With
New York Fashion Week underway, we catch up with our model
Bella before she heads out to the States on her first
Ted Talk; The Myth of Perfection. From foundations and talk preparation to why aspiring models shouldn't buy into the term "perfect". Squashing stereotypes, check out our interview with the
IMM newbie below and don't forget we will be talking
curves,
i-D magazine and
Danny Lowe magic over the weekend, as we continue our
'challenging the modelling industry' series.
For more of
Bella view her full model portfolio
here.
How did the ted talk come about?
- In 2012 I started up my foundation, Lovekidz, to coach and motivate young people in many different areas involved with personal development. I participate and coach in lots of leadership events around the world, and have given lots of talks now, and one person who recognised that I was doing this works for the TED committee at Penn State university. He nominated me to speak at their next TED conference in Pennsylvania. Out of the 100 people nominated, an application process and an interview, 10 were chosen and one of them was me!
What do you hope people will take from your ted talk?
- I am using the fact that perfection is not real to share the importance of self-love. The two main things that I want people to take home is that perfection is a myth, and that they do not need to be anyone other than who they already are to accept themselves.
How did you prepare for the talk?
- The one thing I was told by everyone involved was to practice, practice and practice. It is important to practice in front of both small and large crowds, and to take on any feedback given. The way I see it, feed-back is actually feed-forward, as their ideas can help you move forward in progress. I was fortunate enough to be able to practice in front of my leadership peers, who have given me valuable tools to take to the stage. I was also given a speaker consultant by TED, who has helped me to prepare the best PowerPoint possible. For the talk itself, I decided to bring together the best parts of my talks that associate with the topic of perfection and write it into one presentation. I was at a Tony Robbins leadership event in Florida at the time, so was surrounded by the best mentors and a beautiful landscape to inspire me to write my talk.
It’s on the myth of perfection; as a model, what does perfect mean to you and other models in the industry?
- To me, the word 'perfect' is a distortion of reality. It's objective and everyone has a different idea of what it actually is. The definition of perfect is 'aesthetically pleasing to the eye' so when someone says to you that they think you're perfect, what they're really saying is 'you are everything that I would like to be. You are very satisfying to me. I would have absolute certainty that I do not need to change if I were you.' So keeping that in mind, I can't say what perfect means to other models. To one model, perfection could be career related, meaning that getting lots of jobs makes you perfect. To another model, perfection could be having long, dark hair, blue eyes and long legs. Some models might even agree on what perfection is, but there will always be that one tiny detail that they don't agree on as being perfect. I'm not saying that perfection doesn't exist but what I am saying is that the idea of perfection that most people have is unrealistic. Many people, including models, use the excuse of perfection to stop themselves from having self-love and acceptance.
- As a model, I have got great information to share in my Ted talk, which I use as an example of why people should not compare themselves to others. In Cameron Russell's TED talk, she actually said that some girls think that they would be completely secure if they were models but in reality, models are even more insecure than them because they are in constant comparison to others.
Do you think your perception on perfection has helped you in the modelling industry?
- Absolutely. As a model you naturally need to be hard skinned. I suppose my redefinition of perfection has also helped me to redefine rejection, which every model will encounter in their career. Remembering that you are the best that you can be gives you so much confidence in castings, and it can really show on camera too. In other words, the beauty that you feel is the beauty that radiates outwards. By remembering that perfection isn't real or by changing the definition to match yourself, you are able to love yourself for who you already are and actually become more beautiful. I used to be bullied and hate myself for my looks back when I had this desire for perfection, and once I learned to break through this and learn to love myself for who I was, I believe that I became more beautiful to the eye of others - and it's not that my looks changed - it's that my attitude did.
