When we think of fashion models, we think beauty sans brains. That’s a done cliché that everyone blindly believes, however, there are many models who’ve made splendid careers within the fashion industry and/or beyond.
Any model will tell you to have a backup a career because the modeling world only wants the younger generation. And while some focus on studying and having a personal tutor throughout their modeling career, some become very wealthy and famous businesswomen.
Tyra Banks:
Tyra Banks is one such fashion model turned entrepreneur. During her career as a fashion model, she had set high standards and broken records. Being one of the first African – American models in the industry she had dealt with racism, and issues of the like. She then proved her talent as a model and is now is one of four African Americans and seven women to have repeatedly ranked among the world’s most influential people by Time magazine. Banks on the business front is the creator, producer, and host of the reality television show America’s Next Top Model, co-creator of True Beauty, and was the host of her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.
She has also written books that have landed on the New York Times bestseller lists. Banks has also experimented with acting and singing. Her latest endeavor is a fashion and beauty website typeF.com. Her own production company called the Bankable Productions produces her hit show ANTM. She knows how to bank those bucks with a great sense of what’s sellable to a consumer market so driven by the world of fashion and celebrities.
Olga Vidisheva:
Olga Vidisheva is a model that has quite a bit of intellectual credentials on her resume. Vidisheva was wise enough to keep her focus on education while being the in the fashion modeling business. She had a childhood dream of being a banker and she made her dream come true, working at Goldman Sachs in New York. It was only after she joined Harvard that she was inspired to start her own business, and since Fashion was the only industry she knew well, especially since she had been a part of that world since a very long time, she pursued her business venture in the same field and launched shoptiques.com.
Olga unlike many other businessmen and women does not believe in networking, an ideology that has worked very well for her. She explained her belief in the networking system in an interview
“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t believe in networking. I believe in building authentic relationships with people you really like, admire and respect.â€
This is definitely many entrepreneurs would not risk doing, since networking and influencing people with your personality and spreading the word about your company is what brings about opportunities.
There are various other models that we look at with minds made up, and don’t realize how much they work hard at their own work and end up becoming successful lawyers, doctors, and money minting business women!