AMINATAYINDE

Drawing from her experience as a finalist on America’s Next Top Model and many other international modeling gigs, Aminat Ayinde wants to pay it forward, starting with an academy for creatives in the fashion industry, writes guest correspondent, DEMOLA OJO

You cannot help but notice Aminat Ayinde walk into a room or glitzy hotel lounge in Lagos. She’s six feet tall, dark-complexioned, with an unmistakable New York accent. She was holding a yellow Ankara bag, a bold contrast to her black and white ensemble.

“I’m beautifully black, very tall and very confident. That intimidates a lot of men and women. People see you as a threat,” she said.

She is cerebral, a sexy nerd, as she referred to herself during a conversation that started with human anatomy, genetics and ethics before veering towards African history. She is an example of having to dig beneath the surface to discover the essence of a person.

Her striking features are responsible for her discovery and rise to fame as an international model. One of many highlights was being a finalist at the 2009 edition of America’s Next Top Model (ANTM), a reality show which averaged 4.35 million viewers per episode in the US and tens of millions of viewers in the 170 countries where the show is syndicated.

But being a model wasn’t always the plan. Born in Lagos, she moved to New York with her family when she was six and has been living in the US until a little over a year ago when she moved to Cape Town.

As a kid, she wanted to be a doctor. “By the age of 10, I studied the over 200 bones in the human body. My mum was a nurse and when she was studying for her LPN degree, I pretty much was studying with her. I would be quizzing her.

“So for me it was a natural interest from a young age and I think by now, at the sweet tender age of 31, I would have been a pretty good physician because I started university at 17 which is early in America,” Ayinde said.

When she realized the number of years it took to study to be a doctor, she opted for physiotherapy because “I like physical therapy; the human body, muscles and bones... I could work with that, you know, nerves and veins I can do. So I did that.”

This meant earning a BSc in Biology (with a double minor in Chemistry and African AfricanAmerican Caribbean Studies) from the William Paterson University of New Jersey. She worked with a physical therapy office for about two years while schooling, getting a paid internship from her sophomore year until she graduated.

Something else you discover with Ayinde is how proudly African she is. It explains the minor in AACS. This didn’t work well for her at work. “They ended up firing me because they said I wasn’t committed.”

She believes it’s because she was unapologetically pro-black. “There wasn’t even a staff member, from the janitorial level that wasn’t white. I had the afro, the doorknocker earrings, the wooden beads... we wore a uniform but I felt you could still be yourself even if you have a white polo and khakis on.

“They said ‘Oh, your earrings are a little too big, you need to tone it down, you’re looking a little too ethnic.’ It was a very Caucasian space. They hired me only to fill a quota.

“Every day I would come home crying to my mum but she always told me to look past the obstacles. ‘Get your money, you don’t have to be friends. Do you and focus on what you’re here for. This job is not your life.’”

Her mum was right but not in ways she would have thought because the goal then was for her

I’m a nerd, I’m a student and I’m very unapologetically Nigerian and black so I didn’t necessarily think that someone like myself would make it into the house of America’s Next Top Model but God is good all the time

first daughter to go to Grad School, and then get a Doctorate in Physiotherapy… until one fateful day in Miami!

Ayinde recalled, “I was on track about to get this degree, make some money and make the parents happy...” Then during a Spring break with friends in Miami, a scout discovered her. “At that time, I was already six feet tall and I always rocked my afro so I looked like a tree.” She’s funny too.

“So Monique Peters (the scout) saw me walking down the strip. She had to tell her taxi to go round the block again, then she got out of the cab and literally chased me down.

“I was a little hood, I’m still a little bit hood, and my girlfriends were even worse. It was difficult for her to approach me because I had like four or five girls with me. We were like, ‘Who are you? What do you want?’

“My friends said, ‘If you’re not from a top agency, don’t talk to our girl.” Then Monique introduced herself and said, ‘I think your girl has a really good chance of winning America’s Next Top Model.”

Ayinde needed to audition. According to her, “Life happened and I couldn’t audition in Miami.” She went back to school in Jersey and practically forgot about it until she got a mail from the scout in summer for auditions in New York.

She was a scholarship student and a resident assistant at school. “I’m pretty, freaking awesome, if I may so. My parents were lucky because my scholarship took care of my tuition.”

This explains why she was upset at the timing of the call when she was told she had made the semifinals because taking a leave of absence was going to affect her scholarship for the next semester.

She took the chance though and flew to Vegas for the semi-finals. “It was my only time in Vegas. I haven’t been there since. It was really cool; huge suite to yourself, everything paid for. It was like an amazing free vacation for me.”

She was the first name called into the house. “I was like ‘really?’ Not that I doubted myself, but I had no previous modeling experience.

“I’m a nerd, I’m a student and I’m very unapologetically Nigerian and black so I didn’t necessarily think that someone like myself would make it into the house of America’s Next Top Model but God is good all the time,” she said about her big break.

However, it was also the point when she had to tell her parents. “I called but they weren’t picking my calls. They were mad at me because a letter had gone home from my school that I took a leave of absence. I don’t blame them for being mad because I took an executive decision. But I knew they wouldn’t agree.”

Luckily, her siblings supported her. “Thank God your family is not just your parents. My siblings were amazing.”

It took her parents more than a year to come round. Typical Nigerian parents she says. “I love them though.”

She did the show and was second runner-up. She got to the very end but didn’t win which according to her was exactly what she wanted. “People thought I won. I’m the people’s chosen winner. I’m grateful I didn’t win but still got opportunities for myself.”

She explained why. “When you win, you get bogged down, you have contractual obligations. Sometimes, when you win, you don’t feel like a winner, you feel like you’re trapped. They own you. With that contract, you literally sign your life away.

“I learnt a lot. About television especially. Now you’re on national TV with millions of people watching.” She describes the progression of a baby crawling until it can walk. “I didn’t get those steps.”

Ayinde returned to school and did pretty well. She reeled out her GPA and credits with pride. “I’m Nigerian, you have to floss on them, you have to let them know,” she said with a smile.

“I really was proud of myself because that semester, my parents didn’t help me at all. I don’t blame them, because I took decisions without them and you can’t support something you don’t know.”

She also had to deal with her newfound fame while still on campus. “Just because you see me on TV doesn’t mean you know me, or are entitled to me. You get a crash course on how to be gracious.”

Her parents came for her graduation though and “threw a big party I didn’t ask for. But they didn’t come around to support the modeling until their friends started hitting them up; ‘Oh, I saw your daughter on Arik (In-flight magazine), THISDAY

So I got the opportunity and honour to do my first Mercedes Benz Fashion Week runway through ARISE which was an amazing connect. As a fresh-faced model, that’s something off your bucket list. For me, it was monumental

Style, Genevieve magazine...”

She had graced runways, magazine covers and campaigns for numerous designers and brands all over the world. “But to them, that didn’t really count.”

According to Ayinde, her first big break after ANTM, was ARISE Fashion Week in New York in 2009.

“When I come back to the world, I want to come back as Nigerian,” she said with gratitude. “Because we really look out for each other. It’s like two degrees of separation not six. You know somebody who knows somebody who can literally make things happen.”

She talked about prayer and manifestation; getting a link from a friend’s sister, sending a mail and being invited to cast and later on, be a fit model for the fashion show.

“I had that job for almost two weeks. The rate was really good. I didn’t have an agent at the time so this was all by myself and my contacts and just being hungry. You have to want it.

“ARISE gave me my first job as a fit model and because I did so well and adapted to a new environment, they booked me for their show.

“So I got the opportunity and honour to do my first Mercedes Benz Fashion Week runway through ARISE which was an amazing connect. As a fresh-faced model, that’s something off your bucket list. For me, it was monumental.

“I felt like, not only had I earned it, but God made a way and it was through somebody within my community which is a blessing because a lot of people don’t have that opportunity to say that you are a model who walked Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.”

She couldn’t resist adding, “I have a phenomenal, magical runway walk by the way. It’s a blessing to be in my presence on the runway.”

Really? When is her next show? “We’ll see. There’s Fashion Week coming up in South Africa in September so we’ll see. But I’m at the point in my career where I want to pass my knowledge and expertise on to younger aspiring models.”

According to Ayinde, she never had a mentor. It is a lacuna that needs filling in the industry. Most of the values that helped her succeed as a model she learnt from being an athlete.

“I played basketball all my life since I moved to America. Being on a basketball team and being an athlete taught me discipline and you need discipline to be a model. You have to be selfmotivated. You are your job. Your agency isn’t your employer. You’re not an employee. You’re an independent professional. You have to be motivated enough to wake up and go to the gym, go for casting, be on time.

“If you don’t have discipline instilled in you and you’re not an organized person, you’re not going to be successful as a model because it’s like running your own business.

“Basketball taught me that if you want to win, you have to work for it. You have to wake up, train, you work with a team and know how to deal with people whether you like it or not, and you need to win.

“I don’t want to be a model so I can post on Instagram. I want to make money, I want to be successful and I want to win. There has to be a competitive nature in you. And being an athlete and being Nigerian and being black, you can’t but win.”

These are lessons she wants to impart through the academy she’s starting. “I want to pay it forward. I want to use my experience, my influence, my power to help young aspiring models and creatives in this fashion industry; to open doors, to help them navigate because there’s a lot of users, abusers and opportunists that prey on your inexperience, naivety, greenness and willingness to want to get a foot in the door.

“So many young black girls send me DMs, hit me up via email and on Facebook, wanting tips on how to get into modeling and a lot of them want to get into it for the wrong reasons.

“Some want to take pictures but being a model is a lot more than taking pictures. For me, it’s to educate people about what modeling is.

“I want to break the chain of people seeing you as a black girl and not wanting to help you because they think you’re coming for their spot. I want to create a new cycle. As women, we need to have more mentorship programs.”

Instead of a bunch of people trying to figure it out for themselves, she has decided to set up a roadmap and create an academy, which is not a school in the traditional sense but rather, a virtual space called the A20 academy.

Prospective students are to sign up online. The site is just about being launched (probably by the time you’re reading this). “It’s there, it just needs to be out for the world to see,” she explained.

She wants more creatives to support the initiative. “Nothing is going to happen if you don’t have the people. I need support from photographers I’ve worked with in the past, makeup artists, stylists...

“You travel the world and meet so many creatives as a model. And their path hasn’t been easy. So why don’t we network and build a safe space for people to connect, to grow, to create and to make money? You don’t want to be a struggling artiste. I struggled but I was lucky because when I was modeling, I worked four jobs.”

Already she has an office in New York, with more planned for Cape Town and Lagos. “Those are the three cities I’m focusing on now because those are the three cities I believe I have influence over.”

For her, the academy is a lifelong project and a dream come through. “It’s pretty much the brainchild of what I always wanted to accomplish, which is to pay it forward, and have a space where aspiring models can come in and better their skills.

“The goal is to take over Africa, to be the modeling academy for Africa. When you come in, we give you the skills to succeed.”