In the 1980s, you couldn’t pick up a magazine without seeing Kathy Ireland’s big blue eyes staring back at you. And while she’s largely retired from the modeling world (“I think I ran out of poses a long time ago,” she jokes to PEOPLE), the 61-year-old has managed to turn her brand and platform into places where she can make a difference.
Modeling was “such an education,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively. “And it was never my plan—it surprised me. The look of the moment was changing in the ’80s when I started.”
Traveling the world for work (mostly for my 13 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues) opened young Ireland’s eyes to “needs that are much bigger than us and opportunities that are much bigger than us,” she says. “So instead of being overwhelmed by the needs, I thought, ‘What can I do?’ We can all do something.”
For this purpose, she did a lot. Along with her business ventures—everything from her Fashion 360 line for HSN and her fragrance collection to her licensed brand Kathy Ireland Worldwide and credit card processing company Ireland Pay—she also has her philanthropic activities, such as being the ambassador for the Los Angeles Whitney M. Young Jr. from the Urban League on May 30.
Kathy Ireland 2000.
SGranitz/WireImage
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“It’s certainly a privilege,” she says of working with such organizations, “and I’m grateful to the people who do this great work.”
In addition to a cultural education, Ireland’s career has also taught her what she calls “the gift of rejection.”
“I certainly didn’t appreciate it at the time,” she says. “But it was powerful when we started our company and people would slam the door in my face or say things like, ‘Well, that’s a stupid idea.’ It didn’t destroy me or stop me. ‘No’ meant ‘Now we’re talking and I’ll come back tomorrow and maybe you’ll change.’ ”
She continues: “We can learn from criticism. We have to be humble enough to recognize that people will have good advice. It may not be given in a kind way, but we have to be able to hear it and take it apart and discern whether there is something to learn from it, and to let’s not let it harden our hearts.”
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Ireland says she has young models who come to her for career advice and is often “hesitant to encourage anyone to go into the profession for many reasons,” she admits. With the pushback, it’s “an industry that can attract a lot of people of questionable character.”
In the early days of Ireland, she was happy to find a mentor in her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue founder Julie Campbell.
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Kathy Ireland 2000.
Getty
“She came from the world of sports and it was different from traditional fashion,” says Ireland. “Traditional fashion is beautiful, but from a sports perspective it felt like friendship. And Julie really set that tone – it was eat, go enjoy the sun. I watched her fight for the integrity of her brand, and there were so many business lesson for me during that process.”
Now, as she focuses on her own business, as well as her philanthropic work and her family, Ireland says she’s grateful for the constant lessons she’s learned along the way.
“One of the things I love about getting older is the maturity,” she says. “I’ve just learned to enjoy the adventure more and there’s no fear, and for that I’m very grateful.”
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