IT’S not cool to smoke and it’s not cool to get drunk are just two of the messages 26-year-old Jessie Hultgren believes she can deliver to young girls as part of her new status as World Supermodel.
Jessie, who grew up in Chum Creek, was crowned the winner of the 2012 World Supermodel Pageant held in Fiji in November.
A model who is also studying to be a fitness trainer, Jessie said growing up in a close family environment in the Yarra Valley has given her the values she has relied on to not only be successful in a modelling career, but to maintain a down-to-earth approach to what many see as a glamorous lifestyle.
Representing Oceania in the competition, Jessie was up against 18 contestants from around the world who were judged in five categories including stage presentation, personal interviews, swimwear and evening gowns. She took the top title and won the Best Evening Gown category.
She said the win came as a wonderful surprise.
“I knew I was going over there and that there were girls flying in from all over the world who were very serious about the competition.
“I was very happy to have got to a point where I could go over having made world finals. I already felt that I had achieved what I wanted to and if I were to get the title, it would be amazing,” she said.
She said the moment when the announcement was made was literally stunning.
“I turned around ready to congratulate the girl I thought was the obvious winner, and when they said “the winner Miss Oceania Jessie Hultgren” I was just shocked,” she said.
Jessie said she didn’t just want to help girls who had their hearts set on a modelling career.
“I want to help girls in general,” she said, adding that she has a sister and many friends who are not in modelling.
“I am studying fitness and know how self-image and deportment can help with things like job interviews in any career, or just in life,” she said.
She said the perception that a young person is boring if they don’t drink, take drugs or smoke is something young people don’t have to take on board.
“I have got this far without doing what people expect me to do and I want to help others to have the confidence in themselves to do that too,” she said, adding that a healthy lifestyle was something she was passionate about sharing with others.
The world of a supermodel is a world away from most girls. Jessie is already sharing her philosophy through her facebook page and plans to expand that role in the future through her work in fitness training.
Wearing the World Supermodel crown will open even more doors.
“It will create a lot more opportunities,” she said.
“Meeting with girls from all around the world has been amazing. I now have contacts all over the world and another experience I can pass on to other girls.”
