This is the best advice Tyra Banks's mother has ever given her
Having a close mother-daughter relationship is a true blessing, and Tyra Banks and her mom, Carolyn London, certainly have the kind of bond most would dream of.
Banks credits a great deal of her success to her mother, who also happened to be her first photographer and the breathing vessel behind her previous successful modeling career. The duo’s bond has continued to genuinely grow, leaving many people wondering what their secret was.
Yahoo Lifestyle caught up with them, and London said, “People would always ask me, ‘What did you do?’ Or: ‘How did you do that?,'” referring to how well she raised Banks. Their way of answering all these questions and paying it forward to other mothers and daughters came in the form of their new book, Perfect Is Boring. It’s a co-written memoir that explores their many experiences together, which includes everything from Banks’s mom telling her eight words to always watch for when dating, as well as throwing her a “period party” when she first began menstruating.
A post shared by Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) on Apr 3, 2018 at 7:46pm PDT
The book also includes the unfiltered truth about how much of an impact London has had on her daughter’s business decisions. “I used to go to my mom for every little tiny decision,” Banks explains. “Now I go to her for massive things.”
While the 44-year-old supermodel has received a ton of amazing insights from her mother, she says her very best advice was: “Plan for the end at the beginning.” When Banks was at the height of her career, she remembers being backstage before a show and her mother pointing out how many other models similar to her weren’t around anymore.
Her mother said, “They are not on the runway, and it’s not because they don’t want to be. It’s because the industry had enough and moved on to the next one.” This is not something she wanted to happen to Banks, she continued, telling her, “I want you to leave this industry before it leaves you.” She began advising Banks about all the tools she needed to create a personal brand that would come in handy post-modeling.
Banks took that advice to heart, and she began to find other ways to build and establish personal wealth through businesses, such as her previous self-titled talk show and creating America’s Next Top Model.
“I didn’t wait for the fashion industry to kick me out,” Banks says. In 2005, when Victoria’s Secret offered her another three-year contract, she declined, with her mother’s advice foremost in her mind. “I knew it was time to leave,” Banks says. “I thought of myself like a boxer, and I was getting ready for my last fight. I wanted to publicize it really big, and Victoria’s Secret even televised it as ‘Tyra’s last walk.’ We also did a whole hour dedicated to it on my talk show. I wanted to retire big so I couldn’t sneak back a year later and get on the runway. I was asked to walk a runway a couple years later, but I was like, ‘I’m good.'”
Many models have short-lived careers, but thanks to Banks’s mom, that isn’t the case at all for her. We still see Banks popping up, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Tyra Banks on her nose job: ‘Fix it or flaunt it — I think women should be able to do both’
What hurts Tyra Banks the most about the fashion industry: ‘Race is not a trend’
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