The road to a successful modeling career can be daunting, intimidating and lonely. After all, no one’s stepping off the runway so you can strut in their place; and most supermodels aren’t eagerly sharing inside secrets or rules of the game. There is one young woman who is breaking the mold, not just in the industry but also in her own path. With a little help from an internationally acclaimed supermodel, and a refusal to quit, this young lady is about to paint the world ... Golden!
Bianca Golden was aware that she was different. Extremely skinny and tall didn't always translate into being acceptable, especially when being different and standing out was not the objective for a young girl. Although it was around age 12 that Bianca began to pursue her dreams of becoming a model, life was difficult for the awkward, not-fitting-in pre-teen. “It’s especially difficult to be different, because you don’t want to be. You really want to fit in. So for me, it was my height; and I was so, so skinny and so different from the other girls. That was a big thing for me,” she said. But Bianca had her eyes on another model - one who had walked this lonely, awkward road before. Her connection to 
this supermodel would be the start of an amazing journey that Bianca herself would have to take from a home in Queens, New York to their world of fashion. Tyra Banks caught Bianca’s eye. She could relate to some of the hardships Tyra overcame in her own pursuit of modeling success, because so many of her struggles like feeling awkward while growing up and being an African American model struck a chord with Bianca. Tyra Bank’s hit reality show, America’s Next Top Model, was now in Bianca’s sights and she promised herself that she would make it onto the show when she turned 18. After rejections from modeling agencies for being “too tall,” “too young,” “too skinny,” and “too urban,” and even after a comment that she “could probably do Baby Phat but never a Prada campaign,” Bianca Golden turned her goals into reality, and made it onto America’s Next Top Model cycle 9 at the age of 18, just like she said she would. The show aired in Sept. 2007.
Bianca was remembered for her fresh and honest approach on the show, usually saying what she genuinely felt. Some found her abrasive, but true to her nature, Bianca was being … Bianca – genuine, natural, living in the precious present moment, and having no regrets. While she placed fourth on the show as opposed to her intended first place, she feels that the lessons she learned from the show far outweighed being on the show itself; these very lessons and skills got her signed with Major Models Management in New York City. These are golden nuggets she has internalized and is now using to change the lives of others - just like Tyra Banks inspired and impacted her life early on. Bianca is ready to give back.
She knows that many young people her age are growing up without the chances she had and that they have been unable to make it out of their environment. Being able to see the world is what has changed Bianca in a short period of time and she wants other kids who can’t see the outside world to at least want to see it; to at least want it. Those who don’t will always believe that what they see is all there is. This is what she wants to change.
She went to Belize as an ambassador for a Toys for Tots Charity Show and created a look book for a St. Jude’s charity, but Bianca wants to use her passion for helping others in a more intimate way. Through her own foundation, Be Golden, Bianca wants to embark on her personal mission to encourage young girls and boys to follow their dreams. With community service projects and speaking engagements at schools around the country and across the world, Bianca will spread her positive message to young people: that anything is possible. Be Golden will be launched in early 2011.
Until then, this model is busy and hard at work! In true Bianca fashion, she hit the ground running after ANTM and she hasn’t stopped. She is a correspondent for the Tyra Banks Show and the E! Channel, and has graced the pages of reputable magazines, Cosmopolitan, Vibe, SOURCE Magazine, Essence, Style Bermuda and Modern Salon Magazine. She was honored as the face of the 2nd Annual Virgin Islands Fashion Week, and has worked in five seasons of the New York Fashion Week. 
After two years with Major Models Management, Bianca is now with Ford Models. She has recently signed with Tsunami Croup, Inc., a reputable PR firm with the objective of establishing and widening her brand – a goal that will not be difficult to achieve. If you want a closer look into the life and thoughts of Bianca, you have to check out her blog at http://biancagoldenonline.blogspot.com.
The stunning beauty wants to try her hand at a little acting as well. Whatever her goal, whatever her aim, Bianca Golden will achieve it. Maybe it’s her hard work ethic that keeps her going; perhaps she is propelled by a desire to never return to what was. Maybe Bianca succeeds because she just wants it bad enough to actually go after it. Whatever the reason, you can be assured that if you’re standing in a bright inspiring haze of golden dust, Bianca Golden might just have crossed your path.
I had the honor of speaking with the beautiful model. What’s Bianca Golden’s life like? Check this out.
Yari: I know how important and special Tyra Banks was to you. What drew you to her?
Bianca: I admired Tyra a lot, now and then, because her story was so similar to mine and I could relate to her a lot with the things she said about growing up and being awkward. I loved that she overcame all of that and I wanted to do that. I loved her then and I love her now because of her business savvy. Having to work closely with her and getting to know her and seeing how she can command a room is amazing.
Yari: What did you do to make sure that you met your goal of being on America’s Next Top Model by the age of 18?
Bianca: It’s so funny! I just had something in my mind that this is what I wanted and there was no guarantee. I just stayed very positive. I just remained myself and it worked out that way.
Yari: Now I know you put modeling on the back burner for a while to go to school. What made you come back to modeling? Bianca: School was just always something I had to do. I had to go to school. You have to have an education - that’s just what it was. But modeling is my passion, and I knew that I had to try. If I didn’t achieve it I would always still have school. That was always there. So I just stepped out on faith and it really worked out well.
Yari: Now you were known as the girl who told it as it is on ANTM. Were we seeing the real Bianca? 
Bianca: Well, nobody’s personality is that way all the time. Everybody has different levels of themselves. Like, I’m not a sweetheart all the time but I have my good moments. And on the show, I don’t think I was that bad! But anything I said, I said it. I was 18 without a filter. Everything I said I meant. It was one of those things where everybody was thinking what I was thinking but they wouldn’t have said it the way I did. Everybody had those moments; mine were just captured on television.
Yari: You mentioned that when you were let go from the show you knew it was time and that you weren’t as prepared as some of the other girls. What was that about?
Bianca: I wish I studied the show more because then you know what they’re looking for. If you study the industry you know what to expect in the modeling world. I was just so excited about everything that I didn’t study. It was like I went in and took the SATs without studying. That’s basically it.
Yari: Do you think you would be where you are today if you weren’t for America’s Next Top Model?
Bianca: No. I don’t think I would have, because I didn’t have anyone to push me before. If I had someone to push me when I was twelve, I would have been much further along than I am now. But I didn’t; I didn’t have that. So I’m always so grateful. I always tell Tyra how grateful I am.
