Des Plaines woman makes 40-Plus model finals
Lisa Robinson struts her stuff as a national finalist in last year's 40-plus Model Search.
Lisa Robinson runs a successful business in Des Plaines. But that hasn't stopped her from glamming it up as a New York runway model.
Last January, Robinson entered the 40-plus Model Search, a national contest sponsored by More Magazine and Wilhelmina Models.
She had started fashion modeling for catalogs and runway shows at 17 and quit at 27. By the time she entered the More contest, designed to showcase women over 40, she was 42.
Soon after she put in her entry, contest organizers phoned saying she had made the top 50 finalists -- then the top 30 -- then the top 10.
Eventually she found out that more than 16,000 women nationwide had entered the contest.
"I figured two or three hundred women had entered," Robinson says. "When they told me more then 16,000, my reaction was, 'you're kidding.'"
They flew her to New York to appear on the Rachael Ray show. In February, they flew her out again for the Model Search competition, a glitzy beauty contest filled with runways and spotlights, and hosted by Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett.
"It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had in my life," says Robinson, who's president of Creative Corporate Image, which provides companies with marketing materials.
"The women I met (the other finalists) were phenomenal women. There were four doctors, a horse trainer, a vice president of a movie studio. I was blown away."
Robinson didn't win, but she got two all-expense-paid trips to New York, a lot of pampering and goodies from contest sponsors Talbots and Garnier Nutrisse.
And she continues to look good in print. She's featured in the October issue of Black Enterprise magazine, which hits newsstands this week.
More is now accepting entries for the 2008 Model Search. Find out how to enter on www.more.com or www.wilhelmina.com. All entries must be postmarked by Nov. 15.
Lois Joy-Johnson, fashion and beauty director of More, says the magazine sponsors the contest to promote the beauty and accomplishments of women at this age, as well as to acknowledge their power in the marketplace.
"There is a huge and growing market for models 40 plus simply because women 40 plus are now the largest, most affluent consumer group and a ready market for anti-aging skincare, wellness, spa, finance, travel, the automotive industry, fitness and designer fashion," she says.
"We want to see our peers imaged in advertising, commercials and magazines, not a 25-year-old."