We should all learn from Kate Moss’ brave career move as risks can lead to successes that make life worthwhile
At an age when most settle in their careers, Kate is branching out - and that's to be commended
WHATEVER you think of Kate Moss, you’ve got to hand it to her for leaving Storm to start her own model agency.
Storm had been her professional home since she was 14 and it always takes a lot of bravery to end one chapter of your life and make that leap into the unknown.
All the more so when you are as successful as Kate.
Now 42, she has been one of the top international supermodels since she started out nearly 30 years.
And now she’s using all the experience she’s gained to form her own company.
It will cover acting and singing talent, not just modelling, in the hope of “creating stars” and managing other people’s careers.
“It’s a grown-up thing,” Kate said about her new project.
“I felt like I wanted to do things that were more than modelling.”
Explaining why she had to leave Storm, she said: “It didn’t matter how much we would try and do it together with them, I was always going to be the little Kate that they’ve known since I was 14... I wanted to spread my wings.”
You can see her point. Storm was probably like professional parents. I don’t know about you but when I look at my daughter, who is nearly 20, I still see a five-year-old.
I’m so used to protecting and looking after her, encouraging and helping her, that I always see her more vulnerable side.
On the one hand, that’s what mums are for — right?
But on the other, parents can seriously cramp a gal’s style.
Still, leaving a job that’s been good for you can be harder than leaving a job that’s been bad, because when life is good — or even just good enough — it’s often easier not to upset the status quo.
With Kate, of course, it would be easy to say: “She’s worth £56million — what sort of risk is she really taking?”
But to walk away, branch out alone and use your own money to try to build something else is taking a huge risk — not least when you’ve done the same thing all your adult life, and done it very well.
One of the biggest risks she’s taking is managing other people’s hopes, dreams and expectations.
That’s a huge responsibility and I’m sure she’ll take it seriously. Risks are easier to take when you are younger because you have nothing to lose, and that is what makes this move all the more impressive.
At a time when most people are “settling in” to their careers, Kate’s taking a leap into the unknown to reinvent herself.
I love the fact that she’s proving it’s never too late to start a business and I bet she will be great.
After all, she has a wealth of experience behind her and if my 14-year-old daughter were to start modelling, someone like Kate — who has been there, done that and knows the downsides as well as the ups — would be the obvious woman to steer the ship.
When people want to make a move but don’t, what usually holds them back is fear of failure. But, frankly, to start a business it has to be a case of “feel the fear . . . and do it anyway”.
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I’ve had my moments of risk-taking — most recently moving West Ham to their new stadium.
Of course it would have been safer not to take that risk, but as anyone who is successful knows, success very rarely comes without taking risks.
Putting up with the naysayers is another part and parcel of the process of reinventing yourself. Look at Victoria Beckham, who went from the biggest pop group in the world to set up her own fashion label.
At the time it was a bit of a joke but she has gone on — through hard graft when she probably didn’t “need” to work — to become a serious contender in the fashion world.
Women are good at reinvention. They are more flexible and don’t let the fear of something not working, or their ego, get in the way of having a go.
And when it comes down to it, it’s all about having a go. After all, you will never know how good you are until you try — and it’s the things you don’t do in life that you regret rather than the things you do.
Having a great life is about taking risks and maximising everything you do. How exciting to have a new career at 42.
We should all take a leaf out of Victoria and Kate’s book.
Wife was right to teach him a lesson
YOU have to feel for Cerys Shore, the newlywed wife who discovered that her teacher husband Richard, 30, was having sex at their home with a 17-year-old pupil he took on a school trip to California.
Her response, though, was pretty admirable.
She gave evidence that meant he was struck off as a teacher – and quite right too.
Cerys told education chiefs at a disciplinary hearing that during a row at their home he had confessed to the secret affair with the girl after classes.
It raises a couple of questions: Would you give evidence against your husband or the man you love? And when does “for better, for worse” end and “doing the right thing” begin?
You could argue that her dobbing him in was the ultimate revenge.
But she has to live with the publicity and shame as a result.
It’s really sad for her but she’s done the right thing.
After all, imagine being married for 40 years then finding out your husband likes young girls.
She is only 28 and can turn a new page now. After all, who wants to be married to the kind of man that does that?
There are some marital rows that just aren’t meant to be patched up.
Thanks be to model mum Elle
I LOVED reading that Elle Macpherson makes her children write thank-you notes for presents within 24 hours – or else the gifts get donated to charity.
It might sound hardline but saying thank you – in a thoughtful way rather than by text or email – is a really important life lesson for kids.
Sadly, most children today don’t know what an envelope is, let alone a stamp.
But by sending handwritten notes she’s teaching her children something really crucial – the power and importance of being thoughtful.
She is also teaching them respect.
What sensible, down- to-earth parenting.
She sounds like a very good mother.
Putting the Ugg into ugly
THE new Uggs strike me as the sort of thing you’d need a prescription to wear – they look like those boots you get from hospital when you break your ankle.
I like comfort as much as the next woman, but I do wonder who would want to be seen wearing them?
Then again . . . look at Kanye West and his Yeezys.
Basically, all they need is to get someone famous wearing them and the next thing you know we’ll all be queuing up to give them our cash – and feeling a million dollars wearing them.
Storm in a teacake
SO Mary Berry is the latest to cause national heartbreak by saying she will stay loyal to the BBC and not move with Bake Off to Channel 4.
Am I the only person who isn’t in mourning – or rather, dare I say, doesn’t give a fig about the show switching channels?
People, it’s only a TV programme for goodness sake. There, I’ve said it.
Normality is no sin
LORRAINE KELLY was blasted on Twitter the other day after an interview with Gemma Arterton.
Her “crime” was to refer to Arterton’s body shape and image as “normal”.
The accusation? That Lorraine had insulted Gemma by implying she was fat.
Something is surely wrong with a world that equates normal with fat.
Sinitta clears the air
I DID have to laugh reading about Sinitta “insisting” that she didn’t have anything to do with Brad and Angelina’s marriage split.
I would just like to add that I too didn’t have anything to do with their split.
Nor did my best friend, my aunt or my dog.
Honest, guv.