Former Victoria’s Secret’s model spoke with New York Post about her life as a model, giving her life to God, her upcoming Christian clothing line, & her new book entitled, “I’m No Angel”.

Here’s what she had to say about extreme dieting

“I pretty much restricted my diet to oatmeal, fruits and vegetables to meet runway expectations. I’m 5-foot-10, and I got down to 115 pounds with measurements of 34-24-34. In February 2007, New York Fashion Week was approaching, and while everyone I knew was being sent out to auditions, I wasn’t. ‘Why am I still going on test shoots?’ I asked my agent. ‘It’s because you look like a fat cow right now, Kylie. You need to lose 2 inches off of your hips,’ the agent said. After cutting my diet even further to just pineapples, watermelon and liters of water while exercising two hours a day, six days a week, I finally dropped down to 108 pounds, which satisfied my agent, and the gigs started rolling in.”

When she knew it was time to quit modeling

“That’s when it hit me. I was being paid to strip down and pose provocatively to titillate men. It wasn’t about modeling clothes anymore; I felt like a piece of meat. The next day, I broke down and started sobbing. I was in my bedroom and dropped to my knees and started to pray. ‘God, why did you have me win the Victoria’s Secret Angel competition if it was going to make me feel this way? I’m not honoring my husband. I just want answers!’ That was two years ago. Today, I’m living in Montana with my husband, enjoying the fresh air and volunteering with our church.”

About her life now

Today, I’m living in Montana with my husband, enjoying the fresh air and volunteering with our church. The old me would never have believed that I gave up my career for this quiet, country life. When I was a little girl growing up in Las Vegas, surrounded by billboards of half-dressed women, I dreamed of becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel. I thought the models I saw defined beauty, and beauty meant you were important. I would watch the Victoria’s Secret fashion shows at home on TV and imitate the models’ signature struts when I’d walk to my bedroom at night.

This girl, who beat over 10,000 other girls in the 2009 Victoria’s Secret’s Angel search competition, said that when most would feel proud at her career peak, she felt exploited.

Her story is a good read! She also says Adriana Lima is her favorite angel, we clearly have a lot in common. LOL!

Click here to read her entire article on NY Post.

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3 Ways to Get Your Creative Project off the Ground
Independent Filmmaker Offers Tips in Realizing Your Personal Ambition

With each passing year Andy Warhol’s quote – that everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame – rings truer.

The caveat: some people get more than 15 minutes, in large part because they actually work at their success, says award-winning indie filmmaker Kerstin Karlhuber. In fact, she calls this the “golden era of self-starters,” because this is an unprecedented time in which creative doers have access to achieving an audience.

“While there are some people who see the rise and fall of their name shortly after a quirky incident on a reality TV show, the more important success stories come from devoted artists who’ve worked their entire adult lives on a dream – and then something clicks,” says Karlhuber, who recently completed her latest project, “Tides of the Heart” (www.kerstinkarlhuber.com), an avant garde feature-length music video with no dialogue.

With some talent, a vision and that irrepressible itch to do something, amateurs such as “Fifty Shades of Grey” author E.L. James, or the co-creators of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” initially shot by three non-professionals before the FX channel contracted the show, are changing what and how audiences are receiving entertainment, says Daniel Jay Paul. His latest album, “Clean Getaway” (www.danieljaypaul.com), not only makes up much of the score for the film, but also structures the plot.

“We’re living in a golden era of self-starters when it comes to the arts,” he says.

Karlhuber and Paul discuss three ways those just starting out can kick-start their projects:

• New methods of financing: Sites like IndieGoGo.com are making it easier for self-starters to raise money for a variety of independent projects. It’s a 501©(3) non-profit that utilizes a “crowdfunding” platform in which those who seek to raise money can create campaigns to detail their story and get the word out.

• Alternative distribution: A decade ago, it wasn’t easy to get your self-made film out to audiences. If a committee liked your work, then you might get picked up by an indie movie festival, shown at the odd art house theater, Karlhuber says. Now, there are some households that go without cable or satellite, whose inhabitants rely completely on sites like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, where the Karlhuber-Paul project can be found, for their entertainment. An independent filmmaker can reasonably expect their video to be watched tens of thousands of times, if not much more. Despite these handy advances, utilizing traditional methods is a good idea, says Paul, who is continuing to enter “Tides of the Heart” into film festivals after having won awards in past events. He is expecting more theater screenings in the future, and hardcopies of the film are available.

• Marketing: The old way of advertising – billboards, newspaper space – can still be effective, but no longer necessary. If you’re not utilizing a method for online marketing, including the usual suspects such as Facebook and Twitter, then you’re not doing your job as a passionate artist, Paul says. “Unless you have the means or cash for a professional to handle your PR, then you have to ask yourself a simple question: What good is your project if nobody is exposed to it?” he says.

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The Vans Custom Culture competition inspires high school students across the U.S. to embrace their creativity. In light of decreased educational funding, Vans created this phenomenally-cool project to help ignite creativity and raise funds and awareness for the importance of ART in high schools all over the US. Since 2010, Vans has hosted a nationwide event called Custom Culture where high school students ‘design their own VANS’- the project has opened the doors to thousands of students across the US to compete and create masterpieces of art from a pair of traditional Vans shoes. The winner is awarded $50,000 toward their high school art program!

Registration is slated to kick-off in New York January 2, 2013 – February 11, 2013. How it works is high school art programs can register for the 2013 competition on the Vans Custom Culture website (vans.com/customculture). After registration, each school will be tasked with customizing four favorite Vans styles: the Old Skool, 106 Vulcanized, Sk8-Hi and Classic Slip-On. Students are charged with designing each pair of shoes to fit within one of three themes representing the Vans lifestyle, including action sports, art and music and then also a fourth “local flavor” theme reflecting regional inspiration.

After an internal Vans team narrows down the selection, the public will have the opportunity to vote through the Vans Custom Culture website from April 22 to May 13, 2013. The top five schools will be invited to New York City to showcase their designs for the crowd and celebrity judges at a special event in June2013, where the grand prize winner will be announced.

In March 2013, the designs created by 2012 Vans Custom Culture winners Rio Rancho High School (Rio Ranch, NM) will go on sale at Vans and Journeys stores as well as the Vans online shop. Rio Rancho claimed the $50,000 prize last year as well as Journeys’ “Local Attitude” award when their designs were recognized amongst the nearly 900 participants.

For more information both students and teachers alike can visit http://Vans.com/customculture. The website is the central hub for the contest, providing registration information, contest rules, an exciting kick-off video and program updates.

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