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TWENTY-ONE
INSTA-FAMOUS
You’re never too old to learn a new technology
♦
m grateful for technology. It’s a frustrating and annoying
process, but it’s really been wonderful for me. Technology has
been wonderful to my whole family. We never shied away from
change that could improve our work, our lives, and the planet, and
that included technology.
Technology has changed so much since I was a child. When I was
eight, I helped my dad at his office, typing on a heavy, loud
typewriter with a ribbon that I had to change by hand. Typewriters
got better until finally, at the end of my thirties, I got a word
processor. It was quite amazing. You could make corrections on it,
but it couldn’t save. You would print out pages, then retype them. It
was the original “cut and paste”—you cut, you put pieces of paper all
over the floor, and then you pasted them in a certain order. And then
you retyped it. I retyped my first thesis fourteen times—my first
master’s degree took four years. My second one took only fifteen
months. That was because by then, I had a computer.
There was still no internet, until around when I moved to San
Francisco.
At that time, my sons were right on the cutting edge of technology.
When my sons were launching Zip2, they often asked me to be the
beta tester for their upgrades. If I couldn’t follow along, they would
make adjustments so that everybody would be able to use it. Once I
printed out door-to-door directions early on, when they were
building the internet company. After trying it out, I couldn’t return
from a trip, as I couldn’t reverse the directions with all the one-way
streets. We needed return directions—they added that in.
To promote my nutrition business, I made a deal with them: in
exchange for giving a talk on nutrition to their employees, they
would build my website. It was four pages.
I think I was the first dietitian to have a website. It was so useful
for marketing, a welcome change from printed materials. When I was
relying on brochures, they would quickly become out of date as
information changed. Now I could just refer people to my website,
and everything they saw would be fully current. I marketed my
nutrition business from the late nineties through my website.
Because of the website, I’ve been booked for many talks, media work,
and spokesperson work. Around 2010, I started a website with my
modeling portfolios showing five decades of work.
Social media has been a huge help to me in all my work. I have
used Twitter mainly for sharing nutrition research and other news of
interest; this forum has brought me interviews and speaking
engagements about health, which I love to do. It’s also very useful for
getting feedback. When I post research work on Twitter, followers
are quick to let me know what they like and don’t like, what they
need or don’t need. It also helps me go in the direction where people
are interested. I think it’s great.
With Instagram, after posting editorials of a white-haired woman
looking different, I took a chance with Julia and went to Paris at my
expense. The intention was to invest in myself, which we all should
do from time to time. We created street-style looks at sixty-seven
during Paris Fashion Week. Although I wasn’t invited to the top
runway shows at the time, I made every moment an Instagram
moment, dressing in different looks in the streets of Paris. I dressed
in up-and-coming designer outfits and worked with a street-style
photographer from France who we met via Instagram.
This investment paid off. It opened the doors for top runway
shows, CoverGirl, and more. Even now, years later, I’ll go to
modeling jobs where those photos are the inspiration for shoots. But
overall, even if it didn’t work out, I had a great time shooting for
content, dressing up, and laughing with new and old friends. Because
of social media, I was signed to IMG Models, became the oldest
CoverGirl, and no longer have to go to castings for modeling jobs.
Social media connected me with the world of high fashion. A
designer saw my Facebook photos and sent me an invite to his movie
premiere in LA. I took a friend of mine; we didn’t know anyone there.
After I posted a photo of the premiere online, the designer asked me
to walk in his runway show. I’d never walked in New York Fashion
Week before. At sixty-seven, I walked my first couture show. I wore a
beautiful white-and-silver gown and looked like a bride, although I
had white hair. My friends in the audience said the guests screamed
and clapped when I walked. They were so surprised and happy to see
someone my age. For the finale, the designer asked me and one other
model to walk with him on either side. That felt very special.
Once I saw the power of Facebook and Instagram, I announced on
social media that I was going to New York. Many photographers
reached out and asked if I would do a test shoot with them. I said yes
to all of them. You never know which photos would turn out well, but
it’s worth it to try. This led to some terrible photos, and some really
cool photos to post, and more requests for modeling.
Many people like to say that technology separates people or makes
us lonely. But I haven’t found that to be the case. It connects me with
new friends, old friends, and potential clients. I also get last-minute
invites to friends who see me in their city and connect right away. It’s
really incredible that we can speak to family and friends across the
world, even see their faces. This is crazy and magnificent. I can
FaceTime my twin every night. My grandchildren in California seem
to have fun playing games with their New York or Colorado cousins,
which is a great way for them to stay connected. When I think of all
the miscommunications when we used to have to send a telegram,
make a phone call, or write letters that would arrive six weeks later,
modern technology is great!
• • •
It is true that technology can be hard. And every new technology is
painful. With every update you’re thrown into confusion. You make
mistakes. When Instagram upgraded something, suddenly I had
three videos of what I thought I hadn’t posted, and I had to take
them all down in the middle of the night. It can drive you crazy. You
have to work yourself through it by finding the solutions on the
internet. It takes a long time, and it’s frustrating. But that doesn’t
mean I am too old for this. Maybe I’ll follow my mom’s example, as
she started computer art at ninety-four, because her hands were
shaking too much for fine art work. It’s not age-related. Funny
enough, when I had dietetic interns from NYU, Columbia University,
and other universities doing their electives with me, they found me
very advanced in technology, more than them. Tech can open up so
many opportunities for you—for business, your health, or just for fun
to connect. You’re never too old to learn new technology.
I
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