Not just pretty faces: Models have head for business
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“I didn't want to tempt fate and not be prepared for the end and then find out I didn't save enough money or not be ready to do anything else. I had to figure out my next move.”
The idea for her own cosmetics line was planted only three days into her life as a professional model, when a makeup artist asked her if she brought her own foundation because there wasn't one for black skin in his kit.
With that, Iman learned about lighting, budgets, magazines and sales on photo shoots and eventually incorporated all that knowledge into I-Iman Cosmetics. Last year, the 52-year-old also started a collection of accessories with the Home Shopping Network.
“Some models become photographers, makeup artists and stylists. It's like an actor becoming a director," she says. “We're not just hangers up there, we don't just sit and smile — even though it's a common misperception.”
She adds: “I had to divorce myself of my modeling career to be taken seriously. I stopped going to parties and fashion shows and I would go to events with other CEOs.”
Jennifer Flavin Stallone
Jennifer Flavin Stallone was a model who worked enough to pay the bills, but wasn't in the supermodel league, she says, so when she stumbled upon skin care products that were helping her clear her acne, she had the idea to join the small company and make Serious Skin Care her business.
“I wanted to sell something that I believed in, I didn't want to be pimped out in the way that I had been as a model. It felt good to work and tell people about something I believed in.”
She went to HSN, which she believed was ripe for a product geared to a younger audience.
Flavin Stallone was Sylvester Stallone's girlfriend — not wife — at the time, so she had a taste of fame but was hardly a household name. HSN put her on at 2 a.m.
“It was a huge leap of faith for them to take me,” says Flavin Stallone, now 39.
She brought in 5,000 units and it sold out. “The rest is history,” she says, noting sales have topped $1 billion.
She never looked back at modeling. “I didn't really like being a model. A didn't live that life, I'd rather stay home and read. I was the anti-model model.”
Last year, she and her husband began a second brand called Seriesse, which is a direct-sale company focused on wellness products.
Marisa Miller
Swimsuit model Marisa Miller is the new kid on the block with her cobranded surfer-style shoes with Vans.
“I'm really excited. This is the first opportunity I've had to be a designer,” she says.
She surely hopes it's not the last. “I'm trying to find my own little niche. ... I don't want to do anything just to do it, I want something close to my heart and have it come naturally.”
A no-brainer would be swimwear, says 29-year-old Miller, an avid surfer. “Growing up in California, swimsuits are something I'm around a lot. It's my work and it's what I do in my personal life too.”
Part of growing Marisa Miller as a brand will be to develop a public personality.
“I've been getting more comfortable on TV. I actually prefer it. I love taking photos but I'm the all-American girl — I love meeting people and I love being out there,” Miller says. “I feel like I'm at the beginning of where I want to be.”
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