thedrifter
07-21-09, 09:02 AM
Sisters: One on a runway, other in Marine Corps band
By Keighla Schmidt
Created 07/20/2009 - 9:18am
By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer
This is the story of two sisters; one a Marine, the other a model.
Growing up, sisters Lindsay and Katie Moen each formed their own distinct personalities.
“When Lindsay was born, she was nice, quiet and she slept,” said their dad, Bryan Moen. “Katie came out screaming.”
Lindsay, 18, recently graduated from Prior Lake High School and after passing the trumpet audition for the U.S. Marine Corps Band, abandoned her plans to attend college in Kalamazoo, Mich. and enlisted in the military branch.
Meanwhile, her younger sister, Katie, 16, recently flew to Paris for a runway show with her modeling agency – a trip that resulted in future modeling opportunities in Tokyo, Paris and Milan.
“I’m a model and she’s a Marine, you can’t get much more opposite than that,” Katie said.
A Marine
Since fifth grade, Lindsay has been tooting her horn. She’s played in the pep, jazz, marching, All-state, select, and Latin jazz bands, the wind ensemble, the pit orchestra, been in drumline and teaches beginners in the summer.
“It’s pretty much all I do,” she said.
isters: Lindsay (left) and Katie Moen are sisters
pursing interests on different ends of the spectrum.
Last year Lindsay was the second chair in the first stand on trumpet in the All-state band. When the season was over her instructor, Harry Strobel, encouraged her to try out for either the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS) or the U.S. Marine Corps Band.
After looking at her audition options, Lindsay decided the effort she’d put in for GTCYS wouldn’t be rewarded as the trumpet doesn’t “have interesting parts,” she said. So, Marine band it was.
To prepare for the military audition, Lindsay had to memorize all major and minor scales, practiced to perform a solo and readied herself to do a lot of sight reading.
“I really didn’t think I’d make it, so I didn’t practice that much,” Lindsay admitted.
The audition was put off for many months. In the spring, Lindsay and her family began poking around about getting an audition, expecting to travel to Washington, D.C.
On May 6, Strobel made a phone call about getting an audition and Lindsay’s mom, Shelley, got a quick reply the next morning. The Corps recruiter who would be conducting the audition happened to be in the area for another audition and would be able to do Lindsay’s at 3 p.m. that afternoon.
Lindsay recalled she was taking an Advanced Placement test and as soon as it was over she was told the two Marine representatives were in uniform in the school building looking for her.
“I had to go home early, I didn’t have my horn with me at school that day because of the test,” she said.
After getting the audition pushed back a few hours, Lindsay spent the afternoon nervously practicing.
“I usually get nervous before I play, anyway, but I was especially nervous because I didn’t know they were coming that day,” Lindsay said.
The recruiters came to the Moen’s home in Savage for the audition and Lindsay soared through the hour-long try out. She was immediately accepted into the band with a score of 2.8.
“It’s rare for a high school student to get in,” Shelley said. “Usually college students or people who have had more years of training make it.”
The decision to enlist was not one made swiftly or lightly.
“I had already given my commitment to Michigan,” Lindsay said. “I really had to think about it.”
Before turning down either chance, Lindsay got a physical and took the ASVAB test to make sure there was nothing that would eliminate her from becoming a potential Marine.
“It turns out there was no reason for them not to take you,” Shelley said.
On June 1, Lindsay enlisted and will serve four years of active duty and four years reserve duty. Starting in September, she will spend 13 weeks at boot camp, about a month in infantry training, 21 weeks at the Armed Forces School of Music and will then be placed in a Marine band.
Lindsay doesn’t consider herself an “athlete,” so she admits the basic-training aspect is intimidating.
“I am not a runner,” Lindsay said of the Corps’ requirement of running three miles in less than 30 minutes. “When I first started running, it was pretty close, but now I can do it.”
“I wish I didn’t have to,” she said of the physical fitness requirements. “Before anything else, you become a Marine. One of the Marine’s mottos is ‘every Marine is a rifleman.’ You’re a Marine first and foremost.”
However daunting the process may be, Lindsay said it’s one she thinks will pay off.
“Right now, technically, I’m a professional musician,” Lindsay said. “It’s really hard to support yourself as a professional musician in other ways. This seemed like an easy way for me to do that.”
Her eventual goal is to be a member of The President’s Own Marine Band, she said.
The idea of joining any branch of the armed forces, let alone the Marines, never entered Lindsay’s mind, she said. Even though she has family members who served in the Army, Navy and Air Force, it wasn’t something she saw herself doing.
Her family, though, has a different take.
“If I can see anyone in the military, it’s her,” Shelley said. “She’s very organized and determined.”
Katie, in typical younger sister fashion also chimed in. “She’s always telling us to make our bed and to keep things picked up,” she said. “If you ask me, she was born a Marine.”
A model
While her older sister prepares for a wardrobe of red, white and blue, Katie Moen walks around her home in black high heels, fitted jeans, a wrap-around ruffled top and a tan leather jacket with her short strawberry blond hair styled off her face.
“I developed an interest for modeling on my own,” Katie said. “I’ve been dabbling in it for a few years.”
The dream of becoming a model became a little more of a reality when she recently attended a community education class with Mila Gibson.
“Through that I did my first photo shoot and made my first comp(osite) card,” she said.
She sent the card out to agencies in the area and “I got a fateful phone call from Caryn on Easter Sunday asking if I wanted to audition for a Paris showcase.”
Caryn Model Talent and Management President Cindy Burke said after looking at her comp card, it appeared to her that Katie looked like a good fit for that agency.
“Katie was the right measurement and height. Her confidence and poise is unusual for her age,” Burke said. “Her skin is beautiful. She has a flawless complexion, a cute short haircut and a great facial structure.”
And just over a month later Shelley and Katie were on their way to the French capital.
“My first show ever was in Paris,” Katie said. “It all came about in like, a week. I had to take a total of 16 hours of classes to prepare for it and once I was there in Paris we had an eight-hour choreography session for the show. So that’s a lot that comes at you really fast.”
The fashion show didn’t feature designer clothes; rather, it was designed to feature the models.
She wore her own cocktail dress and a bikini for the 27 agencies from around the world at the show. Shortly afterward, she was contacted by European and Japanese agencies looking for her to do some work with them.
“None of the American agencies wanted me,” she said.
Shelley chimed in noting Katie’s look is one more popular in Europe right now and her 5-foot, 8-inch stature makes her too short for European runways, but a good fit on the Tokyo catwalks.
Katie said she hopes to go to Tokyo in the fall to get some experience and some age under her belt before tackling Europe again.
The trip abroad was the first for both mother and daughter.
“It was all really surreal,” Shelley said. “To see your kid there on the runway in Paris … we were all a little overwhelmed.”
Still a fresh face in the industry, Katie said she would like to see where the path leads her.
“I’m still really, really new to this, so I’m not sure what’s next,” she said. “This is an industry where you do nothing or you put everything into it and you go all the way.”
As different as they appear on the outside, the girls, as well as their parents, said they all have a passion for music. Lindsay plays the trumpet, Katie plays the bassoon, Shelley played the French horn and Bryan is a karaoke enthusiast.
Being an honor student, Katie said she isn’t sure where she’ll end up, but she does have aspirations to be a surgeon, too.
For now, she said she’s going to look at modeling as a chance to make some money for college and evaluate the opportunities as they come up.
A busy family
“The whole thing about Katie’s phone call and the Marine thing is the opportunity was presented,” said Bryan, “Now you have to think things through and you make your choice. But if you don’t walk through the door when it’s open, you always have that doubt in the back of your mind – ‘what if?’” Bryan said. “They’re both not going to have that doubt because they’re both moving down that path.”
Both Katie and Lindsay had knocks on their respective doors of opportunity at overlapping times. Shelley and Katie returned from the Parisian adventure the day before Lindsay enlisted in the Marines.
“We were juggling both these huge things at once,” Shelley chimed in. “We wanted Lindsay to make her decision before we left for Paris.”
“And they were both really big surprises,” Lindsay said.
The surprises were welcomed and ones met with excitement and anticipation.
“We’re all just waiting to see what’s next,” Katie said.
Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.
Ellie
By Keighla Schmidt
Created 07/20/2009 - 9:18am
By Keighla Schmidt, Staff Writer
This is the story of two sisters; one a Marine, the other a model.
Growing up, sisters Lindsay and Katie Moen each formed their own distinct personalities.
“When Lindsay was born, she was nice, quiet and she slept,” said their dad, Bryan Moen. “Katie came out screaming.”
Lindsay, 18, recently graduated from Prior Lake High School and after passing the trumpet audition for the U.S. Marine Corps Band, abandoned her plans to attend college in Kalamazoo, Mich. and enlisted in the military branch.
Meanwhile, her younger sister, Katie, 16, recently flew to Paris for a runway show with her modeling agency – a trip that resulted in future modeling opportunities in Tokyo, Paris and Milan.
“I’m a model and she’s a Marine, you can’t get much more opposite than that,” Katie said.
A Marine
Since fifth grade, Lindsay has been tooting her horn. She’s played in the pep, jazz, marching, All-state, select, and Latin jazz bands, the wind ensemble, the pit orchestra, been in drumline and teaches beginners in the summer.
“It’s pretty much all I do,” she said.
isters: Lindsay (left) and Katie Moen are sisters
pursing interests on different ends of the spectrum.
Last year Lindsay was the second chair in the first stand on trumpet in the All-state band. When the season was over her instructor, Harry Strobel, encouraged her to try out for either the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies (GTCYS) or the U.S. Marine Corps Band.
After looking at her audition options, Lindsay decided the effort she’d put in for GTCYS wouldn’t be rewarded as the trumpet doesn’t “have interesting parts,” she said. So, Marine band it was.
To prepare for the military audition, Lindsay had to memorize all major and minor scales, practiced to perform a solo and readied herself to do a lot of sight reading.
“I really didn’t think I’d make it, so I didn’t practice that much,” Lindsay admitted.
The audition was put off for many months. In the spring, Lindsay and her family began poking around about getting an audition, expecting to travel to Washington, D.C.
On May 6, Strobel made a phone call about getting an audition and Lindsay’s mom, Shelley, got a quick reply the next morning. The Corps recruiter who would be conducting the audition happened to be in the area for another audition and would be able to do Lindsay’s at 3 p.m. that afternoon.
Lindsay recalled she was taking an Advanced Placement test and as soon as it was over she was told the two Marine representatives were in uniform in the school building looking for her.
“I had to go home early, I didn’t have my horn with me at school that day because of the test,” she said.
After getting the audition pushed back a few hours, Lindsay spent the afternoon nervously practicing.
“I usually get nervous before I play, anyway, but I was especially nervous because I didn’t know they were coming that day,” Lindsay said.
The recruiters came to the Moen’s home in Savage for the audition and Lindsay soared through the hour-long try out. She was immediately accepted into the band with a score of 2.8.
“It’s rare for a high school student to get in,” Shelley said. “Usually college students or people who have had more years of training make it.”
The decision to enlist was not one made swiftly or lightly.
“I had already given my commitment to Michigan,” Lindsay said. “I really had to think about it.”
Before turning down either chance, Lindsay got a physical and took the ASVAB test to make sure there was nothing that would eliminate her from becoming a potential Marine.
“It turns out there was no reason for them not to take you,” Shelley said.
On June 1, Lindsay enlisted and will serve four years of active duty and four years reserve duty. Starting in September, she will spend 13 weeks at boot camp, about a month in infantry training, 21 weeks at the Armed Forces School of Music and will then be placed in a Marine band.
Lindsay doesn’t consider herself an “athlete,” so she admits the basic-training aspect is intimidating.
“I am not a runner,” Lindsay said of the Corps’ requirement of running three miles in less than 30 minutes. “When I first started running, it was pretty close, but now I can do it.”
“I wish I didn’t have to,” she said of the physical fitness requirements. “Before anything else, you become a Marine. One of the Marine’s mottos is ‘every Marine is a rifleman.’ You’re a Marine first and foremost.”
However daunting the process may be, Lindsay said it’s one she thinks will pay off.
“Right now, technically, I’m a professional musician,” Lindsay said. “It’s really hard to support yourself as a professional musician in other ways. This seemed like an easy way for me to do that.”
Her eventual goal is to be a member of The President’s Own Marine Band, she said.
The idea of joining any branch of the armed forces, let alone the Marines, never entered Lindsay’s mind, she said. Even though she has family members who served in the Army, Navy and Air Force, it wasn’t something she saw herself doing.
Her family, though, has a different take.
“If I can see anyone in the military, it’s her,” Shelley said. “She’s very organized and determined.”
Katie, in typical younger sister fashion also chimed in. “She’s always telling us to make our bed and to keep things picked up,” she said. “If you ask me, she was born a Marine.”
A model
While her older sister prepares for a wardrobe of red, white and blue, Katie Moen walks around her home in black high heels, fitted jeans, a wrap-around ruffled top and a tan leather jacket with her short strawberry blond hair styled off her face.
“I developed an interest for modeling on my own,” Katie said. “I’ve been dabbling in it for a few years.”
The dream of becoming a model became a little more of a reality when she recently attended a community education class with Mila Gibson.
“Through that I did my first photo shoot and made my first comp(osite) card,” she said.
She sent the card out to agencies in the area and “I got a fateful phone call from Caryn on Easter Sunday asking if I wanted to audition for a Paris showcase.”
Caryn Model Talent and Management President Cindy Burke said after looking at her comp card, it appeared to her that Katie looked like a good fit for that agency.
“Katie was the right measurement and height. Her confidence and poise is unusual for her age,” Burke said. “Her skin is beautiful. She has a flawless complexion, a cute short haircut and a great facial structure.”
And just over a month later Shelley and Katie were on their way to the French capital.
“My first show ever was in Paris,” Katie said. “It all came about in like, a week. I had to take a total of 16 hours of classes to prepare for it and once I was there in Paris we had an eight-hour choreography session for the show. So that’s a lot that comes at you really fast.”
The fashion show didn’t feature designer clothes; rather, it was designed to feature the models.
She wore her own cocktail dress and a bikini for the 27 agencies from around the world at the show. Shortly afterward, she was contacted by European and Japanese agencies looking for her to do some work with them.
“None of the American agencies wanted me,” she said.
Shelley chimed in noting Katie’s look is one more popular in Europe right now and her 5-foot, 8-inch stature makes her too short for European runways, but a good fit on the Tokyo catwalks.
Katie said she hopes to go to Tokyo in the fall to get some experience and some age under her belt before tackling Europe again.
The trip abroad was the first for both mother and daughter.
“It was all really surreal,” Shelley said. “To see your kid there on the runway in Paris … we were all a little overwhelmed.”
Still a fresh face in the industry, Katie said she would like to see where the path leads her.
“I’m still really, really new to this, so I’m not sure what’s next,” she said. “This is an industry where you do nothing or you put everything into it and you go all the way.”
As different as they appear on the outside, the girls, as well as their parents, said they all have a passion for music. Lindsay plays the trumpet, Katie plays the bassoon, Shelley played the French horn and Bryan is a karaoke enthusiast.
Being an honor student, Katie said she isn’t sure where she’ll end up, but she does have aspirations to be a surgeon, too.
For now, she said she’s going to look at modeling as a chance to make some money for college and evaluate the opportunities as they come up.
A busy family
“The whole thing about Katie’s phone call and the Marine thing is the opportunity was presented,” said Bryan, “Now you have to think things through and you make your choice. But if you don’t walk through the door when it’s open, you always have that doubt in the back of your mind – ‘what if?’” Bryan said. “They’re both not going to have that doubt because they’re both moving down that path.”
Both Katie and Lindsay had knocks on their respective doors of opportunity at overlapping times. Shelley and Katie returned from the Parisian adventure the day before Lindsay enlisted in the Marines.
“We were juggling both these huge things at once,” Shelley chimed in. “We wanted Lindsay to make her decision before we left for Paris.”
“And they were both really big surprises,” Lindsay said.
The surprises were welcomed and ones met with excitement and anticipation.
“We’re all just waiting to see what’s next,” Katie said.
Keighla Schmidt can be reached at kschmidt@swpub.com.
Ellie