I ran into very few bitchy models during my decade on the international circuit, but certainly they are out there—just in much fewer numbers than people would imagine and condensed at the top of the food chain. Bottom feeders are just trying to earn enough to feed themselves; there isn’t much room for attitude!

While I didn’t have many nasty girl run-ins, I met a show-off or two. They inspired this “Dear Jill” column, which reveals what’s beneath the bragging.

One more week until I pick May’s Model of the Month. Enter NOW!

Kristen McMenamy at age 46

Because models are an investment. If an agent is going to put time, effort, and money into promoting a model, they want the highest return on investment possible, i.e. many prime working years ahead before wrinkles appear and marketability declines.

Christy Turlington at age 42

The supermodels who have managed to stretch their careers into the decades (five of them in Lauren Hutton‘s case) made names for themselves back when they were fresh-faced teens.

Lauren Hutton at age 67

There are exceptions, of course. Anna Nicole Smith was discovered at age 25. Isabella Rossellini began a modeling career at age 28 (her pedigree—she’s the daughter of Ingrid Bergman—gave her a leg-up). Some models have resumed their careers after two decades off (see Karen Bjornson‘s story).

I headed to Europe to model after college at age 22. I felt ancient. Even though I was starting my career later than most models, I looked young and I wish I hadn’t worried so much about being old. Looking back at photos of myself, with my baby fat chipmunk cheeks, it makes me chuckle to think how over the hill I felt at the time.

So, yes, youth counts in the model success quotient. Agencies like to start girls as teens (men have more leeway as age = distinction with them; our society still needs to work on that with women, but the clients booking beauties like Lauren Hutton help. Thanks Alexis Bittar!). However, 22 is not old. I made a lot more money modeling at 30 than at 22, so it’s not all over at 25. And, I didn’t miss out on college. That counts for a lot in my life success quotient, which always counts more than a mere model success quotient.

Enter the Modelingmentor Model Contest—there’s no age limit!

The Icons of “About Face: Supermodels Then and Now”

I got in on the conversation in a Q & A with Timothy Greenfield-Sanders on HBO.com

Watch the “About Face” Trailer Here:

I have so much to write about this documentary, that I’ll be doing a series of posts. Stay tuned for more from: Paulina Porizkova, Carmen Dell ‘Orefice, Isabella Rossellini, Jerry Hall, Marisa Berenson, Christy Turlington, Carol Alt, Kim Alexis, Beverly Johnson, Bethann Hardison, Pat Cleveland, China Machado, Christy Brinkley, Lisa Taylor, Cheryl Tiegs, Karen Bjornson, Calvin Klein, and Jade Hobson.

Sign Up for Monthly Modeling Mentor Blog Highlights

1.  Cindy Crawford. OK, she didn’t graduate from college. Cindy left during her freshman year to pursue modeling. But, any high school valedictorian who earned a scholarship to study chemical engineering at Northwestern deserves a spot on this list.

Cindy Crawford

2.Lily Cole. Last year, she graduated at the top of her class at Cambridge, where she studied art history. She got a “double first” (a rare honor in England) despite a double workload of classes and modeling assignments.

3. Christy Turlington. The supermodel graduated cum laude from NYU in 1999, with a B.A. in Comparative Religion and Eastern Philosophy. Now she is at Columbia pursuing a Masters in Public Health.

Christy Turlington

4. Tyra Banks. The model-turned-TV host/producer graduated from Harvard’s Executive Education Owner/President Manager Program in February, giving her Ivy League alumnus status.

Tyra Banks at Harvard

5. Brooke Shields. The Calvin Klein kid who modeled practically since the day she was born took a break from her acting career to attend Princeton in the 80s. She majored in French Literature.

Brooke Shields

6. Iman. The Somali supermodel did more than break down racial barriers in fashion. She studied political science at the University of Nairobi and speaks five languages.

Iman

7. Sasha Pivovarova. The Russian beauty studied art at the St. Petersburg Art Institute before becoming a model.

Sasha Pivovarova and her art

8. Sara Ziff. The model who co-directed the documentary “Picture Me” and recently launched The Model Alliance graduated magna cum laude from Columbia, with a degree in political science.

Sara Ziff at Columbia

9. Sophie Patitz. The younger sister of supermodel Tatjana, Sophie had a stellar modeling career in the 90s but always dreamed of saving animals. She graduated from University of London’s Royal Holloway College with a degree in zoology last year and now works for International Animal Rescue.

Sophie Patitz (Pollmann) at Royal Holloway

10. Jill Johnson. A little known model who embarked on her career after graduating with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Jill has a B.A. in English Literature and now writes for some little known blog. (She would not consider herself a “Beautiful Brain”—more like a haggard mom with a sieve-like memory—but she was struggling to fill the #10 spot.)

Jill, post-graduation pre-mom (i.e. a lifetime ago)

Gisele and Baby Benjamin Brady

Gisele Bundchen had a water birth at home in Boston in December 2010. She made the decision to go this unconventional route after watching Abby Epstein’s documentary, The Business of Being Born. The film, executive produced by Ricki Lake, explores the history of midwives and OBs and highlights the risks (and absurdities) of the modern approach to childbirth.

Cindy Crawford had both of her children at home (Presley in 1999 and Kaia in 2001). She always thought she would go straight for the epidural until a prenatal yoga teacher opened her mind to the idea of natural childbirth.

Miranda Kerr had a drug-free childbirth last year. She admitted having her 9 lb. 12 oz. son was incredibly painful (Gisele, in contrast, said her labor “didn’t hurt in the slightest”). Kerr was determined, though, and is proud she got through it.

Two of my model friends had water births (one in England, at a birth center, and then at home; and another at a birth center in Upstate New York).

Based on their experiences and three months of research for a childbirth article I wrote while pregnant with my first baby (Happy Birth Days), I left my OB at Yale Medical Center and opted for no epidural with a midwife at a birth center in St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut. What I’d learned touring hospitals and birth centers, interviewing scores of doctors, mothers, and midwives, and reading stacks of books and articles, made it clear that I would be in better hands there and much less likely to end up having major surgery to deliver my baby. The 50-minute drive hardly mattered in a 17-hour labor.

While I have to side with Miranda re. labor pain—contractions are a 20 on the 1 to 10 pain scale—the actual birth, on a birthing stool, measured well within the bearable range.  (I found the birthing tub uncomfortable so I didn’t use it, but I had the option.)  I had no stitches and was walking around, euphoric, 30 minutes later. The baby never left our side, we had a one-on-one nurse all night, and the pediatrician fell into the relaxed pace of the mellow environment when he examined our new son right there on our family bed. Relatives enjoyed the homey kitchen and family room area. If there had been an emergency, the regular maternity ward was twenty feet away. (Unfortunately there are only a handful of birth centers within hospitals left in the U.S., and sometimes the term “birth center” is misleading and just refers to the maternity ward.)

After the birth of my twins by cesarean in ultra-medical Spain, I had an easy—if you can use that word in conjunction with childbirth—VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) with the same midwife. I am so thankful to the model friends who first alerted me to the scary direction the medical world is going with something that is a natural process. The cesarean rate in the U.S. has climbed from 5% in 1970 to over 30% now. A new site offers cesarean rates by hospital and state: cesareanrates.com  Some hospitals listed have cesarean rates as high as 72%!

On the flip side, taking the risks of having a baby lightly is just as foolish as going with an OB who is “quick to cut.” Pregnancy and childbirth without adequate medical support (or a sound backup plan should complications arise at home) is very risky. Women in Third World countries face this reality every day. Kudos to supermodel Christy Turlington, who is working to make motherhood a joyous, not potentially deadly, prospect for all women: