Speaking at the inaugural Forbes Australia Women’s Summit yesterday, supermodel Miranda Kerr revealed the very personal story behind her interest in organic products.
“Using certified organic products became really important to me and also our family when I was a teenager because my mom was diagnosed with cancer in her spleen,” Kerr told delegates.
“So at that time, we had to look at all the products we were using, not only skincare, but you know, the cleaning products, the haircare, even packaged goods”.
Kerr is founder and CEO of the leading global certified organic skincare brand, Kora Organics.
“We we really wanted certified organic products, because what you put on your skin soaks in – that’s where my passion started”.
“And then as I was modeling I saved my money. And eventually, in 2006, I thought, look, I still haven’t found anything that’s certified organic, and giving me the results I needed. That’s when I decided to create Kora Organics myself and invested all of my money in it. Still to this day, I own 95 per cent of the company.”
As well as talking about her business, Kerr also shared the realities of entering the modelling industry at just 13 years old.
“I have a 12-year-old son. So to imagine, I was only a year older than him when I first won a modeling competition”.
“A friend of mine entered me into the modeling competition. And I remember the first photo shoot that I went on. Coming rom a little country town, I had no idea that there was a whole production of stylists and photographers, and makeup artists. Everything was so overwhelming. And I saw all of these racks of clothes. And I thought to myself ‘Oh, wow, I get to choose what I’m going to wear’. No, obviously. I was so naive.
They put me in a brown shirt and brown pants. And I was thinking ‘ewww brown -I would never pick that’. But they knew what they were doing. And I ended up winning the competition”.
