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.

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!