Former Miss Kenya Emma Too shares why models need to have a plan B
Queen of the catwalk and former beauty queen Emma Too has shed some light on the glamorous career.
Modelling can seem like a glamorous career, being the centre of attention as you walk the runway with cameras flashing away.
That is why more young people are signing up for different beauty pageants to get discovered by well-connected scouts. But despite all this, it appears there is more to it than just strutting down the runway.
“Before you get into modelling the individual has to understand that this is a very temporary career based on age and looks and very few people can do it for a long time. There is always a new model coming up,” Former Miss Kenya Emma Too explains.
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Unlike other professions, Ms Too says the career of a model can end in a blink of an eye.
“The life span is very short you must always work on plan B, the fact that the industry is not doing well speaks more about the economics of the country and not necessarily that there are no good models in Kenya,” Ms Too said.
“It also stems from a point where we do not value what they have to offer, it is a profession that is frowned upon, and even when I started it was frowned upon.
A lot of girls are getting into it thinking that it is glamorous it is not, in fact, it involves a lot of work. It works on your self-esteem if you are not a strong person you can never survive as a model,” she said.
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There is a dark side to modelling and this can destroy a person’s mental wellness if they are not strong enough.
“What I mean when I say strong is that you can go for an audition and you will hear the reasons why you were not picked was maybe because your nose is too big or your feet are too big.
There is this understanding that because you are a model you have no substance or say it has been known as the blonde career.
But I am an individual who runs a successful business I live in my own home, who I was, does not matter where I am and where I am going is what matters,” Ms Too said.
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