Don't be afraid to walk away from things that are just not right for you.
For me, diversity whether you think of it as race or gender, it's not a trend, it's a human movement, it's a human feeling, it's a human desire.
I believe in glamour. I am in favor of a little vanity. I don't rely on just my genes. Looking good is a commitment to yourself and to others.
A self-esteem issue doesn't change whether you're considered beautiful or not because it's about what's inside you.
One thing my mother always instilled in me is to always know my worth. Don't settle for less. She used to say to me 'Iman, no is a complete sentence, learn to say no. You don't have to explain it you don't have to say anything after it. It's a complete sentence.' So when I came to America 1975, I found out that the black models were being paid less than white models. So the first thing I did was say I'm not going to do the job unless I'm paid the same amount.
My saving grace was that I always knew when to leave the party.
There is no age better than another.
If you are an activist, you have to stay active on a daily basis.
I would rather Google other people than Google myself.
The one thing my mother instilled in me, well both my parents but specifically my mother - I come from a Muslim country where boys were more wanted than girls so she always made me feel that there is nothing that I couldn't do as well as the boys if not better.
As a young girl, I was much more preoccupied by my flaws. Everyone teased me because of my long, skinny neck. To hide my so-called deformity, I was wearing a turtleneck when I was 3! Yet my neck is probably my best asset. At the end of the day, what counts is the entire package.
I come from Somalia. We start working young, and we understand that kind of life. I would be bored to death not doing anything creative.
Every generation and every group brings the door into other things.
Make sure your decision to have a child is based on the need to share your life completely with another little human being and not because of some personal need for validation as a woman.
My father taught me how to be a parent and gave me a positive connection with men because he is a gentleman.
Your image as a model is your currency. That's the only thing you've got. No one cares what you look like in real life. Nobody is going to say the make up guy was terrible. They will say, you look awful and let's not book her again.
We grew up as poor people but we never knew poverty. I still love and miss the Somalia I grew up in. Things changed, when my father became a diplomat later on.
No one is calling any of these designers racist. The act itself is racist. There were more black models working in the Seventies than there are in 2013. This a time when silence is not acceptable at all. If the conversation cannot be had publicly in our industry, then there is something inherently wrong.
The relationship I have with Bethann [Hardison], it's so unique. It's based on trust. But most importantly, Bethann is the one who will call on me if I'm doing something wrong. That's a very specific relationship.
There is strength in numbers.
If I say something about David [Bowie], I get 1000 tweets, if I say something about my business just a few! The more personal, the better.
My worst year. The only thing that I know for a fact now is that if it's really a bad day, then I draw the curtains, and I lay in bed. There is no way of dealing with grief. And I have no idea. This year I had double of them, my mother and my husband. I just take it one day at a time.
I don't do anything by myself. I have a whole crew to get me ready every day.
I came from a background where I was very poor growing up but I have never known poverty. My parents worked hard and they went to bed hungry, but they fed us. Then my father became an ambassador, so I ended up being driven by chauffeurs. And then we became refugees. After that, I looked at it through this "glass" of to have and have not, and at the end of the day, who actually helps, who actually steps up, who is there for you.
I think it came out of the fact that I'm a very personal person who lives a very public life. It's the only thing that I thought people would want to hear, and it's never about just being inspirational.
