L
ong before models
joined the ranks of
the multihyphenates,
Tyra Banks broke the mold.
She shattered our expec-
tations of those on the
catwalk with her business
acumen, passion for diversi-
ty and body positivity, and her
bold vision to conquer indus-
tries beyond the parameters of
the fashion world. Ahead, we
dig into Banks’s many “receipts.”SHE’S LIMITLESS.
She’s the CEO of The Tyra
Banks Company, which houses
Bankable Productions, Tyra
Beauty and ModelLand, show-
ing us that your career can
evolve into multiple enterprises.SHE MANAGED HER
MONEY EARLY ON.
Banks does not seem like
the type of celebrity to
spend her funds haphaz-
ardly. Her early commitment
to proper money manage-
ment practices led to the purchase
of her first home at 20. Around that time
her mother suggested she find someone
to handle her finances and persuaded
an investment banker to take Banks
on as a client for $10,000, which was
significantly less than his usual million-
dollar fee.SHE’S AN INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY QUEEN.
Banks understands the power of
ownership. She controls her cre-
ative content, producing the Emmy
Award–winning Tyra Banks Show and
creating America’s Next Top Model,
which is viewed in 140 countries withTHE RECEIPTS40 international spin-off versions.
Last year the CEO inked a first-look
deal for scripted and unscripted
projects, and she is currently work-
ing on an online docuseries, Beauty.SHE DIVERSIFIES HER INCOME.
Banks’s entertainment pursuits are
widely known, but the mogul also
has an interest in real estate. She pur-
chases homes in Los Angeles and flips
them for profit.SHE’S A STUDENT OF THE GAME.
She found education to be a key to
getting to the next level. In 2012 she
made her way to Harvard BusinessWhen it comes to business, supermodel and
megamogul Tyra Banks knows a thing or two about making boss movesBY BRITTNEY OLIVER | ILLUSTRATION BY TEMI COKERAlways Bet on Banks
School to complete a nine-
week program. In 2018 she
cotaught a course at Stanford
Graduate School of Business.SHE KNOWS THAT
BREAKING BARRIERS
REQUIRES MENTORSHIP.
Banks understood that open-
ing doors for others required
guiding those who are trying
to follow your footsteps. So she
found a way to pay it forward
by creating a show that paved
the way for 5-foot, 7-inch and
shorter, plus-size, transgender,
vitiligo and deaf models.SHE HIRES WOMEN
OF COLOR.
Breaking barriers means over-
coming discrimination until
the right opportunity comes
your way. Understanding what
it’s like to find employment
as a Black woman, Banks
employs women of color in her
multiple businesses, which span
several industries.SHE REDEFINES BEAUTY WITH
BODY POSITIVITY.
Casting a diverse group of women
and men for her shows was the first
way she chose to disrupt the con-
straints of what we perceive as beau-
tiful. She’s fearless when it comes
to going without makeup and hair
weaves—as you can see from her
social media feeds.Brittney Oliver is a Greater Nashville–
based career and lifestyle writer and
the founder of Lemons 2 Lemonade,
which holds networking events for
professional women.Banks proves that where you start your career
doesn’t have to be where you end it.ESSENCE.COM I 91 I SEPTEMBER 2019