The Bite Magazine - Spring 2019 - Issue 24

bite model profile ing that though one’s good looks can only go so far, it takes genuine hard work, modesty and professionalism to make it and keep such a profound status in the modelling industry. This kind of unrelenting determination is something Banks would come to use as she then transformed herself from a supermodel to a multifaceted mogul in the years to come. In 1993, the model took on her first television role in the much-loved The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as Will Smith’s char- acter’s friend, Jackie Ames. This appearance led her to work on other shows such as Felicity, All That, MAD TV, Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘n Out, The Price is Right, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Gossip Girl. Ten years later, Banks founded her own production company, Ty Ty Banks Productions which was then changed to Bankable Productions. This company produced the show that possibly made Banks a truly house- hold name around the world, America’s Next Top Model . Her role as executive producer, host and former judge on this show that takes aspiring models and pits them against each other in rounds of various modelling-type jobs and assignments for the chance to win contracts with top mod- elling agencies quickly became an overnight television phe- nomenon. People loved seeing the behind the scenes antics and trials that these, who everyone thought were, beautiful young girls throw down to become the next top models. It’s not all pretty, as Banks has shown through her show that is now airing in its 23rd season; it’s actually a rather ugly and ruthless road to become a fruitful model. Later, Banks would also use her production company to produce her own talk show, The Tyra Banks Show , where she hosted the daytime talk show that catered toward younger women and their interests. The show aired for five years from September 2005 to May 2010, and earned her two Daytime Emmy Awards. In addition to her television roles and shows, Banks has also appeared in several feature films. In 1994, she acted in Higher Learning , and then co-starred with Lindsay Lohan in the Disney film, Life-Size . Later, she would go on to appear in Love Stinks, Love & Basketball, Coyote Ugly, Halloween: Resurrection, and Hannah Montana: The Movie. In 2015, she returned to television and starred in the show FABLife as a host alongside Joe Zee, Chrissy Teigen, Lauren Makk and Leah Ashley, but sadly quit the series after only three months to focus on her cosmetics company. In 2018, she made a reappearance in the sequel, Life-Sized 2, which aired on Freeform. At this point, one would think that Banks couldn’t possibly (or sanely) take on any more projects or areas of interest. But you’d be mistaken. Banks was only getting started. In 2011, she debuted her fashion and beauty website called ‘typeF. com’ that she co-created with Demand Media. In 2014, she then founded and launched her own cosmetics company, Tyra Beauty, and then in 2015, she launched ‘tyra.com ’, an interactive e-commerce and cosmetics site. Her cosmetics company implemented a multi-level marketing system to find sales suppliers entitled ‘beauty trainers’ and used the business knowledge she learned while attending Harvard Business School’s nine-week long Owner/President Manage- ment Program. In addition to her modelling, television, film and cosmetic roles, Banks has also appeared in several music videos and even released three of her own singles, ‘Shake Ya Body’, ‘K.O.B.E.’, and ‘Be a Star’. And while the girl can write music, she can also write books. She has co-authored two books, Tyra’s Beauty: Inside and Out, and Perfect is Boring, and one novel, Modelland , that topped The New York Times Best Seller List in October 2011. Complete with this ivy league education, she also accepted taking on a position as a per- sonal branding guest lecturer at Stanford University in 2016. Throughout her career, however, Banks has always been busy with charitable organisations, and actually began her own scholarship fund, The Tyra Banks Scholarship, which provides African American girls with opportunities to at- tend her former high school, Immaculate Heart High School in L.A. She also began, TZONE, a public charity that aids children in learning more about leadership and life skills. Given all that Banks has accomplished in her professional life, it hardly seems like she’d have any time left to dedicate to having a personal one. However, Banks is nothing if not a master multitasker and she has been linked romantically to several high-profile fellas throughout the years, but most recently, she dated Norwegian photographer, Erik Asla. They would later go on to have their first child via a surrogate, a son named York Banks Asla born in January 2016. Today, Banks is still as busy as she’s ever been, but now even more so as a working mother. “Just how tired [I am]," the 45-year-old supermodel said of the biggest surprise about being a working mom. "I'm tired right now because I was up all night. He was waking up all night last night, and [needed a] bottle at 5:30 this morning. I do have a lot of help, but I don't have help all the time," she added. "So those moments when I'm like, in it and suffering, I'm like, 'This is what I'm supposed to be doing as a mama,’” she shared with Jennifer Drysdale of etonline.com in November 2017. “It's all about quality, not quantity," she added, on the advice she'd give to other moms. "When you're there, make sure that time is concentrated and rich. I'm guilty of, 'Oh, I'm here, but I'm here answering emails’.' So, I've actually taken emails off of my phone, so that when I'm with my son, I'm with him.” It’s been one hell of a journey to say the least for Miss Banks. From her humble beginnings as a tall, lean teenager to total supermodel stardom as one of the first African American women to be featured in a number of fashion campaigns, magazine and media covers, and editorials, not to mention a total badass business woman, entertainer and philanthropist, she has literally done it all. To say that she has taken the world by storm is a huge understatement for I feel Banks is only getting started. She’s pioneered and forged ahead of so many stereotypes and prejudices that were laid against not only a woman of colour, but women in general for so long thus far, that it’s going to be amazing to see what the future holds for this multifaceted and empowered woman. Her legacy is one for the ages to be sure, but no one can ever say that Tyra Banks is nothing but super.