Cindy Crawford's mole
So there we all were in the 90s, watching Noel’s House Party and waiting for the internet to be invented, when a group of beautiful young women burst onto the scene, fast-tracking the decade away from the doldrums towards some much needed glamour and sophistication.
That’s how I remember it anyway. Which is why I enjoyed The Super Models on Apple TV+ so much. It tells the story of how Cindy, Christie, Linda and Naomi transcended fashion to become global cultural icons who refused to “wake up for less than $10,000 a day”.
So how did this happen?
Well Cindy C explains this best when she covers the elephant in the room – not her weird marriage to Richard Gere – but the famous mole above her lip.
She says that when she first started, the beauty mark would be airbrushed out because models weren’t supposed to look distinctive, they were simply clothes hangers, and had to blend in. But when one photographer for American Vogue left her photos untouched, it was never airbrushed out again.
That mole became her trademark. It made her memorable, recognisable and also relatable – a teeny tiny flaw it may be, but it gave other women something they could identify with. And lo, the supermodel (model + personality) was born.
And this, my friends, is where we extract today’s tip
We know that finance can be difficult to relate to. In a sea of numbers, graphs and jargon and bland, robotic messaging, your audience needs something they can grab onto. And that’s you.
It’s you who are relatable and engaging. Your ability to connect with clients makes money seem understandable and accessible. Your authenticity and personality is at the heart of what makes clients trust you, and at the end of the day, trust is the core asset in your business.
The great thing is you don’t have to be the slickest communicator in the world to do this, but if you’re bold about being yourself rather than airbrushing those things out, you’ll reap rewards.
Using you – warts and all – to your advantage, is the best way to market your business.
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