How am I paying for “One Model Mission?”

           One of the most frequently asked questions I receive when I tell a person about this project is, “how are you planning on paying for this mission? “Do you have investors? Did you save up for years? Did you put it all on credit cards? Do you have rich parents? A rich boyfriend? A trust fund? A sugar daddy?” These are fair enough questions I suppose, but the answer is simple. I have been working incredibly hard the last several months and being more frugal with my money than I have ever been in my life. When I decided I wanted to go on this mission, starting it without any the funding in place from investors, I knew I would have to invest MY money into it for several reasons; because it was MY passion and I wanted people to see my vulnerability and that I am genuinely wanting to achieve this dream and mission. I am not here for attention nor am I hoping investors will start handing me big checks because of what I am doing; I will provide for myself if I need to. I am just hoping to stumble upon people who may feel just as passionate about this as I am.

           I had a huge awaking one-day and thought to myself,  “what gives me purpose?”  “What defines me?” My answer was simple; dreams, passion, spreading love, experiences, and most of all fighting for a cause that I believe in. Along with that, I realized that material possessions do not define me; they don’t make me any happier, they don’t love me back; they just sit in my closet and take up space and collect dust when not being used, so I made the choice to start selling a large majority of my handbags. I figured if I could sell even half of those, then I would save up a good chunk of money. I don’t need designer shoes, bags or clothes; I need experiences, I need to encourage people and encourage positive changes, I need to inspire people; those are the things that truly bring life long happiness.  From the moment, you step off your last plane ride, you keep the memories you’ve made for a lifetime and having the opportunity to change one person’s life, I am sure is indescribable and you will always know that you had a positive impact on someone. 

           Along with self-discovery, another thing I had to do was make small life adjustments such as, such as not splurging on good skincare creams, not getting as many blow outs, giving myself my own mani and pedi’s, ditching the super blonde hair that constantly needed upkeep. These changes have allowed me to save money; and hey, I am human so it’s not always easy to be at The Grove and not step foot into Zara, but I keep telling myself that I’m saving for the big picture, sacrificing the little things now for the big thing later.

           I am so passionate about this project and I believe in it’s strength and power so much that I am willing to make sacrifices and changes to my personal life to make it work. The self-funded portion of my mission will likely cover the countries and women in Europe. My goal and hope are that by spreading the knowledge of this mission, I can inspire potential investors to join my journey which will allow me to visit all 196 countries and complete my mission in each country. I want young girls, especially my two nieces who are near and dear to my heart to understand that beauty does not just exist on the cover of a magazine or in pictures on social media. It so much more than that. I want them to know that they will never look like the girl on the cover because not even the girl on the cover looks like that!

           So please join me in this pursuit of women’s’ empowerment. My inspiration is Richard Devos when he said, “The only thing that stands between a man\ (could be a woman) and what he really wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.” 

           I know some of you may think that I’m completely insane to use all my savings for this project but think of how many people told Elon Musk he was also insane and look where he is now because he followed his dream and vision with much so perseverance, regardless of what others said. 

           So, to answer your question, I am paying for the first leg of my mission on my own, I’m looking at it as a business investment and understanding that taking risk is worth it. I’m hoping once I officially start the project, I can showcase the beautiful women and their inspiring stories, and people will see my dream and vision and want to be involved and possibly invest in my journey, thus giving me the opportunity to finish this mission. So, keep tagging along on my travels and checking in from time to time as I will be posting updates constantly! Thanks for reading this and I look forward to showing you so much beauty in this world! 

KJ