gray hair models Archives

“Worth $49 Unlimited.”

May 14, 2018 ·

This blog post is inspired by a company that stole this picture below of me recently to advertise their company in a sponsored post on Instagram. They told me that they could buy my pictures for “$49 with unlimited usage.” Not true but I am not going to get into the legal issue of using copyright photos without permission in this post, however, I will get into how you value your worth.

Who do you allow to tell you what you are worth? Society? Your job? Social Media? Your peers? Your husband/boyfriend/partner? Making bold choices in life takes a particular type of person and personality, and everyone is capable of developing this type of attitude.

I spend extended hours planning and scheduling my photo, shopping and styling clothes for the right “look” for the shoot, doing my hair and makeup, creating a “theme” for each photo session and paying my photographer. Nothing comes easy when you are building original content for your brand. Having a company take my photos and use them for their benefit without permission is just unreal to me but seems to be a new reality. No responsibility, no morals, no honesty take, take, take. A company telling me I am worth 49 dollars was amusing to me but what happens if I took that to heart? What if I started to believe that? The book I am reading currently You Are What You Think, says it perfectly “Words, said either in the privacy of the mind or spoken aloud, are powerful.” What are you saying to yourself about your worth?

I wrote about how we have a whole new type of insecurity because of social media. We place value on ourselves because of a number on our account, a number of followers, google analytics. Think about that for a second and say it out loud. How ridiculous does that sound? I get it when it comes to building your company and brand image, but numbers and followers are not the entire picture. You have so much to offer this world ladies; it doesn’t start and stop with social media.

I am going to share with you a couple of practices that I have found to be helpful when you need a break or if you feel like everyone else has the “Gorgeous life,” “Perfect family” “Best body.”

Take a 24-hour break from all social media (yes, believe me, you can do it, and you might like it). Breaks will give you time to switch off your brain and the constant scrolling.
Want a more extended break? Delete the (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.) app not your account from your phone. This way you won’t feel tempted to get on and download everyone else’s life.
Grab a cup of Dream Dust and download a guided meditation app (I love using Mindful Meditation right before going to bed) on your phone to replace the time you spend on social media. Night time rituals like these will give you time to regroup and be inspired by YOUR life not everyone else’s life.
Put your phone in another room before going to bed. Waking up and checking your social media before your eyes are even open sets the tone for the entire day and this might not be positive for you. Replace checking your feeds with breathing techniques, five-minute meditation or writing in your journal on your intentions for your day, week, month.
Spend your time reading a motivating book. Maybe you want to write a book, or you want to learn how to get to the next level in your job. Spend your valuable time feeding your brain and getting productive, positive information that will advance your career and enhance your life.

These are just some suggestions, ask for what you are worth, don’t second guess yourself and always know that YOU and only you are the one that decides what you are worth.

*some links are an affiliate

You Are Not Broken Just Bent

May 7, 2018 ·

One of the many reasons I love spinning is that my mind runs free. I can think clearly, and many blog posts were created right in the saddle mid-song. I am inspired by music and working on my body so much that I filmed a video on my Peloton Hack if you haven’t seen it check it out, I save you thousands of dollars with this hack, and you get a sexy summer body, you’re welcome.

Copyright: Rick Gomez Photography Top: Polo Ralph Lauren (similar here) Pants: Oscar de la Renta vintage (similar here, here and here) Shoes: Frontline 105 by Tamara Mellon

One of the songs on my ride today was by PINK called “Just Give Me a Reason”. I have heard this song a million times but never actually listened to the lyrics. Isn’t that so typical? I am listening to the song and most the time humming what I think are the words, and yet I am missing the entire meaning of the song. Pink sings about being not broken but bent, how incredibly beautiful is this statement? I go around thinking I am broken because I haven’t been able to conceive, I go about figuring I am broken because I went gray early on in life. Thinking this way is incredibly harmful self-talk a topic I have been researching and found this book to be very helpful. It has shown me ways to understand why choosing healthy positive thoughts is crucial to balance and happiness.

As I was climbing my hills this morning I thought back to a show I saw on how they make steel drums. That captivating sound that only a steel drum can make doesn’t come easy, there are multiple steps from stretching to create enough space for the notes, pounding with a sledgehammer to create the concave shape (sounds painless lol), cutting, burning the list goes on. Without all these steps to refine the steel to make beautiful music, it would just be ordinary steel. I started to think that if I didn’t experience infertility, I wouldn’t have been stretched, refined, put under the fire to ignite my desire to help women with their journey, to get to know myself and what I was capable of doing. Going gray in my thirties was just a little bend in my steel, a refinement if you will.

Ladies, look at what you think are imperfections in your beauty, your life as just a little bend something that makes you different and unique. That is how we each enrich the lives of everyone that gets to know us. No two women will have the same bends in their steel; no two women will have gone through the same process of refinement. Honor that, own that and set yourself free. This summer every time you see or hear steel drums you will think of how one-of-a-kind, special and deserving you are to the world.

Silver Sister Spotlight with Roxanne

March 12, 2018 ·

I was beyond excited when I reached out to Roxanne and asked if she would be a part of my Silver Sister Spotlight Q&A. I have been following Roxanne for some time now and loved following her career. It’s not common that you get a response from a direct message on Instagram but every time I would respond to Roxanne’s Insta stories she would take the time and write back and then say something nice about my profile. I thought to myself who does that? A genuine thoughtful woman that cares and is not caught up in all of the “social image hype” that’s who. I knew Roxanne would be the perfect woman to share her insight on going gray and rocking her life. I know you will be inspired by her kind soul and desire to help coach women on their self-confidence.

Born in Hollywood California, Roxanne had her first job in the industry at the age of 3 years old and hasn’t stopped working since. From 1981-1990, Roxanne lived in Europe and her exciting modeling and acting career has taken her around the world. She appeared on the cover of French Vogue, and many editorial pages in German Vogue, Greek Vogue, Italian Vogue, German Harper’s Bazaar, L’Official and many other covers and editorial spreads for important and relevant fashion magazines. A regular model for Haute Couture shows, Roxanne modeled exclusively for Jil Sander and Joop! for many seasons. Roxanne has acted in many award-winning commercials and film. In her career, Roxanne has worked with the industry’s top photographers such as Ellen Von Unwerth, Pamela Hanson, Jean-Loup Sieff, and Sante d’Orazio, to name a few. Since 2007 Roxanne has owned a successful coaching business which builds teenagers and women’s self-esteem through modeling, movement, mindset, diet, exercise, and self-image. She has a natural, organic, vegan and gluten-free makeup line called Roxanne Makeup. Roxanne holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Parapsychic Science from AIHT.

PC: Dress Barn

You are a powerful force coaching women with their confidence, what interested you to help women in this way?

For ten years I have coached women how to boost their self-confidence through teaching them about modeling, image, health, and mindset. Like the Dali Llama said, “Western women will change the world” and now those words ring true even more. I feel honored and blessed to help empower women, to help them reach their goals and to show them their self-worth. Women hold so much value and can contribute to society in meaningful, powerful ways once they realize that they actually can. For me, helping women is helping to heal and balance our world.

How did you develop your unique style?

Developing my unique style took time. I always pay attention to how I feel. The longer I live, the more I want to feel that my outfit is a true, outer reflection of my inner feelings. For example, I prefer to feel comfortable, fashionable, and authentic instead of being trendy. There’s nothing worse than wearing something all day that just doesn’t feel ‘right’. It’s courageous to put together an outfit that looks unusual but feels right to you. The truth is, if you dress to please yourself, your energy will flow smoothly which helps make you look great, happy, unique and stylish.

As a working model did you find the beauty and fashion industry embraced your gray hair?

It’s been nearly twenty years since I let my grey hair grow in and, at the time, I honestly thought that having grey hair would end my career because there wasn’t a strong interest in grey-haired models back then. But over time this category has exploded and now I work more nationally as a grey-haired model than I did as a brunette. I’m one of the longest working models in the fashion industry today, and I’ve found that over the years the diversity of different body types and ages in the fashion industry has been embraced more and more.

Many of Beauty Reinvented readers are just starting out in their gray hair journey. What advice would you have for the women who are struggling with the gray hair change and lack of self-confidence?

Kudos to all the readers who are just starting out on their gray hair journey and also to those considering it. Please know that if you struggle with people’s criticisms, judgments and/or your own self-doubt, remember that you are more than your hair. You are more than other peoples judgment of you. Be grateful that you have hair. Know that on the other side of fear is exactly what you want. Effectively, it’ll be your state of mind which will support you and carry you through any hardship you might think you’re facing. This journey is temporary and once your grey hair has grown in completely, the feeling of being the ‘new’, authentic and liberated you will be worth it!

How did you feel going gray? Were you all in from the first gray hair or did you fight it?

My personal journey of going grey is documented on my Instagram account. You can see how I went cold turkey and chopped off my long hair to very short hair. After I did that I had three different colors in my hair-red, brown and grey. As it grew out I would cut it until my hair was all one color, then I grew it long. But until it was long, I just shrugged my shoulders and felt there is nothing I could do to hurry the process so why fret. At least I was free from paying the salons to dye my hair, free from covering up who I was naturally and free to show the world my truth. It was a big deal. At the same time, while my own positive transformation was happening, I was inspiring other women to do the same thing and become bold enough and courageous enough to say “Enough is enough”! Don’t get me wrong-if a woman really wants to color her hair I think that’s great. But if a woman colors her hair because she thinks she needs to or has to please someone else, then I think she might want to reconsider why she’s coloring her hair in the first place.

If you would like to be featured on Beauty Reinvented spotlighting your gray hair journey send me an email and let’s get this beauty started!