- In February 2011, <strong>Tyra Banks</strong> set a major goal for herself: to attend and graduate from the <strong><a href="http://newsone.com/entertainment/newsonestaff2/tyra-banks-harvard-business-school/" target="_blank">Harvard Business School</a></strong>. The former swimsuit model and entrepreneur enrolled in a management leadership program at the <strong><a title="10 Black Celebrities Who Attended Ivy League Schools" href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2011/08/19/10-black-celebrities-who-attended-ivy-league-schools/" target="_blank">Ivy League</a></strong> institution to strengthen her business skills, and <strong><a href="http://theybf.com/2012/02/23/graduation-day-tyra-banks-completes-harvard-business-school" target="_blank">graduated this February</a></strong>. Born in Inglewood, CA, Banks, 38, has cultivated a catalogue of endeavors over the past 20 years that’s far beyond her runway beginnings. In fact, the Daily Mail recently ranked her among the richest supermodels in the world with a reported net worth of $90 million. Banks has taken on acting, producing, directing, publishing, and promoted ideals of a positive and healthy self-image along the way. <strong>BlackEnterprise.com</strong> Decodes Banks bankable brand. <em>—Danielle Kwateng</em>
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- <strong>MODEL BEHAVIOR </strong> <br> Although she enrolled in <strong>Loyola Marymount University</strong>, Banks booked her first modeling gig before she even stepped on campus. Only 17, the 5’10”, green-eyed beauty dropped out of college to join <strong>Elite Model Management</strong>. She flew to Europe and did <strong><a href="http://www.people.com/people/tyra_banks/biography/0,,,00.html" target="_blank">25 shows</a></strong> in her first runway season. Since then, Tyra has appeared on the covers of <em>Elle</em>, <em>Maxim</em>, <em>Details</em>, <em>Seventeen</em>, <em>Shape</em> and <em>Harper’s Bazaar</em>. In 1994, Banks was named as one of <em>People</em>’s “50 Most Beautiful People,” and, by 1996, she appeared on the cover the <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Swimsuit issue, alongside model Valeria Mazza. The following year, she became the <strong><a href="http://nymag.com/fashion/models/tbanks/tyrabanks/" target="_blank">first African American</a></strong> woman to pose alone for the sports publication. Tyra’s appearance on the cover of the <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Swimsuit Issue helped transform the publication into the single <strong><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/34828908/The_Business_Behind_the_SI_Swimsuit_Issue?slide=1" target="_blank">best-selling magazine</a></strong> under Time Inc.'s publishing house. She went on to ink an exclusive contract with <strong>Victoria’s Secret</strong>, becoming the <strong><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/apr/15/fashion.features5 " target="_blank">first Black model</a></strong> to appear in their catalogue.
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- <strong>HOLLYWOOD BOUND</strong> Banks acquired her first acting role in 1993 on NBC’s <em>Fresh Prince of Bel-Air</em>, playing <strong>Will Smith</strong>’s girlfriend, Jackie Ames. At the time, the show was the <strong><a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,310235,00.html" target="_blank">highest-rated primetime comedy series</a></strong> among teenage viewers. Open to the idea of acting, Banks went on to snag a number of television roles on shows such as <em>New York Undercover</em>, <em>Soul Food</em>, <em>Felicity</em> and <em>American Dreams</em>. A few years later, Tyra began dating director <strong><a href="http://www.people.com/people/tyra_banks/biography/0,,,00.html " target="_blank">John Singleton</a></strong>, which many believe prompted her to pursue big screen roles, landing her supporting roles in films like <em>Higher Learning</em>, <em>Love and Basketball</em> and <em>Coyote Ugly</em>, which grossed $113,916,474. Then, in 2000, Banks teamed up with Disney to star alongside Lindsay Lohan for the made-for-TV-movie, <em>Life-Size</em>. Although critics believe acting isn’t her strongest suit, Banks continues to go for smaller roles on television.
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- <strong>CAMERA TIME </strong> As reality shows were just gaining momentum, Banks created, produced and hosted the first modeling competition, <em><strong>America’s Next Top Model</strong></em> (ANTM), in 2003. Run through <strong>Bankable Productions</strong>, a film and television production company, it was one of the CW’s (formerly UPN) highest-rated programs. <strong><a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33284329/ns/today-entertainment/t/tyra-banks-top-earning-prime-time-tv-lady/#.T2FZVxyLE6s" target="_blank">MSNBC</a></strong> reports that Tyra grossed $30 million in a 12-month period, largely from her television credits. Now in its 18th cycle, the competition has launched the careers of <strong>Toccara Jones</strong>, <strong>Yaya DaCosta</strong>, <strong>Eva Pigford</strong>, <strong>Brittany "Bre" Scullark</strong> and many others. As the catalyst to a rising model’s career, ANTM is syndicated in more than 100 countries, and was recently clocked at making $61,315 per 30-second commercial slots during the <strong><a href="http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/chart-american-idol-nfl-duke-priciest-tv-spot/230547/#wed" target="_blank">2011–2012 television season</a></strong>—the highest of any series on the CW. In 2005, she launched the daytime television show, <em><strong>The Tyra Banks Show</strong></em>. With both of her shows, Banks sustained a collective, weekly viewership of <strong><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/magazine/01tyra-t.html?_r=3&ref=tyrabanks " target="_blank">13 million</a> </strong>fans, and made an estimated annual income of $18 million from television and earned two daytime Emmy Awards.
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- <strong>THE REAL DEAL </strong> In 1995, Cover Girl became Tyra’s first lucrative, multi-year spokesperson contract, branding her name and face on television and print ads nationwide. Ten years later, Banks used her <strong><a href="http://adage.com/article/madisonvine-case-study/cover-girl-extends-top-model-buy/46607/" target="_blank">Proctor & Gamble</a></strong> endorsement to launch the cosmetics brand as the title sponsor for <em>America’s Next Top Model</em>. Additionally, Tyra signed on to a number of television and print ads for companies such as Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren and Dolce & Gabbana. Although she spent some time away from endorsing brands to establish her own projects, Banks signed with <strong><a href="http://www.imgworld.com/news/news/2010/may/tyra-banks-signs-with-img.aspx" target="_blank">IMG</a></strong> in 2010, reportedly to garner endorsement deals only. But before signing with IMG, she launched <strong><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/08/28/idUS201956+28-Aug-2008+PRN20080828" target="_blank">Bankable Enterprises</a></strong> in 2007. The company serves as a business outlet to “anchor her expanding business interests,” which includes <strong>Bankable Productions</strong>, <strong>Bankable Digital</strong> and <strong>Bankable Studios</strong>.
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- <strong>FIT TO PRINT & PROFIT</strong> At the age of 24, the barely legal supermodel released her first book, <strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tyras-Beauty-Inside-Tyra-Banks/dp/0060957220/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332288222&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Tyra’s Beauty Inside & Out</a></em></strong>, under Harper Collins’ Perennial imprint. The book offers step-by-step makeup tips with accompanying before-and-after photos; as well as advice on how to obtain natural beauty through a healthy diet and exercise, and avoidance of drugs and alcohol. While already working as a contributor for <em><strong>Vogue Italia</strong></em> online, Banks partnered with <strong><a href="http://www.demandmedia.com/press-releases/2010/06/29/demand-media-and-bankable-announce-deal-to-launch-a-beauty-and-fashion-online-destination" target="_blank">Demand Media</a></strong> in June 2010 to launch her own beauty and fashion site, <strong><a href="http://www.typef.com/" target="_blank">TypeF.com</a></strong>. In May 2011, Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House, announced its partnership with the ambitious media mogul to release a three-book fiction series. The first novel, <em><strong><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ac6J5AT.vFJ0" target="_blank">Modelland</a></strong></em>, was released five months later, and penned as a young adult fantasy novel that expands the definition of beauty. Not only did the book become No. 1 on Barnes & Noble charts, it debuted at No. 2 on <strong><a href="http://www.amsterdamnews.com/opinion/columnists/go_with_the_flo/article_39a4799c-fff2-11e0-9378-001cc4c03286.html" target="_blank"><em>The New York Times</em> Bestseller List</a></strong>.
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- <strong>MODEL CITIZEN</strong> At just 18 years old, Banks established the <strong>Tyra Banks Scholarship</strong> to help young Black women attend her alma mater, Immaculate Heart High School, a private school in Los Angeles. She also began acting as the spokesperson for <strong><a href="http://www.tyrabanksonline.com/articles/article07.shtml " target="_blank">The Center for Children and Families in New York</a></strong>. Then, seven years later, in 1999, the supermodel started <strong><a href="http://tzonefoundation.org/" target="_blank">The Tyra Banks TZONE Foundation</a></strong>, an organization focused on developing teenage girls’ independence, confidence and self-esteem. Continuing with her positive image encouragement, in 2007, Banks initiated her “So What” campaign, which promoted positive body images, and encouraged women to stop obsessing over the flaws in their appearance. All this took place after a beach-body photo of Tyra “caused a tabloid frenzy,” according to <strong><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3094803&page=1#.T2ANRRyLE6s" target="_blank">ABC News</a></strong>. Always heavier than most mainstream models, Banks has been candid about her weight and maintaining self-esteem. For the campaign she and hundreds of women marched through the streets of Los Angeles bearing their midriffs in a "Belly Brigade.”
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