MINNEAPOLIS — When Paola Cardenas left Colombia for Minnesota nine years ago and began modeling, she thought the Midwest would be a quick stop before she pursued her ambitions in a place like Los Angeles, an international city that is home many Latin American immigrants.
But that changed after she married and gave birth to her son. Minnesota became home.
“Here people are really sweet,” Cardenas said recently during a photo shoot at Quad Photo in Minneapolis. “I think it’s a more relaxed market, it’s not like that high fashion.”
These days, Cardenas is in demand. Although Minnesota has long been home to the headquarters of big companies and the Twin Cities has a flourishing advertising production industry, modeling and casting companies have hit a hurdle. They say it’s very hard to find Hispanic models. That’s causing them to lose business.
A record seven-in-ten (69%) Hispanic high school graduates in the class of 2012 enrolled in college that fall, two percentage points higher than the rate (67%) among their white counterparts,
