Founded by Jeffrey Kolsrud and Gwenn Saiman, Q Models was a small agency when it first opened its doors in January 1998. Confides owner Jeffrey Kolsrud: "The truth is that, in the beginning, everyone said we'd be gone in three months."

Five years later however, Q Models is celebrating its Fifth Anniversary as one of the top men's agencies in New York, and their continuing success as home to Peter De Vries, John Alanouf, Andres, Tom Pricone and Luis Rojas. Not to be outdone, the Q women's board features stars like Magali, Charlotte Dodds, Cash Casia, Melissa Keller and Charlize Theron.

Q has offices in both New York and in Los Angeles. The head of the LA operation — Miya McPherson — actually trained founder Jeffrey Kolsrud back in the days when he interned at Wilhelmina. In fact, when I asked him from whom he had learned the most about the business, he didn't hesitate to answer that it was: "Miya McPherson. I sat next to her at Wilhelmina, and she's the person who taught me everything I know about this business. And now she's the director of our LA office, so it's great that we're able to work together again." Miya works with four bookers responsible for approximately fifty men and seventy women.

"The New York office is run by six women and two gay men — total anarchy," says Kenneth Loo, Media Director, laughing, as we sit down to talk in the New York office. "Our board is completely estrogen-motivated," he continues, "which I think is kind of sexy. It adds an appeal to the guys we represent and establishes a mood that's reinforced when you walk in the door and look at the board — it's very much about over-the-top sexy guys."

The man who started Q Models, Jeffrey Kolsrud, grew up in Nebraska. A middle child and only boy, his father died when he was just fourteen. "My mother played the most important part in our young lives," says Kolsrud. "She really held it together for all of us. Looking back now, I don't know how she did everything — to have four kids on her own. She was only thirty-four years old when my father died. I appreciate it all so much more now."

What was living in Nebraska like for you as a kid?

Growing up as probably the only gay person in a very small town, I knew there was something different about me and that I wanted to get the hell out of there. So I applied to the University of Southern California. I'd seen this beautiful brochure and loved it so much that UCLA was the only college I applied to — at the time I had no idea it was so hard to get into. Thankfully I was accepted and the day I got the letter was the day I got into my car and drove out to California.

That must have been a revolutionary change in your life, from small-town Nebraska to this huge L.A. campus?

Being at USC was an amazing time for me. I grew up in a town of just 5,000 people, whereas there were 30,000 students just at the school. So it was certainly a bit of culture shock for me, but it also kind of taught me how to live in the world.