Hinsdale 11-year-old Talks About Being on American Girl Cover

Maddie McMahon went into a Chicago photography studio for a couple of hours last spring to do an American Girl catalog shoot.

It was the fourth shoot the Hinsdale 11-year-old had done for the famed doll company. She has also modeled for Shopko and Kohl's. She's a vet.

But something must have stood out from that spring American Girl shoot. McMahon made the cover the October catalog, an edition focused on the current Christmas shopping season.

One would think such an accomplishment would have sent the  sixth-grader bouncing around the house. But Maddie took it all in stride because, as she told Patch during an interview Wednesday, she approaches her modeling like a job.

All business.

A few things to know about Maddie: she lives with her parents, older sister, and older brother; she is a client of ; her sister Kaitlyn, 18, is also a Babes N' Beaus client who, among other things, has gotten gigs as a commercial actor; Maddie plays basketball for St. Isaac Jogues and will play a Who from Whoville in a school production of Suessical in March; she has four American Girl dolls of her own.

Patch: Ok, so when did you first hear that you were on the cover of the American Girl catalog? 

Maddie McMahon: I saw it in October. My mom’s friend emailed her and said, “The girl on this catalog looks exactly like Maddie. Isn’t that funny?” And my mom said, "Oh my gosh! That is Maddie!" My sister’s friend brought it to school the next day and gave it to my sister.  

P: So you didn't know at the time of the shoot that you'd be on the cover?

MM: No. Sometimes you don’t know if you’re going to be in a catalog. You don’t know where you’re going to be. You could be online, or in a catalog, or on a poster. You don't know. They don’t tell you any of that stuff. They just choose [later] from all the pictures they see.

P: You've done past modeling jobs for American Girl, as well as for Shopko and Kohl's, but does this cover stand out to you as a big accomplishment? 

MM: Not really. I think they’re all equal. A job’s a job. I think they’re all a lot of fun.

P: But to not know that you'd be on the cover of a famous catalog, and then you're all of a sudden right there—that has to be pretty exciting.

MM: Yeah. But I definitely think getting the job is a lot more exciting than getting on the catalog. The job is more what you do and I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s fun to see yourself on the catalog, but it’s a lot more fun to do the job. 

P: Did you always want to be a model?

MM: No I didn’t. What changed my mind was probably when I saw my sister on TV. I didn’t quite think about it yet, but after a while, when I went to more of her commercial video shoots, I think I started to understand it more and started to like it a lot. I guess part of it was because [my sister] did it. I started singing after she started singing and I played the piano after she played the piano. So I guess half of it was because it was really cool and half of it was because she did it. 

P: Now that you've been doing it for a while, though, is the show-business thing something you want to stick with?

MM: Yes it's something I want to keep doing for sure. I want to be a fashion designer or actress. I definitely want to keep doing what I’m doing.