“Kylie Bisutti discovers a truly picture-perfect life”
Exclusive Interview by Michael Aaron Gallagher of StayFamous.Net
Kylie Bisutti
Surrounded by famous faces lining the runway, while she held the gaze of everyone around her, 21 year-old model Kylie Bisutti was the envy of her peers. When she received the highly-coveted contract to become a Victoria’s Secret model, her longtime dream had finally come true. Soon after gliding down the catwalk in the modeling industry’s top job, she graced the cover of Maxim and was featured in a photo spread in FHM. But then one day, she left it all behind.
The announcement stunned those in her profession and garnered national media attention. She found herself explaining her decision to George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America and Rebecca Jarvis on CBS This Morning. Even British Vogue was talking about her choice to hang up her wings. Why would she give up everything she had worked so hard to achieve? What could she possibly have to gain by leaving her life as an “Angel” behind?
Kylie, who began modeling when she was 14 years old in Las Vegas, says her parents knew that even as a toddler she had a passion for one day becoming a model.
“It’s something I wanted to do my whole life,” Bisutti said.
But the road to becoming an “Angel” was not an easy one.
“When I first started out they sent me to Thailand,” she said. “They immediately sent me overseas, which is what they do with a lot of young models.”
When Kylie returned to the United States, she was featured in advertisements for local hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas strip. Then in 2009, she entered the Victoria’s Secret Model Search, vying for the chance to walk in the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show with Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, Marissa Miller, Alessandra Ambrosio, Heidi Klum and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. After she won the competition, beating out 10,000 other contestants, it seemed like she had finally reached the pinnacle of her modeling career.
But in the end, it was her religious beliefs that would redefine her personal and professional choices, establishing new rules for what she would and wouldn’t do for the spotlight.
In a recent interview with StayFamous.Net, Kylie shared more about her story, how she found new meaning in her life and where she is going next in her career.
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “When you decided to leave Victoria’s Secret and some of your other modeling gigs behind, why did you feel like you couldn’t do them with your Christian faith?”
Kylie Bisutti: “Well, I was mainly doing lingerie and men’s magazines and provacative swimwear and I really started feeling convicted about it. I didn’t feel it was honoring my husband or my new marriage. It really just broke my heart to know that I was being seen by hundreds of men in my lingerie rather than that just being something special for my husband. And also, I felt like the Lord was calling me not to do that anymore. So I made the decision to generally not model lingerie anymore and not to model in men’s magazines.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “Do you think you would have come to the same decision if you would have been single at the time?”
Kylie Bisutti: “I really truly believe that the Lord brought my husband into my life at the perfect time of my life. I don’t think that I would have been in a place where I would have probably made that decision if I were single. Since meeting my husband, I’ve definitely grown in my relationship with the Lord, because he’s encouraged me to read the Bible more and he’s really helped me in my theology…. The Lord has really used him to help me grow. I definitely feel like it was all God’s plan and timing. He brought my husband into my life and then I won the Victoria’s Secret competition, rather than winning it before I met him, when I was single.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “When you finally did feel like you were at the top and had all of those career opportunities was there any disappointment in terms of it not being what you expected or hoped for or was it everything that you thought it would be?”
Kylie Bisutti: “No, it definitely wasn’t everything I thought it would be. It was definitely first-class modeling compared to everything I had done before. Victoria’s Secret really treats all of their models first-class and really takes care of them on photo shoots, whereas a lot of other companies or lower paying jobs will just treat you like you’re a manikin. So it was definitely a step up and it was everything I expected in that way, but it was not what I expected in always having to be seen as a cute, sexy model… there were always parties that I had to go to and guys that wanted to flirt and it was just a whole different world.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “I read that you’ve also done some public speaking and shared your story very openly. What does it mean to you to be a role model to young women and what would you like to see accomplished through your work?”
Kylie Bisutti: “Before I was speaking, when I was modeling lingerie, I actually thought I was a role model and then the Lord really opened my eyes to the fact that I was the opposite of a role model for young girls and that I was actually bringing girls down the wrong path. So now, my whole focus is showing girls that true inner beauty and the beauty of your heart is way more important. And that’s what the Lord looks at, the qualities of our hearts. So I’m really just focused on inner beauty right now and also showing girls that they don’t have to feel pressure from models or magazines or the media. Because I know that is a big pressure on girls, to feel like they have to look like models to feel beautiful. So I’m really just focused on inner beauty and being confident.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “What are some of the modeling jobs you’re working on at the moment?”
Kylie Bisutti: “I’ve stepped away from a lot of modeling jobs, because even if you’re fully clothed, they still want you to portray some sort of selling of sex, because that’s what sells in our society. So even some jobs that I’ve done where I’m fully clothed, it’s just the poses and the facial expressions that they want – it’s all based around the selling of sex. So I haven’t really been focused on [modeling] as much.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “I saw online you were doing a 30-day preparation for something, can you talk about it?”
Kylie Bisutti: “That’s actually for my speaking engagements and all the girls that are following me and following my website. It’s a project that I started when I realized that a lot of the girls don’t really know what goes into getting ready for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show or other huge shoot. A lot of the girls think that you wake up super-tan with puffy lips and super-long hair and eyelashes and really it’s all fake. You have fake eyelashes on, you have fake hair, airbrushing, a month of tanning and spray tans to get ready for the runway show. So right now I’m doing a project where I’m showing girls for 30 days everything that goes into getting ready a big runway show and showing them the transformation of me without makeup when I first started, without a tan, to after 30 days I’ll be really, super-tan with hair extensions, fake eyelashes and everything that I would look like if I were walking in the Victoria’s Secret show.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “What are some of your ultimate career goals right now?”
Kylie Bisutti: “I definitely want to start my own clothing line. It’s something that I’m really passionate about. I want it to be based on modesty and I really want it to be for women and girls of all sizes, rather than just the stick thin model figure. I want it to be something that girls of any size and age could see themselves wearing.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “Are there any charities you’re involved with?”
Kylie Bisutti: “I support a couple different crisis pregnancy centers… and also a children’s charity called A Chance for Children.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “What type of work have you done with them?”
Kylie Bisutti: “With A Chance for Children I’ve done multiple things with the kids. They do different things at orphanages. So we went and hosted Halloween for the kids…. we had games and all kinds of toys and candy and spent time with the kids that don’t have parents or families. And then I’ve provided Christmas for them a couple of different times and volunteered at their summer camp. They teach the kids how to swim and how to jump off the diving board, because that creates a confidence in the kids when they can learn how to do that.”
Michael Aaron Gallagher: “Do you have a personal motto or quote that inspires you or keeps you motivated?”
Kylie Bisutti: “All my motivation comes from the Bible and a lot of it comes from the book of Proverbs, just because there are so may different motivational pieces in there. But through all this, through the decision and everything, I’ve really been focused on the entire chapter of Proverbs… and that’s basically all about being the wife of noble character and respecting your husband – just everything that a noble wife would do, one that her husband can trust. It’s really helped me with a lot going into all this. That’s really what my decision is based about, is being a more respectful wife and honoring wife, and so I’ve really been focused on that mainly for my motivation. But really the whole Bible, everything about it is motivational. Rather than a quote or motivational book, I find everything that I need in the Bible for every area of life.”
“Kylie Bisutti discovers a truly picture-perfect life (Exclusive Interview)”
Copyright 2012 by Michael Aaron Gallagher
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