent, you need to understand where you stop.”
What Does Xenia Kontou Look For When Scouting Models?
Xenia believes that good model scouting begins with understanding the market you are working in.
Different clients, photographers and countries look for different qualities. A model who has strong international potential may not necessarily suit the commercial Greek modelling market, while another person may build a successful career primarily within Greece.
“You need to know your market, the market that you work for, not what internationally works,” she explains.
When scouting a new face, Xenia looks for two distinct possibilities: someone who could build a strong international modelling career, or someone whose look and personality are particularly suited to clients in Greece.
“These are two different things,” she says. “It is not very common to do both.”
Although social media has changed how many people enter the industry, Xenia still believes strongly in traditional street scouting.
“The real scouting, you do it outside on the street,” she explains.
She recalls recently seeing a young man walking past and immediately being struck by his movement and presence. After introducing herself and explaining the modelling industry to him, she invited him to the agency and signed him.
Why Did Xenia Open Agencia Model Management?
Xenia did not originally plan to start her own model agency.
After leaving her previous position, several international models she had worked with continued to ask for her guidance. During this period, she began managing their schedules and overseas careers from home using a laptop.
This was during Greece’s economic crisis, which made opening a new business particularly difficult. However, Xenia already had extensive experience, established relationships with Greek clients and strong connections with model agencies around the world.
“I had no plan to open my own agency,” she explains. “It was the worst period for someone to start a business, and I was really terrified by the idea.”
As more models approached her and trusted her to manage their careers, friends encouraged her to create the business formally. One offered her office space for meetings, while another offered financial support if it was needed.
“One thing brought the other,” she says. “In two years, I had my own agency.”
The main challenge was financial rather than professional. Xenia had the industry knowledge, relationships and reputation, but she was building Agencia Model Management while the Greek economy and creative industries were under considerable pressure.
How Does A Mother Agency Build An International Modelling Career?
Xenia’s early work from home developed naturally into the role of a mother agent. She managed a small group of models who were working internationally and used her existing relationships with overseas agencies to help guide their careers.
A mother agency discovers and develops a model before helping them secure representation in suitable international markets. This means understanding where a particular look will work, choosing agencies carefully and creating a long-term strategy rather than sending every model to the same destinations.
Xenia explains that the Greek market is strongly commercial, so some models may have greater opportunities abroad than they do at home. An agent must therefore be able to separate local potential from international potential and make decisions based on the individual.
Her experience travelling, meeting international agencies and understanding different markets has become central to the way she develops models today.
Why Should Models Continue Their Education?
Xenia strongly advises models to continue their education and develop interests outside the modelling industry.
She believes that models often become more interesting to clients when they have studies, creative interests, another business or a wider sense of purpose alongside their modelling careers.
“The models are more attractive to clients when they are not doing only modelling,” she explains.
Xenia is also honest with new models about the unpredictability of the industry. Signing with an agency does not mean that work or substantial earnings will begin immediately, so models need to build a wider life and prepare for their long-term future.
“The models should focus on other things that have nothing to do with the modelling industry, with their studies, another business or other creative things that they find interesting,” she says.
For Xenia, this approach shows maturity, independence and the ability to think beyond the next casting or booking.
Why Do Market Knowledge And Professional Boundaries Matter?
Throughout the conversation, Xenia returns to the importance of knowledge, judgement and professionalism.
A good agent must understand the needs of the local market, recognise which models could work internationally and maintain positive relationships with clients. At the same time, they must support models without allowing the relationship to lose its professional boundaries.
Her approach reflects the many responsibilities involved in model management, from scouting and development to international placement, client service and long-term career planning.
For Xenia, successful representation is not about following every international trend. It is about understanding the individual model, the market and the right opportunities for building a sustainable career.