Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, television personality, talk show host, producer, author, actress, singer and business woman. She began her career as a model at age 15, and became the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, on which she appeared twice. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1997 to 2005. By the early 2000s, Banks was one of the top-earning models in the world...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Show Host
Date of Birth4 December 1973
CityInglewood, CA
CountryUnited States of America
My mom was a medical photographer, but on the side, she did a before-and-after glam photography business in the house. She would do makeup and hair - and I was her assistant.
When modeling agencies were saying that I was too big and gaining weight, my mom said, 'OK, we're going to discuss what they're saying over pizza, and we're going to plan the future of your career which doesn't involve you having to be skinny.'
I'm frugal. I've always been this way. When I was young, my mom would give me my allowance, and I'd peel off a little each week and have some to spare.
I don't like looking at awards everyday because I feel like they can make you lazy. So, I give them to my Mom and let her look at it everyday. They are symbols of the hard work she put into me. Her sacrifices allowed me and my team to win those awards. But I don't look at any awards everyday.
I'm not just retiring from the runway, I'm retiring from all modeling. God, I love saying that! When I was 18, my mom said I have to have a plan. I decided I'd leave on top. I want to be like the athletes who seem stuck in time. When you see them at 50, you say they probably can still run like a champ.
As my mom wiped the tears from my face, she said, 'Tyra, you know what we’re going to do about this? We’re going to go eat pizza.' We sat in a tiny pizzeria in Milan and strategized about how to turn my curves into a curveball. In a way, it was my decision not to starve myself that turned me into a supermodel, and later on, a businesswoman.
One thing my mom used to tell me was to look to the other side, and know that my present is not going to be everything. So if Im having a bad day, she goes, Just imagine tomorrow. This is going to be over. This is going to be done with.
From offstage until the moment I walk onstage, I constantly tweak my talk show and 'Top Model', but at the same time, I often leave my private life by the wayside.
My mom never taught me to be waiting for some prince on a white horse to swipe me off my feet.
I've wanted to adopt since I was eight, nine years old. I really do think I will.
I used to want to write commercials as a kid.
I've made mistakes before of doing different projects just based on my dreams, my hopes, my thing, and not really thinking about my customers.
I volunteer a lot of my time with an organization in New York called The Center for Children and Families.
Us brown-skinned girls get ashy if we don't moisturize.